Chris Van Hollen

I just want to clarify that, because, obviously, the Deepwater Horizon was an accident.

If there is an oil spill today and millions of birds are killed, would the perpetrator of the oil spill... be responsible for damages as they have in the past?

I thought the findings underscored the importance of not scaling back the safety protections we have.

I just hope we could sort of put this on hyper-speed, like you did in Florida.

Let's just be real, right? This was about the Atlantic coast, including the Atlantic coast of Florida.

But the reality is, in Maryland, Governor Hogan, a Republican Governor, is on record against it.

So the Maryland delegation is on record opposing this in a bipartisan way, number one.

That sounds arbitrary and capricious.

I think that it might have been arbitrary and capricious to leave them off, since you were looking at everything.

I would like to get your commitment to get your team to the table next week.

Thank you, Madam Chairman.

I hope we can work on a bipartisan basis to expedite this process because, as you indicated, it is like fighting with one hand tied behind your back when you do not have a functioning EXIM Bank.

I would hope that we would have a sort of full contingent onboard.

The net so far in Maryland is we are over 700 jobs down and the projection, again, from industry associations that nationally, we are going to see a net loss of 23,000 jobs this year.

According to the Solar Energy Industries Association, as a result of the tariffs just since they were imposed, Maryland has lost 784 solar industry jobs.

I have to say, it rings a little hollow to say these decisions are made because of budget and fiscal stringency when we just added close to $2 trillion to our national debt as a result of the tax cut.

You intend, in this budget, to close the centers including, I will say, four in Maryland that would be shutdown.

Your budget also cuts $24 million from the Minority Business Development budget.

I raised that last year because you zeroed it out. The administration zeroed out in its budget.

I appreciate your very good work and look forward to working with the Chairman and the Ranking Members and other Members of the subcommittee on the budget request.

Thank you for your service and thank you for your initiatives to really open up the Library of Congress and the national treasures of the Library of Congress to the American people.

I support the National Public Safety Partnership, PSP, which is a program established by the administration to help fight violent crime.

Do you stand by that statement that you made, back during that hearing, that the Pardon Attorney ought--the pardon power ought to be exercised with great care?

I'm not disputing the President's pardon authority.

Can you think of any pardon during the 8 years of the Obama administration that didn't--that did not go through the Office of the Pardon Attorney?