I look forward to working with you to ensure that we have the right footprint and that we use eminent domain only as a last resort.

We have a new, and we hope a final plan for the VA Medical Center on the Fitzsimons Campus in Aurora, Colorado.

I am glad to have the chance to testify today about the new--and, we hope, final--plan for the VA Medical Center on the Fitzsimons campus in Aurora, Colorado.

It is again one of the highest priorities for the VA.

Sometimes veterans, Mr. Chairman, have to wait months to see a doctor, and veterans with spinal cord injuries have to travel to other States for treatment.

I want to thank my colleague, Representative Perlmutter, for his hard work, and our former colleague, Senator and now Secretary Salazar, for leading the charge when it looked like the VA was going to back away from its promise to build a…

That's why the proposal for the development of a state-of-the-art veterans' facility at Fitzsimons was a centerpiece of the VA's capital construction plan under the Capital Asset Realignment for Enhanced Services, or CARES program.

I welcome you and the Congressional Oversight Panel to Greeley.

I have taken many actions to try to help the people of northeastern Colorado who have been hit hard by the agricultural and credit crisis.

I look forward to reviewing the Panel's report that will result from this hearing.

I have the pleasure of introducing an extraordinary Coloradan, Ms. Anne Castle for confirmation to the important post of Assistant Secretary for Water and Science.

But what sticks out the most about Anne is her proven capacity to build consensus among a broad range of stakeholders.

We need somebody who is capable of finding pragmatic solutions to difficult problems and building broad consensuses.

I believe having a Westerner, especially one who is one of the Nation's foremost experts on water and natural resource law leading the fight offers a unique chance for success.

I voted against the second disbursement of the TARP money because I believed the immediate crisis had been mitigated.

So my question is, is the taxpayer seeing a return on this expenditure?

Is there a need for a strategy to rapidly develop and deliver cyber capabilities for the Air Force missions?

I want to thank the panel again and commend you for creating what I think I could characterize as a realistically idealistic approach to a world without nuclear weapons.

I think the Russians were at some points of that conflict in the 80s in Afghanistan called 'turtles' by the Mujahedin because they were so burdened by their armor.

But I know the effect of even an additional pound on your ability to maneuver, to stay fit, to stay healthy. So I commend you for what you're doing.

General Chiarelli, is 15 BCTs still the requirement?

General Casey has recently halted the Army's plan to replace the percent Effective (PCTEF) level with Directed Mission Level, or D-Level, and Core function reporting, or C-Level.

I hear you suggesting he would have a fair amount of discretion as to what kind of body armor and protective equipment he requires of his men and women in the field.

Are you concerned at all that this ability obfuscates a unit's true readiness status, specifically, if a unit operates with a limited amount of equipment or people?

General Chiarelli, does this account for the eight AABs?