Jeff Merkley

I was hearing the stories about Kansas and Montana and getting a little jealous, but I knew you would come to Oregon.

I'm delighted to be here, and I'm happy for us to expeditiously proceed.

We need to get the resources to implement the foreign supplier verification process.

We are changing the systems, we are enhancing the testing all to create a system where the potential for contamination is absolutely minimized.

Can I just encourage the FDA to continue to take a look at that?

Having something that creates a substantial burden without having any public safety is the sort of thing that just drives people nuts.

It is largely expected that irrigation water for onions would never meet that standard. The water is precious.

What this means is while this vacuum exists, and I must say when products are labeled after things like flavored gummy bears and double dutch chocolate, so on and so forth, the targeting for children is quite obvious.

Over the next 3 years, about 120 multifamily housing loans will mature each year, representing over 10,000 units of affordable housing

Do you think it would be a good idea for the final rule to include----

You have had the longest tenure of any FDA Commissioner in recent history, so thank you for your service over the last 6 years.

Thank you for all that work.

I am delighted to be here in the role of ranking member, and I am certainly looking forward to working with you.

There is not a single known case of E. coli contamination linked to an onion bulb product in America.

I wanted to start by asking you about the Energy Efficiency and Conservation Loan Program.

You suggested cutting it from $27 million to $10 million. Why?

I think that is the least burdensome approach, and certainly appropriate.

Isn't the Clean Power Plan really based around that same core principle of States developing their own plan?

But the principle, you understand, of polluter pays, when you do some damage to your neighbor, shouldn't you bear some responsibility just as a basic fundamental principle?

The fact is, carbon is produced and methane is produced in a million different ways.

Underlying this entire discussion is the challenge we have with carbon pollution, methane pollution and the impact it is having across the world.

So the marketplace for sulfur dioxide worked extraordinarily well, actually, lower costs and faster results than anyone anticipated.

Should the entities that are being damaged by carbon pollution be able to sue those who are generating the carbon proportional to their contribution?

Thank you very much, Mr. Chair.

Thank you for framing in the budget a 5 year reauthorization with mandatory United States Forest Service funding.