I want to follow up on the line of questioning that some of our members have already raised with you.

Just last week former Secretary of Defense William Perry testified before this committee that the agreement with our citizen-soldiers had been shattered.

Should we also be looking at improving the benefits for National Guard and reservists?

I think it is simply wrong for us to send troops into harm's way without fully equipping them.

Are we not asking too much of our National Guard?

Second.

You have said many times that you do not want to send one more American soldier to Iraq than is necessary to perform the mission.

If you are confirmed, will you continue to advocate for a 313-ship fleet?

I hope to increase awareness and improve care for TBI, PTSD, and other psychological effects of war.

the National Guard and Reserves are no longer Strategic Reserves but are instead now Operational Reserves.

Yes, absolutely--the Army Guard and Reserve will receive the exact same education and training as the Active Force.

I am concerned about consolidation trends which have had an adverse impact on competition opportunities for the DOD.

I believe that the men and women of Portsmouth Naval Shipyard warrant greater support from the Navy in modernizing the shipyard's dated facilities.

If you are confirmed, will you evaluate the imposed workforce levels at the public shipyards, including Portsmouth, to ensure that they're sufficient to handle emergency and other unforeseen work on Navy ships and submarines?

I believe industry consolidation through mergers or acquisitions can limit the number of competitors and thus the opportunity for competition.

I hope that Hurricane Katrina has illustrated to you the risks that a one-shipyard acquisition strategy would have entailed.

Stability is key. You cannot have a democracy without stability.

I don't think we've done enough to empower Mahmoud Abbas by way of example.