Ben Cardin

It was a key component of the Cold War, is a fact that both parties understood the price was so high for a nuclear exchange.

If we can finally accept the fact that we are in a great power competition with China.

Is not Putin's assault on the free and independent press inside Russia and in the Russia periphery emboldened by President Trump's regurgitation of the Stalin-era attacks on American media?

The President is handing the Russian government a gift by his regular attacks on the free press

I understand the policy right now, you are assuring this committee that unless Russia changes its behavior, we will not only maintain all of our sanctions, you are looking for ways to strengthen those sanctions against Russia.

I agree with Senator Portman that this committee and this Congress has acted in a very bipartisan manner, recognizing the threat of Russia.

We're going to do everything humanly possible to preserve Ellicott City. It is a treasure.

We passed just at the end of last month a moratorium on any construction in both the Tiber Watershed and the Plumtree Watershed.

It just points out one more time the need for structural considerations here, that we are dealing with a watershed problem.

We were able to preserve it in this tax debate, and that wasn't a certainty.

We think it's a tool that can be utilized in smaller settings for small businesses, et cetera, and private property owners.

I think that's one we can move forward with, and there's great interest on the historic tax credits.

If there's an opportunity, probably in the next Congress, we're going to be revisiting the tax credits, and there's bipartisan support for strengthening the historic tax credits.

Well, let me thank all four of you for really putting a lot behind this issue, more than just the individual properties. It's about the history, it's about the future, it's about a community.

Federal historic tax credits are not well equipped for small Main Street-type projects. They need to be updated to reflect the needs.

We recognize that we do need structural improvement. And yes, that's very expensive.

We're going to take a look at all the Federal partnership programs we have under EPA and see how we can leverage that most effectively.

We need, obviously, to have a plan.

I thank you for that because we're going to have to be creative.

And Mr. Rodrigues, you mentioned several programs locally could qualify for funding for various aspects of flood mitigation; is that----

So, for structural, it appears like you would need specific authority and funding from Congress; is what you're saying?

What do you need from Congress in order to move that along?

Well, thank you both for your testimony.

Thank you very much.

It provides tremendous increased resources for water projects in our country.