Leon Panetta

if we repeated the mistake of not paying for the war that we decide to engage in, whatever that might be, the result would be that you would simply add more to the deficit and to the debt of this country for the future.

You're dealing with a very serious deficit issue and debt issue.

the Secretary has a prerogative with the Council of Governors, a dialog, to re-engage.

I suspect that if in fact it ultimately takes effect, we're going to have to do the same thing, sure.

that represents the potential for another Pearl Harbor, as far as the kind of attack that we could be the target of, using cyber.

President Obama has said that further reductions will continue 'at a steady pace' until the end of 2014 when Afghan forces will assume full responsibility for the security of their country.

I think that this is something that does have to be fully investigated, and it has to be very clear that this is intolerable if we're going to try to protect the defense of this country.

I recognize that there's no one in this subcommittee that wants to hollow out the force or weaken our defense structure.

the Department has made it clear that we prefer a smaller ready force to a larger force that lacks sufficient training and equipment to perform the mission assigned to it.

I happen to believe it, that mistakes were made on both sides.

I think that they are improving.

I think I've been able to reassure our allies and partners, that we have a strategy-based approach to dealing with national security.

I will just tell you that I tend to be very strong on our relationship with NATO, notwithstanding the Senator's concerns about the investment.

the potential in cyber to be able to cripple our power grid, to be able to cripple our Government systems, to be able to cripple our financial systems, would virtually paralyze this country.

I appreciate your leadership on this issue.

The Army's share of the cut could be almost $134 billion through 2017.

It is a distinct privilege and honor to have the opportunity to appear before this subcommittee of the Senate Appropriations Committee.

I come from this institution of the Congress, and I have great respect for you and for this institution.

If the automatic cuts of sequestration are allowed to take effect then the number of U.S. ground troops would fall to pre-1940 levels.

sequestration represents a reduction of nearly 20 percent in DOD funding over the next 10 years

I think there has to be a greater sense of urgency with regards to the cyber potential, not only now, but in the future.

it's important that we recognize the costs that are involved and that, frankly, all of us bear some responsibility to pay those costs if we're willing to engage in war.

This subcommittee enables our All-Volunteer Army to be the most decisive land force in the world.

We place an enormous value on the experience provided by the Reserve component, but we don't want to shift the warfighting burden to a part-time force.

It would be a disaster if sequestration happens, not only in terms of the amount of money that would be taken out of defense, but also in the way it would be taken out.