Jim Inhofe

Clearly this would have a detrimental effect on the economy and will negate any gains made by the stimulus which as I've said before, dramatically underinvested in infrastructure.

It is critical to fix this shortfall. Failing to do so will delay planned and ongoing road projects and result in people being laid off.

I'm very pleased we are having this hearing today. This is a critical issue.

What figure would you like to use for the 18-month extension, forgetting about----

We have enormous exploding debt and we should not add to it.

Now, we are going to have to have more money.

If it was right to recoup the principal, then it would be right, equally, to recoup the interest.

The good news is the Administration announced yesterday they were committed to fixing this within the next 6 weeks.

I can remember when we went through the crisis in September. At that time, I reminded everyone that we had a problem 10 years prior to that when then-President Clinton took $8 billion out of the Highway Trust Fund and put it into the…

I want to say that I agree with Senator Vitter.

I want to emphasize today the importance of maintaining and protecting America's natural resources.

I believe these two values are complementary. Put another way, environmental protection can coexist with job creation and economic prosperity for families.

Mountaintop mining is politically sensitive because environmentalists were an active force behind Obama's election.

The Obama administration is being forced into a political compromise. It has sacrificed a strong position on mountaintop removal.

Federal clean water laws should be followed and enforced for the citizens of this Nation, especially those in Appalachia.

I would hope that you would commit to going back to how we were handling that and the successes that we have had in the past.

Are you committed now to try to put something together where we will have some assurance that we are protecting small businesses and entities from some of the very difficult requirements that would be imposed upon them?

I want your assurances at this meeting that you will treat the minority the same as you treat the majority in responding in a timely fashion to the requests that we had.

Unfunded mandates are the worst enemy we have.

I will be supporting your nomination.

What is good for the East Coast is not necessarily good for the rest of the United States.

I do not see much, if any, regional diversity at the Obama EPA.

I hope that you will fulfill Administrator Jackson's commitment to maximize public participation and input on the decisions you make.

I am confident that both of you possess the knowledge and experience to address them with balance, competence, and, just as important, transparency.

I have tried to get information to reanalyze the economic impacts of the Waxman-Markey.