Chuck Grassley: “I will comment, not as comprehensively as he did, about some of the problems at the Department of Defense. I will read…”

“I will comment, not as comprehensively as he did, about some of the problems at the Department of Defense. I will read one paragraph from his speech. It is related to a lot of work that I have been doing in the Senate for quite a few years on the lack of accountability in cost management and inventory management and just generally the condition of the books in the Defense Department, which is also the basis for my remarks today. I quote from Senator Byrd's speech: So here's the question I have. If the Department of Defense does not know what it has in terms of assets and liabilities, how on Earth can it know what it needs? We are in the position where the new President of the United States is making a judgment of how much money he should suggest over the next few years to increase defense expenditures. The President this week is highlighting that. I think the President needs to be complimented. He has put off for a while until the new Secretary of Defense can do a study of Defense Department needs and missions before making the specific judgment of how much money should be spent.”