Greg Walden

We meet today to once again discuss the FDA's vitally important user fee programs, as you all know.

I thank the gentleman from Texas, the chairman, for holding this hearing and our witnesses for your testimony today.

The outdoor recreation industry has quickly become one of our Nation's largest economic sectors.

Increasingly, we are seeing the economic prowess of outdoor recreation and understanding how vital it is to a healthy American economy.

As the longest-standing committee on the Hill, Energy and Commerce has long sought to highlight industries and promote policies that will boost our economy and create more jobs.

The Federal Government has recently been at an impasse in efforts to advance our Nation's nuclear waste management program.

It is long overdue to solve our Nation's nuclear waste disposal challenge.

Nuclear energy is and must remain a vital component of our Nation's diverse, reliable, and clean electricity portfolio.

However, while we look forward to advanced nuclear technology development, it is long overdue that we solve this waste issue.

I thank the gentleman not only for holding this hearing, but also for your diligent work on this matter for many, many years.

I know this is a controversial subject.

We wouldn't be in this position if the Obama administration hadn't forced the FCC to treat the internet as an old-style common carrier.

It is time to set the record straight about the whole issue of privacy.

I appreciate the hearing today on these very important issues relating to the wireless economy.

The FCC's rules were unwise and unnecessary. The FCC will soon return broadband privacy policing to the Federal Trade Commission, where it belongs.

The people who you search through on your search history are companies like, oh, shall I say Google has an 85 percent market share of search.

We may not be able to stop every attack, but as the threats continue to escalate, we must do more to minimize the risk.

We are well aware of the threats posed by our increasingly connected society, but nowhere do these risks hit closer to home than on the very technology we rely upon for our own health care.

The cost of inaction is too great.

Improving security is a collective responsibility.

With those impending challenges in mind, I ask that you please report on what strategies, if any, the VA is utilizing to account for this overall shortage in the appraiser market and reduce the average wait times for veterans seeking an…

One veteran even lost his prospective home when his interest rate lock expired as he waited for an appraisal and, I think we would all agree, that is simply unacceptable.

Some of these veterans and their advocates have waited up to nine weeks to even have an appraiser assigned to their case, Mr. Chairman, nine weeks, making them far less competitive as prospective buyers in the housing market.

I have also heard from realtors and loan officers who find that in their efforts to secure homes for veterans and their families receiving a VA-approved appraisal is the most challenging and time-consuming requirement.

Throughout my district, I have heard from veterans who are waiting a long time, too long, frankly, to be able to get an appraisal on their VA-backed home loans.