Kent Conrad: “I am concerned continually, Mr. Secretary, about the process taking too long.”

Can I just respond quickly, Mr. Chairman, and say when Simpson-Bowles went down, a group of six of us in the Senate, three Democrats, three Republicans, were asked by leadership to see if we couldn't come up with a way forward to adopt the…

I thought he was an outstanding Committee Chairman, and my former intern has succeeded him in his Congressional seat.

We did a whole series of things in our Social Security reform not to discourage people from working, but to encourage them to continue working if they are able to do so.

We admire that, and I can say on both sides of the aisle, people recognize the job he did as Budget Committee Chairman.