I had a visit from Admiral Neffenger, who has been in Cleveland, and gotten to know him, and I want to say that the folks that you had at the 9th District have done a pretty darn good job and we're glad to have them in Cleveland in the…

What you're saying is that you do have the capability?

When we passed that legislation, there was an anticipation that these would be needed in terms of the security of our Nation.

So you're all set in that regard.

Well, the fact of the matter is that you're confident that the remaining teams that are in place can continue to get the job done?

So I'm getting at the need and if the substitute makes sense, because I'm sure the people from Michigan are unhappy about closing down one of those bases in Michigan.

I think we ought to find out about it.

Gone are the days when public officials will be judged on how much they spend on a problem. Public officials will be judged on whether they can work harder and smarter and do more with less.

So basically at this stage of the game and in terms of this budget, we're going to stay with the status quo, you finish your report, and the money for rehabbing these vessels would be in the next budget?

Madam Secretary, you know, when you were on Foreign Relations, people came in and said we need soft power, and you're it.

We view these not as nation building for Afghanistan, but as in the core security interests of the United States.

But the question is, How long is that going to have to continue to the point where we can kind of say, 'We've done our thing'?