Thank you very much. Let me welcome all of our panelists this morning and thank you collectively for what you do...

I am concerned that given the fiscal environment in which we are operating today and the inevitable budget reductions which will occur in every agency of the Federal Government, including yours, the CFTC's management of agriculture markets…

As you may know, I am the cochair of the Congressional Chicken Caucus. Georgia is the number one producer and exporter of poultry products in the Nation...

one of the little known goals of the Dodd-Frank is the facilitation of a more transparent risk management process for farmers and ranchers.

I think the changes you brought forward as acting chair have been very positive and improved in that regard.

To the extent that we have resources, we can do more work, and we can bring back our return on investment, which is roughly $12 for every dollar invested.

Thank you very much. The OIG recently released its Pigford II audit, which was required by Congress as a part of agreeing to fund the settlement of the case against the Department.

You ultimately would need additional resources in order to address those concerns?

But in terms of the percentage of fraud and the dollars in fraud, do the nutrition programs add up to more fraud or less fraud as compared to the disaster programs and the FSA programs?

We are very grateful for the increase that you all are giving us in 2014.

With regard to the staff reductions that you have experienced, you have gone through several staff reductions, including volunteer buyouts and early retirements.

Would you say that that is correct? And of the 20 problems that you had, how many claims were successfully paid out appropriately?

I was pleased to learn that in your opinion, the final adjudication process of Pigford claims and related administrative issues went relatively smooth outside of a handful of claims, I think about 20, which may not have been handled…

Mr. Chairman, I do appreciate the opportunity. Of course, you and the ranking member, Mr. Engel, have always been supportive of me, and I do appreciate that a great deal as we work on these issues together. Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to…

I cannot understand how the administration can say that it wants to accelerate projects, when we get a last-minute hold.

The President has called for streamlining and accelerating the permitting process for infrastructure initiatives, and the budget includes funding for a new interagency infrastructure permitting improvement center to help with these efforts.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to urge my fellow colleagues to allow an up-or-down vote on H.R. 1010, which would give at least 25 million Americans a pay raise. For many Americans, most of whom are women, who work 40 hours a week at $7.25 an…

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to call attention to the continued imprisonment of journalists in Egypt, and to restrictions on press freedoms worldwide. Al Jazeera, the news network, has called today, Thursday, February 27, Press Freedom Day…