I want to thank my colleagues for advancing these appropriations bills, specifically the ag appropriations bill. I also want to thank Senator Merkley, my ranking member on the committee. Throughout the process, we have had open…

I am pleased to introduce the fiscal year 2019 appropriations bill for Agriculture, Rural Development, Food and Drug Administration, and Related Agencies. I am glad we are considering appropriations bills on the floor in a manner that…

It is to everyone's benefit to streamline the process and get it done.

We need a real commitment that you are willing to work with the locals.

How do you make sure the credibility is there so, again, for that small end user that is just trying to manage business risk, he does not feel like these big hedge funds, these big firms, derivatives, and all these different things are…

I do not think we always feel like we have gotten the right kind of response from the Forest Service.

I would ask that you look at that section line case, and obviously we need to get out ahead of the concerns that our ranchers and our grazing associations have regarding prairie dogs.

It is just such an important responsibility.

I want to invite you to North Dakota, and I hope you will come out and check out our grasslands.

I think you learn a lot by being there, and the other thing is you will build some relationships that will be helpful.

You know, I am serious about you coming.

I have always been a big fan of the SBA.

We must work together to find solutions that benefit all parties involved.

I mean, right now our farmers produce the highest-quality, lowest-cost food supply in the world that benefits every single American, every single day.

We must prioritize the needs of our Native American communities.

As you make this change, are you really empowering these small business programs, or are you going to turn it into a big old bureaucracy where you cannot even find somebody that is supposed to help you, let alone actually get the help?

Are there things then that we should be doing from a policy standpoint to promote mining those minerals here rather than importing our entire use?

This is a very timely hearing. Thank you for doing it.

The Federal Government plays an important role even though we rely primarily on the private sector.

This is the issue and it is a very, very important pressing issue.

I ask unanimous consent that all time be yielded back. The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. Without objection, it is so ordered. All postcloture time is expired. The question is, Will the Senate advise and consent to the Benczkowski…

Madam Chairman, it really is a rubix cube, isn't it?

That is pretty sobering, isn't it, when you say it is seven years in the best case for needed energy, to move energy around the country.

We all have to work together because we have to get the energy from where it is produced to where the consumers are.

We have to build that relationship with landowners which I believe we do.