Dan Coats: “I accept that fully. Having had the opportunity to work with Senator Feinstein on the Intelligence Committee, I do not…”

“I accept that fully. Having had the opportunity to work with Senator Feinstein on the Intelligence Committee, I do not hesitate for a second to accept her word and know she will keep it. It has been a pleasure to work with her on that committee. We spend many hours behind closed doors discussing issues of great importance to this country, and she has provided great leadership in that effort. I will look forward to working with the Senator from California, accept fully her offer. Hopefully, we can find a good solution to this issue. I could not agree with Senator Feinstein more that this is the first of many things, tough decisions we are going to have to make. If we are not flexible in making these decisions at this time of clear fiscal distress, we are going to be judged very harshly by the markets and by our constituents. They know we are spending too much. They know we need to make decisions, some of which will be painful. We are trying to do this in a way that does not become Draconian, and I appreciate the words of the Senator from California in terms of the willingness to sit down together and work this through. As the Senator said, this will be the first of many difficult days ahead.…”