mr. boozman: thank you very much. madam president, i do object. while we very much appreciate what senator duckworth is trying to accomplish, i must object to the request for unanimous consent. the bill has only one cosponsor. it has not gone through regular order. the senate v.a. committee has not considered the policy implications of the legislation. in the appropriations subcommittee on veterans' affairs that i chair has not beenivnd the budgetary impacts the bill would have. this legislation would be a significant policy change for the v.a. and would reduce revenue to the v.a. medical centers by eliminating certain co-payments. policy changes such as this should be thoughtfully considered through full committee before being considered by the full senate. so i look forward to working with senator duckworth to see if we can get this resolved, but based on these facts, i object. the presiding officer: objection is heard. ms. duckworth: madam president. the presiding officer: the senator from illinois. ms. duckworth: madam president, i am disappoi

mr. boozman: thank you so much. it is a pleasure to be with my friend and colleague from arkansas to talk about a tremendous state institution, something that is truly -- a true arkansas institution. we want to pay tribute to it, the men and women that made it great in the past and continue to make it great into the future. newspapers have played a vital role is in our country's history of public discourse, increasing our knowledge and awareness about what it takes placed all around us, the stories they print keep us informed while building a sense of community and regional identity. newspapers drive political debates, set the agenda, helping us make sense of the issues impacting our world. as one of the oldest continually published newspapers west of the mississippi, "the "arkansas democrat gazette"" has been a resource of information that keeps rears connected to community, the state, and our nation for 200 years. in 1819, william e. woodruff published the first edition of the arkansas gazette. the arkansas territ

mr. chairman. >> thank you, senator. senator boozman. >> thank you, mr. chairman. and thank you all for being here to discuss the rural development title of the farm bill. the farm bill for our state as it is for most states is one of the most important pieces of legislation that we deal with here. first of all, i want to thank you for the job that you all are doing. i had the opportunity to visit a lot with rural development in arkansas, the office. they're doing a tremendous job. really appreciate the support that you're giving them. so biff yourselves a big pat on the back in that regard. sometimes we hear lots of negatives, but we don't take time, again, when paem are working hard to try and help each other. don't really have a question about broadband being brought up so much, but i want to reaffirm its importance. sadly in arkansas throughout much of the country, you go into rural america and you see young people sitting in their cars koi doing their homework. leeching the broadband from the local school house. that's not an uncommon sight even in upstate new

mr. boozman: yes. mr. carper: thank you for sharing with us the terrific ideas of what businesses around arkansas and the country are doing. they do it for a variety of reasons. it is the right thing to do and a lot of them are committed to being good environmental stewards. it can also be to their economic advantage. and instead of having to pay for -- have stuff carted away to a landfill, the ability to recycle materials is, i think, desirable. we used to have a big chrysler plant in delaware in newark, close to the university of delaware, close to the university line. the plant was about 60 years old. in the middle of the great recession, chrysler went into a bankruptcy and we lost that plant it closed, about 3,000 jobs gone. we had a g.m. plant as well, about 15 miles from there, outside of wilmington, same thing, about 3,000 jobs gone, which was just really, really tough. having said that, to your words, in adversity lies opportunity. the folks at the university of delaware called me after chrysler ha