dr. fleming of louisiana. >> thank you gentlemen for being here today. you had distinguished careers and we all appreciate the great work you are doing. first of all, i get what you are saying -- $465 billion in cuts that you are barely able to swallow and now we're talking about increasing that to over $1 trillion in four years and that tickets from a high risk level to a dangerous level. -- that takes us from a high risk level to a dangerous level. i knew we would be here today talking about these problems. my question -- my first question is for general shorts. -- general schwartz. i understand there is a decision not to initially certify the long-range strike bomber for nuclear operations. and air combat command, not global strike command will be the lead major command on the program. can you explain in detail the rationale behind these decision? i am concerned about de-emphasis on the nuclear role. with all these risks involved, that makes this world more dangerous place but the one area where there is no tolerance for risk is in the area of nuclear

dr. fleming, a member of the armed services committee. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from louisiana is recognized for two minutes. mr. fleming: i thank the gentleman. mr. speaker, i have listened carefully to the debate today and listening to the other side. mr. speaker, this body is hopelessly addicted to excessive spending and budget deficits. hopelessly. and the other side those who argue that we should not have a balanced budget amendment are hopelessly in denial, just like a drug addict is in denial about their addiction. we have 535 members. if you include the senate, that compete with one another to see how much money we can spend. we have an executive branch that does the same. republican or democrat, doesn't matter. we all do the same thing. there's absolutely no control or governor, if you will, on our excessive spending. and let's put this in perspective. in the 235 years since the founding of this great country, we have added $10.6 trillion to the national debt. in 2 1/2 years of this presidency, we have increased tha