David Schweikert: “To my friend on the other side, there was a GAO report--I think it might now have been a couple of years ago--and these…”

“To my friend on the other side, there was a GAO report--I think it might now have been a couple of years ago--and these three agencies actually were tagged as having the highest number of vehicles as a percentage of, I believe, employment population that sat idle. Agriculture was close to 30,000 vehicles; Interior, 18,000. There was an actual reason. Mr. DeFAZIO. Reclaiming my time, I thank the gentleman. Although the gentleman does reside in Arizona, I know he certainly is aware that both the BLM and the Forest Service must cover huge amounts of territory with their employees, including many forested and remote areas. In my district, just doing my rounds on paved roads, I can be out of cell service 20 to 25 percent of the time. There is no Uber, Lyft, or any alternative available to me, let alone my Forest Service and BLM employees who are up in the forest. I don't think Uber is lurking around the forest waiting to pick them up. Plus, they don't have cell service. I guess they could use a sat phone, but I don't think they will come. The agency choices are peculiar. They may have a large fleet, and they have a large fleet for a particular reason. Obviously, you can have one Forest Service employee and one vehicle going to a very remote work location for one work duty. They don't have an opportunity to ride share or do anything else. I find that to be particularly problematic.…”