And let me say thank you, thank you, thank you to you and Senator Murkowski and the members of this subcommittee for making sure we get the additional resources to be able to do the job right.

One of the proposals that we discussed quite seriously in the appropriations process last year, was an onshore inspection fee, that the BLM would be able to charge, an increase in fees, for that effect.

I would hope, with the leadership of this subcommittee, that we can see some august, robust support for the LWCF.

The bottom line is, how do you continue to maintain the legal requirements under the 1990 legislation?

I think we all recognize, and it's explicit in the comments, that we don't want to trade access to the very valuable petroleum and carbon resources at the cost of degraded water supplies and environmental problems.

I know Senator Murkowski is going to get into this, and she's raised a very important question about the difference between production figures on private lands and public lands.

I'm still about safety and environmental protection.

Continued investment in international conservation will improve our economic security, while helping our domestic species to flourish.

Criticism from some about investments in the LWCF, I will just say he is not on this subcommittee, but Senator Barrasso and Senator Enzi from Wyoming are great beneficiaries of the LWCF.

Thank you very much, Senator.

Secretary Salazar is a rock star in Vermont. People still talk about his visit up there, and I appreciate that.

Thank you, Senator Murkowski. Thank you, Administrator, for your testimony.

I support the administration's commitment to fully funding the program in the near future.

I'm especially grateful that we had the opportunity to discuss with him the potential for offshore wind development to create new manufacturing and assembly jobs and to generate renewable energy in my home State of Rhode Island and in…

the way in which we could move forward with the true conservation agenda that fulfills the dreams of many in the conservation world would be to have enough money to be able to do many more of these landscapes.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

I wish we did. It would make it easier.

We want to encourage the development of offshore wind, and so we want to keep our auction process as simple as possible.

We hope to have all of that in place for competitive leasing later this year.

50 percent of these new fees are required to be used to improve permit reviews and related oversight activity.

This could be a very short hearing, Mr. Secretary.

Thank you, Senator Murkowski.

Rhode Island has been helping lead the way on offshore wind in developing its 'pilot-scale' offshore wind project

It is necessary, and it is such an important part of our economy that we need to keep investing in that program.

Thank you very much, Mr. Secretary.