[inaudible conversations] [background sounds] >> i gather that, unfortunately, michael tebow, co-chair of the commission, cannot be here. as you all know, former deputy director of the defense contract audit agency and worked very hard on the report. i am delighted that mr. thibault's co-chair is here today, my dear friend and former colleague from connecticut in the house, chris shays, who served during his time here as a senior member of the house oversight and government reform financial services committee and on the homeland security committee and had a particular interest in this kind of matter which is to say protecting taxpayer dollars. we also have, um, with us clark err visible, robert henke, is it -- you say schinasi? schinasi. charles tiefer and dov zakheim who is no stranger to us because of his time in the department of defense. ms. schinasi, i gather you've been voted the spokesperson. >> yes, that's correct. >> thank you all for the extraordinary work you did here. and i join my colleagues, the creators of the commission, senators mccaskill and webb, in thanking you for

. >> i'd like to express my thanks to the commission members, particularly the co-chairs, michael tebowormer congressman chris shays, a number of their fellow commissioners and professional staff are here today. they did an an exemplary job. we talk in the senate and in the congress about presidential commissions and sometimes with a great deal of kept sit. but i think this -- skepticism, but i think this commission demonstrates the way these commissions should work. it was bipartisan, it was independent, it was high energy, it was composed of highly qualified people who were brought in for a specific period of time, and it's going to be sunsetted in a very short period of time having brought these observations and recommendations before the senate. when i came to the senate in '07, one of the real eye openers for me as a member of the senate formulations committee was a hearing in which the department of state was testifying about $32 billion in funding for programs for iraq reconstruction projects, and i asked the government witness to provide the committee a list of the contracts tha

. >> i'd like to express my thanks to the commission members, particularly the co-chairs, michael tebow and former congressman chris shays, a number of their fellow commissioners and professional staff are here today. they did an an exemplary job. we talk in the senate and in the congress about presidential commissions and sometimes with a great deal of kept sit. but i think this -- skepticism, but i think this commission demonstrates the way these commissions should work. it was bipartisan, it was independent, it was high energy, it was composed of highly qualified people who were brought in for a specific period of time, and it's going to be sunsetted in a very short period of time having brought these observations and recommendations before the senate. when i came to the senate in '07, one of the real eye openers for me as a member of the senate formulations committee was a hearing in which the department of state was testifying about $32 billion in funding for programs for iraq reconstruction projects, and i asked the government witness to provide the committee a list of the contrac