I just want to make clear that this Committee fully appreciates not only your professionalism but your integrity.

I absolutely respect his independence and his integrity.

I think all of us know the financial systems and internal controls at DOD need improvement.

I personally applaud you for doing that. I think Senator Gregg has been very clear about our concerns about this not being done in the past.

The suggestion we do not have to do anything is just not being straight with people.

We are on a collision course with reality, and the reality is we cannot afford as a Nation all of the things that we are doing.

my understanding that the operations of those institutions are included in the CBO budget numbers now, but not in the OMB numbers.

Senator Gregg and I, who joined together after 2 years of working together on a proposal, were delighted to get 53 votes in the Senate.

In the short term, we have got to strengthen this recovery.

I give the administration high marks for what you have done thus far to avert what I believe would have been a global financial collapse.

Clearly, the Federal budget is on an unsustainable path, and while nobody can predict at exactly what point excessive debt would lead us to a fiscal crisis, we can all agree that we would rather not find out.