Cynthia Lummis

I want to stress the importance, I believe, in the Iran and North Korean issues.

Well, Mr. Chairman, a number of us are concerned about the nuclear potential of Iran, and its low-grade capabilities seem to be there now.

Mr. Chairman, I certainly concur that deferring tax increases during tough economic times is a really good idea; and thank you very much, Mr. Chairman.

So my question, Dr. Atkinson, is how can we ensure fair treatment for rural Western States whose low population alone does not tell the whole story of their significance to our highway system?

I am from Wyoming, which is the lowest population State in the Nation and the ninth largest in terms of surface area.

This has been a very informative panel, and I am deeply grateful to all of you for attending today.

The President's budget proposes to repeal the intangible drilling cost deduction for oil and gas producers.

I look forward to working with you on conservation-easement issues.

Tourism is Wyoming's second largest industry and contributes $2.6 billion to Wyoming's economy

We have to look at some other alternatives, like offshore, and improve the technology.

Is it possible to address the biofuels issue with pine beetle-killed trees?

The beetle kill in Colorado and Wyoming is absolutely devastating.

We do have a part of our science program that is focused on looking at the opportunity to create liquid fuel.

I hope to follow up with you specifically on that point because we are terribly concerned.

Adaptive management.

But as my colleague from Colorado mentioned earlier, there is a study that shows that an eight percent gross royalty would be the highest ad valorem type royalty in the world, in terms of all minerals.

So I do take issue with your statement that we should be importing more uranium from friendly countries, such as Canada and Australia.

I am from Wyoming. We are the number one uranium producing state in the nation.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman, and I want to thank you all for joining us today.

Thank you very much.

I am assuming since someone just got beeped by your caucus that we will be beeped by ours as well to go vote.

I want to ask a question specific to California production as well.

Could one of you describe the usual permitting or environmental study process that would occur for an offshore lease?

How long will it be before we will start seeing increased production on the Outer Continental Shelf, assuming that the lift of the moratorium stays in place.

Thirty-five wells on one well pad--drilling horizontally and directionally--producing natural gas that we never could have recovered four years ago.