I wanted to echo on the question that Senator Brown had asked you about the Guard and Reserve and the role of the Guard and Reserve.

I would hope that you would look at this as a very important security issue.

I would ask you to look carefully at, because it is one that demonstrates again why we need a detention facility that ensures the security of these individuals so that they don't just go back to other countries that will just release them…

People are very concerned. The 19 Senators that signed that letter, we're concerned that releasing him back to the Iraqis is like releasing him back into the theater.

If we fail to have the political courage in Congress to make the difficult decisions... do you think this will make us less safe as we look forward?

Over the long-term, history shows that a nation's economic strength is the foundation of its national security.

The Nation cannot have a strong defense without a strong economy; therefore I view the deficit crisis and corresponding deep cuts in defense as one of the most significant challenges to the entire national security community.

One of the concerns with a more aggressive recommendation, of course, is, as Senator McCain has outlined, given the progress we have made in Afghanistan, that that progress, we could see a regression of that progress.

As far as you understand it, is Guantanamo Bay still off the table in terms of being used for that type of facility?

With that many contractors that you're currently relying on, and relying on additional contractors as this transition is made, are you confident that there's sufficient oversight to address waste, fraud, and abuse with taxpayer dollars…

Do you anticipate any enhanced force presence in Kuwait in case there is an emergency in Iraq from either Iranian aggression or some other form, where security regresses in Iraq?

I want to also thank our men and women in the armed forces for their sacrifice and the tremendous progress that we've made in Iraq.

Thank you, Madam Chairman.

What a shame for a European leader to make such a statement.

Bringing someone like Natalia to testify before the U.S. Senate is a wonderful thing to do.

we will continue on this committee and in the Senate to watch very closely what happens and to do everything we can to try and address the repression that you are experiencing.

The integrity of the elections was so flawed and so bad that it requires that election to be held again.

I hope the Congress will move forward with quickly, and that, too, would send a signal of both support.