Thanks very much, Mr. Duma. We'll have 7-minute rounds of questions.

You're investing a set amount of money, and you may not get what you asked for in the end.

I rise today to honor the Center for Excellence in Education, CEE, for launching the first National Lab Skills Symposium. As an honorary member of the board of trustees for the center, I have witnessed firsthand the important work CEE had…

I think what we have found consistently over 15 years of looking at these programs and I would say this now, there does seem to be some reason for optimism with the acquisition reforms that are in place.

Thanks very much, Senator Hagan.

is this lack of focus a major reason for the forthcoming Nunn-McCurdy breach on this program?

Yes, understood. I know, Mr. Duma, the DOT&E did not agree that increment 1 provided an increased operational capability.

Good enough. Thank you. I'll follow those developments with some interest and look forward to working with you on them.

how soon will we know how much the JSF program has breached its baseline estimates?

It's quite remarkable how our troops have managed to do as well as they have.

It's important to pause for a moment to acknowledge the service, heroism, and professionalism of the American military.

There has been broad support for the JSF program here in Congress, but the TACAIR shortfalls that the Services are projecting are very unsettling.

The Army looked at its requirements, holistically, and I think made the right decision on the Comanche program to reinvest in Army aviation.

The Department of the Navy fully supports both the F-35B and F-35C variants for deterrence and strike from the sea.

Over the 5-year period--it would be 53.

Our Nation is deeply grateful.

That's a really interesting answer because in a way it's a variant on Secretary Gates' 80 percent solution.

these considerations give rise to the possibility that, like the Navy, the Air Force should be considering a mix of 5th generation aircraft like the F-35 and some portion of the fleet that would be perfectly capable of operating in wartime…

But allow us to mature them in the hands of soldiers and find out if they are or not.

Why is this JSF, which all of us acknowledge is an extraordinary program and a great plane, why is it now behind schedule and costing so much more than we thought it would cost?

a good friend once wisely said to me that it is only a very short road that has no turns. The road that health care reform has traveled to get to the Senate has been very long and has had many turns. Its path to us might well be described…

I support collective bargaining rights for TSOs, although I understand any contract that was negotiated would have to put their security responsibilities first.

As you said, we travel a lot and we see a lot of TSOs, and on two occasions now I have had TSOs sort of, in a friendly way, follow me out and ask me for a moment and say they were concerned that promotions within TSA were being done on…

I think any system, particularly one with this much responsibility, can benefit from a fresh look.

It just seems to me and I would bet it would seem to most travelers that if we have this 400,000 TSDB list... it is at least worth running the name of every passenger going on a plane through the computers.