James Lankford

Let me just mention a couple things that are jarring on this to me.

The President had just recently rebuked public companies who did conferences in Las Vegas that had also received TARP money.

So to say all these previous conferences, like Oklahoma City and New Orleans and all this are the same, they are not.

We were in the process--in fact, GSA was in the process of putting out stimulus dollars totaling $5.85 billion.

During the time of this conference, at that same month unemployment in the Nation was 9.6 percent.

Can you give me some confidence EPA will not release any preliminary findings until they have been peer reviewed as required by the study?

There seems to be no scientific evidence that there is an adverse environmental impact in this, only a preference that we want to protect 5,000 minnows.

How is EPA deciding how many fish is the appropriate number to be impinged on each site?

We need to know what we can do to help to continue to send the message and also provide legislation.

Talk is cheap and we have had multiple moments of discussing it to death.

It is not just something we need to do, it is something we absolutely have to do.

We would appreciate that in a nice, kind manner as well, that you would pass that on.

This is not something we need to export, people bitter at the United States of America back to their third world countries.

Mr. Lankford. That is terrific. Obviously that is an area we can get a chance to step up on then.

That is a positive thing for us because one of the frustrations that Mr. Connolly and I both mentioned as we went through the previous hearing was there was a lot of conversation about it, there was a lot of sense of this is occurring, but…

Accountability seems to be a big issue.

As a Nation, we have certain values that characterize us. We believe that each person has been endowed by their Creator with certain rights, including life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.

We are a part of the Oversight and Government Reform Committee. We exist to secure two fundamental principles.

Okay, because that is the second part of my question, how do you not just reduce civilian employees but increase contractors to compensate for that so you are really just moving it over to another area?

So, your 15,000 is a floor rather than a ceiling on that one?

Long term, that is obviously what is going to help us the most.

DHS had the Secure Border Initiative network. I know that is a long-term--that is not your favorite project to talk about because it was this long-term project that ended up spending a billion dollars and then getting folded down and…

Americans have the right to know the money Washington takes from them is well spent.

Our solemn responsibility is to hold government accountable to taxpayers.

Americans deserve an efficient, effective government that works for them.