I think this hearing is important because this is the first formal institutional recognition that I have seen that Congress knows it is sick.

Neither party is willing to compromise for the good of the Nation.

I am afraid that our start/stop government is giving everybody whiplash. America is the victim.

Congress must come up with a good answer this year.

We have run government too long by continuing resolution instead of annual appropriations.

most of us don't really care if it is a duplicative program as long as it sounds good to kids or seniors or veterans.

If every politician were here who denounced waste, fraud, and abuse, this hearing room would be packed.

the political reward system is such that we are primarily benefited if we have good news speech material that excites voters back home.

To my knowledge not one person, either military or civilian, has been punished in any way for one of the worst scandals in the 150-year history of Arlington National Cemetery.

But how do I look folks in the eye back home and say there has been accountability?

I am worried that we are hearing a whole lot more about accounting and bureaucracy than we are hearing about accountability.