Jeanne Shaheen

Are there areas, either in the United States or around the world, where you're working with governments to address specific water challenges, where you've seen success?

The Clean Water Act, we've talked about it for years. It needs to be overhauled eventually.

We need a higher public priority on water use in this country.

As we're looking at the effects of climate change, particularly in Africa, Sub-Saharan Africa, but seeing some of those effects here, are there ways that we're looking at planning for the water effects of climate change globally?

Empowering women and girls in other countries around the world has been very important to stability, to economic prosperity.

Good. That's encouraging.

Can you talk a little bit about how you are coordinating with other Federal agencies, to the extent that you are, and how that's working.

Thank you. Mr. Hansen, one of the things that has impressed me about the efforts that have been undertaken by the Army...

It's not every day that you find an issue where effective diplomacy and development will allow you to save millions of lives, feed the hungry, empower women, advance our national security interests, protect the environment, and demonstrate…

Thank you very much. We would like that very much for the record.

USGS recently completed 2 reports on water supply and demand in the seacoast area in New Hampshire.

While we've seen great strides in technology to overcome water challenges, including desalinization, we don't yet have a silver bullet to overcome water scarcity.

There's increasing recognition that water scarcity raises tensions between Nations and may be a driver of armed conflict.

The State Department reports that in just 2 decades the world's demand for fresh water is expected to exceed supply by 40 percent.

Many of us in the United States take water for granted, but globally, 800 million people do not have access to safe drinking water.

I want to acknowledge that--I understand that the EPA is embarking on the preparation of a report to address the value of water to the U.S. economy.

I believe Menendez-Kirk amendment is going to pass.

I share many of the concerns that you've all raised about the effort to combine these 2 agencies.

I think that has put in place a pretty good deal for the mining industry, but something that I think we ought to reexamine.

I understand that that may be the motivation behind this legislation, even though I think it may be ill-conceived.

Iran should have no influence as to the government in Iraq.

I guess, given that there is reason to be concerned about what the impact of pricing on gas would be here in America depending upon how much exporting is allowed.

I would--I have just one final question and I would be remiss as the chair of this subcommittee...

That doesn't make me feel better.

Well, so just to sum up, at this point it sounds to me like what everyone is suggesting is that there is no reason to be optimistic that the efforts undertaken will have a real impact on the European financial crisis and therefore we are…