Mike Johanns

It seems clear to me that the river management system did not work.

Somehow, some way, we have to figure out how to fund these things.

It seems to me that the conditions are, No. 1, the capacity in the system is about where it was a year ago.

Of all the expertise relative to pipelines in the Federal government I can't imagine it would be at the State Department.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman, and to all the witnesses, thanks for being here.

The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. The Senator from Nebraska. ____________________

Let me just say that was very, very helpful testimony, and I really appreciate you taking time this afternoon to work with us and give us your best thoughts on this.

Whether you are a liberal or a conservative economist, having a high burden given by the debt of country and economy is--it makes it really impossible for the economy to grow

I do not think there is any question whatsoever that our country is facing a fiscal challenge that the current generation probably could have never imagined, and we have to start making decisions to correct our fiscal ship.

I have to say your timing is remarkable.

I am curious to know about the interrelationship with the Tribes in their States when it comes to transportation planning.

Is there something we can focus on that would be helpful to streamline that process, to make that process easier to manage?

Money will be hard to come by. It will be a constrained process, if you will, maybe more constrained than we have seen in a long time.

We want to make absolutely sure that we are efficiently using the resources that we have.

I definitely want to associate myself with the comments that he has just made.

It is my hope the Committee will report out Judge Gerrard's nomination soon and that the full Senate will have the opportunity to swiftly approve this good man.

I am very anxious to hear about the safety concerns.

The day this Nation cannot afford to take care of her veterans is the day this Nation should quit creating them.

It is so disheartening when I talk to veterans and I go around the room and try to figure out where they are out in their life and how they are transitioning into the workforce.

In my view of the world, part of the cost of war is caring for our veterans.

You know, you are describing a problem that there are probably some Tribes out there that can address it if they make it a priority, but there would be so many Tribes that could not; they do not have the resources, the staff, the…

It seems abysmally low

So barring heavy rain, which can change everything very, very quickly, looks like still into the fall before we start to see the water recede.

It is not like you folks don't have a few things on your agenda at the moment, but I really would request that you put some brain power behind this one because it seems like a problem that is intractable.

I think it is accurate, that 45 out of the total 565 federally recognized Tribes participate in the flood insurance program as a Tribe, which seems to me to be just an abysmal rate, not good at all.