It is a comprehensive, commonsense piece of legislation, and I am confident we can put this together on a bipartisan basis in order to save the integrity and the value of the best GI Bill that our country has ever seen.

Military and Veterans Educational Reform Act

we were able to move this bill through the Senate and through the House in sort of a record 16 months

And the new GI Bill is making a real difference for thousands of veterans and their families each and every year.

That is why I am so outraged to hear some of the actions of the bad actors in the education community.

this program retains its viability

Today's veterans have made tremendous sacrifices for our country, and they deserve a quality education in gratitude for their services.

That is why we introduced the GI Bill Educational Freedom Act, along with Senator Mark Rubio and four other Senator colleagues from both sides of the aisle.

the finest GI Bill in the history of our country

the post-9/11 GI Bill is the most significant veterans' benefit since World War II.

the same quality benefits that were given to those who served during World War II should have been the standard

As a Senator, I have never forgotten what mattered all those years, that my country was willing to invest in me when I returned home from my military service.

You can't renegotiate the front end once the back end is done. This is an obligation that has been made to people whose military careers are now done.

I believe that the indisputable starting point in this discussion really is that the international rules of the road for security and also for commercial exploration have never been more complex.

I would respectfully submit that the series of exchanges that we have had with China where they have insisted on only bilateral solutions is perhaps the strongest argument for us proceeding forward in this sort of way where we can continue…

If I have to face questions about whether this is a critical firefight in the defense of American sovereignty, or a self-inflicted wound in a rapidly emerging global theater where our competitors are taking advantage of our absence, that…

It is clearly apparent in the South China Sea.

We had a unanimous vote by the Senate that had two very important pieces in it, I think, in terms of the expression of the Senate.

I believe it is well past the time when the questions and concerns raised here today were compelling.

Those are basically tactical questions. It also affects issues of sovereignty. Those are strategic questions.

I ask unanimous consent to speak for 15 minutes as in morning business. The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. Without objection, it is so ordered. War Powers

I rise today to address perhaps the most important constitutional challenge facing the balance of power between the Presidency and the Congress in modern times, and also to offer a legislative solution that might finally address this…

I think that we are pretty good at working with opposition groups, as well we should be, in many parts of the world in order to help create a better understanding of democratic systems.

I understand the administration's present policy.

My impression was this is not the situation you would have in many of these other historic evolutions, where you have the desire of the people on top simply to perpetuate a system of the past.