Millions of veterans are counting on us to do so. We can't afford to make them wait any longer for the care and services they have earned and deserve.

I am confident that my colleagues on the Conference Committee will also put their differences aside.

the veterans of this country, people who have suffered so much, deserve quality health care and they deserve it in a timely manner.

I want to thank you very much for stepping in, clearly unexpectedly, into a very important position in a very difficult moment in the history of the VA.

Last week despite a very partisan environment here in Congress, 93 Senators put their differences aside to vote in favor of a significant piece of legislation.

Well, Mr. Acting Secretary, thank you very much for not dealing with niceties, for dealing with realities.

Ensuring timely access to high-quality mental health care is critical for our veterans and their loved ones.

We want to hear from Mr. Gibson in terms of what he is doing to address those many problems.

Is it fair to say that to the degree that we strengthen the VA, we become less dependent on expensive contract care? Is that a fair statement?

The VA has got to be accountable. It has got to be efficient.

It is clear to all of us that the VA faces many, many challenges, and they are well documented.

The issues that Senator Begich is raising are very important, and that has to do with how we not raid other facilities and steal doctors and psychiatrists, but develop more.

I trust that every Member of this Committee understands that we have an immediate crisis, that we have hundreds of thousands of veterans on wait lists.

I very much thank the Senator. Let me answer the very last question first, and I will go through the others. I think throughout the history of this country, not only in Iraq and Afghanistan, I think as a people we have underestimated the…

The Senator is exactly right. While no one is quite exactly clear how much those two wars will end up costing us, the estimate is between $3 and $6 trillion. The point Senator Durbin made is even those who voted against the war--and I did…

I wanted to say a few words about the conference committee in terms of legislation protecting the health of our veterans. We are working hard on it in the Senate, the House is working hard on it, and our staffs have been meeting. I have…

I thank the Chair. (The remarks of Mr. Sanders pertaining to the introduction of S. 2548 are printed in today's Record under ``Statements on Introduced Bills and Joint Resolutions.'')

as we are about to begin the Fourth of July district work period in my State and throughout this country, many people are going to be getting into their automobiles and they are going to be traveling. In general, people who live in rural…

as chairman of the Senate Veterans' Affairs Committee, I would hope that every American understands that the cost of war does not end when the last shots are fired or when the last missiles are launched. The cost of war continues until the…

We can respect science, we can respect the planet.

Somebody has got to lead. This Country leads.

I would also like to enter into the record the fact that the Koch Brothers representing the fossil fuel industry will spend hundreds of millions of dollars on this campaign trying to defeat Democrats.

We should not disagree on what scientists tell us.

Climate change is real, it is significantly caused by human activity, and it is already causing devastating problems in our Country and throughout the world.

I ask unanimous consent that the order for the quorum call be rescinded. The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered. Veterans Health Care