Mark Meadows

But those that have options of mining abroad, do you see us losing more and more jobs to quarries, if there are the natural resources in those foreign countries?

So, Mr. Stoll, you mentioned about a fine of $140,000-some-odd. You are a larger corporation, so you can afford that, right? Oh, you can't.

And I thank each of you for your testimony.

The other that I would ask you for the record that we have a few days here, if you will give us additional examples from perhaps other people that were not here today.

In addition to that, I have a letter from Congresswoman Virginia Foxx, who knows this area well.

But that doesn't happen.

If we put all of the discretion in the hands of 350 inspectors, it depends on how bad of a morning they had.

When you have these major operations, and when you get a citation and you have to stop work, that means sending people home?

I would like to thank the Chairman.

I want to personally thank Chairman Congressman Roe from Tennessee who has been a good friend early on.

I called this hearing to allow operators from North Carolina to tell Congress and their representatives how they feel the mine safety agency has operated.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

You've got to prepare. You cannot rule consistently forever. It's impossible, and that's an issue that they understand.

One party... dominates Ethiopia's political system. The media is often harassed. Basic freedoms are still restricted.

The importance of an ongoing relationship with Ethiopia cannot be overstated.

Ethiopia, as we've mentioned, is a de facto one-party country and you've noted in your--that the ruling party, you know, controls every aspect of government.

I wish I could say that I was optimistic, that we're going to see real change, but from what I've seen so far this is not going to be the case.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman, and thank each of you for being here today. You know, it can be said, you know, when you are in the middle of a budget crunch...

There need to be pardons or it is going to be very difficult for us to do anything in a positive manner in terms of our U.S.-Egyptian aid

Thank you, Madam Chair. And I thank each of you for being here to testify.

I demand a recorded vote. The Acting CHAIR. Pursuant to clause 6 of rule XVIII, further proceedings on the amendment offered by the gentleman from North Carolina will be postponed. Amendments Offered by Mr. Grayson

I appreciate the chairman for yielding and I appreciate his comments. This amendment would not stop the current bids that are out there, the current process that we have in place. It would just stop additional processes. We are looking at…

I have an amendment at the desk. The Acting CHAIR. The Clerk will report the amendment. The Clerk read as follows: At the end of the bill (before the short title) add the following: Sec. __. None of funds made available by this Act may be…

Can you give us assurances here today that targeting outside of the 501(c)(4)s, did not happen with regards to auditing, with regards to penalty waivers, with regards to fees?

What surprises me is a guy that's been paid for 32 years to hold the American people accountable is not accountable to those same people when he's documenting his own costs in his department.