Cord Byrd: “I am referring to the cavalier treatment that we peons on the Armed Services Committee get from this great Secretary of…”

“I am referring to the cavalier treatment that we peons on the Armed Services Committee get from this great Secretary of Defense that we have downtown. He says, Well, Senator, we don't have that information. Here we are with the top man--the man at the Pentagon, the greatest defense department in the world, the most expensive one, the one that handles more money than any other defense department in the world. As a matter of fact, we are spending more money each year than all of the other 18 NATO nations combined, plus the six remaining rogue nations, plus China, plus Russia. That is almost half of the total moneys that the world spends for defense. We are treated like children by this Secretary of Defense: Well, Senator we don't have that information. It would seem to me that would be elemental. It would seem to me that a Secretary of Defense would know how much money we spend on national defense; that he would know how much money we are spending on average in Iraq per month. He would know that. He should know that would be one of the first questions he would be asked by the Armed Services Committee when he comes before it. I would think so. You are the Secretary of Defense. How much are we spending in Iraq monthly? Then to have to turn and say, Well, Senator, I don't have that information. It would take us a while to assemble it.”