Timothy H. Bishop

So I guess my fundamental question, Mr. Poltak, is if the EPA is willing to do it for the communities that I have cited, and I am sure there are others, why is it that there is not the capacity to do it for other communities?

The second trend highlighted at this morning's hearing focuses back on the Congress and how the Federal Government has stopped making significant Federal investments in improving our Nation's water quality.

This information suggests that we are moving in the wrong direction in improving the quality of our Nation's water resources.

Our former Senator from the State of New York, Daniel Patrick Moynihan once said everyone is entitled to his own opinions, but not his own facts.

Too often these days we have let the rhetoric surrounding controversial issues overtake the reality.

However, I am troubled by the tone taken by this Congress in carrying out its oversight activities of the current administration.

We do want a rule that restricts the scope of authority under EPA, based on the Supreme Court rulings that both have said that their scope is not unlimited.

Those property values are what they are, and those builders are as successful as they are because of our efforts to protect and preserve the environment.

I hope we can all agree that is a good thing, and I hope we can also all agree that that improvement would not have happened were it not for the Clean Water Act.

I hope that we can somehow collectively get to the point where we hold student athletes to the same--or hold coaches to the same standards we hold student athletes.

Should we not use this as a catalyst? I mean, and not just talk about conversations and not just talk about yes, we are looking at it and we are studying it. Let's do it.

This is not a power grab. This is not the Federal Government expanding its reach.

I think words matter, and I think accuracy matters.

I am extremely concerned that this administration is once again trying to do an end-around Congress to expand Federal power under the Clean Water Act.

The President's budget does not deliver on these initiatives.

The Economic Policy Institute has estimated that if we increase the minimum wage we will put $35 billion into the economy.

From 2009 to 2014 we have added 8.5 million private sector jobs in this country.

It is without question that the Clean Water Act is responsible for a tremendous reduction in the amounts of pollutants entering our waters from point sources.

The successes and failures of the Clean Water Act are both expressed in two simple statements of fact.

Are you confident that the department has put in place the appropriate remedial action and the appropriate oversight steps?

Shouldn't we be increasing the size of the pie, instead of slicing it differently?

I am going to push back on that a little bit. That data, that CREDO data, if you really look at it, what it really shows is that there are either no differences or infinitesimally small differences in performance of public school students…

Seventy percent of our economy is rooted in consumer spending.

Corporate profits as a percentage of the economy are higher than they have ever been.