Thank you very much, Mr. Chairman.

Thank you, Chairman Thompson, Ranking Member Lujan Grisham, and Members of the Subcommittee for the opportunity to provide testimony this morning.

Clean water is vital to the productivity and well-being of America's farms, ranches and rural communities.

we have significant issues in terms of clarity about who does what, and in the proposed rule by EPA we find ourselves in much the same situation.

I think it is important both from the EPA and from our expert witnesses, we really need to understand the genesis of that cost.

the current situation to be unacceptable, however, we think that this proposed rule would be dramatically worse than the current situation.

The following comments were sent to our office by the Northern New Mexico Stockmen's Association (NNMSA) on March 13, 2015.

Only 26 percent of the CSB employees recently rated their senior leadership as satisfactory.

I am going to ask that you be much more specific, and I am going to ask that you do that in writing

In New Mexico, where we have some of the most challenging uninsured and access issues in the Country, the number of individuals uninsured has dropped by about 25 percent, and it is one of the largest drops of any State in the Country, and…

We want to make sure that we are also highlighting that tons of information has also gotten out that has been incredibly accurate.

I use that as an example. Including the cybersecurity, including privacy, including protection.

And I am encouraging the subcommittee and the full committee to ensure that we have the opportunity to do that.

I am going to reclaim my time.

And my hope in every hearing, but particularly these kind of hearings, where the stakes are so high, that we do everything in our power to do things that we can do right now.

I come from a state where we still have the hungriest children in the country, that is an untenable situation.

We need to give them more options for food purchasing, we need to encourage marketers of fresh vegetables and fruit to open farmers' markets in these communities.

Thank you, Madam Chair, and I share my congratulations with the Chairwoman and the Ranking Member, as my colleagues have, and am delighted to be here.

I wish that wasn't the case. I wish none of us had those real harmful criminal activities or issues that we have to deal with in our communities.

We have a responsibility in this institution, as well as our private-sector partners, and other public sector partners, to do something to make sure that we eradicate those issues, poverty and hunger, in this country forever.

If I am choosing between feeding my child and having a roof over my child's head, or be homeless...

Are there strategies in place to deal with that reality, so that we don't create a situation where we are penalizing unnecessarily folks who, without these benefits, have no other options to feed their families?

Thank you, Mr. Chairman, and I want to thank the panel for being here today.

This committee really can do something and should do something.

I can tell you that on $4.50 a day, I was pushed towards the kinds of simple carbohydrates that give you a full belly, but aren't nutritionally sound and completely inappropriate; rice, pasta, ramen.