mr. skelton: mr. speaker, i yield myself such time as i may consume. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized. mr. skelton: i also ask unanimous consent that that all members may have five legislative days to revise and extend their remarks on the conference report currently under consideration. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. the gentleman is recognized. mr. skelton: mr. speaker, i'm pleesed to bring before the house the conference report -- pleased to bring before the house the conference report on 2647, the national defense authorization act for fiscal year 2010. i especially want to thank my ranking member, my good friend, buck mckeon, the gentleman from california, our partners in the senate, senator carl levin and senator john mccain, and all the conferees from the armed services and 13 other committees who have made this conference report a reality. mr. mckeon, brand new as member -- as ranking member of our committee hit the ground running and has done yeoman's work, an

mr. skelton: mr. speaker, in a mind's eye, picture a young army corporal preparing to drive down a road in his security vehicle to help in an ongoing firefight in the mountains of afghanistan. picture in your mind this young corporal dressed in the army fatigue uniform, and m-1682 standard issue rifle in his hand, with bullets made in america for that m-16a2. he is in the latest security vehicle provided by the united states army. that m-16a2 rifle was furnished by the congress of the united states. the ammunition for that rifle was furnished by the congress of the united states. the body armor on that soldier was funnished by the congress of the united states. and the vehicle in which he rides that security vehicle, was furnished by the congress of the united states. as this young soldier, this young corporal goes down the road, look at that soldier and answer the question, did you vote to support me as a >>> the committee will come to order. we welcome our guests, witnesses this morning, as well as

mr. skelton: mr.eld myself such time as i may consume. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized. mr. skelton: i also ask unanimous consent that that all members may have five legislative days to revise and extend their remarks on the conference report currently under consideration. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. the gentleman is recognized. mr. skelton: mr. speaker, i'm pleesed to bring before the house the conference report -- pleased to bring before the house the conference report on 2647, the national defense authorization act for fiscal year 2010. i especially want to thank my ranking member, my good friend, buck mckeon, the gentleman from california, our partners in the senate, senator carl levin and senator john mccain, and all the conferees from the armed services and 13 other committees who have made this conference report a reality. mr. mckeon, brand new as member -- as ranking member of our committee hit the ground running and has done yeoman's work, and i particular

mr. skelton, what about the house? >> i think the house would support a gentleman... general mcchrystal that is running the show. there's no question. >> schieffer: you think they would. >> i think so. >> schieffer: i'm sorry our time is up. thank you all for a very interesting round table. back with the final word in just a second. tdd# 1-800-345-2550 yeah, i know what you mean... tdd# 1-800-345-2550 when my broker said, "i make money when you make money," tdd# 1-800-345-2550 he neglected to mention tdd# 1-800-345-2550 he also makes money when i lose money, tdd# 1-800-345-2550 withdraw money or do nothing with my money. tdd# 1-800-345-2550 tdd# 1-800-345-2550 ♪ bank of america lends nearly 3 billion dollars to individuals, institutions, schools, organizations and businesses in every corner of the economy. america. growing stronger. every day. >> and finally today, this is going to come as a surprise to some but the world did not end friday. and from what i heard all week, a lot of people thought it might. if the president flew to copenhagen and failed to bring home t

mr. president, if you want more troops in afghanistan. and the democrats were badly split over it with people like eick skelton and others saying they would be more supportive of more troops. a lot of democrats in that meeting were uncomfortable with sending troops to afghanistan. bill: is he crazy or what? he is running behind in nevada, may lose the next election. what's going on with him? >> look, he does this all the time. he believe united states. he comes out of a meeting and says things that he thinks are either helpful to his cause or in this instance helpful to his president. and but they are not true. and he would say these things when president bush was in office, not supportive of bush but antagonistic to bush that were not representative of the spirit of the meeting that he came from. yesterday did he it to nancy pelosi by suggesting that the house democrats who were in that meeting were supportive of afghanistan, which they clearly weren't and aren't. bill: pelosi now finds herself in a position where she must think that reid is crazy or doesn't really grasp what's going on and this is a problem when you have the two leaders

mr. speaker, whether he in his leadership will call on general mcchrystal to testify before congress as soon as possible. i note as the gentleman well knows that chairman skelton has been reported to have made such a request of his leadership. i yield. mr. hoyer: i thank the gentleman for yielding. as the gentleman probably knows, i have also indicated i thought general mcchrystal should come to the congress and testify not only before the committees but perhaps brief a bipartisan session. i don't mean an address, but bipartisan briefing. either in the armed services committee or on the floor here or in the auditorium. i think that's appropriate. as the gentleman knows, the president has been involved in very extensive consultation with the cabinet members that deal with the national security issues. including chairman of the joint chiefs, admiral mcmullen, including general jones, the national security advisor, secretary clinton, vice president, and others who are dealing with this issue. as you know there has been no specific request directed to the congress at this point in time. either by general mcchrystal, secretary gates, or the president. . specific pl