Congress must do its part to make sure that funded programs are effective and efficient, in keeping with our roles as stewards of the public trust and of taxpayer dollars.

I believe you made a comment that the cost of the DOD healthcare system has tripled in the last 10 years.

If the argument goes that if you cast a wider net, you'll get a better candidate...

there is a notion of a moral contract.

I want to be really clear here. I grew up in the U.S. military, the first institution in this country to be racially integrated, in 1948.

The most important issue I feel is community support of the servicemembers and their families.

A Veteran--AD, Reserve, NG, or Retired is someone who, at one point in their life, wrote a blank check made payable to 'The United States of America,' for an amount of 'up to and including my life.'

That's a huge leadership question, too, when you turn around to people who are out there really having to do the hard work, and you can turn around and say somebody came in for a change of command for 2 days and got this huge break.

I think so much of it comes from the improvised explosive devices, where people are inside vehicles and you have this echoing impact that a regular blast, in other wars, did not really experience.

the TRICARE fee increase proposal violates a moral contract that the government has with those who served in the military.

To take care of him, his orphan, and his widow is a cost of war.

Congress is taking a very careful look at budgets and spending levels; and DOD is not immune.