Rob Portman

My time is up, and I apologize, Mr. Chairman. I just think we have to have some answers on this because if we do not fix this problem--the initial clearances is incredibly important.

If it is going to take another 10 years because we are doing more pilots and more research and so on, that is unacceptable.

I appreciate your holding the hearing, and I think it has been constructive because we have raised obviously a lot of troubling issues.

If the Senator will hold for a moment, first, I thank the Senator for referring to the op-ed in the Wall Street Journal. I have not seen it yet so I look forward to reading it myself. It sounds as though it is consistent with what I was…

I agree with the Senator. We have a lot of hard-working Americans who are employed by this industry, and we need to ensure that there is a level playing field for them so that the Federal Government's green building policy doesn't stand in…

I appreciate the opportunity to speak today and offer some clarity about the treatment of wood products in the amendment that Senator Wicker and Senator Landrieu have offered with regard to green building standards. I commend Senator…

Today I wish to congratulate Crossroads Church on 50 years of ministry in Pickaway County, OH. The Crossroads Church held its first service in 1963 under the leadership of Rev. Roy Ferguson. Crossroads Church was created as an extension of…

My strong belief is that if we can continue this cleanup pace and even expedite it we will not only be able to have a safer environment in the Piketon area, but also it will cost the taxpayer less.

Unfortunately the President's budget keeps cutting it. Last year I expressed this concern to Secretary Chu. The Administration budget had a 33 percent cut to clean it up.

The way we've been able to keep this project moving is through this barter program with uranium.

Will this bill pass the Senate is a question that I pose to my colleague from New Hampshire.

I know this is a result of a lot of years of study saying that the low population density of these fish in carefully selected lakes would not lead to impairment of the park resources.

I do think it's something that would add, in my view, a little more context to that beautiful memorial.

Yes, I think as the centennial approaches we're looking for ways to ensure that the backlog can be improved, hopefully cleared at a lot of these great facilities.

We appreciate your clarification of that position.

The Department appreciates the efforts by the sponsor, Senator Rob Portman, to work with the National Park Service (NPS) on this legislation.

This is a bipartisan bill that would allow a plaque to be at the World War II memorial.

That plaque or inscription we'd like to see on the World War II memorial would commemorate that prayer.

Senator Portman asked how much of the land involved in three park boundary expansion bills is private, and how much is public.

This bill, however, shows a lack of respect for this great diversity.

Senator Portman also asked if the three park expansion bills will add to the maintenance backlog.

It's become quite an attraction for outdoor enthusiasts in our area.

Thank you, Madam Chairman. Thank you for allowing me to join you today, even though I am not on the subcommittee.

I would defer to the chairwoman. I would like a voice vote, if that is what the chairwoman would prefer. But it might be a good amendment to have a recorded vote on. What is the chairwoman's preference?

There is this thing called official time, and this is a practice where employees are being paid by us as taxpayers, government salaries funded entirely by taxpayers, to perform work that is totally unrelated to their governmental duties.