Bill Johnson

I represent Eastern and Southern Ohio and live just 90 minutes away from Charleston in Marietta, Ohio.

If the President was serious about job creation, he would direct OSM to stop going forward with a regulation that will result in thousands of hard-working Americans losing their jobs.

I actually do, and I'll make it quick because I know the Governor has got to go. Governor, do you think OSM is being a good steward of taxpayer dollars after spending millions on the first contractor, firing them because they didn't like…

This proposed sweeping regulatory action would radically alter the definition of a stream, as well as how the agency measures material damage outside of the permit area.

According to the Obama Administration's own analysis of the rule, it would eliminate up to 7,000 direct coal jobs and tens of thousands of indirect jobs.

The 'environmental benefit' of the proposed rule is achieved through less mining. That is less mining of a vital national resource--Coal.

It is our job as lawmakers to institute policies that create jobs and make lives better for Americans--instead, this Administration is pursuing a rule that will do exactly the opposite.

Continuing to work on a rule that knowingly will eliminate thousands of jobs and will result in 29,000 people living below the poverty level is inexcusable policy.

I am deeply concerned that the Obama Administration may be guilty of suppressing inconvenient facts simply because they stand in the way of a different agenda.

Continuing to work on a rule that knowingly will directly eliminate thousands of jobs and will result in 29,000 people living below the poverty level is inexcusable policy.

Reducing coal production nationwide will adversely impact revenues to Federal, State and local treasuries.

The best ideas for making Tribal communities safer come from Tribes, not from Washington, D.C.

U.S. Attorney Johnson has reached out to the Commission and invited us to engage with his colleagues in a dialogue on the case-declination issue.

All right. Well, thank you. Commissioner Walter, you testified about Title I payments being offset by state funding in the past.

Not surprisingly, the Administration and the Department of the Interior have testified against these common sense reforms.

Time and again this year this Committee has heard from companies that they were not able to get the environmental permits needed to go forward with job creating projects.

This draft legislation would help create a dependable stream of revenue for the counties that depend on the funding.

Once again, I encourage all Members to support H.R. 2646, as amended, and I yield back the balance of my time.

This could be a far-reaching investment in our nation's economic future, not just something to give us a near-term economic jump start over the next few months, but also in creating long-term jobs here at home.

However, the real problem here isn't so much about China's actions but more about our own inaction.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman, for holding such an important hearing today on the importance of rare earth procurement to the U.S. economy and China's troubling monopoly of these elements.

The hydropower development encouraged by this legislation will not harm the environment since the generation units would be placed on already disturbed ground within existing facilities that have already gone through Federal environmental…

This legislation seeks to remove one major economic handcuff, unnecessary environmental analysis.

This legislation authorizes power development at the Agency's conduits to clear up multi-agency infusion, and duplicative processes, and reduces the regulatory costs associated with hydropower development.

And I believe that it is time to begin to reform hydropower development on the Federal conduits as well.