And the ability to be able to perform that job and make money and be able to pay for their school instead of coming out with such a large debt.

I am afraid if the Asian carp make their way into Lake Erie or any of the Great Lakes it would be not only detrimental to the region but it would greatly impact all the fish in the Great Lakes.

When people talk about how they are going to create jobs, it is by creating new agencies. We do not need any more agencies.

President Gee was very specific that that doesn't happen.

I noticed in the fiscal year 2015 request a higher percentage of competitive discretionary grants than the levels currently enacted.

I strongly support a proposal to build a 12th LPD in fiscal year 2015.

Vacant, foreclosed, and abandoned property has been a serious problem for communities around Ohio and certainly across the country.

I think there is a great opportunity for the administration here as well to use the St. Lawrence Seaway organization as an opportunity for more economic development in the Great Lake regions.

Mr. Secretary, I want to take a few moments to raise with you the growing importance of the Great Lakes/St. Lawrence Seaway system for the moving of commercial goods by water to and from the Great Lakes region.

Do you agree a sensible stepping stone to NextGen would be to promptly adopt policies and procedures, specifically performance based navigation procedures, which would enable airlines to fully utilize the advanced avionics already on these…

I support creative solutions to the abandoned housing crisis.

We are working together, along with Congressman Ryan, because I think it is very important that you take out the houses that have bad bones.

the cost of jet fuel is now the airline industry's largest operating cost with the average cost of a gallon of jet fuel up by 260 percent since 2000.

You mentioned that you were seeking a more efficient contracting model and project-based Section 8 program.

So I take that as support for NextGen?

Do we have any concrete data that demonstrates that airlines have realized any significant operational benefits from NextGen today?

We had an opportunity yesterday--it was the 100th anniversary of Norman Borlaug's birth--to hold a symposium in his honor yesterday afternoon.

I would appreciate that today.

Well, see, Madam Secretary, last year when you were here, I asked you if there was a place that consumers or Americans could go to follow, somewhere within the government, the rollout of the Affordable Care Act.

As a matter of fact, there is $100 per aircraft departure tax, which would cost our Nation's airlines roughly $1 billion annually.

So it would be fair to them to keep forward with this investment in their industry? Are we going to be able to keep ours--end of the bargain?

Passengers already pay more than their fair share of taxes, roughly 20 percent on every fare that is out there.

Considering it is probably the safest form of travel in the Nation, we would certainly want to make it competitive, wouldn't we?

But wouldn't NextGen make the airline or make the whole issue more efficient, eliminate the need for towers if everything progressed the way you see it?

I was wondering as far as in a letter sent to Secretary LaHood on March 7th by the transportation infrastructure chairman Bill Shuster and Senator Thune, it was noted the yearly travel budget for FAA employees is approximately $179…