Peter DeFazio

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Mr. Chairman, first I would like to ask unanimous consent to put three letters in the record.

Well, I hope my colleagues from the other 49 United States are listening.

It seems like one that can bully or overrule you and require you to do things that are beyond your legal authority.

You know, I find this all very extraordinary.

To come in and say now that a main highway or a parkway in Portland or a pick your street in any of those 232 cities in Oregon is now a salmon habitat is ridiculous.

Now, don't you--didn't Biggert-Waters require an advisory committee for mapping?

But in this case, what is being recommended for Oregon, which is going to require a regulatory change which will apply nationwide, is not following the advice of that committee.

Most of our development is now, by State law and State and local planning, focused on those downtown core areas, as Congressman DeFazio indicated, to avoid urban sprawl.

Washington State, where our regional office of NMFS is based, was allowed to go with performance standards, but it is a State that does not have comprehensive, statewide land-use planning.

So in this case we--you are far exceeding the minimum standard approach.

So then, arguably, perhaps your agency, in exceeding its authority to follow the directives of National Marine Fisheries and agreeing to adopt this RPA, is vulnerable to being sued.

There are some glimmers of hope and activity there.

It appears that we would then begin to model ourselves after the rest of the country.

How are you going to overlay these new rules on top of our already strict land-use planning?

The National Flood Insurance Program is critical in many areas.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Thanks for holding this oversight hearing of the Federal Emergency Management Agency.

Do we have a timeline on when some conclusion is going to be reached?

I am very concerned about the age of the fleets being used, both by the Coast Guard and NOAA.

I realize you have budgetary issues here, but here is my concern.

This is a little bit nonsensical.

I am working with Chairman Chaffetz on OMB reform because I keep running into them doing all sorts of things that do not make sense for the U.S. Government or the taxpayers of the United States of America.

Well, brainiac down at OMB, you know, wrote this into a rule, which somehow has never gotten changed at OMB.

Some idiot at OMB in 1990 promulgated a rule which we have been bound by which is restricting the Government's ability.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman, and thank you for putting scrutiny on this important issue, the costs and potential efficiencies that could be gained with enhanced leasing.

So it could be a useful tool.