Secretary of State Clinton testified on U.S. goals and progress in Afghanistan and Pakistan. She said the U.S. is in the preliminary stages of diplomatic outreach to the Taliban in an effort to find a political solution to the war in Afghanistan, saying reconciliation is "not a pleasant business, but a necessary one." She spoke in full support of President Obama’s plan to bring home 33,000 troops by September 2012 and admitted to a vigorous debate inside the White House over the timing of that withdrawal.