What we do is give Congress a perspective on what's actually happening out there because we hear from our members about the problems they face on a day-to-day basis.

He's been a champion for veterans and he's going to be sorely missed.

What he is saying basically is they don't want to have a situation like in Vietnam where guys were going to Canada to get out of serving or have that kind of adverse publicity.

I am thrilled that Congress has received the President's report accepting the recommendation of the BRAC Commission to keep Submarine Base New London open, ... This is an enormous victory not only for Connecticut, but for our national security.

That changed the whole perspective. But from my point of view, I wasn't going to walk down to Sheila (Murphy) and tell her when I found out 'Hey, I'm going to walk away now.' We knew it was going to be difficult. But the kids have been great.

From my perspective, knowing what we had to do and how it was supposed to go, I don't see any glitches. Obviously, the clocks and scoreboard were different and the music playing was a bit of a distraction. I'm sure I'll get some e-mails and phone calls tomorrow and I'll talk with the coaches, and if it makes sense to do it again, we'll do it again.