Judd Gregg: “I appreciate the Senator's brief explanation of his budget. I look forward to the longer version. We always appreciate…”

“I appreciate the Senator's brief explanation of his budget. I look forward to the longer version. We always appreciate his charts, which are well done. I congratulate staff. Let me start by thanking him and his staff for their courtesy. It has been professional, cordial, and very enjoyable to work with him and his staff on trying to pull this together in a way that is fair, honest, and everybody gets their 2 cents in. Obviously, there are philosophical differences here, but I greatly admire the chairman's commitment to governing fairly and making sure that everybody has a good chance of getting their points across. I admire his ability and his effectiveness as chairman of the committee. I enjoy working with him. There is a lot to talk about. It is hard to know where to start. I may not be as brief as my colleague, in fact, because there is so much to talk about, although I usually try to be terse and concise. Let's begin with where we are which is we are now functioning under economic policies put in place by President Bush and the Republican Congress that have produced extraordinary results for the American people.”