Steve Buyer: “No, not at this particular time. If you became sensitive, that is your particular problem. In regard to the gentlewoman…”

“No, not at this particular time. If you became sensitive, that is your particular problem. In regard to the gentlewoman from California, I have great respect for you, and you have been a hawk with us on a lot of issues. But on this particular issue I am in agreement with the gentleman from South Carolina. The Bottom-Up Review became suspect. It became suspect because of how it came about. We have talked about this on the Committee on National Security often. And that is, and I have to say it again, when Bush-Powell put together the numbers for defense cuts, they cut the $50 billion. Les Aspin said I can go $60 billion further on top of the $50 billion. Then all of a sudden Bill Clinton is a candidate for President, endorses Les Aspin's $60 billion in cuts. None of us were surprised when Les Aspin became the Secretary of Defense. Low and behold, when we did the 5-year budget resolution, it was $127, $128 billion, on top of the existing $50 billion. Then all of a sudden, quickly, to cover themselves, Les Aspin comes to our committee and talks about having to do the Bottom-Up Review, a review of how to justify the numbers after the fact. That then made the Bottom-Up Review a very politically suspect document, and those of us then in the committee of the gentleman from Missouri last year then had to deal with the difficult decisions about the open secret in this town.”