The unemployment rate has been cut in half.

Let's remember, when George Bush left the Oval Office, the economy was in a death spiral.

Dr. Furman, when I asked you last year at this time whether this recession was like a 'common cold.' You said--rightly--that it was more like an economic heart attack.

There are some who disparage these achievements, claiming that the Obama recovery pales in comparison to 'average' recoveries--as if the economic meltdown during the last years of the Bush Administration was an 'average' recession.

If that is an area that you could provide the committee some more information on, we would be grateful for that.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I am glad you are keeping track, and I hope you are not alone in keeping track of this issue.

I think it is just not an area of concern for safety in terms of terrorist activity.

Thanks to the bold action of President Obama, Democrats in Congress and the Federal Reserve, we have steadily climbed back from this recession.

Access to affordable and reliable energy is key to stimulating economic growth and strengthening our global competitiveness.

I believe this decision is ill-advised, and it will force federal agencies to either compromise the critical work that they're doing in other areas, or shortchange the federal response to Zika and Ebola.

I found the findings of the Congressional Advisory Panel on the Governance of the National Security Enterprise, also known as the Augustine-Mies panel, to be quite sobering.

Accelerating clean energy innovation is essential to achieving the goal of limiting the rise in global temperatures to below 2 degrees Celsius.

the committee intends to continue its bipartisan oversight into how we can make the Nuclear Enterprise function more effective and efficient.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

This budget continues to reflect the President's priority and treat climate change as DOE's overriding concern.

Zika represents a serious threat to global health and security and we must address that threat decisively both at home and abroad.

The crisis in Puerto Rico could become particularly severe as Zika is expected to infect one in five Puerto Ricans.

At this time, the chairman recognizes the gentleman from New Jersey, Mr. Pallone, for 5 minutes.