I would simply urge the subcommittee here to utilize the terminology that is founded in the law, and the regs.

We don't have the luxury of time.

I think that the Agency has not made this a significant enough priority.

I am ready, willing, and able to help secure new authorities in appropriations bills if it is needed.

I want to discuss the issue of opportunity between the Forest Service and many of our tribes, specific to tribal co-management.

It was around a lot earlier than that, but I think that was when we started really mapping it.

Recently, Senator Murkowski joined Senators Sullivan, Whitehouse, and others in authoring a letter to the Department of the Interior.

I have expressed some concern, again, about the pace of processing the individual permits.

I hope we are able to reconcile that. Let us know if we can be helpful.

Domestic supply matters to our energy security and also matters to our mineral security.

I have already set up a team internally to start looking at how we might address that.

I appreciate that. But our situation here is, at the end of 2022, the unobligated balance for IHS was $6 billion.

There is a common sense, straightforward solution here to getting communities off diesel power generation.

This obviously represents the exact wrong direction for Alaska, certainly the wrong direction for a country.

I think that we can make a real difference for the State of Alaska, and we can make a real difference across the country.

GLRI funds have been effectively deployed to protect safe clean drinking water supplies, clean up toxic sites, protect wetlands and shorelines, hold off invasive species from entering the Great Lakes, and safeguard aquatic resources.

I am glad you heard it directly. I am glad that you were impacted by it.

I would hope that you would agree that this proposed move is a reorganization that is defined by the Committee's reprogramming guidelines, and so therefore would be subject to Appropriations' Committee approval.

it is inconceivable to me; I mean when you talk about 1.6 million acres of a beetle kill, seems to me that our communities would be eligible for more than one of these Community Grant Programs.

Okay. So maybe you can work with us on some of this TA that we are looking for?

I think we recognize we not only--we not only need the minerals but we are going to have to do more to promote some efficiencies, and deal with the permitting issues; something that we are all talking about here on a bipartisan basis.

Thank you Chairman Jeff Merkley, Ranking Member Lisa Murkowski, and Members of the subcommittee for your leadership to reduce pollution in rivers, improve clean water access, safeguard public drinking water supplies.

I am hoping that you are going to be able to provide us a little bit more of a plan.

I hope that you and your team will be able to explore ways in which CDS projects can be awarded faster.

We can't be in a situation where we have got an impasse like this; would you agree?