We are happy to have you here today, by the way.

I do. Thank you very much, Mr. Chairman.

Director Fearneyhough has been the director of Wyoming's Department of Agriculture for the past 4 years, which means as an appointee, and a political appointee at that, he has served both for a Democrat Governor and a Republican Governor.

improvements to the 40 year old ESA are not only possible, but desirable.

According to the State Department, the project would support over 42,000 jobs and result in $2 billion in the pockets of hard-working Americans.

I don't understand how the President can claim to be committed to job creation and economic growth and still obstruct this project because it would support both.

Approval of the pipeline would also carry Bakken crude being produced in North Dakota.

I want to welcome Aaron Bannon from the National Outdoor Leadership School to testify today.

NOLS is a critical part of Wyoming's landscape and our multiple-use land tradition.

Do you believe cutting your group sizes produces measurable benefits to preserving the naturalness of the wilderness areas on which your school resides, operates, works?

This is such an important subject for our country, and so I really want to thank you for scheduling this hearing on the science and technical issues related to the Keystone XL pipeline.

I hope they recognize, as I do, that searching for problems as a pretext for regulation rather than focusing on the science is a waste of time, a waste of resources, and runs counter to the national interest.

I am hugely frustrated with the EPA and its treatment of my state and of fracking in general.

EPA's lack of cooperation is just unacceptable, and only raises further questions regarding the agency's transparency and ultimate intentions regarding fracking.

Policymaking related to fracking should be driven by open public debate based on peer-reviewed science, not political agendas.

I thank the gentleman for yielding and hosting this Special Order. Wyoming is the largest coal-producing State in the Nation. It has been since 1986. The 10 largest coal mines in the United States are in the State of Wyoming. And we're…

I want to start out by thanking Chairman Smith and Ranking Member Johnson for their support in bringing this bipartisan legislation to the floor. I have found, since being on the Science Committee, that it is an acronym-rich environment…

the Obama Administration's Closed-Door Settlements on Endangered Species and People

The Department of Interior has refused to disclose adequate information.

I would like to slip back in to the much more mundane topic of soda ash in Trona.

If we increase the royalty... we are charging $25 million more annually for soda ash.

I want to compliment the House majority party for putting together a budget that takes a balanced approach. It balances the interest of two very future vulnerable groups. One is my age, because in 11 years I'm going to be on Medicare and…

I would like to visit about the lack of transparency in the process. What is the goal of avoiding transparency?

I thank the witnesses and yield to the Ranking Member, Mr. Swalwell of California.

A central component of the House Republican budget is to open more federal lands to energy development.