No one runs for office to watch this unfold. As I said before, the House of Representatives is not a sandbox. We've got work to do. We're adults.

The way it works is people elects -- elect us into our job and our job is to put a budget in place and to not default on the payment of our past debts.

When you start acting like you're committing domestic abuse, you've got a problem.

What is really evident is that there is really no enforcement mechanism whatsoever at this point.

I want to commend all of the panelists because you gave a very clear picture of a system that seems to have broken down.

I am struck by some interesting contradictions in the testimony that we have heard today.

We will also hear H.R. 3176, the Drought Relief Act, offered by Mr. DeFazio.

So hopefully we won't move forward until we have an opportunity with a restored government to have the Forest Service come in and explain its new directive and see if that doesn't do what we think it needs to do, then take more targeted…

We must stop fiddling while Rome burns. The answers we need for this hearing demand that the government be reopened.

This amounts to an uncompensated taking and is a violation of both the Fifth Amendment to the Constitution.

We must vote on a clean resolution, continuing resolution, with no add-ons, I mean none, clean; open the Federal Government and put people back to work.

While you unfortunately chose not to attend, it is your agency's responsibility to provide the Administration's views on H.R. 3176.

Are we seeing an adversarial relationship begin to develop between this Government and the people, and particularly between the U.S. Forest Service and the users of our public lands?

It seems that the U.S. Forest Service is going out of its way to make life difficult for people, to inconvenience people, and almost seem to be reversing the entire original purpose of the Forest Service.

I request that you provide written comments on the bill no later than November 1, 2013.

So with that, Mr. Chair, I yield back.

As you know, I invited you to testify on H.R. 3176 at the Water and Power Subcommittee's October 10, 2013 hearing.

Mr. Tipton's bill simply prohibits the Federal Government from using what should be a routine permitting process to extract long-held water rights from private users.