Tom Udall: “Let me also say that our chairman is an incredible tennis player, and I always like to be on the same side of the net…”

“Let me also say that our chairman is an incredible tennis player, and I always like to be on the same side of the net with him rather than on the other side. I would like to first of all congratulate Norm Dicks and Todd Tiahrt for their leadership and their bipartisan cooperation on this bill. We haven't seen this kind of leadership in a long time, I think it's very impressive, and I want to applaud it. Let me also say that we have done some very significant oversight in this subcommittee of the appropriations. We have tackled a variety of issues. We've had all the Departments in. We've taken a very, very hard look at the kinds of things that are going on in these Departments. We also haven't seen that in a long time. One of the things that Chairman Dicks and Ranking Member Tiahrt have done is restore the public witness day. That's something that's very important and hasn't been around for about 10 years, where every member of the public can walk in and comment and tell us what their point of view is. Much of those points of views that were reflected in the committee are specifically in this bill. I also want to thank Mr. Stephens and all of the staff. They've done a pretty incredible job. What this bill is about is the stewardship of our natural resources. This is a bipartisan tradition that started many years ago, over 100 years ago with Teddy Roosevelt and the first chief of the Forest Service, Gifford Pinchot.”