I strongly believe it is long past time they receive the attention they deserve, especially given the risk that nuclear waste poses to the communities.

I think it is a very worthwhile endeavor, and I hope you will continue to be engaged and continue to support those efforts.

I would encourage that you spend the extra money and you inspect the rest of the canisters.

I can tell you that I believe the San Diego and Orange County delegation in Congress insists that you do that.

The spent nuclear fuel in San Onofre in my district has been a central focus and will remain a central focus of my service.

I think it is really important that we focus on a consent-based interim storage program.

We should be encouraging more veterans who are eligible to sign up for VR&E, but first we must demonstrate strong results.

Thank you. Also, many of you alluded to the fact that it is not enough to help veterans just secure initial employment, but we really need to invest in ensuring they have lasting and fulfilling careers.

I know many of our witnesses agree with me on this point. For eligible veterans, VR&E should be a part of the transition process from the military.

We must be better stewards of taxpayer dollars and I hope it will be clear today that the VA has learned from what went wrong.

Thank you, Mr. Cunningham. And you are always welcome to visit California's 49th district, which includes La Jolla, the beautiful VA at La Jolla.

we do support the extension of those services, absolutely.

We must do a better job at making sure our veterans are receiving the very best advice from the very best counselors.

Many Members on this committee are concerned about the cost of inaction on climate.

So the first thing is we have to make sure that the infrastructure we are building is going to be climate resilient...

I certainly share your belief that we need to cap warming in order to limit sea level rise.

In my district, we are seeing decades-old structures falling into the Pacific Ocean.

I think we probably here all want a great infrastructure bill, but we seem to be moving further away from one.

I would also argue that a plain reading of the existing laws enacted by Congress squarely require you to manage for climate change in the natural resource planning process.

I came into our meeting, as I think you know, troubled by some of your Department's handling of important environmental issues.

And we talk a lot about draining the swamp. It is the epitome of the swamp to have a handful of polluters dictate the environmental policies of this Administration.

We are going to continue to hold you to account, Secretary.

First, does the Federal Land Policy and Management Act require you to take, and I quote, 'into account the long-term needs of future generations'?

I appreciated the chance to meet you in my office earlier this month.

Mr. Secretary, in our meeting you seemed to indicate that you don't believe Congress has directed you to address the impacts of climate change.