I thought it was the most notable in your funding request, that, of all the funding requests, it represented the greatest increase of $100 million.

Senator Snowe, I met with fishermen last night in Maine. They are numb. They are in shock. There is despair.

I certainly wouldn't suggest that it's working in the New England groundfish industry.

Our fisheries management system is in a state of utter disrepair and we are caught in an endless cycle of litigation-based management.

I want to welcome you, Dr. Hogarth, and the rest of the witnesses to this critical hearing.

I think that we have to determine what will best work in terms of restructuring the systems within the agency

Do you think that your recommendations, if fully implemented, would be able to ease the crisis in fisheries management that we have today, especially with this litigation-based management?

Litigation should be the last resort, not the first resort.

Fisheries management needs an overhaul of major proportions here.

I hope the government will commit to filing an appeal on behalf of the industry, because this ruling represents devastating consequences for the groundfish industry in New England.

Are there any updates to these recommendations? Is that what this other additional report will provide?

I hope this hearing represents a turning point in NMFS' direction and helps us plot the course that we need to take.

You have said that we should be taking immediate steps to improve the situation by providing a comprehensive assessment.

Senate Republicans are committed to enacting legislation to preserve, strengthen, and save Medicare for current and future generations.

Unfortunately, that is exactly right. Unbelievable though it may seem, the formula that is being used actually penalizes those agencies in our two States that have done a good job of holding down costs.

More than 2,300 home health agencies across the country have been forced to close their doors as a result of the regulatory burden and the flawed payment system.

This solves the problem. For one thing, it eliminates another 15-percent cut that is scheduled to go into effect in October of next year.

The regulatory overkill of the Clinton administration has already exceeded the savings projected by the balanced budget amendment.