Pete Domenici: “I thank you. By having these hearings, you have performed a great service in terms of where we are going.”

I believe that that has to happen. I guess the rest is, I hope it happens, and the sooner the better, in my mind.

For it to survive, you have to end up putting revenue into the mix.

Well, I would just say that, sometimes when we are working on trying to solve this fiscal problem, the recognition that a long-term fix is what is needed puts many people in the position that they do not know how you do that and do it now.

I think it is very important, for some of you who have gone through lame duck, to make sure that you know it is not the best choice of an arena to which you would assign the solution of major problems.