Nobody likes wildfires but the reality is, that is part of management of a forest and fire is necessary.

Twenty percent becomes a pretty good level for that, but I have a whole bunch of questions that we will ask later.

But things are changing so rapidly, and the average student today is going to have to be retrained for a new job an average of seven times in his lifetime.

Are the requirements different--as I understand it, the requirements are different for the Forest Service than the BLM in recommended wilderness areas?

I think that if we could address these recommended wilderness areas in a more timely fashion, I think there would be less concern about wilderness as a whole.

the arts are not just for urban areas; they are for those small towns out in rural Idaho and rural North Dakota.

This makes no sense.

The American taxpayer looks at it as their tax dollars. They don't care if it goes to the NEA, the local people, or who it goes to.

The reason I ask the question is we hear all the time that Congress, since we are in Congress, is more uncivil than it has ever been.

And what I am frustrated by is the amount of money we continue to spend on a project, get it to a license application point, and then in a matter of six weeks decide, 'Ah, we will focus on something else.'

But we have no alternative out there. The alternative is more studies.

What I am advocating for is a permanent geological repository.

If we zero funded the license application I suspect that would be one of the first things.

Permanent disposal of high level nuclear waste has been an ongoing issue of this nation ever since World War II.

The Judgment Fund is paying?

why the heck should I spend $197 million to proceed with a license application for something we are going to terminate?

I would think that it would be more than just a presidential decision not to do it.

Abandoning Yucca Mountain is not a solution to nuclear waste disposal.

The elephant in the back of the room that nobody is willing to say is that a promise was made during the campaign to Senator Reid by then candidate Obama.

Should DOE be paying that instead of the Judgment Fund?

I am very concerned about the administration's budget for proceeding with the licensing proposal.

Finding a permanent solution to disposal of our nuclear waste has to be a critical part of our long term energy strategy.

I admire all of your testimony and the Secretary's also.

I want them to have that flexibility, but I also want them to be held accountable.

They are seeing their water bills go up 300, 400, 500 percent, and a lot of these are senior citizens on a fixed income.