Patty Murray

I want to thank you for having this hearing to recognize the men and women who we have lost on the job, and to talk about how we can make our workplaces more safe and healthy.

Obviously, what we're doing is just delaying the safety of our mine workers.

Is there an increased penalty for contested violations?

It was an overwhelming event, and I know that all the families here are suffering terribly.

I am pleased to report that Phil has built on those skills during his tenure as a FERC commissioner.

Phil has dedicated his life to public service.

We all know that education benefits are one of the most important tools for our military to recruit and retain our troops.

I look forward to working with everyone to improve this program so all of our veterans can really realize the full benefits of the Post-9/11 Bill.

We need to make sure that what they get actually works for them in the real world.

One of our primary goals was to examine how to take military experience and training and link it up to civilian education and certification and licensure requirements.

The Post-9/11 GI Bill was a big step forward in meeting this obligation.

I think it's very relevant to what our men and women face when they come home.

I would say that a lot of the testimony that we've had, and a lot of the discussion we've had, is exactly the opposite, that people don't get preventive coverage.

The five largest health insurance companies took in a combined profit of 12.2 billion, which was up 50 percent--56 percent--over 2008.

But, I also think a lot of families today make decisions based on whether or not they have coverage.

We have to focus people on getting insurance coverage for preventive services.

My business cannot sustain increases like that. No business can.

I'm for people having personal responsibility. I think that's an extremely important part of health care coverage.

The fact that our veterans have sacrificed for our Nation only to spiral into depression and suicide is appalling.

The G.I. bill is important because it gives some opportunity for youngsters to have constructive work for the next 4 years.

I would tell my colleague from Alaska that we would happily take care of your veterans in Seattle.

I am going to be introducing actually legislation next week on a veterans' employment legislation.

Do you engage with your business community about the careers that they need?

Are you seeing academic success?

I want to make sure that there is not a disconnect between the VA and DOD with regard to data collection.