Obviously, from a scientific perspective, this outcome would be unacceptable to us in the State of Washington and, I think, to the whole Northwest and probably to the entire country if they were more informed about this problem.

We shouldn't leave this up to the bankruptcy courts. We should have a good, strong federal law that says these are your responsibilities.

We are seeing oil prices in recent weeks hovering around $100 a barrel. And natural gas prices remaining at exceeding historic highs, which I think is adding great impact to what Americans are doing in trying to deal with this economy.

I think we all know that the tsunami was one of the largest and most devastating natural disasters we've seen in recent history.

I believe we should be taking an even larger leadership role in this region.

I really encourage you to be aggressive in defending and standing for our presence in Southeast Asia.

Well, according to the New York Times 45 women presented President Hamid Karzai with their own Afghan Women's Bill of Rights in Kandahar.

I guarantee you a year from now if we are sitting here having these hearings and we have invested a vast sum of our taxpayer dollars into bringing security and we are still seeing young women who cannot go out of their homes and are not…

I think you're rightfully arguing that without stability in these countries, these countries will be a breeding ground for future terrorism.

I hope that we have the right kind of funding in here to make the social and physical investments in a country to allow young women the opportunity to be educated and participate.

I believe the concept of processor quotas is fundamentally anti-competitive and bad public policy.

Today's 'race to fish' is dangerous, it leads to unsustainable harvests, and it has forced an uneconomic overcapitalization of both the fishing fleet and processor facilities.

What is wrong with the concept that Mr. Fraser said in having one arbitrator have analysis--basically having an information database that has all the information and setting what is a fair minimum price so that there can be a starting…

Nobody has mentioned the 100-million-loan buyout program, and I know that it is in the rulemaking process.

I appreciate your continued leadership on these issues and I look forward to working with you and Senator Murray.

However, I don't think anyone here today would dispute that the current system is broken and that we must act.

Our country's firefighters are clearly one of the most crucial lines of first response in the protection of our communities.

Thank you for the opportunity to meet today to discuss the Native American Housing Assistance and Self-Determination Act.

Unfortunately, tribal communities suffer disproportionately from substandard housing conditions, such as overcrowding, lack of plumbing and electricity, or lack of any housing at all.

As we reauthorize this legislation for another 5-year period, it is important that we assess the implementation of NAHASDA to identify what has worked well for tribes and what aspects need to be improved upon.

I think I voted by proxy on that, but would like to be on record in support of that legislation.

Indeed, the success of NAHASDA is critical to many low-income Native Americans.

during the weeks that the House was out of session, our Nation received a substantial amount of economic good news. The economy is growing. Unemployment is declining. The budget deficit picture is improving. These trends are encouraging…

last year Congress fulfilled its promise to the American people to end gridlock and reduce the deficit. Today, no one can dispute the results--our deficit is now $126 billion below original projections--1993 was a landmark year that…