But then how do you fund the other things you've been paying for out of your rents and royalties?

But it doesn't seem that there's the level of priority coming out of the Administration on this.

Senator Murkowski and Senator Alexander and Senator Feinstein and I are working on a bipartisan effort to get the Federal Government back into a problem-solving mode on nuclear waste storage and disposal.

I would like to have you look at that definition so that it is not so narrowly defined.

One of the things that I thank you for your leadership, Secretary Shinseki, in Alaska, we have an agreement between the VA and the native health system, where the veterans can go to the Indian Health Service (IHS) facilities for that level…

But all appearances now seem to be that the U.S. is backing away from this.

In far too many of Alaska's communities, we're simply not connected by road; 80 percent of the communities in the State of Alaska are not accessible by road, so we've got to fly.

I think I pointed out that we have seen some great benefits in the State of Alaska.

But what the Administration does in its proposal is it takes new production in areas that are off limits.

It is not acceptable to fail to deliver responses to the committee's questions for months and months on end.

I will tell you I will never forget looking at those spent fuel rods in spent fuel pools near a body of water.

I appreciate you giving that background. We have had, I think, a pretty successful partnership with Japan.

The House in an amazing display of partisanship passed their hydro bill with not one member in opposition to it.

We're sitting here at $16.8 trillion in debt. We've got a budget in front of us that adds more.

I find it really quite surprising that the budget would make permanent the wind tax credit just months after the industry itself proposed a phaseout there.

I expressed disappointment with the overall budget request. This year, unfortunately, is no different. I am again, disappointed.

I think it is important.

I have heard that the Army National Guard was given a choice of either more Lakota helicopters or retaining the Sherpa.

I think we need to appreciate that it is substantial, and yet there are ways that we can address it and, I believe, should address it.

I appreciate that and I thank you for your response.

I do not see any progress in responding to this request.

I think we would all agree that whether it's roads or whether it's a pellet plant, it doesn't do any good to have the infrastructure if we don't have the timber, if we don't have the product that can be used for that pellet plant.

I would suggest that instead of proposing to increase funding for programs like land acquisition in the budget proposal that the Forest Service should fund its core priorities.

I want to join you though in your commitment to working on a way forward with the Secure Rural Schools and those communities that we do represent.

We have got to figure out a better path forward than that.