Steve Womack

I would like to thank you for including the John Paul Hammerschmidt Federal Building and the U.S. Courthouse in the list of priorities in fiscal year 2017.

But if you could conclude, and I am not trying to speculate that that is a conclusion that you would come up with, but if one could reasonably conclude that this is a form of activism that is being used in a very prominent program, I am…

If LEED were to go down this path, if we can agree--or at least I will maintain that they are on a path of overregulation and extreme environmental activism--do you anticipate that there could come a day when GSA would cease to accept the…

Why did it take sequestration to force the Federal Government to practice efficiency?

We are not going to appreciably change the trajectory of the course we are on right now unless and until we deal with the mandatory side of spending.

I think what makes me hopeful is that there has been bipartisan agreement on that.

I want to give you some perspective before I close, Mr. Speaker. The only budget that we have laying out there right now is the President's budget. It arrived on time. It never balances--never--and continues to add a lot of taxes and a lot…

I thank the gentleman. Reclaiming my time, I just want to say, before I go to my next chart, that this isn't an option for us, to allow this to continue on this path without the interaction of this Congress and solutions offered by this…

Well, I am glad the gentleman did interrupt. And to carry our colloquy just a little bit further, the gentleman from South Carolina is a former Governor of South Carolina, so he has had some experience dealing with balanced budgets and…

How serious are you about looking at the mandatory side of spending, the two-thirds of spending that is on autopilot right now

The net interest on the debt is projected to be--in the President's budget--$785 billion. That is a staggering number.

Unless we have massive tax increases we are going to have a very difficult time addressing even the basic functions of government

We want them to be a good steward of the funds that are provided by this Congress.

I sense a perfect storm happening for our Reserve components.

Drug overdose deaths now number greater than motor vehicle crashes and greater than gunshot wounds.

Do you think that is a reflection of the priorities?

I would just like to be on record as saying congratulations to this agency.

I can't believe that Mr. Serrano would ask you questions and that you wouldn't have the answers for.

I am going to guess about 17.5, 18 percent cut in your budget.

The message that we are sending to future generations out here... that some of these things that we know with empirical data are putting our kids on a bad path that we are now saying it is really okay.

I want to ask again, is this a reflection of where this fits in the national priority as it concerns the administration?

My concern, however, is taking the attack aviation piece completely out of the National Guard.

We owe you certainty. We owe the country certainty. And we have fallen short in that area.

I think that is the push for the future, and the effort is ongoing and we need to continue it.

Can you kind of walk me through the Air Force's plans long-term on Reaper?