skelton. chairman skelton has shown considerable leadership on this front as well as the tone he has set for our committee. i want to commend him and his staff for working so closely with us on this bipartisan bill. subcommittee chairman rob andrews and ranking member congressman mike conaway deserve special recognition as well. i salute the defense acquisition reform panel that they have chaired for all of their hard work. under the leadership of congressman andrews and congressman conaway, this panel and its seven members deviled into the complex -- delved into the complex world of acquisition. over the past year the panel held more than 20 events and supported the drafting and passage of the acquisition reform act of 2009. late last month based on their detailed study the panel released its final report containing recommendations for improvements to defense acquisitions. on april 14, i was proud to honor their efforts by co-sponsoring h.r. 5013, a bill that implements the panel's recommenda

skelton: mr. speaker. mr. speaker. the clerk: costs of department of defense health care contracts. a, disclosure of requirements. the secretary of defense shall require, one, an offer that smits a bid or proposal -- submits a bid or proposal. >> mr. speaker, i ask to waive the reading of the bill. mr. skelton: i object to the dispensing of the reading. i wish it be read, please. the speaker pro tempore: the clerk will read. the clerk: an offer that submits a bid or proposal in response to an invitation for bids, where a qur for proposals issued by a component of the department of defense for a health care contract is submit with the bid or proposal a disclosure of the additional costs, if any, contained in such bid or proposal associated with compliance with the patient protection and affordable care act, public law 111-148, and the health care and education reconciliation act of 2010. the speaker pro tempore: the clerk will suspend. the house will be in order. members will take their conversatio

skelton: mr. speaker, i rise today to commend and thank our brave men and women in uniform who risk their lives every single day to protect america and to keep our families safe. we have the very best war fighters in the world led by the very best commanders and under president obama our military service members are experiencing even greater success in keeping our nation safe from those who seek to do us harm. earlier this week the joint raid by u.s. and iraqi forces delivered what general and the top military commander in iraq identified as potentially the most significant blow to al qaeda in iraq since the beginning of the insurgency. during this raid, two of al qaeda's top leaders were killed, including al qaeda in iraq's top leader. this news was a sign not only of -- only of our continued progress against al qaeda in iraq and its affiliates, but of our progress overall in our fight to quell terrorism and keep america and our allies safe. our increased success in killing and companyturing terr

skelton. for what purpose does -- the speaker pro tempore: mr. skelton. for what purpose does the gentlelady rise? ms. jackson lee: -- >> i ask consent to address the house for five minutes. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. ms. lee: i joint with several of my colleagues today as an original co-sponsor in the introduce of hrment r. 5015, legislation that would require the president to submit to congress a plan and a timeline for the safe, orderly and expeditious deployment of united states armed forces from afghanistan including military and security-related contractors. this legislation would also implement greater oversight and planning measures to reduce our reliance on contractors in afghanistan. and to curb waste, fraud and abuse in contracting practices which continue to breed corruption at the expense of the afghan people. i'd like to thank representative mcgovern, jones and senator feingold for their leadership and for their hard work and collaboration on this very vital legislation. also i'd like to commend congresswoman woolsey for her

i'm told congressman ike skelton, he has gotten the message and the picture.ing more money. he's doing some aggresstive things, appearing on television more. so i think in the coming weeks, at least democratic leaders say they're going to boost up their efforts. we'll see. republicans are very energized. there are some good candidates out in these districts. >> one more question about the house and then i'll turn it over to mika for the senate. what does it look like right now? what are most insiders believe in washington, d.c., republicans pick up? they need 40. do they get to the 40 or come up short? >> it's going to be close. it's hard to say right now, but democrats are basically conceding they could lose as many as 30 seats. then you have, you know, some ten more. it's definitely possible. it will be within reach. republicans have not recruited as many strong candidates in a few places as they would like. they have not done quite a good as job as rahm emanuel in 2006. at this point it is -- it's too close to call, but it's certainly within their reach. >>

i brought up that issue and even when chairman skelton recognized that the senate health bill mentioned tricare for life but did not mention tricare, he immediately brought a bill to the floor and it was considered. i tried to amend that bill, tried to get it withdrawn. at that time i received a commitment from the chairman of the house ways and means committee that he would work with us to get that corrected. i even raised the issue during the markup of the president's health bill itself on the floor. i know the v.f.w. was very concerned along with the american legion. as i raised these concerns that this -- bill had a large error, i was marginalized. i was marginalized by some in the house to said those issues, they are not real. even the white house issued a press release along with the secretary of veterans' affairs that said that it was unfounded. well, it is founded. it's a problem that we have to fix. senator akaka passed a bill to protect the veterans. it passed on unanimous consent. it's currently at the speaker's desk. however the parliamentarian has ruled it's a revenue bill.

ike skelton chairs the committee. this is about two and a half hours. >> good morning.rmed services committee meets to receive testimony armed -- on the u.s. nuclear policy. as well as the structure in light of the recent nuclear posture review, as well as the signing of the new treaty. joining us today is a very formal witness panel -- formidable witness panel. general kevin chilton the hon. tom d'agostino undersecretary of energy for the national security administration, and no stranger here and we welcome her back the honerable ellen tauscher. it is a thrill to have you back. we appreciate it for you appearing here today. the national defense authorization act for fiscal year 2008 requires the secretary of defense to perform a review of our nuclear posture in coordination with the state department and energy department. the administration reduce seeks to establish it our partisan approach to nuclear policy. -- establish a bipartisan approach. with the goals of preventing nuclear terrorism and weapons proliferation. it contains the balance of former secretaries of def