Cohen looks back, pushes for pay hikes

On issues his designated successor, Donald Rumsfeld, needs to address:

I think that the selection of Donald Rumsfeld is a truly outstanding choice. I have known Don Rumsfeld for some time and I've worked very closely with him on a number of issues, and I think he'll be a great Secretary of Defense.

I called him last week and I was sitting behind my desk and I said, "Don, I'm sitting here making a list of 10 things I think you should address." And then, "Unfortunately, however, it's now up to 48." And we chuckled about that on the phone, but he came to my office a few days ago and we sat down and went through all 48 of the items, for two hours, that I wanted to alert him to, all the way from NATO issues, relations with China, Russia, some of the other major issues he will have to contend with, budgetary and otherwise.

On recruitment and retention:

I think of all the issues, certainly we have to keep the focus on the people in the military--recruitment, retention, quality-of-life issues, to begin with, certainly, because without having the best and the brightest continue to be in the military, then all of the sophisticated equipment that we have will not be of any use to us. So focusing upon what we need to do to make sure that we continue to retain and to recruit the best possible people.

On the need for military pay increases:

I think that President-elect Bush is going to call for a sufficient--for an increase that will be sufficient to keep his campaign promise in that regard, and I wholeheartedly endorse it. We need to pay our people more, and we will. And unless we're able to pay them more and to compensate them in a number of different ways--and I've talked about some in the past, the housing inequity, for one--it will take--I put, as I recall, allocated about $3 billion in the budget just for reducing the inequity of people who are forced to live off-base versus those who have the benefit of living on.

On his future plans:

I intend to start a small consulting group. I intend to lecture whenever I can. I intend to try to get back to do a little bit of writing. I intend to stay engaged in foreign policy/defense policy issues, as an outside observant--and perhaps have a different pace of life for a while.

On being Defense Secretary:

This is the best job that one can have in government. And I say, bar any position in government, this is the best, because you're representing the best military in the world. And for those of you who come to work here every day, I don't need to tell you the kind of excitement you feel when you're around people who are so highly motivated and dedicated and patriotic and they're can-do people. There's no other department, there's no other agency in government that has, I think, that kind of spirit. So I have loved every moment of being here. There have been sad moments. Being out at Andrews Air Force Base and receiving the bodies of those who were killed during the bombings. The USS Cole and, you know, going down and meeting with the families, or seeing the V-22 go down with 19 Marines aboard, and previously to that. I didn't consider this to be a job. This really has been a joy, for me and my wife Janet. I mean, I can't--if she were here, she would tell you even more emphatically what it has meant to us to be with the people who serve us.

So I would say, I leave this not with regret, because a four-year time frame for this job, I think, is probably more than enough. Some have done it longer, but I think there are more demands today than ever before. And many of you know that we have traveled something like 800,000 miles in four years, and that doesn't count the trips to Capitol Hill or over to the White House. But it's very demanding in terms of what is required of a Secretary of Defense.