Defense

Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) told congressional leaders on Friday not to lower Social Security and veterans' benefits.

Sanders said he opposes a possible change that would be made to the way annual cost-of-living-adjustments are calculated. He said a revised consumer price index, a so-called chained CPI, would harm millions of veterans, senior citizens and persons with disabilities.

Republican senators on Monday wrote to Secretary Panetta to express concern over delays in ballots reaching military voters overseas.

Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) travels to North Dakota on Thursday to visit University of North Dakota’s Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS) programs and campaign for Republican Senate candidate Rep. Rick Berg.

Berg is running against former North Dakota Attorney General and Democrat Heidi Heitkamp to replace retiring Sen. Kent Conrad (D).

Sen. Mike Johanns (R-Neb.) demanded a detailed timeline of the terrorist attacks in Libya, including what members of the administration knew and when.

Johanns sent a letter Monday to Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Defense Secretary Leon Panetta, saying the administration’s failure to provide a clear account of the events has led some to wonder if facts are being withheld for political reasons.

Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) said Friday that the Obama administration had four hours to deploy a Special Forces team to Libya when the U.S. Consulate was under attack last month.

“The Consulate’s annex in Benghazi was under siege for more than four hours, and this came after the first attack on the U.S. Consulate compound,” Paul said in a statement Friday. “Despite repeated requests for help, dozens of Americans were left to fend for themselves against heavily armed terrorists. With hours to respond, there was more than enough time to dispatch a Special Operations team from Sigonella Air Force Base in Sicily, but no attempt was made.

Sen. Dean Heller (R-Nev.) expressed concern Tuesday that military service members might not receive the health benefits they’ve earned.

In a letter to Assistant Secretary of Defense Jonathan Woodson, Heller said he was worried about the reported termination of TRICARE Prime health coverage for military retirees and their families.

Sen. Claire McCaskill (D-Mo.) called for the U.S. Army to investigate reports of misconduct by a police-training contractor in Afghanistan on Tuesday.

In a letter McCaskill sent Army Secretary John McHugh on Tuesday, she pointed to reports of a bar brawl, loud parties, drug and alcohol abuse and fraud, among the allegations against Jorge Scientific Corp. in Afghanistan, as well as uniformed and civilian Army officials.

“Given the importance of the police training mission in Afghanistan, swift and aggressive action to ensure that these allegations are fully investigated and the contractor and U.S. personnel involved are held accountable is imperative,” McCaskill wrote.

Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) told New Hampshire voters Monday to ask President Obama why Marines weren’t protecting the U.S. Consulate in Libya when Ambassador Chris Stevens was killed last month.

“Where the hell were the Marines? In Libya, where were the Marines? There were no uniformed Marines guarding our ambassador? Where do you think the most dangerous embassy in the world is? It’s got to be Libya or Iraq,” Paul said at an event in New Hampshire on Monday.

Sen. Jim Risch (R-Idaho) criticized the Obama administration Monday over security leaks he said were perpetrated by administration officials regarding U.S. affairs in the Middle East.

Risch, along with Republican Sens. Saxby Chambliss (Ga.), Olympia Snowe (Maine), Richard Burr (N.C.), Dan Coats (Ind.), Roy Blunt (Mo.) and Marco Rubio (Fla.), sent the administration a letter asking for information about the disclosure of classified information involving potential retaliation for the death of U.S. Ambassador to Libya Christopher Stevens, who was killed with three other Americans in the attack on the U.S. Consulate in Benghazi on Sept. 11, 2012.

Sen. Dick Lugar (R-Ind.) is traveling to Indonesia, Thailand and the Philippines this week to promote the dismantling of nuclear, chemical and biological weapons.

“Cooperation is essential to identifying and interdicting the flow of weapons of mass destruction through Southeast Asia,” Lugar said in a statement Monday. “Sources of nuclear, chemical or biological weapons or precursor materials could be states or rogue terrorist elements.”