mr. inhofe: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from oklahoma. mr. inhofe: i ask unanimous consent the quorum call in progress be vitiated. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. inhofe: and mr. president i ask that i be recognized for such time as i may consume as if in morning business. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. inhofe: mr. president it's kind of -- a little bit humorous to me we're talking about extending the unemployment benefits in the midst of one of the most intense cold fronts in american history. i saw one newscaster yesterday who said if you're under 40, you've not seen this stuff before it has to make everyone question as to whether -- i'm going to tie this together -- whether global warming was ever real. while i know that the left wing media is giving me a hard time for talking about my opposition to the administration's global warming policies when it gets cold outside i think it's important to point out two things. one, that the administration i

mr. chairman. >> thank you, senator inhofe. okay. secretary fox. >> mr. chairman, senator inhofe and members of the committee i appreciate the opportunity to appear before you with admiral winnefeld. on behalf of secretary hagel and the men and women that we survive but like to offer my appreciation to the committee and once again enacting the national defense authorization act. your dedication to passing the ndaa means the department has the authority that it needs to accomplish the incredible array of missions we undertake a around the world each and every day as well as those that support our number one asset, our people. allow me to situate today's discussion in the larger frame of the department's fiscal situation. in the printer grateful for the support of the congress in enacting the 2014 appropriations act and for the bipartisan budget act of 2013 which provides us with much needed certainty over our budget for fiscal year 2014 and 2015 and partially addresses some of the significant budgetary challenges imposed by the sequester provisions of the b

mr. inhofe: thank you madam president. i -- i think we're going to have a lot of discussions on the floor concerning a number of things that have happened in the last couple of weeks not the least of which is what's going on in the antarctica right now the fact that some people had to be lifted out. it's kind of interesting. and i -- i don't want anyone to misunderstand that i am reviving a lot of the previous interest in the global warming thing for any reason other than the fact that right now after it has been determined without any -- any doubt that the sentiment in the house and the senate would never pass anything like cap and trade but the problem is this president is now doing through regulation what he could not do through legislation and that is the -- that's the expense that i am concerned about. you know, we -- in a minute i want to talk about the cost of these things, but we have a real serious problem in this -- in this country. people are concerned about the spending they're concerned about what's happening

inhofe. who will be next? we don't have much choice. senator kaine. >> thank you, mr. chair. thank you all for your testimony. i believe we'll fix this and fix it probably. i really want to ask a question about the next issue down the road which is, as we start to think about what we might hear back from the commission in early 2015, from conversations with, you know, primarily new people in the military, i've got a youngster in college. the way they talk about the compensation and benefits is that they have a feeling that some are promised, almost contracted, a retirement after a few serve a full career, that's in the promise zone. some are sort of reasonable expectations, if i'm in the military and i have an injury, there's going to be a va system there that will be functional and i have a regional expectation without knowing what the budgetary top one is, it would be a functioning va system. and some are sort of less than a promise or a particular expectation. there may be hope for a desire. so, for example, what would the premium level be for a retirement health policy, i

mr. chairman, senator inhofe, distinguished panel members. thank you for the opportunity to speak with you today. it's -- as the president of the association of the united states army and former chief of staff of the united states army. the association of the united states army represents hundreds of thousands of members of the active army national guard, army reserve, the retired -- community, civilians, and the army families. 121 chapters worldwide. our members are well aware of the fact that much of the good done for soldiers over the last few years would have been impossible without the commitment of this committee and we are indebted to each and every one of you, and your predecessors. your tireless and selfless personal staff's, professional staff, we appreciate their efforts. we understand the fiscal times -- these are very challenging times for our nation. certain things need to be done. before i continue, i want to acknowledge the bipartisan bill. i've never been sure what was called. let's say the murray-ryan bill. whatever it was,

mr. chairman. >> thank you so much, senator inhofe. and we turn to -- let's see. who is next?senator booker. >> first of all, i want to say thank you to the ranking member and to the chairwoman for this opportunity. this is my first hearing on this committee. it is a privilege and honor to be here, especially with committed activists on both sides of the aisle who have a passionate concern for our country. it's an honor to be here as i begin my senate career. chairwoman, it was a long time ago that i was the mayor of new jersey's largest city. that's back in october. what frustrated me is i am a guy who believes very strongly in the power of markets, in the power of private enterprise and industry to help poor communities, creating jobs, creating economic activity, lifting people up. that's the idea of this country. but what i get frustrated with about being a mayor, having been a mayor, i look at the landscape of my city and frankly the landscape of the state of new jersey is that we have it backwards in our history about what it means to do private enterprise. all over newar