Thank you very much. That's good news.

If this occurs, it would be the first year in more than 20 years that our Navy will not be procuring a major surface combatant.

General Hagee, in preparation for OIF 2, you mentioned that the Marines are drawing on lessons learned from your sister Services, coalition partners, inter-departmental agencies, and the Marine Corps' own 'Small Wars' experience.

I hope you will consider working with the committee to come up with a more traditional request.

We really do need to preserve the important role that Congress plays.

I, for one, don't know whether or not to trust the intelligence estimates on North Korea now.

How do you envision the U.S. Navy's capability to meet current and growing worldwide threats with less than a 300-ship Navy?

As of January 30, 2004, our fleet consists of only 294 ships.

You have suggested that a more appropriate fleet size would be approximately 375 ships to meet current and future threats.

I've been following with interest your thoughts about a 'maritime' North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD).

This solves the problem. For one thing, it eliminates another 15-percent cut that is scheduled to go into effect in October of next year.

The regulatory overkill of the Clinton administration has already exceeded the savings projected by the balanced budget amendment.

Unfortunately, that is exactly right. Unbelievable though it may seem, the formula that is being used actually penalizes those agencies in our two States that have done a good job of holding down costs.

Senate Republicans are committed to enacting legislation to preserve, strengthen, and save Medicare for current and future generations.

The point is, cuts of this magnitude, that we have seen in the State of Maine and throughout the country, cannot be sustained without hurting senior citizens.

More than 2,300 home health agencies across the country have been forced to close their doors as a result of the regulatory burden and the flawed payment system.