the public must be given an opportunity to comment on the proposed draft environmental impact statement before and not after the agency implements its preference.

the Chincoteague National Wildlife Refuge and the 1.4 million people who visit it each year are critical to the economic vitality to the Town of Chincoteague.

I find it very difficult that we would pay $7.5 million of taxpayer money for land, buying a campground, when we don't even know if we are going to use it.

So just to summarize, as I am running out of time, we have a land purchase--and again, while we are offline, we are going to look at this again; but everything about this contract, and I have dealt with a lot of contracts over a lot of…

I am sorry, I am not compelled by that logic.

I mean, we are talking about a 1 percent chance of making that happen.

I am a logical thinker. I am a physician, a business person.

the Fish and Wildlife Service is considering management alternatives, which they believe will have a devastating economic impact on their town.

this process lacks transparency and indicates an unwillingness to work with either small businesses or the local Chincoteague community.

I mean, it is clear that the goal of the Federal Government that controls these tourist areas is, in the long term, to make sure that no one can park near where they are going to enjoy the beach.

However, we are talking about the fact that these parking lots, while they do require some measure of rebuilding at times, remodeling, and what have you, but I understand parking cost is 8 bucks an automobile.

the reason they recommend no funding for the refuge revenue-sharing program is because refuges are economic engines for the local economies.

Ms. Hanabusa from Hawaii, which is, by the way, a state, if anyone hasn't heard.

These lands are for the enjoyment of Americans, not for some plan that says, we are going to restore it to its native state.

Why set about a plan that is impossible to execute when even at the end of the plan, you are no better off?

It seems like, again, there is this overwhelming desire to pretend that we are going to return the United States to the condition it was 300 years ago.

It begs the obvious question: Why don't you just give the visitors the choice?

the regulations and the rules coming out of Washington cost the average American family $15,586.