mr. chambliss: mr. president, democrats --. the presiding officer: the senator from georgia. mr. chambliss: and i quote, affordable quality health insurance coverage, the title of the law even centers on the word "affordable." but i'm not sure how anybody can possibly argue that obamacare is affordable when the letters i'm receiving from constituents over and over, every single day, time and again, reference a significant increase in their total health care cost, and virtually 100% of the letters that we are getting indicate that not only are the monthly premiums going up, but the deductible is going up, their co-pays are going up and it's simply going to be more out-of-pocket expense than either actively working individuals or retired individuals ever thought they would have to pay for health care. tara from columbus writes to happen what is happening to her children. she writes i carry insurance for my two adult children because they cannot afford it on their own and let's remember, barack obama covers children -- obamacare covers children up to 26 years of age. being one who ha

mr. chambliss: madam president? the presiding officer: the senator from georgia. mr. chambliss: madam president, i am pleased to join chairman murray and senator isakson regarding our concern about the military retirement pay provision in this budget proposal. as i mentioned yesterday on this floor, any pursuit of debt reduction should not come at the expense of our service men, women and veterans. as we have discovered, these cuts will not only apply to working military men and women but also to military widows and soldiers that have been medically retired from wounds received in the line of duty. i recognize that in order to truly tackle our debt and deficit, it will take all americans making sacrifices, including our military. what we cannot do is ask those that have been injured defending our nation to bear a disproportionate burden. chairman murray, i want to thank you again for the leadership you have shown with chairman ryan on these complex and divisive budget issues, and i stand with senator isakson and chairman murray in making the necessary changes to this l

mr. chambliss: and i mention also the reduction in federal retirement pay, which we've got to figure out way to save money. we all know and understand that. and there is a change in the pension for federal retirees, but it's all prospective. mr. wicker: right. we don't do anything to any other federal employees retroactively. only the military. in this budget. i can't imagine how the public could think that is faimplet. mr. chambliss: i'm very sympathetic, even though i never served on active duty in the military, as you did. but this is very, very strange, and i.t. very difficul it's vero understand why we would penalize the men and women who have worn or do wear the uniform of the united states versus a very similar provision for men and women who serve the government of the united states in a very honorable way, but we're treating them very, very differently, and it seam seems t discriminate in atorial. -- discriminate in aer toly. -- disdiscriminate in a forly. mr. wicker: i have a list of the members of military coalition listed in a letter to the honorable harass rei honorad mitch

mr. chambliss: mr. president, i rise today to speak on the bipartisan budget deal that is currently before the senate. chairman ryan and chairman murray have shown us true leadership on divisive and complex budget issues. the legislation we have before us today is the embodiment of compromise, something that has unfortunately been absent in washington as of late. they have crafted a bill that sets forth the guidelines for spending for the remainder of this fiscal year and the platform for the next fiscal year. this deal wa will set overall discretionary spending for the current fiscal year at $1.012 trillion, an amount that is approximately halfway between the senate budget number and the house budget number. this number is also less than the 2000 spending levels set forth in chairman ryan's 2011 budget. while the overall spending number is higher than what i would have wanted, the house and senate budget committee chairmen were able to craft a budget deal that produces $23 billion in net deficit reduct

senator feinstein and senator chambliss are often perilous to correct things that are in the media. the second thing i would say is that a lot of what is put out, what mr. snowden has put out is erroneous, but you can't say how it is erroneous without compromising our own national security. i think some mistakes have been made. there is no question about that. of the most thoroughly oversight it agencies -- oversighted agencies. time ins a week i spent a closed review oversighting this agency. what they have done, how they have helped secure this country without dilating privacy rights of americans -- violating privacy rights of americans -- do you think that is pfizer he panel that was put together was the right group of advisory panel that was put together with the right group of people? guest: i don't want to cast judgment on that. i am pretty much known as an independent thinker. i lean more towards the libertarian side. i am not real worried about what nsa has been doing based on what i have seen in the protections that have been put in place to protect civil liberties through what they have done. we live in a very different world today than we di

mr. graham: thank you. number wurntion i want tnumber r budget chairwoman, you had a really good discussion were senator chambliss and isakson about trying to figure a way to fix this provision. i'm very disappointed that we can't have an amendment to fix it or amendments to do other things. but we are where we are. so the bottom line, this has been a healthy exercise because all of us are now looking at a provision. this is a bipartisan product, so it is not about blaming democrats or republicans. it's a good exercise. how could a bill -- and, one, this bill, as we all know, doesn't fund the government. we if wif we pass the budget, it doesn't keep the government open. it sets limits on spendingment we're increasing the amount we can spend on defense and non-defense, setting some sequestration aside. that's a great thing. i think that's going to be good. how we pay for it is the problem. and the question is how did this happen? you know, the chairman of the senate budget committee and the chairman in the house are great folks. the military retiree provision is a pay-for that has got everybody a bit wondering. an

chambliss are often powerless to correct things that are in the media. the second thing i would say is that a lot of what is put out, from what mr. snowden has put out, is erroneous, but you can't say how it is erroneous without compromising our own national security. i think some mistakes have been made. there is no question about that. this is one of the most thoroughly oversighted agencies. two hours a week i spend time in a closed review oversighting this agency. agency. having the inside knowledge of what they have done, how they have helped secure this country without violating privacy rights of americans -- host: do you think that is panel that was put together was the right group of people -- advisory panel that was put together with the right group of people? guest: i don't want to cast judgment on that. i am pretty much known as an independent thinker. i lean more towards the libertarian side. i am not real worried about what nsa has been doing based on what i have seen and the protections that have been put in place to protect civil liberties through what they have done. we live in a very different world today than we

senator feinstein and senator chambliss are often perilous to correct things that are in the media. the second thing i would say is that a lot of what is put out, what mr. snowden has put out is erroneous, but you can't say how it is erroneous without compromising our own national security. i think some mistakes have been made. there is no question about that. this is one of the most thoroughly oversighted agencies. two hours a week i spent time in a closed review oversighting this agency. i will read the recommendations and look at them. also, having the inside knowledge about what they have done and what they have prevented and how they have helped us secure this country without violating privacy rights of americans i think is phenomenal. host: you think the advisory people -- panel was the right group of people to put together for this? guest: i don't want to cast judgment on that. i am pretty much known as an independent thinker. i lean more towards the libertarian side. i am not real worried about what nsa has been doing based on what i have seen in the protections that have been put in place to protect civil liberties through what they have done.

mr. chambliss: mr. president, i ask further unanimous consent that my defense fellow, major bobby j. cox being be allowed floor privileges for the remainder of the week. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. chambliss: i rise today to address the dire national security situation and the responsibility of this body to pass a national defense authorization bill this yearme . congress has passed this legislation for each of the last 51 years -- always with broad bipartisan support. this year should be no different. our servicemen and women are deployed around the globe in defense of our nation. to put them in harm's way, to further the american principles of freedom and democracy. yet we have failed to provide these men and women and our senior military leaders the fiscal certainty and legal authorities they need to complete their vital missions. instead, we have a senate majority intent on fundamentally altering the way the senate conducts business by pushing through bills without a full and open process. this is not the way the senate was designed to function. this year's nati