the chirm is done a great job. a lot of peoplepy that sequestration doesn't kick in until january. right now there are businesses and companies that are laying off people and not requiring people in an miss pags of those cuts coming. every day we wait is a blow to our economy. i do also feel and agree with the chairman in dealing with the budget with constraints and the drawdowns is one of the most critical tasks that this committee face. i worry on too many of those issues we have simply kicked the can down the road. it is arguuable that we start more thams than the next 10 years could possibly fund. yes, i would like to imagine a defense budget that continues to go up and up. but i'm also mindful of figures in 2011 we spent $3.6 trillion, we took in 2.3. that's a 1.3 trillion dollar gap. we are confronting major challenges. maybe we confront them by looking at every aspect of the budget, putting refuse knew on the table so the defense doesn't have to bear more of the burden f. you are 20% after budget that is 38 percent out of whack you're going to have a devil of a time not bein

chirm and for convening this hearing today to discuss this very important topic. marine debris resulting from last year's devastating earthquake and tsunami in japan. i think it is important to provide this kind of attention on and focus on this critical issue. on march 11, 2011 the island nation was struck by a 9.0 magnitude earthquake causing a tsunami that resulted in tremendous devastation as we all know killing nearly 16,000 with additional 3,000 missing and presumed dead. over 200 square miles were inundated, some waste traveled six miles inland reaching a maximum height over 100 feet in places. entire communities were washed to sea. this disaster was far worse than what had been previously been considered the worst case scenar scenario. in japan should be commend forward their effort in preparing for such a disaster. despite the tremendous loss of lives, countless people were saved by advance preparation. fr% of japan's coast was protected by sea walls and prompting warning of the major tsunami alloweded time for many to evacuate. but the height of the tsun