I just have to tell you, just from the seat of the pants looking at this, and one of the concerns I have in looking at General Shinseki's famous chart that he wished he had never put together.

I just want to follow up on what Senator Lieberman was saying.

It has been really one of the singularly most gratifying working relationships that I have had.

I will sign my name under that statement, every word of it.

Congress shares some of this blame, as it has taken funds from these crucial accounts and used them to pay for the near-term modernization or procurement needs of today's military.

Mr. Aldridge and Dr. Etter, please address how funding levels for DOD basic research impact not only military capabilities, but also the pool of skilled scientists and engineers who will drive innovation and change.

Using the Army Science Board to study this issue makes sense and I wholly support their effort.

Dr. Andrews, based on your assessment of historical trends for Army Science and Technology investment, are these reasonable dates?

I offered an amendment to the Senate's Fiscal Year 2002 Budget Resolution which calls for increasing the level of Department of Defense basic research.

Do you believe that the Army will receive the level of financial support from the Office of the Secretary of Defense (OSD) to aggressively support this process?

Do you see that as creating an incentive for the private sector to do more research funding?

Mr. Aldridge and Dr. Etter, do you believe that the levels of funding for basic research are adequate to propel transformation throughout the services?