Ben Cardin

I think they recognize they have a political problem as well as a real problem from the point of view of the health of their people.

Well, in some cases just the presence of the dam itself is going to create a major challenge on these issues.

As President Obama noted in his recent climate action plan, we have a moral obligation to leave our children a healthier planet.

Helping the East Asia-Pacific region address environmental challenges is essential for preventing future conflicts and instability.

The relationship between the United States and Vietnam has gotten much stronger in the last decade.

This is a tremendously important topic.

I found this with Vietnam and now perhaps with Myanmar--that they really do want to become more of a legitimate international player.

The good news about the Helsinki framework is that it is not that intimidating because it is a consensus group.

So we have talked about China, we have talked about Myanmar, we have talked about the countries along the Mekong.

The jury is obviously out on what is happening in that country, but it is a country that is struggling with civilian leadership--and whether it will survive--we will see.

I think your testimony has been extremely helpful to our debate.

I think the second thing is the Trans-Pacific Partnership.

I think there really is a genuine opportunity here to make some advancement.

The security and economic impacts of climate-induced shocks and environmental degradation are significant.

I would just point out that some of us are prepared to make the tough decisions so that we have the revenues necessary to do what is right for this Country.

It is difficult to look at how we can get that from General Funds when we do not have enough General Funds to balance the Federal budget.

The backlog on repairs of our bridges and highways is close to $3 trillion.

We need help on transit projects.

We need a long-term, robust transportation program.

We do not have the funding to maintain the existing roads.

I would hope that we would allow the Environmental Protection Agency to carry out its responsibility.

I think this Administration is trying to move in that direction to give some predictability to the laws.

I believe that we all share a common goal of clean and healthy waters.

If approved by this committee and confirmed by the Senate, it is my intent to work with all toward achieving that objective for this and future generations.

They expect that when their children are swimming in a lake, that it is safe for them to be in that lake swimming.