Derek Kilmer: “I was pleased to see that the President's budget included an increase for both the National Estuary Program and for the…”

I am grateful to my colleague and friend, Congressman Brad Wenstrup, for serving on our first panel today.

I think we make a terrible mistake--and I am through--when Members get elected and there is a Democratic bus and there is a Republican bus right at beginning.

My gratitude to Chairwoman Bice and to you, Mr. Chairman, and to Ranking Member Morelle, is that you are loving critics of the institution, and that matters.

This retreat would provide a rare opportunity to engage with one another outside of the pressures of Washington, D.C.