I urge the Acting Chairman to talk with his leadership.

So, in the states that have those systems, a young member of the military who had not registered at all when they left the country could register in Virginia or in Wisconsin from abroad and then go through the voting process; is that correct?

I think it's clear from this hearing this morning--and I'm sure you were here for the first panel--that everybody on this committee, one, didn't agree with this piece that was in the budget deal; two, wants to fix it; three, wants to fix it now; and four, as we go forward wants to work off a principle of grandfathering of what's in the law.

I think the key lesson is that, after all of the sacrifice and all the accomplishments over the past 13 years, what we need to do is ensure that the transition results in the Afghan forces being sustainable without our presence at some point in the future.

I am pleased to appear before you today to introduce Dr. Joseph Westphal, who has been nominated to serve as the U.S. Ambassador to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.

We would look with great concern on the use of force or coercion in the region.

I think the next Pearl Harbor is going to be cyber.

I would suggest--and I hope you agree--that one of your missions is to continually assess the readiness and effectiveness of the ANSF.

I certainly hope people are listening around here, because ever since I've been here everybody's been saying that, but it doesn't seem to change.

I commend you for taking this command and look forward to working with you on it.

We have one 45-year-old Coast Guard icebreaker. Is that correct?

if the government that is left in place is not broadly representative of the country, if we have learned anything in the last month, it is that that is a crucial element in the stability of the country that we leave behind.

I believe you indicated in your prior submission that you felt it would be important for our country to accede to the Law of the Sea Treaty.

Do you agree that this is a significant issue that we need to pay attention to, just as we do compensation, training, and other matters under the jurisdiction of this committee?

I think there are large portions of the industrial base that are in threat simply because the amount of spending and investments and research and development (R&D) have been coming down.

I think it is important that the provision adopted by this committee not only would prohibit the buying of the remaining group, but immediately cut off spare parts which would, in effect, over a fairly short period of time, ground the entire fleet.

The Navy has no icebreaker capacity in the Arctic?

It strikes me that rather than an arbitrary date for leaving Afghanistan, it should be based upon conditions on the field.