Do you believe that global warming is real?

President Obama has indicated that he would look forward to congressional action on climate.

Is that something that you have heard and see as plausible?

I rise in support of the candidacy of Gina McCarthy to be our next EPA Administrator.

An insurance card is not worth very much if you cannot see your doctor.

the fastest, most cost-effective way of dealing with pollution or greenhouse gas emissions is to have less of them through energy efficiency.

Carbon pollution, greenhouse gases, are a pollutant under the Clean Air Act.

Before we cut programs like Social Security or Medicare, do you not think it is a good idea that we look to corporate America for more tax revenue?

And do you think that marketplace health care system might be one of the reasons we spend almost twice as much as any other country on health care, the role of private, for-profit health insurance companies?

At the end of the day, the United States spends almost twice as much per capita on health care as any other major nation.

So is it a major concern to you that between 2009 and 2011 all--A-L-L--of the new income went to the top 1 percent?

Do we have a health care system? I was not aware that we had a health care system in America.

I do not think we have a Medicare or a Medicaid problem. We have a health care problem.

It seems to me those are all important initiatives, but you are missing one that is very important, and that is the issue of distribution of wealth and income in this country.

What this amendment basically says is it does away with the revenue that the committee has put into the bill. It says the only way to do deficit reduction is to cut, cut, cut--cut Social Security, veterans programs, Medicare, Medicaid. One…

I call up amendment No. 198. The PRESIDING OFFICER. The amendment is pending.

If Mr. Burr supports this amendment, I ask for a rollcall vote. The PRESIDING OFFICER. Is there a sufficient second? At the moment there is not a sufficient second. At this time, there is not a sufficient second. The question is on the…

They want to know if we are going to balance the budget on the backs of disabled veterans. I hope very much we will not do that. The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from North Carolina.

Let us not balance the budget on the backs of the most vulnerable people in our country. I ask unanimous consent to add Senator Whitehouse to my amendment No. 198. The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. Without objection, it is so ordered. The…

this amendment would create a deficit- neutral reserve fund to protect disabled veterans and their survivors, which may not include a chained CPI--no chained CPI. This amendment is cosponsored by Senators Harkin, Hirono, and Whitehouse…

I rise to offer support for an amendment I will be offering, No. 198, which establishes a deficit-neutral reserve fund to protect the benefits of disabled veterans and their survivors, which may or may not include CPI. This amendment is…

I thank the Chairwoman. The sooner we can work on this the better, as it will really give the program and all the centers across the country the stability and certainty they need to plan for the future.

I would like to thank Chairwoman Murray for including the request I made in the budget resolution to provide $2.2 billion in discretionary funding and $2.2 billion in mandatory funding for community health centers in fiscal year 2014. I…

I thank Senator Murray for yielding, and I want to thank her and her staff for the excellent work they have done. As a member of the Budget Committee, I have enjoyed working with them. Everybody knows our country has an $850 billion…

The time is long overdue for us to start investing in our young people, to help them get the jobs they need and to help them get the education they need.