Jeff Merkley

I ask my colleague from Alabama, if he has a moment or two more, after I read an official consent request, if he might stay for a moment and answer a question about how that budget conference committee works?

Isn't it possible that in the name of reducing the deficit, this path could actually increase the deficit by decreasing revenues and increasing costs?

I really hope this point gets through to all of the colleagues on Capitol Hill of how this impacts ordinary working families, that when there is this sort of dysfunction just here in this square mile of Capitol Hill, how people across…

So it really seems like the path we are on right now is equivalent to creating a huge tax on the American economy, one that really hurts families across the board, hurts businesses, hurts employment, and yet we get nothing productive…

Thank you, Greg, for coming. He brings extensive experience as an engineer and general manager.

So are you basically saying we are going to have perhaps hundreds of thousands of new homeowners who are going to have deep shock when they receive a notice saying that their insurance is going to go up?

Is it upon a 1-year renewal, they get a 1-year policy, then upon renewal of that policy, their rates will go to the unsubsidized?

Am I correct in believing that if a family has to pay $1,000 more a year in flood insurance, one of the costs, if you will, that is essentially equivalent to dropping the value of the home $20,000 since $1,000 at 5 percent pays for a…

I thank very much my Vice Chair, Senator Heller, for being very supportive of holding this hearing.

Chairman Merkley. So I would toss out the idea that I will be happy to follow up with subsequent to this hearing...

I really think that FEMA needs to have an ombudsman function.

So, in short, the folks who live on a stream in Oregon are not subsidizing a hurricane zone on the Atlantic coast.

Those people need to be extended--have the subsidized rates extended to them for a longer period of time.

And so we are creating something where homeowners who have built up equity over their lifetimes, maybe they have owned the home 30 years, are seeing that equity devastated and essentially given away to the advantage of those who are well…

Absolutely. I really appreciate your testimony on that topic when you talked about the 25-percent loss ratio.

I am very concerned that the unaffordability of flood insurance will cause people to drop their flood insurance.

If we don't make things in America, we will not have a middle class in America.

I just want to do a little advertisement for Vernonia, because I thought when I saw the school and what it brought to the community--and you mentioned all the common rooms and the focus on the energy.

I believe that Emerald Cities is also involved in assisting Hacienda Community Development Corporation in developing more energy conservation strategies for their work.

Well, that's right at the average for students who are coming out with debt. And for many, it does become a millstone, and it's a part of the challenge of getting life on track.

Do you see this as a family sustaining career, a strong financial platform, if you will, for raising your child?

It was not that many years ago that LEED Platinum was just a twinkle in our eyes, and now we hear about building after building achieving that status.

I want to highlight the importance of coalitions of labor, community, environment, and government, such as the Emerald Cities Collaborative.

Thank you, Senator Merkley, for your leadership on clean energy and economic development in Congress.

Two of those bills that encapture this concept are Senator Merkley's.