andorning, everyone, welcome. i want to thank senator murray and the entire committee. patti and i have been talking. we are discussing the parameters of an agreement. we are not there yet. there is a big gap between our two budgets and case anyone has noticed. that is why we are talking. the reason why we are here is to get an agreement. we spent a lot of time talking about our differences. we got that part down cold. the hard part is skittering out where we agree. i am not going to start -- the hard part is figuring out where we agree. i will start with dr. elmendorf. he will give us the long-term economic outlook. i will recognize any member for two minutes or for discussion or to ask a question. people can be recognized more than once if they choose to do so. we intend to adjourn at noon. with that i would like to recognize senator murray before we recognize dr. elmendorf. >> thank you to dr. elmendorf for being here today. nation isze our facing some serious economic challenges. our economy is recovering, but far too slowly. our highest priority has to be making su