I thank my friend from Arizona for coming down and showing what a traumatic situation we have right now. I hope two things come from this. First of all, that we go ahead and pass the NDA bill and then make sure that next year we are there…

My colleague is fully aware, because no one has spent more time over in these areas of hostility than my good friend from Arizona, that when you talk to these guys, and you sit in the mess hall with them, one of the things--and we know…

That is exactly right. As you point out, they were apart on a lot of issues, but what we did was to take those areas that will improve the situation and adopted them, and they are a part of this bill. So the whole issue of sexual…

I thank my good friend from Kentucky. The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Oklahoma.

I respond to my friend that it was addressed in the House bill and in the Senate bill, but the Senate bill didn't pass, so this is all that is left. Specifically, 10 days ago, we were meeting and putting this together--the big four, as…

I am pleased that the Senate is scheduled, hopefully, to pass H.R. 3521, the Department of Veterans Affairs Major Medical Facility Lease Authorization Act of 2013, known as S. 1740 in the Senate, which I proudly cosponsored. The treatment…

Since he was talking about the EPA, the overregulations there, I happen to have been privileged when we were in the majority to be the chairman of the committee called the Environment and Public Works Committee. It does a lot of very…

I would say to my friend that is true, but also, over in the House they did it the way it should be done. They passed it out of committee, they got it to the floor and passed it. Ours was passed by a huge bipartisan margin. We only had…

Let me say something about the budget. I try to think of things other people have not talked about. I do not even know right now whether I am going to be for or against this budget, but I had looked, and I was very alarmed. The minority…

It is right up here. It shows the House, on Friday, at 11 o'clock, is out of here. They are gone. They are adjourned. If something should happen--we were to amend something--they are not there. So it can't be done. This is where we are…

That is correct. Mr. McCAIN. So we send people into combat, and while we dither around here we are going to keep the men and women who are serving in harm's way from getting the benefits they have earned and deserve and are theirs by law…

I have a hard time explaining to people back home why I sit on this Committee, and at one time chaired this Committee, and we still have that disparity between mandates and availability.