Thank you very much.

Meaning what? My medicine is free or virtually free?

the United States spends almost twice as much per capita on healthcare as does any other country.

In the United States today, we are the only Nation in the industrialized world that does not guarantee people healthcare as a right.

I have talked to doctors who say, 'Yes, people walk in the door and they are now terminally ill.'

the United States ranks 26th in terms of life expectancy.

This is the United States of America. This is not a Third World developing country.

I think it is a popular program, but if you say Government should not be involved in healthcare, and Medicare is a Government healthcare program.

If people end up in the hospital for conditions for which you should not have exacerbations, if you have access to primary care, that is called 'avoidable hospitalization.'

I thank very much my colleague from Louisiana for bringing forth this very important issue. Senator Mary Landrieu from Louisiana has also raised this issue, as have many colleagues. My friend from Louisiana is absolutely right; this is an…

let me reiterate my hope that the Senator from Louisiana will in fact work with us. It is my intention to see this bill gets to the floor again before Memorial Day. I think we owe it to the men and women who have put their lives on the…

Reserving the right to object, I do find it interesting that, in the midst of this important debate about the needs of our veterans, my Republican colleagues are on the floor of the Senate and have virtually nothing to say about veterans…

this budget point of order we are now going to vote on tells us in a very significant way who we are as a people. If you vote for this budget point of order, you are saying that in this great country we do not have the resources to help…

as chairman of the Senate Veterans Affairs' Committee, I want to thank many people for helping me bring forth the legislation we are going to be voting on this afternoon. I thank those people who have come down to the floor to speak on…

I thank my friend from Alabama for accommodating my schedule. I will have more to say on this issue later this afternoon. But let me at this point simply say: Mr. President, pursuant to section 904 of the Congressional Budget Act of 1974…

My point in saying that is not to say that the VA health care system doesn't have its problems. It is to say that we have problems in every health institution in America. That is what we have. When you look at the VA--and I can go on and…

I ask unanimous consent that Jason Dean, a military fellow in my office, be granted the privilege of the floor for the remainder of this Congress. The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered. ____________________

I have talked to a number of my Republican colleagues, some of whom have expressed support for many of the provisions in this comprehensive veterans bill. Many of my Republican colleagues say they would like to support the bill, but they…

I ask unanimous consent for 5 additional minutes. The PRESIDING OFFICER. Is there objection? Without objection, it is so ordered. The Senator from Vermont.

let me thank Senators Murray, Durbin, and Blumenthal for their very thoughtful and important remarks regarding the needs of veterans and why it is absolutely imperative we pass this comprehensive veterans legislation. Let me also begin by…

The ranking member and I have disagreements, and that is what the legislative process is about. Let's debate the issues on the floor. I hope we show our respect to the veterans by not getting into issues that have nothing to do with…

I will very briefly touch on some of the other provisions in the bill. We restore full COLA for military retirees. As we all know, the House and the Senate passed and the President signed the bill to undo the provision in the Budget Act…

I thank my colleague from North Carolina, the ranking member of the Veterans' Committee, for his remarks. I look forward to debating some of the issues the Senator raised because I think it is important for not just the veterans of this…

Very good. What I would like to do now is yield to the former chairperson of the Veterans' Affairs Committee, somebody who has done an outstanding job for veterans. She has focused on one issue that I feel very strongly about; that is, the…

a report on the treatment and services available from the Department of Veterans Affairs for male veterans who experience military sexual trauma compared to such treatment and services available to female veterans who experience military…