I would like to begin by thanking Chairman McKeon for his leadership and Ranking Member Smith for the extraordinary job that both of you gentlemen have done in bringing this bill together--bringing people together to make this happen. I…

More energy production will means more jobs, a stronger economy, and more revenue.

I urge passage of this. I enjoyed the testimony; I look forward to hearing more of it.

Our Nation deserves better than the President's current offshore energy plan.

The time to be bold is now, and I applaud the Chairman's legislation.

Virginia is, in a grand bipartisan way, fully in favor of the development of our offshore energy resources.

I now recognize the Ranking Member, the gentleman from New Jersey, Mr. Holt, for his opening statement.

The Obama plan put forward the lowest number of lease sales since the Carter Administration.

I am so happy and honored to join with Chairman Hastings in supporting and cosponsoring H.R. 2231.

This lease sale was originally scheduled to take place in 2011. But President Obama has ensured Virginians won't be able to produce energy.

the President's plan is unacceptable and it requires him to put a new offshore leasing plan in place by 2015.

We know that there is an awful lot of economic potential there.

In 2007, the State of North Carolina, the County of Currituck, the Corolla Wild Horse Fund, and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service signed a comprehensive wild horse management plan for the colonial Spanish mustangs that live on 7,500 acres…

I'd like to advise the gentlelady from California that I have no other speakers and am prepared to yield back the balance of my time if she is prepared to close.

I rise for the folks in my district being furloughed because of indecision, political gamesmanship, and the failure to act in Washington. Our Nation has no greater asset than the folks serving our Nation, including those who make up our…

The requirement is 38 amphibious ships. The Navy and the Marine Corps for several years have agreed that the 33 is a fiscally constrained requirement.

As you know, when we get that energy footprint down, it is money we can plow back into the force structure and the systems that we need for the Navy in the future.

What are the impacts associated with delaying or de-scoping the reset and reconstitution of the Marine Corps?

I wanted to refer to this chart specifically and tell you of my concern about the unsatisfactory track the Navy is proposing on the current inventory projection.

How will the Marine Corps absorb additional missions like the MAGTF in Spain without impacting training or other missions?

What are the operational impacts of civilian furloughs on maintenance activities particularly in light of civilian hiring freezes and reduction to overtime work?

How do you define 'readiness'? And, ready for what? And, will the forces be 'ready' in both FY13 and FY14?

I strongly believe that our long-term naval and Marine Corps strategies cannot be articulated until the budgetary pressures get resolved.

We know that our combatant commanders request that capability quite often for things like security cooperation and crisis response and regional deterrence.

I have always been a proponent to say that strategy needs to drive budget, not budget driving strategy.