Doug Lamborn

Americans deserve better from the EPA. There is no excuse for conducting armed raids on family owned businesses to look for minor permit violations.

At the heart of this issue is the lack of confidence in permitting by the Federal Government.

This hearing is about the story of how one agency, the Obama administration's EPA, can single-handedly decide to retroactively pull permits or prospectively veto any operations in areas the size of States.

It is blatant gamesmanship, and that is why I have to ask the question.

I think it is outrageous that our veterans were not allowed.

I think it should have been 100 percent, and it should not have taken so long.

I just have to express some doubts I have.

I respect our Commander in Chief, President Barack Obama, and the difficult decisions that he has to make.

That should not be ignored.

Would it not be better to fully document the costs of the Endangered Species Act by analyzing its impact on, let us say, rural areas?

Does the Fish and Wildlife Service introduce animals into areas and then say these are to be protected even when that is not their original habitat?

I think there are some inconsistencies with the Endangered Species Act that need to be addressed as we look to make it better.

I want to compliment the whole State of Wyoming because I think your policies are balancing environmental concerns and energy and jobs.

Cynthia Lummis also. She is a leader in the field of resources and energy in our committees in Congress.

I think it has been prone to some abuse on the part of those who want to shut down development.

I recently visited the Powder River Basin myself in the lovely State of Wyoming.

For these reasons, we strongly urge this Committee to pass H.R. 2824 and bring some much-needed finality to this already exhaustive rulemaking process.

The choice is clear. OSM's new proposal is unnecessary, unjustified, and dangerous, and certainly does not meet any cost-benefit standard.

The Administration has spent nearly $9 million taxpayer dollars re-writing a rule that was never fully implemented.

We need to be clear about the Administration's legacy on their effort to rewrite the Stream Buffer Zone Rule.

This legislation is crucial to remedying this sorry situation.

This legislation requires the Office of Surface Mining to implement the 2008 Stream Buffer Zone Rule.

The Administration has spent nearly $9 million of taxpayer money rewriting a rule that was never fully implemented.

We need to be clear about this Administration's legacy on their effort to rewrite the Stream Buffer Zone Rule.

Today the Subcommittee is considering H.R. 2824, the Preventing Government Waste and Protecting Coal Mining Jobs in America Act.