Ron Wyden

I believe we are running on the long term, outsized risks, and we have got to right-size this budget.

I'm going to want to ask you some more questions, specifically, Mr. Secretary, about the relationship with you all and the Commerce Department.

What mechanism is there between the Department of Energy and the Commerce Department so that we can figure out how to tap the export potential of clean-tech before we lose more ground?

The U.S. is now losing market share in overseas markets on environmental goods.

If the Federal government can bail out our automobile companies and banks, it cannot support bailing out the timber industry in Montana?

Senator Tester, relying on the process of local collaboration, really has sought to make this legislation as appealing as he can to various local constituencies.

Please do the same with the landscape restoration suggested by the bill...mandate that too.

Good for Senator Jon Tester! Please give this critically important legislation every consideration.

Thank you very much, Mr. Anderson.

What I think we are going to be measured on... is people are going to say how many acres did you get treated that you really took a step to make the forest healthy again?

Thank you very much.

We have got to get some results because that is what our constituents are demanding of us.

I think what you will find in these discussions, and my sense is we are going to have lots of them, is that this committee, on both sides of the aisle, is going to make sure that we get results.

We must do a better job of this, and I think Secretary Vilsack's speech in August of this year on the national forests and the private forests emphasized the importance of collaboration.

Understand that in the rural West, not only are people frustrated, they can't understand how it is that their Government can come up with billions of dollars...

It is clear to me that a lot of these fires, they are not natural fires. These are infernos that just come about as a result of neglect.

I want to thank Senator Tester for his leadership and his friendship, and I look forward to working with him on this.

What we have always wanted in the West was a win-win. We wanted to have strong rural economies, and we wanted to protect our treasures.

I recognize the chairman of the full committee, Senator Bingaman, is here.

The subcommittee will come to order, and good afternoon to all.

We are going to work very closely with Senator Bennett because we always do, my longtime ally.

We will be working very closely with you.

I will just have a very brief opening statement.

I believe that continuing the Nation's commitment to research and development in this area offers the promise of further technology breakthroughs.

I see a lot of 'wait and see' here, and what I want is something that is much more aggressive.