I have a real sensitivity about this because of the effect of climate and sea level rise, especially upon the largest naval installation in the world in Hampton Roads, Virginia.

I hope that we might have a full committee discussion sometime about the best way to rationalize excess infrastructure.

Today, less than half of our Nation's military is ready to perform their core wartime mission.

Corrosion DOD-wide--$22 billion a year. Wow. $22 billion a year.

If dollars were no object, we might not be having the debate.

Now to kind of segue into sequester, because it is related to the ability to complete this infrastructure program...

Fourteen years of sustained combat, together with the Budget Control Act of 2011, have presented the Nation with a unique readiness challenge.

I continue to believe, as I expressed in one of my first votes in the Senate, we need to repeal sequestration.

Less than half of our Navy's ships are ready to ship to meet wartime plans.

I have been a huge fan of security assistance programs.

There are a lot of reasons for these investments.

The work that we have done in security cooperation with Colombia has really been remarkable in the last 15 years.

You do not see it shifting from kind of a regional-based strategy to a service-based strategy.

I just encourage you each in that.

I would just really encourage the State Department and my colleagues on that.

If there is that ceasefire in Colombia, it will be the end of war in these two hemispheres.

The story of Colombia is not just a U.S.-consistent interest that helped Colombia transform but Colombia has now become a security partner to help with security assistance in the Northern Triangle.

I know Senator Menendez, too, is always very focused on this.

The training that we do is not only training around dealing with security challenges, but in some of these nations the military has sometimes been the force for civilian repression.

I am keenly interested in our Commander's ability to encourage inter-governmental response to meet our security challenges.

I just really think the path with Cuba--and we are going to have to continue to challenge Cuba on human rights issues.

$750 million investment in the Northern Triangle with Plan Colombia as an indication that, hey, we can have hope that this will work if we are consistent with it.

I rise to offer some thoughts about the current discussion over a vacancy on the Supreme Court. I had high hopes yesterday for the meeting in the White House between the majority leader, the chairman of the Judiciary Committee, President…

wean away from your dependence on oil from the Middle East.

I really would hope that there would be a political argument that would get some traction within Russia that the answer is not adventurism but rather accommodation with the West.