"The investments we make, which are sometimes not so exciting in the eyes of the appropriators, are very necessary."
"We've talked earlier about foot and mouth, or as my grandfather called it, hoof and mouth, the most amazing, viciously aggressive virus that we've kept out of the country for 88 years."
"One of the tendencies whether it's in Congress or the Executive Branch... is, sometimes if we don't want the answer, we don't ask the question."
"I always remind my constituents in town meetings, no matter what anyone says at the other end of Pennsylvania Avenue, we write the laws."
"It's time for us to impress the world again, the young people of the world and their own young people."
"We should be encouraging them. Instead of giving them subsidies, we could give them tax breaks."
"This hearing of the Subcommittee on Conservation and Forestry entitled, Small Watershed Infrastructure: Continuing the Mission, Building Upon Success, will come to order."
"By the end of 2017, nearly 5,500 structures will have reached the end of their intended life-span."
"Maintaining and updating these structures is often unaffordable for the communities that have benefited from the P.L. 83-566 program."
"If we take no action to rehabilitate, we will be left with the cost of removing these structures or faced with constant threats to life and property as these dams continue to age."
"I am confident that a modest investment now will pay off greatly over the next 70 years, across rural America."
"This rural infrastructure may be largely out of sight, but it is of critical importance to those communities affected."