Eleanor Holmes Norton

I am just trying to find out who appoints them.

I have to find what Federal entity or independent entity is going to be responsible for making a very critical decision.

Who is that entity, particularly given that the Corps has left twice and had to be called back?

I don't understand why that is even a problem.

I appreciate that you have made us understand that there is no leaving, no exit in that sense.

I don't mind the Corps, the District Department of the Environment, in fact, I think there is some good to be said for the technical support and I appreciate that, and EPA all being in bed together.

But all we want to see is what we can see now. I am not asking to see what you haven't completed yet.

You are now about to leave. As you leave, surely we could get the greatest transparency possible.

If there is a work plan, if we are now supposed to be in an era of transparency, why not share it?

What is the national security concern about a World War I munition that certainly isn't anywhere used today?

I don't understand the national security concerns at all about World War I weapons.

When will the material be available to the public?

What is the exit plan that you are using?

I recognize the position, particularly that the Corps is put in, in dealing with their own munitions very deeply buried.

What you have just said mentioning regulators suggests that the Corps should not leave on the basis of its own evaluation, but only after regulators have certified that in their independent judgment it is safe to leave at this point.

So what would be the evidence then of whether or not there was anything harmful there if it was buried that deep?

I think that in light of your testimony about how the Corps has underestimated the cost of cleanup, that would seem to be important to do.

Neither Congress nor the community has seen the Corps' 2 year exit plan or any evidence that the area has been cleaned.

However, Mr. Chairman, the Corps neither informed this committee, despite our oversight over the years, or me, the city's only elected congressional official.

I appreciate that, beginning in my early years in Congress when I was in the minority, this committee has held every hearing that I have requested to assure that the Spring Valley neighborhood surrounding American University is cleared of…

I listed Spring Valley as one of my top priorities in a letter to the Chair as the legislative year began because of the national and local importance of confronting Federal responsibility for informing residents of toxic substances in…

What I am trying to do is, as the title of the hearing implies, whether or not savings can make a difference, in terms of saving the institution.

I am willing to look at something that I would not have thought about when I first came to Congress, a 5-day delivery.

I would like to hear from the Postal Service this morning something other than nips and tucks.

No institution has had a deeper long-term decline. No institution that I can think of has had a deeper long-term decline than the Postal Service.