with humility and a deep sense of reverence for this body, I rise today to address my colleagues in the Senate. Serving in this historic Chamber is truly an honor. On this floor, men and women of strong character gather together to…

I just wanted to also add my support for the comments that Senator Lieberman made about what I see right now as an inherent contradiction in our policy of being able to obtain the objectives that we've identified in Libya.

I think we all appreciate that it is important that we have safety measures to prevent these accidents.

Having the incentive structure to do any type of effort like this is very important.

Secretary Hale, the Army assumed an unemployment rate of over 9 percent through fiscal year 2015.

Secretary Hale, if DOD decides to reverse the proposal, would you expect to get the $6 billion back in the top line in fiscal year 2015?

Secretary Hale, what other Department-wide efficiency initiatives are subject to the uncertainty of world events?

Given the recent tragic events in Japan, is DOD currently reassessing the terms of the agreement?

Secretary Westphal, the Army proposes to save $1.5 billion on MILCON costs by sustaining existing facilities, but does not propose a corresponding increase to the facility sustainment account.

The Army's enterprise governance approach supports transforming business operations and obtaining best possible outcomes by using broad collaboration.

Secretary Hale, in this day and age of warehouse retail outlets and specialty grocery chains, has a business cases assessment been accomplished to compare the competitiveness and efficiency of exchanges and commissaries run by DOD to…

The GAO report noted that DOD spends billions of dollars annually on military installations around the world.