Obviously, the energy sector is facing huge challenges right now.

I look forward to finding out how the Department of the Interior intends to respond to these challenges in a fiscally realistic way.

Thank you, Chairman Bishop, for holding this hearing regarding the Fiscal Year 2017 Budget Request for the Department of the Interior.

We are unable to produce the wealth of this country in a way that can emphasize the importance of having clean, reliable, redundant energy.

A huge portion of the energy in this country comes from these areas managed by the Department of the Interior.

We are officially back in recession, with only four other states. And it is because, in large part I would argue, of the policies of the Department of the Interior.

The manner in which this Administration has treated my state is absolutely deplorable.

You are destroying my state's economy, and I am not exaggerating.

I am just stunned by the misrepresentations of the previous opponent of this bill. Let me show you what is going on really. Here is the habitat of the wolf. Clearly, it is not endangered. On the red list, it is considered a species of…

I believe in the short term that is an essential component to moving forward.

We hope, Mr. Weiss, that you can help the committee as we continue to work toward legislation to advance good governance, as well as fiscal transparency and accountability.

I hope he can help the committee as we look to work on legislation to advance good governance as well as fiscal transparency and accountability.

Did I hear you say that since the Marine Mammal Protection Act passed, that sea lions have increased six-fold?

And that would allow for some taking of sea lions to help reduce their numbers so the salmonids have an opportunity to mature.

The soil itself is a natural filter for this water. These are the kind of things that States' experts know, and their expertise should be inserted into any rulemaking process. That is part of the reason that I support the STREAM Act. I…

Reclaiming my time, the answer is yes, for several reasons. It is because the mix of grasses that are used to reseed the land that has been mined and reclaimed is a mix of grasses that provides for the health that allows for grasses that…

I thank the chairman for his leadership on this issue. Mr. Chairman, if you have been listening to this debate thus far, you would believe that we are only talking about mountaintop mining. Well, I want to assure you the bill that I…

This is absolutely illustrative of the old adage: If it moves, tax it. If it keeps moving, regulate it. If it stops moving, subsidize it. So here is the deal: This country started mining a lot of coal, so the Federal Government taxed it in…

I want to know what kind of milestones, specific milestones, we would have to enact prior--as conditions precedent to authorizing a bankruptcy.

This is my first introduction to this subject, so please bear with me and be kind of creative here.

Last week, the President signed into law a fix to prevent the raiding of AML money, which requires some of these payments to be restored to Wyoming.

That check needs to be cut and delivered to Wyoming tomorrow--tomorrow--pursuant to the bill the President signed last week.

Unfortunately, when we finally did get the independent report from Bureau of Reclamation, it didn't hold anyone accountable or find anyone at fault.

Thank you for holding this hearing to follow up on the EPA's Animas River spill.

I want to let you know that the transportation bill that the President signed into law has a December 10 deadline on making Wyoming whole for past raids on its AML money.