Patty Murray

I continue to have a number of concerns, not only about the situation at Madigan today but the implication for our soldiers.

This is a serious issue. I've sat and talked with numerous soldiers and families who were diagnosed with PTSD, were getting care, and then as they went through the MEB process, were told they didn't have PTSD.

It is very troubling to be here 10 years, after many, many hearings...

Do you know who made the original decision to step up that unit?

What it says is that more than 4 in 10 of our servicemembers... had it taken away by that unit.

Today, unfortunately, we are seeing more information on the extent of those problems.

If a soldier is afraid to reach out, if they feel that their professional military career will be hurt, we're trying to do everything we can to destigmatize that

And can you tell me, is this an isolated incident, or are there other Army medical centers that are changing the PTSD diagnosis at this rate?

No one should be denying any servicemember care purely because of a question of cost.

But it is more than 40 percent?

I am concerned as the Army begins to downsize by 80,000 soldiers over the next 5 years, how these soldiers will transition in a difficult economy.

The Congress has been pushing you to move forward for years on this effort, we passed legislation that you voted for as a House member many years ago

So, in light of all the issues, you and I have had a chance to talk to this generally, but I wanted to ask you specifically today why was this highly controversial unit set up originally at JBLM, and who's decision was it to do that?

The Title X Family Planning program continues to play a critical role in ensuring access to high-quality, client-centered, and affordable primary and preventive health services.

Your budget request would cut airport grants drastically and focus the program only on general aviation and small commercial airports.

Is there any way we can expand that collaborative partnership that you have developed with the Army to help our other services?

Since 2000, the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) has recommended that the FMCSA change its method of evaluating the safety and performance of carriers.

I worked to create a formula to really prioritize and target Federal funding to our Nation's largest ferry systems.

I would also encourage you to work with the Department of Labor and let them know what you are doing.

I appreciate the inclusion of reform proposals designed to simplify the program structure and improve upon project delivery.

Independent assessments show us that the infrastructure of our country is falling behind and holding us back.

I urge you to be really aggressive on that because these scam artists are really aggressive and stay ahead of us.

We are beginning to see signs of life in this housing market, but there are still some looming concerns, especially about the number of underwater mortgages and the shadow inventory that is eventually going to hit the market.

We have got to figure out exactly what the legal statutory language would be to walk a path of ensuring that we are keeping the bad guys out from just coming in the back door with another lender.

But we also know that HUD has to work to improve its ability to monitor its risk and its estimates.