I just want to confirm the conversation we had yesterday.

Is there any conversation at the Pentagon relative to derailing the F-22 multiyear contract or the bridge money?

One of the parts of yesterday's Washington Post articles on Walter Reed that alarmed me and I'm sure many others was that the patient, Private First Class Joshua Calloway, was still not tested for TBI 7 months after arriving in Walter…

As we have increasingly utilized the National Guard at home and overseas, it has become clear that the National Guard must be organized, trained, and equipped to serve as an integral part of our operational force, not a 'Strategic Reserve.'

It is clear, from this committee's discussion with Secretary Gates and General Petraeus, that the U.S. does not have sufficient troop levels in Iraq to secure the borders from Iran and Syria while maintaining our counterinsurgency…

If Tehran escalates its military actions in Iraq and threatens American forces or Iraqi citizens, I'm concerned about the possibility of the Iraq conflict as escalating to a regional conflict.

We will respond firmly.

Thank you for your responsiveness, Mr. Secretary. I want to wish you well and I want you to know that you do have my support.

So you were actually prepared to launch, if need be, and had confidence that, even though we were early in the process, had a missile threatened the United States, it could have been knocked down?

do you know what the number of new registered voters between the two presidential elections are in Florida, between 2000 and 2007?

I remember, early in the Bush administration, he talked about leaping-ahead technology.

Do you think it's a valid concern that we might do better if we delayed starting some of those projects?

I think Congress needs to do a better job of monitoring how we do it.

I have an understanding that, many times, in building highways, politicians are asked to build 10 highways when they only have enough money for 5.

Would you agree that it is an important thing for American people and this Congress to understand that there are principles of defeating an insurgency, and that sometimes it takes time?

I think that is a big problem for us.

We've created this situation in which the military, in my way of thinking, is the one entity that works in Iraq.

I couldn't agree more. I say to General Cartwright, I think we do need to think about those soldiers out there.