Bill Foster

Good morning. Today's hearing will focus on the essential tradeoff incumbent upon us to make between life, liberty, privacy, and the pursuit of happiness.

We've seen a resumption in the exponential growth of COVID cases.

The lack of appropriate personal protective equipment and medical testing supplies had seriously hampered the ability to control the spread of SARS-CoV-2.

Slowing down testing is not what we need right now.

I guess someone smart once said you go to war with the army you have, and next time--next pandemic I'd like a slightly better army.

Now, my office is working on legislation to direct NIST to create standards for online authentication.

The issue of digital identity and the need to reliably authenticate yourself online is becoming increasingly critical.

I cannot emphasize enough how important this commitment is, and I hope that you work diligently to implement this new policy.

I've been sitting here trying to synthesize from your testimony what a coherent plan to actually, you know, do something over the next decades that would really move the ball on this.

This invasive species was introduced in Arkansas and has now traveled up the Mississippi Basin.

I strongly support ensuring the initial USACE-Joliet study is fully funded.

I urge the committee to provide the Corps with additional project authorization to mitigate the disruption of recreational activities in the surrounding area.

This project authorization is urgent in order to prevent aquatic nuisance species from passing freely into the Great Lakes.

Congress should require the Corps to use a small percentage of the project's money to integrate Brandon Road with the neighboring recreational areas.

I urge project authorization for the Brandon Road Lock and Dam in my district.

The Federal Government, therefore, should pay the full cost of this project.

But now we know better.

If we don't prioritize accuracy, precision and granularity in mapping and forecasting flood hazards, the insurance requirements we apply to American businesses and homeowners will never be fair.

We need to acknowledge that people may be counting on FEMA's maps for things that they weren't meant for.

If we don't prioritize accuracy, precision, and granularity in the mapping and forecasting of flood hazards, and make the investments necessary to get the data to make those predictions accurate, then insurance requirements that we apply…

You know, one of the great things that's happened in Congress, which is sort of rare these days, is the bipartisan consensus that we ought to something like double our research budgets.

I urge you to keep the fire lit.

I think my time is expired, so I will yield back.

I believe we should be encouraging these young scientists to remain in the United States and join the American scientific and cybersecurity workforces.

The role models may be difficult to calculate, but it may be a huge effect.