Kent Conrad: “I believe it is so critical for us at this juncture in history to join together as Republicans and Democrats.”

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.

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…

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

It takes guts to do that, and Chairman Arrington, you have certainly led the charge on having a commission.