I applaud you for taking on three of the VA's most pressing issues: the claims backlog, veteran homelessness, and expanding access to VA health care and benefits.

Are there sort of ongoing efforts by State and by Labor to look at potential labor-law violations with whether it's a bilateral or multilateral trading partner through free trade agreements?

We've got to be smart strategically about what are the levers that can best be employed to help create indigenous, organized centers of power and influence that are not going to be prey to ideology and radicalism.

cuts to international family planning I assume will result in more maternal deaths, more abortions, more unintended pregnancies

that is one of the reasons I filed the Hire a Hero Act, to try to get those people employed.

I am concerned that with a proposed 40% cut in VA construction in FY 2012 that the facility that has needed these improvements for many years will be one of the projects pushed to the side.

Clearly, the DOD Tuition Assistance Program is an important program in terms of supporting the education of our service members.

the bottom line is we are spending taxpayer dollars to basically provide the tools and resources for our soldiers to go out and get jobs and be employable.

I have great respect for the senior Senator from Arizona. I wish to find a way--and I will give some specific names of people who have benefited from the expansion of TAA. I brought in a stack of literally 500 letters from Georgia…

I want to work with Senator McCain on this. I want to make this work. I want to extend the Andean trade preferences. He and I worked this agreement out with Senator Kyl and Senator Casey and others at the end of last year, in the last 2…

today I recognize the distinguished military service of MG General Gregory L. Wayt who recently retired from military service after nearly four decades of preserving our Nation's safety and security. A strong leader with an unyielding call…

I rise today to speak in support of Brown-Portman No. 105. This is the first of what I imagine will be many bills and amendments my colleague Senator Portman and I will be working on together. What the Brown-Portman amendment does is…

I mean it is great not to have an excuse, but what actually is happening?

A nuclear armed Iran would dramatically shift the balance of power between Iran and key regional nations.

I certainly can appreciate that anti-piracy missions require significant resources and present many legal issues.

A nuclear armed Iran poses an unacceptable risk to the United States.

Iran is producing higher enriched uranium and is moving closer to possessing the weapons-grade uranium needed for a nuclear weapon.

The Iranian regime continues to flout U.N. Security Council resolutions on its nuclear and missile programs.

Many of us are concerned about the number of missiles and ships required to deploy an adequate BMD for our Nation and for our allies.

I fully support re-establishing the Vice CNGB at the rank of lieutenant general.

if the United States is hit by a catastrophic cyber attack--as Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) Director Panetta described as the next Pearl Harbor--are we prepared to respond?

Thank you, Madam Chair, and again congratulations to you and Senator Roberts for your leadership on this Committee.

Thank you for your visionary leadership. We have made such a difference in these two years.

Not only are we trying to fund our own needs; I guess we're funding the Taliban's needs, too.

It is either you are with us or you are not? Either you are helping or you are not.