Steve Daines

I appreciate the gentleman from Oregon's remarks there. Let me say this. I spent 28 years in the private sector having managed complex operations. And so what this amendment does, it doesn't preclude the Forest Service from generating all…

As a fifth generation Montanan and an avid sportsman, I understand how protecting our beautiful landscapes and unmatched recreational opportunities are important to our way of life in Montana. As much a part of Montana as our enjoyment of…

I have an amendment at the desk. The Acting CHAIR. The Clerk will designate the amendment. The text of the amendment is as follows: Page 16, line 7, insert before the period the following: ``, except that a court of the United States may…

I reserve the balance of my time. Mr. DeFAZIO. Mr. Chairman, I rise in opposition to the amendment. The Acting CHAIR. The gentleman from Oregon is recognized for 5 minutes. Mr. DeFAZIO. Well, the previous amendment was going to limit…

Nationwide, more than 73 million acres of Forest Service lands and hundreds of millions of acres of other Federal lands are at risk for catastrophic wildfire. As our timber industry has declined by 90 percent in recent decades, however…

Is there any hope, as a taxpayer--and we are all taxpayers--that somehow there would be incentives put in place that would reward our public servants for underspending their budgets?

This is common sense. Montanans support the construction of the Keystone pipeline.

If you are selling to the Federal Government, it is a very special time, because it is--you either spend your budget or you lose it.

Without the Keystone pipeline, rates are predicted to go up 40 percent.

I am an avid outdoorsman. I love to fish, I love to hunt, I love to back pack, I love to climb mountains. But we can have both, and this is the most environmentally safe way to transport oil yet invented.

But the statement that there aren't any incentives to incentivize staff to find ways to spend under the budget is troubling.

It is imperative that we move as quickly as possible to creating North American energy independence, and this moves us a long way down that path.

I appreciate the opportunity to testify here today about the importance of the Keystone XL pipeline.

We should be incentivizing programs and agencies to find ways to save money and, as we would do in the private sector...

For many of us who stood outside the Federal Government and watching the way the Federal Government behaved in procurement processes...

On rollcall No. 460, I was unavoidably detained. Had I been present, I would have voted ``yes.'' ____________________

I thank the gentleman from Utah, and I thank the chairman for reserving this hour for this very important issue, saving our national forests and our forested communities, which is very important to my home State of Montana. H.R. 1526, the…

If we continue to allow fringe groups and liberal judges to dictate our policies, Montanans will lose.

Although borne of the best intentions, the Endangered Species Act has failed to live up to its promise.

The heavy-handed 'do this or else' style of the ESA will create a disincentive among those affected local groups.

Our communities are safer now. Our ag and properties can be better protected from the gray wolf.

In just the last 4 years, the Federal Government has defended more than 570 ESA related lawsuits, costing more than $15 million in funds paid from the judgment fund.

Well, thank you. And thank you for the outstanding testimony today, and for this very informed group of witnesses, and for what you have shared with us today.

We want to keep the ESA from being used as a tool to obstruct positive species and resource management.

What we saw were people scratching to make a living and the broken dreams and promises all taken away by environmental groups and our Federal bureaucracy all in the name of an endangered fish or animal.