Joe Manchin

I encourage Congress to review the legislation further.

What is the average annual number of training days for a soldier in the Army National Guard?

If the sequester remains in place, what type of end strength cuts, by Army component, do you project for the Army in fiscal year 2014?

I basically look at contractors--those jobs that the military men and women can do, and have done, in some period of our past that have been taken over by contractors.

So, it has to be a combination of that. We've already taken 80,000 out of the Active component.

By Congress not giving you the flexibility, we're basically just shooting ourself in the foot, if--literally.

What is the approximate number of contractors the Army presently has in its inventory?

Contractors are doing the same job as some of our military, side by side.

If we have to respond to Korea, I can't give them 2 years notice and slowly build up readiness. I need both.

If you want to keep them at the same readiness level as an Active component, you have to spend more and more money.

This budget largely ignores the caps that are in place under current law.

The President accelerated the draw down of forces this year.

I'm not sure we've learned as much from this experience as we should have, and are yet to truly unleash the full potential of an operational reserve.

I find that to be a reasonable target.

The 18- to 24-year-old veterans' unemployment rate is at 33 percent.

We want to make sure that criminals and the dangerously mentally ill can't get a firearm.

I've had many West Virginians ask me if we should go back to the draft.

The sequester and its caps are the law of the land.

The Active component/Reserve component is at appropriate levels.

I find it troubling that DOD will spend nearly $1 billion this year in unemployment compensation.

I truly believe that you are serious about reforming the DOD budget. Can you tell me--where is the common sense when contractors make so much more than our very own Secretary of Defense?

I do think Senator McCain's suggestion was an extremely helpful one.

Can you tell me about the Victims' Transitional Compensation Benefit Program?

Has this figure gone up or down since last year?

This is not, in my view, a time when we can afford to be shortchanging the Department of Defense, or our men and women in uniform.