Chellie Pingree

If the cuts are implemented?

One of my questions was about the tribal public safety.

I just think since this is a budget hearing, I would love to hear a little bit of some of the highlights of the challenges you think you would face.

This budget includes an additional $288 million for the U.S. Geological Survey to carry out important work.

We are thrilled with the job you are doing there, and we miss you in Congress.

Always interesting to hear about your district and those programs at the EPA and the STAG grants, critically important to all of our States.

I am glad to hear we are moving forward with funding that hospital, but it sounds like you might need a little bit more to get it done.

Maine's floating offshore wind research represents a tremendous opportunity for Maine and the country to secure our leadership position.

So the budget requests $12 million in satellite operations to kick off the Landsat Next Program.

I think the more we are getting back to using wood products in building is just a win-win for all of us.

I can see how it is going to impact some of my colleagues into the future as well.

It is always such a treat for me to be in this particular hearing because the issues that all of you experience in the West are just so significantly different than what we have on the East Coast

Well, I am going to run out of time, but I have more questions for the next round.

We increasingly understand how valuable this force is to us.

I have a couple programs I want to talk about, but I want to just start with the budget here.

Combatting climate change and protecting communities from the threat of wildfire go hand-in-hand.

Through the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, Congress provided $600 million to support Federal wildland firefighters and to ensure they receive a minimum of $15 per hour.

I am very pleased to see that this budget request builds on the historic investments made in the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law and the Inflation Reduction Act to improve the resilience of landscapes, reduce wildfire risks, and conduct…

So I think we are the first State in the Nation to do that, and the downside of that is that now we have got all these municipal waste facilities that are having to truck these biosolids to landfills.

I will just talk a little bit more about PFAS. You know, I am not interested in being the expert in Congress on PFAS.

We have to deal with this right now.

I want to do a parochial issue on Maine's offshore wind.

This budget continues to build upon this Administration's commitment to addressing the climate crisis.

I am really pleased with what we are able to do now with some of the types of science and the types of research that we are finding for different uses of wood.

I really do appreciate it. I know the chair mentioned it earlier and I said in my opening remarks, the understanding that we have to have our Federal firefighters on par with, you know, local and other communities, and make sure that we…