Mike Simpson

But conceptually it is a good idea.

You mentioned the jail facility you have. I never realized before until we started having all the testimony, that there are many tribes in the Pacific Northwest in the Puget Sound area, and I suspect a lot of them have the same issue with…

We need to get this done.

You are right. It ought to be a program.

With our new justice center we are hoping to turn things around.

I appreciate your optimism about the passage of the health care bill. As a wise man once said, we will see.

One of the hugest challenges we have got... all of these rapid discoveries have huge implications on all of our social institutions.

How are we going to build ships?

Thank you, Mr. Middleton, for being here today to testify and more importantly for your longstanding leadership to make the Presidio Trust a model for a public/private partnership.

In this day and age of 24-hour news and increasing tensions in the world over limited resources, I believe we need more forums for non-partisan discussion if we are to reach more sustainable solutions to our Nation's and the world's…

Could you tell me what coordination there is between the Kennedy Center and the NEA?

When we are trying to get arts out to rural America, as an example, Rocco was out to Idaho last week...

You know, that is kind of an oxymoron.

I question whether not just within the Department of Interior, but government-wide, we know how much money we are spending on climate change.

I happen to support the Land and Water Conservation Fund. As a matter of fact, there is not much in your budget I don't support.

Would you give me some assurance that you will not make any National Monument designations under the Antiquities Act without seeking local input and congressional input before making any of those determinations?

Let me just conclude by saying it somewhat reminds me of what we around here always do when we want to save some money: We just say, we will just get it through waste, fraud, and abuse.

How are we going to address the backlog in that arena and others if we have reduced personnel?

We appropriated a million dollars to address the backlog in grazing permits.

If someone sues the BLM over a grazing permit, and it goes through all the court procedures, and a settlement is made, BLM doesn't end up paying the EAJA fees for that plaintiff; it is the judgement fund?

So you wouldn't suggest that we waive all the environmental laws like we did on the Woodrow Wilson Bridge?

Is there anything that Congress or the Administration can do to speed up the process to access that oil and natural gas off the Virginia coast?

Both the Democratic Senators from Virginia and the Governor of Virginia, a Republican, both support offshore drilling off of Virginia since the 25-year moratorium lapsed in 2008.

I would just like to know how much we are paying and if we appropriate money for it.

I have several pages of questions that we will submit for the record.