Jim Inhofe

The Senate has not confirmed a nominee for this position in 8 years, not since 2001.

Few could dispute that Congress erred in pushing too much ethanol too fast.

In my home State of Oklahoma, one convenience store chain experienced a 30 percent drop in fuel sales once they began selling fuel blended at E-10 levels.

These mandates allow no room for error in a fuels industry already constrained by tight credit, dwindling capacity, environmental regulation, and volatile market conditions.

I hope that the Chair will agree with me that we need to aggressively exercise our jurisdiction over the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) which is in desperate need of a thorough evaluation on a host of issues.

I am looking forward to working with Chairman Cardin and Ranking Member Crapo on the water infrastructure bill.

Using water more efficiently is one way we can help extend the life of current systems and is important for planning for the future.

Today we are focusing on a very small piece of a very large issue: water efficiency.

I would like to put the entire opening statement in the record.

I wanted to get this on the record, and if you would make that statement perhaps in your opening remarks.

I am troubled by the Service's recent congressional mandate to revise and reissue ESA rules concerning the listing of the polar bear.

I don't want to take that risk. The only way I see to make this happen is to have the best of everything.

My only point is this, and I find there's something in my own mind, perhaps my narrow mind, that it is almost un-American that we would have a soldier on the battlefield or in the air or in the water that would be up against something that…

I think we are quite capable of paying at a level of 4.5 or 5 percent absolutely indefinitely until the end of time.

I think that you guys are smart and we have a lot of smart generals, and if you're asked what we're going to have to have 10 years from now you're going to come out with some real good answers and you're probably going to be wrong.

We can't do major projects anymore off of SAFETEA-LU.

Both Chairman Boxer and I have complained about some of the bureaucratic delays that might be eliminated.

I am for all of those things that are included in here.

We can do it. We know we can do it. We are doing it right now just by getting people in a room working together.

We all agree that a passenger rail system linking the big cities of this Country would be a great idea.

This is by far the best nomination that you have made.

How are we going to finance a high speed rail system today without some form of capital funding?

We tried to triple that amount and were unsuccessful in being able to get the bill up.

There hasn't been a new project started in Pennsylvania for 2 years because we simply don't get the Federal money we used to get.

You know, I am glad to hear you say that because all too often, we want to reinvent something that has already been invented.