Ron Wyden

This is, of course, a momentous year for wilderness in our State.

The Sandy City Council has unanimously endorsed the legislation for a small rural community

I thank you and Senator Craig for holding this hearing.

I think, Mr. Chairman, I would like to be courteous to Senator Ensign and let him go.

If mediation this week fails, and the Biscuit recovery gets tied into a judicial slipknot, I will advance legislation as a solution.

The real issue here is that Americans want green forests, not blackened ones.

So my view is, let's figure out where to put some of the matrix lands when we take it away from this.

These things need to be going in the same direction and not at cross purposes.

I know Senator Wyden has made a great effort to include the concerns of mountain-bikers, snowmobiles, and recreational groups.

This legislation, as proposed, impacts roughly 460 miles of snowmobile trails.

I think it is an excellent bill, and I intend to work with Senators Smith and Craig and all of our colleagues here to see if we can move it just as quickly as possible.

I just think it's important not to see this as a zero-sum game.

The certification process today for the workers is almost a kind of bureaucratic water torture. It involves essentially a different process with different countries. What we tried to do in our bipartisan discussions is to try to streamline…

Of course, under the McCain proposal, Senator Allen and I would simply say, with respect to Internet access, it is tax free. You have already paid for it. It is like buying a carton of milk. You have already paid for it once. You should…

We see this new rule to be a considerable barrier to our partnership.

I can understand why any President would want gas prices to be low with an election coming fast. But what about what the American families want?

I think the consumer is about to get hit by a perfect storm with the combination of failure to push OPEC... plus filling the strategic petroleum reserve. With these factors coming together, it seems to me a perfect storm is going to push…

I regret to say I am going to hold up his appointment until we get access to this information.

It looks to me like he is saying that the agency will not use the Freedom of Information Act in the future to deny Members of Congress access to information.

The Freedom of Information Act was never intended to justify withholding information from the Congress.

I find it very troubling and it is why I think that the agency seems to be writing a textbook case for how you weaken some of these environmental laws.

It is a dangerous problem, but it is also dangerous practice to enact an industry wish list into law.

I have to tell you, I am very troubled by what has come out that indicates that essentially something like 12 paragraphs of what industry has proposed were essentially enacted verbatim.

It looks to me like powerful industries can essentially hotwire the regulatory process that weaken environmental rules.

I am going to put a hold on your upcoming appointees until the agency is responsive on that question.