honorable robert walker needs little introduction. former chairman of this committee. bob lead this committee from 1995-1997, and since retired from congress after 20 years of elected office is now the executive chairman of wexler and walker public policy associates. welcome, bob. our next witness is retired major general ronald sega. general sega is here today in his capacity as the coach of the national research council committee on nasa strategic direction. general sega currently serves as vice president of enterprise executive for energy and environment for colorado state university and ohio state university. he led a very distinguished career in u.s. air force and that nasa. most weaselly as under secretary of the air force. dod executive for space and prior to that as director of defense research and technology. as an astronaut he flew to space shuttle sts 60 and 1994, and sts 761996. in general, we certainly welcome you. we next welcome the honorable marion blakely was the president and ceo of aerospace industries association, representing more than 150 leading a

it gives me pleasure now to recognize robert walker. i have listened to bob as a democrat and republican and i have respected him always as both. we recognize you for five minutes. or as long as you might take, bob. >> thank you very much. thank you for the warm welcome. i want to first congratulate you for the leadership of given to this committee. you have led it with grace and good humor. you've given chairman smith a strong base upon which to build the science, technology, and space leadership for the future. thank you for all of you have contributed here. if you believe as i do that humankind's destiny lies in the stars, if you believe as i do that nasa should be an instrument in the fulfilment of that destiny, the work of preparing nasa for the daunting challenges of strategy, budget and relevance in the 21st century is truly the work of shaping the future. the recently released report by the national research council does a detailed job of documenting the challenges that nasa faces. lack of adequate resources, lack of a agreed up

now to talk about this and more, former democratic congressman and former republican congressman robert walkerow executive chairman of wexler and walker. good to have you here. >> let's start with yesterday's hearing. gabriel giffords. her testimony striking, moving . what's so affective about having her testify. is it the content of what she's talking about or is it her and seeing how she is now? many of these people knew her when she was serving on the hill. tell me about the impact her appearance will have on these congress people? >> well, i think what's going to happen is that both her and her husband have made a decision they are going to keep the pressure on to make sure some kind of gun control measure is passed to congress. and she's a great example of what happens when somebody has a high capacity magazine weapon and caused all the damage they did in tuscan. she describings a core of people she's shot in the head point blank and still there. >> she strikes the emotions of people about the harm that guns can do. but also a prime example of deranged people who carry out these acts and

with me at the table, arie, vickie, assistant dean, robert and co-founder of no label, david walker,f the office at gao. nice to have you all here. okay. so -- we have big problems. huge issues that need to be solved in our country. it looks like we are going to be lurching every six weeks to another silly drip drap showdown for four years. is that what we are looking at here? >> what the republicans have done is always keeping this administration on the defense from a fiscal standpoint. your point was brilliant in how you worded it. every six months we have the conversation where the republican party wants to be. they want to rebrand themselves as fiscal austerity and fiscal restraint. medicare part d and iraq. that was so ten years ago. but to my earlier point, what's interesting is i'm surprised how defensive the white house hanover the last two years on this issue. to your point, what the republicans are trying to do, i suspect, is drag this along, continue the conversation and force president obama into a lame duck session where he's going to be much more weakened going into his

walker bushs a great man. >> agree on that. >> me, too. robertro, thank you so much. >>> gun control activists take on walmart. a rally begins just minutes from now urging the nation's biggest gun retailer to stop selling assault weapons. [ male announcer ] it's simple physics... a body at rest tends to stay at rest... while a body in motion tends to stay in motion. staying active can actually ease arthritis symptoms. but if you have arthritis, staying active can be difficult. prescription celebrex can help relieve arthritis pain so your body can stay in motion. because just one 200mg celebrex a day can provide 24 hour relief for many with arthritis pain and inflammation. plus, in clinical studies, celebrex is proven to improve daily physical function so moving is easier. celebrex can be taken with or without food. and it's not a narcotic. you and your doctor should balance the benefits with the risks. all prescription nsaids, like celebrex, ibuprofen, naproxen and meloxicam have the same cardiovascular warning. they all may increase the chance o