There is no question, I think primarily for political reasons, the VA has been beaten up a whole lot in recent years.

What this is really about--and we should be honest about it--is that people like the Koch brothers, second wealthiest family in America, have spent hundreds and hundreds of millions of dollars to get benefits like this.

To my mind, and I think to most people's minds, that is a starvation wage.

Why do you think it is a good idea to throw 23 million people off of health insurance, to cut nutrition programs for low-income pregnant women and their babies?

The Koch brothers, our good friends who fund much of the Republican Party, would get a tax break, their family would get a tax break of up to $35 billion.

If the chairman now wants to say that he believes we should not cut Social Security, I would love to hear him say that, not cut Social Security benefits.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman, for holding this important hearing.

Poll after poll after poll shows this is exactly what the American people do not want.

The answer is not to lower, in my mind, wages for Federal workers. It is to raise the wages of lower-income workers all over this country.

It has now been 7 long weeks since the Trump administration came out with its budget, and yet our committee has not held a single hearing on what he has proposed.

We are the only major country on Earth not to guarantee health care to all of our people.

I would hope that we can do that. But it is important for you and others to say we will not cut Social Security benefits.

What the CBO reported was that an additional 14 million people would be uninsured in 2018.

I would hope that my Republican colleagues would respect the words of President Trump when he ran for office when he said exactly the opposite.

I believe that what we are going to be looking at are proposals way, way, way out of touch with where the American people are and where they want to go.

the deficit now--what is it, one-third of what it was when President Bush left office?

we do not want to see Government wasting money. We want programs run efficiently.

I think that the Koch brothers get about a $30 billion--their family will get a $30 billion tax break.

President Trump campaigned on the fact that he was going to take on Wall Street.

Tax cuts are not useful when they open up big budget deficits, reducing national saving rates.

Both parties have been irresponsible in managing the public sector for 40 years.

the so-called Republican health care plan that the House recently passed really in all honesty is not a health care bill at all.

In other words, the campaign, the Trump campaign, campaigned on reinstating Glass-Steagall.

your budget thinks that it is good public policy to provide $52 billion in tax breaks for the wealthiest family in this country.

If and when people get into the system, understanding there are unacceptable waits to get in, but once they get into the system, do you believe that the quality of care that veterans are receiving is good?