Congress decided to elevate the JAGs so they would be in the room.

What I would like to do is actually get the group to go back and look at roles and missions in terms of the general officer force we would need and look at the SES and see how that has been growing or not growing.

I think maybe we need to reconstitute this committee to answer that basic question.

We had a very bad problem in the Bush administration that the Obama administration, quite frankly, has corrected.

We all believe in civilian control of the military, but what we do not want is some political appointee being able to shape legal advice to someone whose career is on the line.

To build on Senator Webb, this is a good hearing, and I was thinking, we will come in here--I have learned a lot.

If the Senator will yield for a second, that is a good point. We have been asked to go by both administrations. The Iraqis have a political problem. That is not lost upon us. Most people in most countries don't want hundreds of thousands…

I will add, if I may, the 3,000 number does not allow the missions that are obvious to most everybody who has looked at Iraq to be performed in a successful manner. That is the bottom line. That is why no one has thrown out 3,000 before…

That is a very good point, and that is exactly sort of where I was going to take this. That requires the footprint of thousands. We don't need 5,000, but I think 10,000 when you add it up is probably the bare minimum to do this. Because…

Yes. This was at a hearing for confirmation for General Austin. He said, We are inside the 10-yard line. Well, this is football season. I think most Americans can understand this great progress. He said, We have four downs. This is first…

If I may, trying to respond to the Senator's question, the answer is yes. But you don't have to believe me or Senator McCain. Ambassador Jeffrey, who is our U.S. Ambassador to Iraq, told us back in June when he was getting confirmed that…

My State just passed a voter ID law, and I want to congratulate the legislature in South Carolina.

But, I mean, let me talk about the Kiawah Island Resort, they're hosting the PGA, and please come, everybody, in August 2011.

how much time remains on our side? The PRESIDING OFFICER. There is 5\1/2\ minutes.

I would appreciate the Chair letting me know when 4 minutes has expired. Let us put this debate in context. In 2010, we had a major election in the country. The people who were elected in the House made promises to their constituents: If…

I thank the Chair. After 40 years, the evidence is in. The Congress is broken, and unless you change the system fundamentally, we are going to run our Nation into the ground. So I support a balanced budget amendment. Here is the way it…

I have had a chance to see in action on the ground judge advocates in Iraq and Afghanistan, doing things that didn't even exist 5 years ago.

I can tell you one thing that happened without any doubt, in my view, is that during the initial invasion of Iraq, people in the Pentagon were not listening as closely as they should about detainee operations.

Let it be said that Congress cares. We watch. We follow.

We have to come up with a way to reprocess beyond the French.

I would urge you to think outside the box and there are a bunch of companies out there who are dying to get into this business.

I think it was a mistake to shut down Yucca Mountain, but I don't see that changing any time soon.

If I may, we have our good colleague, a Naval intelligence officer, Senator Kirk from Illinois, and we will certainly yield to him now. But one last thought. America needs to do two things quickly: We need to get our fiscal house in order…

If I could try to answer the hostility question. When we are using Predator drones to bring down military targets, that, to me, is an acceptable situation in Libya. I do not want ground troops in Libya. The people in Libya do not want a…

Well, I thank the Senator. I will give my thoughts as briefly as I can. My first thought is that we live in incredibly dangerous times--exciting and dangerous. What is the Arab spring about? What are people asking for in Libya? They are…