You need to get out of Washington, D.C., and get back on the ground. There are farmers and ranchers across this country that do not want to have this rule in any way, shape or form.

It is a shame that people have the hubris in this community to think that they can dictate to farmers and ranchers.

It should be about outcomes.

This is a vast expansion. As a matter of fact, it is not legally responsive even to the courts.

This is ludicrous. I mean, I do not think anybody in a straight face can say that this is anything but a huge grab of jurisdictional power at the end of the day.

The real world is we are the people that should be deciding what happens or not.

These are public-private partnerships that allow us to leverage taxpayer dollars to help us feed the world.

In the Pacific Northwest we have a new pest that is called the Department of Labor that is now going after fresh fruit and vegetable growers.

The likelihood of bankruptcy for my rural timber-dependant Oregon counties is closer than ever.

In the real world here we need to compromise.

I think incentivizing the states like the president is doing is a really smart way to get savings...

In Josephine County, the citizens have actually resorted to arming themselves.

Without active management, forests have become overgrown, leaving them extremely susceptible not only to catastrophic wildfire but disease.

We cannot expect these communities to live with this uncertainly any longer.

Due to extreme budget cuts, counties are unable to pay for basic services their citizens rely on.

Unemployment has been pretty high in rural America, actually for a long time. I would argue they have been in a depression.

I would argue they have been in a depression, not just a great recession here recently.

I was generally pleased with the President's State of the Union speech, particularly the bipartisan balanced approach to deficit reduction.

Unfortunately, we have to balance our budget, too. So while we would love to be Santa Claus to everybody, we have to make some very tough decisions.

We urge Subcommittee members to support the bipartisan legislation, H.R. 1418, the Small Business Lending Enhancement Act.

One of the species I am most worried about in the forest areas is called the human species and rural America is slowly dying on the vine here.

I know your intentions are honorable and good and I don't want to be a contrarian. It is just that in the real world that I live in, in my state, where 1/4 of the land mass of Oregon is National Forest System, my communities are dying.

Would you agree that the constant litigation is a huge barrier to getting any of these management projects done in our National Forest?

It's time that government agencies had some 'skin in the game' when it comes to incentives to saving taxpayers money.

I am pleased to hear that some people in the majority party are beginning to rethink having to require to pay for our FEMA reimbursements upfront.