I wholeheartedly endorse his nomination and recommend to the Committee that we move quickly on his confirmation.

the Federal Government does have to treat like employees similarly.

He has good judgment and unquestioned integrity, and I think that really sums it up.

The nominee is charged with restoring the role good science must play in making good public policy.

One of the problems we have is that many Americans have yet to really understand the day to day risks associated with global climate change.

I certainly hope that the Committee can complete its review quickly and that your nomination can go to the floor for action.

I would hope that the strategy that you come out with within the Department of Interior will be mindful that you can play a dual role in educating the public to take action to help the future.

I really wanted to be here to see whether we had to hold Congressman Hoyer in contempt of the Senate.

The backlog of deferred maintenance is overwhelming.

We are very proud of his public service. We thank you very much for your continued willingness to want to serve our Nation.

Let me just stress, I think there are several parts to this concern.

we are currently losing about 150 acres a year because of sea level change

There are three major provisions that will sunset during 2009 that will need to be taken up by Congress.

Let's take a look at the overall problems that we have in America in dealing with quality of life and our commitment to our environment.

Let me thank you, Director Mueller, for your service and thank you for being here today.

I think the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act was a good first start.

I think most of us believe these tools are extremely important, and we want to make sure that you have the tools that you need.

The funding we provided merely put a dent in the enormous backlog of transportation needs in this country.

Total current spending is well below what is needed to improve the condition of our national transportation infrastructure.

So yes, it is critically important that we make the right investments.

I would just stress I would hope that we will have the opportunity to return to the issues of the PATRIOT Act far in advance of the deadline for the end of this year where we have to act.

It has been estimated that we spend 4.2 billion hours a year stuck in traffic.

Our Nation's surface transportation system is in desperate need of repair while being stretched to its limits.

Americans spend 4.2 billion hours a year stuck in traffic, at a cost of $78 billion a year to the economy.

I think these are important points and need to be part of the policies that we look forward to in our next effort on reauthorization.