Cynthia Lummis

I was in Israel just last week, and a big water project, Red Sea-Dead Sea, is being contemplated to provide water to Jordan.

God help us if we are not smart enough to seize the moment. And that moment is the water, as the underlying blood of all of us.

We are going to see more of that if we don't allow ourselves to plan for the future with all the tools in the toolbox.

If additional storage had been in place, would some of the water that was turned out, would it have been available for capture, increasing storage water?

I have never thought about water as being a commodity. I think about water as being an absolute necessity.

I have no further speakers, if the gentleman is prepared to close. I reserve the balance of my time.

I thank the gentleman from Arizona. Mr. Speaker, I now yield 4 minutes to the gentleman from Utah (Mr. Bishop), the chairman of the subcommittee.

Do you know if there have been any changes to OSM senior management, as a result of these problems?

Given that, how can we be sure that more than 5 years into the process, the Department is not continuing to waste taxpayer money?

Well, I can elucidate this: $5 million over 5 years, as opposed to $8.6 million over 4 years, and without actually now proposing a rule.

Do you consider $8.6 million to be excessive, particularly considering the rule has yet to even be proposed?

Why is there an entire section of the IG's report on issues within the new contract?

I would assert that we have moved beyond 1973 in terms of our ability to save species.

But the problem is we are still administering it and enforcing this law by a 20th century litigation model.

I could relate, as Mr. Southerland said, to the reference that there are spiritual and moral reasons to be good stewards and good caretakers of our land and our water, and to the species of the earth.

I want to thank the Members, particularly the panelists, for your extraordinary participation, for your expertise, and for your thoughtful commentary.

I might note that on my very own ranch the swift fox was captured for reintroduction elsewhere with our full cooperation.

All they hear about is the bleating from the environment groups, like, 'Oh, we are going to lose all these species,' except they are not hearing what it is really costing them in jobs in this bad economy and everything else that is going…

I support the Endangered Species Act.

It took acts of Congress to accomplish delisting of wolves, and they were listed under the non-essential experimental population component of the Endangered Species Act.

USGS should have the funding needed for 3DEP in their budget.

What if we did this State by State? Let's look, just for example, at H.R. 916.

Our intent is just to give them the authority to make these decisions pursuant to a plan.

Well, it has been a head-scratcher to me that we do allow controlled, managed, planned access for snowmobiles in the winter into Yellowstone, and yet during times of year when kayakers would like to use certain waters in the park, they…

The intent is not to open all rivers all the time to paddling in the parks.