Brian Schatz

Today's hearing will examine the Federal Government's efforts to reach our Nation's goal of attracting 100 million international visitors annually by the year 2021.

If we are not ready to receive travelers, our efforts are for naught.

We need to shift our approach from meeting existing demand to driving demand.

Today we will receive testimony on S. 1971, the Nexus of Energy and Water for Sustainability Act of 2014, also known as the NEWS Act.

Energy is required to move and treat water.

The term energy/water nexus is very popular these days and for good reason.

Water is necessary to produce many forms of energy.

The ongoing drought in many parts of the country coupled with the need to curtail certain power plants because of insufficient water supplies demonstrates the critical connection between energy and water.

Federal efforts and programs that exist today must be maintained and improved to enhance economic opportunities for Native communities.

The diversity of our Native nations as well as the level of self-determination they exercise in the United States is found nowhere else in the world.

I want to thank Chairman Tester and Vice Chairman Barrasso for holding this important hearing today on the need to encourage greater investment in Native communities and to enhance opportunities for Native enterprise development.

AIANTA wholeheartedly supports the NATIVE Act, and the AIANTA Board of Directors has endorsed it unanimously.

This legislation is critically important to the Klamath Basin in Oregon and California for a number of reasons.

It will provide certainty of water for irrigation and for fish and wildlife while providing economic development opportunities for the Klamath Tribes.

Both the KBRA and KHSA were finalized in 2010 by all of the relevant stakeholders.

Today we're here to discuss S. 2379, the Klamath Basin Water Recovery and Economic Restoration Act of 2014.

If there is no further business to come before the Senate, I ask unanimous consent that it adjourn under the previous order. There being no objection, the Senate, at 7:40 p.m., adjourned until Thursday, May 8, 2014, at 9:30 a.m…

Tomorrow there will be a series of votes at 11:15 a.m and another series at 1:45 p.m. ____________________

Thank you for your leadership on this issue for many, many years, on a bipartisan basis.

I look forward to partnering with Ranking Member Scott.

It may be a real challenge for us to be as helpful as we really need to be and want to be in the Congress.

There is strong bipartisan support for this issue, because it knows no ideology.

Improving our entry process is very, very important.

Now Senator Blunt and I are leading the effort in the Senate to get Brand USA reauthorized so it can expand to even more markets.

Tourism and hospitality know no ideology. This is an area where we can work together across party lines.