My strongest objections early on were the interference of the political process into the day-to-day decisions that should have been left to the military.

For every slot that is given to one person, it is arguably taken away from someone else.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. First, Mr. Chairman, I would offer a comment about the preparation that Dr. Westphal has made for this position.

I have often remarked, as someone who grew up in that environment and also had to watch a son and a son-in-law deployed to combat, it is probably harder being a family member either with a father or a spouse deployed or having a child…

It points to a concern that a lot of people who have served and a lot of people who have written about the situation in Afghanistan share. That is that maneuverability is the most effective way to conduct operations against international…

The Senator Kerry-Senator Lugar bill is very important as far as I'm concerned, because it's not about the $1.5 billion a year as much as it is a 5-year commitment to Pakistan.

We run the risk, as I mentioned to General Petraeus and General McChrystal, of allowing our success to be defined by something that's never happened before, something that we can't totally control, which is something that concerns me.

I wrote and introduced my first day in office, that 75 percent of the soldiers in the Army leave the military on or before the end of their first enlistment.

I'm here to tell you, we have a stewardship toward these people and if we, the civilian leadership, don't articulate this stewardship, in a lot of cases it's not going to happen.

I would just like to reiterate a few points that I made on this before, that it is properly before the OSD...

Why, 6 years then after September 11, were we asking civilian contractors to teach our military people how to perform military functions?

If you shoot the people who do it and blow up their boats, they won't be back.

I would ask that be submitted and included in the record as well.

I hope that once you assume your position here, you will resist the notion to get on an airplane and go say 'hi' around the world.

We have a stewardship to those people, that's quite a bit different than the way we address the career force.

I really believe the greatest challenge for the VA is simple leadership.

I think your selection, General Shinseki, is an inspired act of leadership by the incoming President.

I hope you will do everything you can to reach out to the veterans' groups.