"I think we should thank him for the job he has done over the last several years."
"I want to commend you because every Chairman likes to be commended by his Ranking Member."
"My feeling is that there has got to be a better way."
"I have always said, and I am a big supporter of education and math and science and all that, I know it is important, but when we do that at the expense of the arts then I think we lose something."
"Science must be the compass guiding our environmental protection decisions; we cannot make the best decisions unless we have confidence in the integrity of the science on which we rely."
"Our primary Federal investment ought to be in financial and technical assistance to citizens, landowners, small businesses, communities, States, tribes, and other nations."
"I would also humbly and respectfully encourage you to embrace collaboration as the agency moves forward."
"I am also puzzled by the fact that the capital improvement and maintenance portion of your budget is slated to receive an additional $50 million."
"As a long time supporter of the arts and sometimes called a struggling artist myself, I look forward to each of you sharing your views on the Federal role in supporting culture in the arts."
"And no matter what rules you put in place, somebody is going to violate those. If you are a crook, you are a crook."
"We have a tendency, and whenever something goes wrong, and you know as well as I do that in a government of this many employees there is going to be some crooks."