you can call and talk with chris shays and charles tiefer.ere are the phone numbers -- also twitter, facebook, and e- mail. first call, from san diego, forests, honor democrat line -- forest, on our democratic line. caller: what was the iraqi democratic unit changed to the united states dollar? i have been trying to find that out for years. why was the chains to the u.s. dollar -- why was it changed to the u.s. dollar? guest: the gross domestic product is about $1 billion, the economy of thethe country. i would guess their currency was meaningless and worthless. you have so many u.s. dollars in the country. host: kbr has been mentioned a few times. we got hundreds and hundreds of calls about kbr and their role in iraq. do you agree with the assessment? guest: for the next 10 years, we have contingencies and you are the only player. a lot of companies bid on it and they won it. they got this huge windfall. the government was at fault in not going to -- they were way too late and now you have three companies that are allowed to bid on certain c

you can call and talk with chris shays and charles tiefer. here are the phone numbers -- also twitter, facebook, and e- mail. first call, from san diego, forests, honor democrat line -- forest, on our democratic line. caller: what was the iraqi democratic unit changed to the united states dollar? i have been trying to find that out for years. why was the chains to the u.s. dollar -- why was it changed to the u.s. dollar? guest: the gross domestic product is about $1 billion, the economy of thethe country. i would guess their currency was meaningless and worthless. you have so many u.s. dollars in the country. host: kbr has been mentioned a few times. we got hundreds and hundreds of calls about kbr and their role in iraq. do you agree with the assessment? guest: for the next 10 years, we have contingencies and you are the only player. a lot of companies bid on it and they won it. they got this huge windfall. the government was at fault in not going to -- they were way too late and now you have three companies that are allowed to bid on certain

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 contracts that had been let, the amount of

thanks to the commission members, particularly the co-chairs, michael tebow and former congressman chris shaysmber 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 that had been let, the amount of the c

i am co-chair with my partner, chris shays, who is -- he and i will handle the initial parts of this briefing. each commissioner will also participate. first, i would like to introduce senator webb from the state of virginia. he is one of the two conferences, why we are today -- two cosponsors, why we are here today. we are grateful for senator webb's support, we are grateful that senator what is your day to provide his comments. i look forward to his comments, as you do. senator webb? >> it is a pleasure to be able to come here today and to thank all the members of this commission for the work that they have done on on this issue. this is the way that congressional commissions should work, bipartisan, high energy, comprised of a highly qualified people who are brought in for a specific period of time. this is a sunsetted commission, which is why you are having the out-briefing today, and will continue to maintain a very high-profile careers out in the community once this is over. they have come up with specific recommendations. as a member of the senate, one of the two co-sponsors o

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 contracts that had been let, the amount of