I am confident that those objectives, which GEN Allen has outlined in his campaign strategy for SOF, can be accomplished even in the face of GPF reductions.

Securing our hemisphere is absolutely critical to our national security.

We must be careful not to compromise homeland missile defense for the sake of theater missile defense or budget shortfalls.

We need to treat it as a national security imperative.

I appreciate your leadership, General Fraser, in trying to confront that.

With the looming threat of sequestration, we must also understand the consequences of such severe cuts on the effectiveness of your commands.

I want to thank General Jacoby and the entire NORTHCOM command for their work in building a relationship with Mexico to try to find ways to help them in any way we can to, you know, get back control of their country, quite simply.

I laud the heroic efforts of Mexican security service personnel and public officials, who--make no mistake--are risking their lives and the lives of their families in a war against these brutal criminal enterprises.

I agree with the chairman in his assessment both of what those threats are and how important they are to our national security.

I am also very focused on the cyber-security challenge.

Without question, U.S. service men and women play a crucial role in maintaining these relationships and in promoting peace in the Pacific.