mr. huffman. >> mr. chair, i would yield my time to my colleague, barbara lee. >> let me thank the gentleman for yielding his time. i really appreciate that, mr. huffman. i want to ask first, ms. tiller, to respond once again in your testimony you mentioned the importance of attaching ex-offenders to work as it relates to reducing recidivism. mr. chairman, i want to mention this to the panel. in the welfare reform bill, both democrats and republicans -- this was a bipartisan fiasco, if you ask me -- >> you're talking about the 1996 bill? >> yeah. president clinton signed it into law. there is a lifetime ban for snap s.n.a.p. benefits of those convicted of a felony drug offense. not homicide. not armed robbery. felony drug offense. lifetime ban on s.n.a.p. and public assistance. primarily african-american and latino men. let me ask you, ms. tiller. what if this ban were -- i've had legislation for years trying to lift this. fortunately states can opt out and my state just opted out this year. what would t

mr. huffman. >> mr. chair, i would yield my time to my colleague, barbara lee. >> let me thank the gentleman for yielding his time. i really appreciate that, mr. huffman. i want to ask first, ms. tiller, to respond once again in your testimony you mentioned the importance of attaching ex-offenders to work as it relates to reducing recidivism. mr. chairman, i want to mention this to the panel. in the welfare reform bill, both democrats and republicans -- this was a bipartisan fiasco, if you ask me -- >> you're talking about the 1996 bill? >> yeah. president clinton signed it into law. there is a lifetime ban on s.n.a.p. benefits of those convicted of a felony drug offense. not homicide. not armed robbery. felony drug offense. lifetime ban on s.n.a.p. and public assistance. primarily african-american and latino men. let me ask you, ms. tiller. what if this ban were -- i've had legislation for years trying to lift this. fortunately states can opt out and my state just opted out this year. what would the wor

mr. huffman of california. at the end of the bill before the short title insert the following -- section. for an additional amount of programs, projects and activities of the bureau of reclamation authorized under the reclamation waste water and groundwater study facilities ct, title 16 of public law 102-573 40 u.s.c. 398, it is therefore appropriated an amount by this act for department of energy, energy programs, nuclear energy. it's hereby -- is hereby reduced by $52 million. the chair: pursuant to house resolution 621, the gentleman from california and a member opposed will each control five minutes. the chair recognizes the gentleman from california for five minutes. mr. huffman: thank you, madam chair. california and the rest of the west are facing a historic drought right now. nearly 80% of california was under extreme drought conditions in june and 36% of our state is in exceptional drought in that category, the highest category, in fact, on the u.s. drought monitor. emergency conservation plans are bei

mr. huffman, which would strike that provision and would force federal agencies to accept as the best available science actual science. the language in question says, the term -- this is a quote -- best scientific and commercial data available includes all such data submitted by a state, tribal or county government. the endangered species act is one of our nation's strongest and most successful environmental laws and one reason for that success is that the law has been based on scientific evaluation using peer reviewed science by trained scientists, not the whims and ideological wishes of legislators. the endangered species act is not a shouting match or a fight for power and influence among interested party, it's a look at the need to protect endangered species as determined by the best science. and this language that the best scientific and commercial data available includes all such data submitted is as preposterous as it is impractical. where's the quality control? what happens if a locality submits something that is not in fact true? or not in fact established within the scientific communi

mr. huffman was going earlier. what's indicated on page 5 of your report that in order to solve the problems you testified and we all know too well, we have to do a combination, perhaps, of raising revenue and decreasing spending/costs. but the wording here on page 5 indicates that we could raise revenue, decrease spending, or do a combination of the both. so clearly i understand how we could decrease spending, reduce costs to get us back under control regarding our deficits and debt. but i'm under the impression that we can't just increase revenue and solve this problem. yet page 5 seems to think -- say that's an option. is that -- am i reading this correctly or incorrectly? >> yes, congressman. raising revenue is an option for dealing with imbalance. >> i mean solely. raising revenue solely as a solution to this. >> well, depends what the this is. the focus here in this report is on the next 25 years. and can revenue be raised enough to have the ratio of debt to gdp in 2039 be the same as it is today? yes. absolu

mr. chairman. >> i would like to recognize jared huffman of california. >> thank you. i wanted to be at this hearing because i represent earthquake country, tsunami country. i think it's a very important subject. and with some really helpful testimony. i want to thank the witnesses for their contributions. mr. chairman, i wanted to be here to thank you. as a new member of congress, i think this is the first hearing i have attended of any subcommittee on the natural resources committee that wasn't a loaded partisan title full of partisan content with a loaded partisan agenda. this is a really important subject where we can all be interested and engaged. we might actually get something done together that could help the country. we need more hearings like this. as much as anything, i wanted to be here to express that. and to thank you for it. with that, i yield the balance of my time to ranking member holt. >> i thank representative huffman. let me make two general comments. first, following on the line of our ranking members comments, the mentality here in washington is