The days of being able to graduate from high school, go to work in the factory, and retire 50 years later are gone.

What we need is instead of a plan to consolidate 38 into 11 in the Department of Education, we need an overall plan, and that would involve more than just one authorizing committee.

Dr. Heckman also writes, 'For high quality early childhood interventions, there are none of the tradeoffs between equity and efficiency that plague most public policies.'

I will be interested next year during this hearing to find out how that worked out and what the impact was of closing that.

I would think we would know what the backlog is of maintenance requirements.

Just out of curiosity, what would it take to put together a master plan, transportation plan, in this country where we connected our harbor system, our inland waterway system, our railroads, our highways...

I get concerned when we are taking money out of the Harbor Maintenance Trust Fund and using it for other purposes.

So the Harbor Maintenance Trust Fund just maintains current levels.

Do we have to find another use for it?

I just never thought about it that the Army Corps was the number one provider of recreation within the Federal Government.

I hope that industry understands that we are serious that we need a solution.

Is there a plan on which ones we are going to dredge to take the deeper ships?

It is nobody's desire to shut down the government; what we want to do is reduce spending.

You also have to look at the entitlement programs which this budget totally left out, in terms of reform of the entitlement programs.

We have to live within our means.

What matters is where we are today, and where we are going to be in the future. And what the American people are saying is, get your fiscal house in order.

This is not tough-love. This is continuing the path we are currently on with no future balanced budget ever, in this proposal, and the American people are rejecting it, frankly.

The old approach of wilderness, of sacrificing the needs of one individual or specific user group to benefit the others will not work anymore.

I'd like to offer my thanks to Sen. Jim Risch on the committee for your support of this bill.

CIEDRA is not a perfect bill. It is a complicated bill that forces each side to give a bit in order to find the balance that is needed to resolve outstanding land management issues.

I am committed to providing the funding necessary to implement such an agreement.

Our challenge today is to rise above the noise and provide leadership that represents the true majority who sit squarely in the center and want to see collaborative conservation advance in the West.

I am proud of the finished product.

the intent of CIEDRA is that there shall be no establishment of any federal water rights for these wilderness areas now and in the future.

I believe it is fair to say that those who are entrenched in their positions on one or both of these issues are not interested in compromise and will remain opposed to the bill unless the other side gives up.