Able to stay for a while . We are going to take a quick recess. Mr. Reynolds you bet. We will take a quick recess and be back. Mr. Reynolds see you soon. Thank you mr. Chairman. It is worth noting for the public that the reason we had to go to recess is because actually the majority would not succeed in passing an appropriations bill so they brought us to the floor to try to wipe out two endangered species including bass and the lesser prairie chicken. It is unfortunate that is the state of our nation but here we are in the last day of voting before recess. Mr. Reynolds, we do so appreciate you being here today. I would like to ask a few questions about Climate Change, about the current challenges that the Parks Services are facing generally and tribal comanagement and how you are using the Inflation Reduction Act ones. Big picture, could you talk to us about what do you see as the Biggest Challenges right now that the park service is facing and how can we in congress address that . Mr. Reynolds i mentioned housing which is that a broader category of one of the number one priority is, the thriving workforce. I think any suggestions that you hear from constituents or employees that come to you, we would be all ears. We are trying to empower, diversify, and provide housing as we discussed before the break and try to deal with workloads that comes back from our surveys. The other thing we are focused on is climate, and the impacts also being able to maintain good Visitor Experiences as environments are changing. This is going to be factoring into the g aoa investment and is a question, if you will send Design Review and except ability and things like that. I would say it this way. The love and use of parks im trying to come up with a term that is not overcrowding but we have a strange dilemma in that many parks are exceeding as i am sure you are aware, recordbreaking cetacean. Visitation. Zion National Park is an example. There are 426 units in the National Parks system and some are underutilized. We are focused on how to steer the American People to the full american story represented in the system. Dealing with how to have a quality Visitor Experience and take care of the resources and heavily visited places and get folks to understand their parks is another one. I know its in new mexico, we struggle with that challenge. There is a double edged sword in that having that a federal recognition and protection of these beautiful and important places brings greater attention and protection but also brings as you stated, over love of some of the spaces and we are struggling with that in some of our areas. In terms of the challenges, Climate Change challenges that they posed for the parks, this summer, the southwest was covered in a heat dome. An historic fires in canada have brought smoke which descended down across all of the u. S. And, of course, the historic drought and climate and water challenges that represent the representative lee talked about across the west. As the Parks Service is about modeling and looking at finances in your mandates, what do you see is the biggest challenge and opportunity to really address these challenges Going Forward . What will you need to manage our parks in a time of a changed climate . Mr. Reynolds thank you for that. It varies depending on the environment youre talking about but if i could think of some high priority areas, we will need to make sure that we are held accountable to design as we invest in things that will be resilience. We were talking to representative lee about her districts issues sorry it has issues of the lakes but will be put in a new boat ramp, we think ahead with landing and science teams about what will and work with partners and communities about what does a resilient dock system look like to maintain access when it goes up and down . Some of our science folks are telling us it is not necessarily a linear regression with Climate Change. You might have one year that is heavy snow in the another with heavy drought. That is something we are looking at. On the resource side of things, we have a lot of conversations with our science teams about whether and how we deal with species that might be falling out of their range. And how to deal with investing in the right landscape treatments or fire. Those come to mind as huge challenges right now. Thank you. We mentioned it a moment ago but the Inflation Reduction Act was a largest investment in Climate Change accompanying the bipartisan infrastructure law and the significant down payment that we have made on our National Parks alongside, of course, the lw cf funding that we made permanent a few years ago which is crucial to the future and Climate Resilience of these special places. We appreciate your stewardship and i yield back. I want to warn the gentlelady to be careful what she asked for. They always come back and bite you. Be careful. The gentleman from montana is recognized for five minutes. Thank you mr. Chairman. Mr. Chairman, thank you and representative stansberry for holding this hearing. Country has faced overcrowding in Visitor Experience issues due to the lack of staff and inadequate management since the pandemic 2020. As recreational visits begin to climb back up to precovid numbers, these issues are becoming more glaring. The current structures in the parks cannot handle this renewed influx of people and we need proper management techniques applied by the parks to make sure that no ones Visitor Experience is hampered by overcrowding. There is more to the numbers of visitors going to the park. It is about the experience, and i think you probably recognize that. However, at the same time, i received many reports even from fellow members of the congressional body of issues they have had trying to book and register for the National Parks visit, especially glacier National Park in my home state. While timed entry is vital to allow my constituents and tourists to enjoy their time at the parks, the process should serve as something other than a roadblock or deterrent for anyone coming looking booking a trip. I asked the National Park service and Deputy Director to come up with a comprehensive plan that can effectively deal with overcrowding problems while at the same time providing an easy streamlined process that people of all ages and walks of life can understand and use. The current overcrowding not only has harmful effects on the Visitor Experience, but also on the wildlife that calls these parts home. We heard reports from yellowstone where the bear sightings in parking lots in other areas and wastewater systems collapsed due to overuse sending sewage into rivers and streams where the fish reside. These issues are a result of overcrowding and we must solve this issue while maintaining open and accessible parks for all who are interested. I know this is no easy task, but with the help of these agencies highly qualified Civil Engineers into practice practical reasonable solution may be found. I look forward to hearing the testimony of the deputy rector today and hope we can find Bipartisan Solutions to these issues plaguing our parks today. Thank you. Ok, mr. Reynolds, are there any Civil Engineers currently working or employed by the department focusing on lowering the congestion across the parks system . Mr. Reynolds we do have a collection of Civil Engineers who tend to work on the sewer Treatment Facilities or drainage and things like that. I dont actually know if there is a Civil Engineer working on the overcrowding side but there are transportation planner engineers that are specialists in the management and contractors that we bring them to do that. We are looking at those. You know the glacier situation very well but we have a lot expertise inhouse and out of house helping us with those planning efforts. So, i worked very closely with superintendent shelley in yellowstone and he is doing an incredible job there. Mr. Reynolds the recovery from the flood . Record time after the floods last year. Going to the park, the wastewater systems are really, really being strained down there. Number two, housing for the staffing is an incredible challenge. The housing issue, they are beginning to address. Housing around the country is a big issue in the cost of it. They are building some Housing Units on the park to make sure that and nice units so they can attract and retain employees that they need. But i am really concerned with the wastewater projects and Potable Water projects and having a Development Background myself, they take a lot of time and it is very expensive. Do you have a Civil Engineer looking specifically at that . Mr. Reynolds yes, absolutely. I want to thank you for the support for the Great Americans outdoor act. It has been a big boost that we needed to take on those treatment plans. The superintendent and his team put forward a lot of top priorities. There are at least three to have to do with the Wastewater Treatment plans. Mammoth, old faithful, those areas. These are things no one wants to deal with but they most they are the most expensive and Resource Preservation things you can do. They are a top rarity in the funding stream and and develop it now. It has also been my experience that if you can start putting even minor amenities in different locations around the park that you are able to draw some of the visitors to these other areas instead of having them all concentrated in the typical areas that they have been accustomed to going to . Mr. Reynolds yeah, thats true. Social media is amplifying at certain places and people show up. We need to add that to let people know there are other gems they can visit. Thank you very much. My time is expired. I yield back. I will recognize myself for five minutes. Last year in june, the secretary directed the department of interior to phase out the procurement sale and distribution of singleuse plastic by 2032. What is the current status of the National Park service and the efforts in developing his plans . Mr. Reynolds thank you, mr. Chair. It is in various stages. We have started it where we can. Our concessionaires, i must throw them a compliment. The private sector is stepping up and discussing things with the Business Services spoke about how to cheat folks about how to change their products to be nonplastic oriented and recyclable and compostable. I dont have an exact percentage but we can follow up and give you that. We are in the early planning and implementation phases. How much money did the nps spend in fy 22 and what is the highest projected spending for fy 23 . Mr. Reynolds overall budget . How much for the Plastics Recycling . Mr. Reynolds i will have developed. I dont have an answer for that. You know the total cost of the transition for the 10 implementation period . Mr. Reynolds i am not aware that we have one but im sure we do somewhere. It is nice to know where we are going. Mr. Reynolds yeah. As use stated, arizona has 22 National Parks with an average of 10 million visitors per year coming to the parks. The Economic Impact is over 1 billion per year. One of the things that visitors enjoy the park is typically those who are short on time or have physical disabilities act being able to see the parks. This is our air tours. They are a great way to see the parks, especially for those who have mobility issues. Recently ive been hearing from the air tour operators and issue about the service not listening to the advice of the National Parks advisory group. I am concerned about the upcoming discussions related to the air tour Management Plan and shutting down lately in the National Parks. Can i get a commitment from you to work with the committee on this effort . Mr. Reynolds yes. We are working with many parks on air tour management lands. We will continue to work closely with you or whoever can step up to the public process. Can i get a yes or no to seek the counsel of the National Parks oversight Advisory Board particularly as it relates to the Economic Impact in these gateway communities . Mr. Reynolds yes. We will talk to any oversight folks along with the faa who was our prime partner in this. Thank you. The grand canyon currently has 829 million in deferred maintenance and repairs which is becoming a great challenge for the staff who run the park and impacts overall Visitor Experience. It the second most visited part in america. Do you agree it should be a priority for the park service to resolve issues that the grand canyon park has asap . Mr. Reynolds yes. We are working very hard. That is a great news about along with the Sewage Treatment plants, the grand canyon has a water supply and we have a project thanks to the gao a and wreck the money is to get that water system fix. That is one of the things i really wanted to hit was the water supply on the issue. I want to come back to the overflight effect. How receptive would you be to that board in regards to their plans . Mr. Reynolds i am not super familiar with the board and its make up but we would listen and are trying to be as transparent as we can in the planning effort so i cannot see what we would not want to work with them. I think they felt like they have come up with some rather Interesting Solutions and yet have not been heard. I thought it would be very interesting to see how you could work with them. Mr. Reynolds yeah. A lot of these people only go over the airspace. They are from somewhere else or ms. Lees district and have their outfit at the Mccarran Airport and they fly over there and keep their trash all the way until they come back at mccarran. I think it would be a great thing. Well, i am running short of time. You want a quick second round . I could ask more questions. Mr. Reynolds, what type of feedback are you receiving and how are you collecting it in regards to the staggered attendance through grace or through glacier park another parks . Mr. Reynolds we started the pilot programs and i think glacier needs to move next to a more formal planning which would involve public involvement. They have gotten positive comments about the overall experience. They have, as you mentioned in your earlier remarks, frustrations about ordering, but the park has responded to those. A quick example, they have been watching the feedback to the point where they changed on the fly how the tickets were allocated and they also have change the hours so you can come into glacier if you perhaps are on a road trip and did not realize the reservation or dont have online. You can come in before 7 00 or after 3 00, which is pretty decent times especially if youre just trying to go to the sun rose. They are trying very much to work with people on eight. It is not about prevention. It is about making experiences work and try to get people i guess more certainty that they would also spend time in the community. How are you collecting information from visitors . Mr. Reynolds online input. We are taking any comments dropped off at a visitor facility. We have open, periods much like you would see in a planning process. You have anyone taking this data and organizing it and establishing some kind of matrix that says we have problem with the hours, a problem with the amount of time we are allowed to spend their, a problem with the advance notice that is required . Is somebody evaluating that and actually creating the is matrix . Mr. Reynolds short answer, yes, and we will share that with the public. That is the only way we can measure the results and find out with the travelers cost for experience is like. What other methods are used to stagger attendance times or days nomination . I am familiar with glacier but our other park systems using staggering eco mr. Reynolds yes. Theres a whole system of different strategies. The National Park in utah has something similar about timed entry whereas before they were shutting the gate down once the parking lots and roads were completely packed. That has been well received by the Moab Community as well because people know they will go in at a certain time they spend money at restaurants, hang out into other activities in town. We also are trying to, i mentioned earlier the social media and web space. We have a program called planet like a park ranger where we encourage people to know a list of things that they can do that are outside the park in the community as well as other parts are parks in the zone. There are different places to go. My time has expired. The chair of the whole committee is recognized for five minutes. Thank you chairman. Thank you to the Deputy Director reynolds for being here today. National parks very important to all of us. I happen to live in hot springs National Park, which is a source of pride in arkansas. It was the first land ever set aside in reserve for the federal government. Reserved by the federal government. I will command the park employees to keep the park healthy and to active force management on the park Forest Management on the park to keep the threat of catastrophic fire down into controlled burns and to be good stewards of the park as well as the Buffalo National river, which is my district. It was the nations first scenic river. I know all members in congress can talk about parks in their state or their Favorite Places to visit. I know in the Parks Service wildland Strategic Plan for 2024 , and you state the goal of using active management techniques to protect National Parks Service Structures and reduce the risk of communities and assets. Could you provide an update to the committee on progress made regarding the deployment of active force management techniques since the issuance of the wildlands fire Strategic Plan . Mr. Reynolds i can offer a couple of things. We have been able to up the acres that we treat and that can be different kind of activities. You can clear brush, active Forest Management, controlled burns. We have gone from a little over 200,000 acres this year up from 1. 7 i think the last year. 170,000. We have gone up to 268,000 think. How about your workforce . How much has increased under the plan . Mr. Reynolds i will follow up and get you a note on that. We have been doing better. Their support for wildland firefighter pay and those kinds of issues. I have not heard of any major albums with staffing this year yet. Major problems with staffing this year yet. Lets talk about budget and maintenance backlog. For years, i heard the Parks Service company are before the committee and save they only had more money they could fix problems with outdated buildings in trails in the parks. If we had more money, we could hire more employees. Congress has made historic investments in the parks system over the past few years, yet it seems that these problems if they are improving, it is not very quickly. To add insult to injury, the Parks Service requested an increase of 8 and discretionary funding for fiscal year 2024. Can you explain why last year the Parks Service reported a dramatic increase in the deferred maintenance backlog and what concrete plans does the service have to reduce the backlog other than just continuing to ask congress for more money . Mr. Reynolds we very, very much appreciate the investments that have been made between all of the various Funding Sources and they are putting them to very good use as quickly as we can. Theres at least 1. 2 billion obligated right now a couple of years in to the gaoa work. The plan is very much on a public facing website. We can give you that link or constituents with that link. We have plans up through fy 24 that i am aware of of park rarities investments that we are going to use this money park by ortiz and investments that we will use this money. There were very large changes in how the number was measured as part of the big increase, but we are hoping to eliminate about three point six point dollars in deferred maintenance hopefully in the next two years. These projects take from 15 years to complete and we wont change the dm number until the project is fully completed. I realize that patience is thin, but we are really working fast, and i think we could make a really good case if you would welcome us to come up and briefed the committee at some point on what the plans look like if we have not already done so with your staff. I would like to get more information on that as well. In the socalled Inflation Reduction Act, there was a half billion dollars given to the Parks Services specifically for hiring additional employees. How many employees have you hired to date . Mr. Reynolds some parks have started the hiring process. We created hiring team. I can confirm that number and go to hr and get it. I dont have it handy with me. It started and it is underway. The parks are putting proposals in through their regional offices and we are approving those as quickly as we can. How much of the 500 million do you have left . Mr. Reynolds i dont know but we cannot let you know that. I appreciate the Parks Services efforts to work with us on the bipartisan bill on the john sequoias giant sequoias and sequoia National Park hopefully we will get that bill on the president s desk sooner than later. Mr. Chairman, i yield back. I will recognize myself for five minutes. Mr. Reynolds, you have only been in your position as the head for over a year now. You have had every job in the service from ranger to regional director to acting director at one point. I read that you are a thirdgeneration and the National Park service employee. Tell me, what do you think personally that service could do from your Vantage Point to be more efficient and reduce wasteful spending . Mr. Reynolds i am glad that you are asking a question about the Parks Service growing and changing and being a better agency. It is something we talk about and strive. I think if you spent time with some of our folks, there is different use of government these days, but the people i have known for 38 years, most of the 20,000 are some of the most dedicated people possible. One thing we can do is very much help the employee he invested and appreciated. This is true of any business you are running, but i think for a long time, we have asked our folks to do some sacrifices because they loved the work so much. I think that having a very healthy diverse invested Skilled Staff and supported and empowered by this good leaders and an appreciation from congress is something that we keep striving to do. I also think that that will then get to any kind of waste and fraud issues if you have welltrained, good people running your system. We are really investing in that. I also think that listening to the American People and involving them in continuing to be approached about how the parks their lives is something that we can do to help the less wasteful because we are fitting the bill about what people want. Would Something Like the bison issue in the grand canyon, and you know the historical bison in that area b eefalos. Is there calling of the herd culling of the herd so they can take a tag. Are those programs will be looking for . Mr. Reynolds we welcome partnerships where it makes sense and where we can legally support Something Like that. I recall those dilemmas and the superintendent getting engaged with the state. It seemed to get a lot better after they all came together. Well, i think theres room for improvement, and i think this is the start of a dialogue. I thank you very much for your interest. I want to see if the vice would mind taking the chair so i can catch a flight. I yield back to the gentleman from georgia. The chair will recognize mr. For five minutes. Thank you, mr. Chairman. Resuming where we were a while ago talking about utilizing volunteers and keeping the trails open, we get a fair amount of questions in my area about the status of the trails, when they fall into neglect and get behind. The next thing you know, you get a memo that says, we cant recapture the trail. It would be too expensive. That is the de facto closure of the trail and a lot of people feel like it is done fairly deliberately because there seems to be more and more exclusion from Service Lands for hiking, hunting, offroad vehicles and such. Can you disabuse the assumption that folks contact me about . Mr. Reynolds yeah, i mean, the good news about the break is i was able to look something up with my staff. Theres a 75 of the trails open, probably a quarter that are still struggling. Are you talking whiskeytown . Mr. Reynolds yeah, sorry. There should be no on purpose actions to keep something closed. There should be an accountability about why something is closed. Is it a resource problem . Is it fire damage . Is it a lack of funding or safety . We will be happy to followup with you all with that park to find out what might be happening. But there is no orders or there shouldnt be actions to keep something closed just to keep a close. I hope not. We have a volunteer force that is raring to go on that. We can get it 100 open milestone would be great. We will continue here on the issue with the concessionaires. Parks often being in remote areas have a limit in the amount of concessionaires that can have the contracts or take them. You are looking at monopolies and a lot of these cases the parks lands. So, people are fighting finding in the reporting that in order to visit these public lands, it is about as costly as approaching disney they might say. Maybe that is an exaggeration but is getting very costly for folks because of the concessionaires and what they can get away with. It really comes down to an elitist way of doing business. Can you tell me what is that it pushes people to go to the poorest service, blm lands a set of National Parks which they are set aside for that purpose especially. What is the Quality Control that we are looking at for concessionaires on how they are performing, what the offer, and is it commensurate with normal people . Not a baseball game like 12 beers or Something Like that. Mr. Reynolds we have Concessions Management specialist. The park is large enough, there is a Concession Division that does the accountability. There are inspections and in order for their contract to be renewed or continued, these things happen. We can make those reports available if there is a particular problem area that you are hearing about to talk to you about what the Concessions Team is doing. Yes, pricing prices have gone way up and there is a constant conversation with concessionaires with pricing approvals but the Parks Service does have an opportunity to ask them about pricing and to regulate that. Ok, so it hits hard. It hurt low income. These days, middle income people are starting to feel like low income folks and these things hit really hard. The price of everything, the fuel to get there, the meals and restaurant along the way, everything is higher. We need to find out how we can keep concessionaires being competitive with peoples perception is. Mr. Reynolds yeah. We are looking a massive influx of National Visitors to our parks. They hit somebody and such and they are welcome but have we considered, have you considered a raised entry pass price for interNational Visitors to help carry that additional burden, something a little more in line with that load in order to have american citizens be able to have a better shot . Mr. Reynolds i dont believe we have any consideration of that at point. Ok. Maybe that is something you should take back and we can talk with you about that too if you would. There is a push for pay increases for 5 park service in place. Do you think that is actually enough, or it will make more employees want to be there . We are done with that with the poorest of us as well. Mr. Reynolds i think pay cap resolution as they mentioned would be helpful where we can. We should look towards housing being more affordable. Im being told no. I yield back. One last question for you. When we Start Talking about the experience at the park, it is also very critical that you feel safe in that environment. Montana just experience yet another death of a camper from a bear attack. The population of grizzlies in montana right now far exceeds 2000, between the yellowstone population and the greater northern Continental Divide population. What additional steps are you taking to protect visitors as the grizzly bears populations grow and endangered species protections have rendered many of them completely fearless of humans and very habituated, causing danger to campers . Mr. Reynolds yeah, i was very sorry to hear about that tragedy, and we continue with our bare management folks, with our rangers who tried to help people understand how to be bare safe in these environments and work with the partners in the area. In montana it is a whole combination of land owners, the forest service, Parks Service. We are working hard to basically keep an Education Program going with the visiting public but also manage the bears if they become habituated or they are in towns or communities in that kind of thing. Removals or whatever actions need to be taken. What kind of actions are you taking with the visitors . What kind of additional education are you sharing with them . Mr. Reynolds as far as i know, we still got for instance in the evening in the campground you might have a roving ranger or volunteer that comes around and will talk to people about the hygiene of their camp perhaps or how to store their food at night. There is quite a bit of mort the more we can personally touch people rather than him them pamphlet the entrance gate the better. Thank you very much. Mr. Chair, i yield back. The chair recognizes mr. Stansberry for five minutes. Thank you. I will make a brief remark. Want to thank you, Deputy Director, for being here today. I had hoped to take a moment before the chairman had to leave his flight to address a comment that he made directed at me about a comment that i made. One thing i do appreciate is the bipartisanship of my colleagues who are here, my friendship with all of you, our professionalism. We really are a model for the American People, the behavior that we engage in here on this dais which has impacts and implications for people out there, especially young people who watch us. So, i just wanted to raise that and i appreciate you all. I appreciate the comments about bipartisanship but i do not appreciate the comments made by the former chairman that were threatening. With that, mr. Chairman, i do yield back and thank you again. All right. The chair will not recognize myself for maybe five minutes. Mr. Reynolds, these questions are really not coming from hate. Me. They are coming from my chief of staff was a big hiker. He enjoys the outdoors and makes it a point whenever we are not here, hes usually somewhere in the woods hiking. Actually, we had talked about this and he was my gc on my campaign and we talked about this a bit during the campaign. I know a bit about what he is talking about, just enough to probably mess up the question from how he would want to ask it. But could you please speak, and you may have addressed this earlier, can you please speak about the use of Public Private partnerships to address the maintenance backlog facing the National Park system . Mr. Reynolds sure. As you know, mr. Chair, a lot of our projects or maintenance backlog will be contractors and that is probably not what you are asking but i want to point out that it is the private sector that basically implements our construction building in the on the ground projects. It is supervised by us. In publicprivate partnerships we have the National Parks foundation, hundreds of other organizations helping most parks nowadays, especially bigger parks. We welcome and trying to be as innovative as we can working with those boards and donors to match money. The centennial match process is really helpful with that where we can put up 50 of the money that they would raise. That is great for fundraising apparently for donors. We worked a lot with the Philanthropic Organizations. They can do a lot of things quicker and faster for us, for the American People, and then as part of a donation, perhaps they can purchase a piece of land for us and donate it over. We do utilize the publicprivate partnerships a ton. We had the ability to general agreements to work with somebody , perhaps with chair housing as a mentioned earlier. How do you use the Philanthropic Partners with the Great American outdoors act projects . Mr. Reynolds we are just in the planning stages of a lot of them so we have not gone all the way. We asked them a lot of time to help us add onto a project, so perhaps we i often joke about it, gunmetal gray. You have seen the u. S. Government desks. We use a basic investment money to fix the sewer Treatment Plant that we are to the congressman about. The Philanthropic Organization adds something that might be a really nice addition for the Visitor Experience. They can fund raise for it and sometimes build it or donate something to us the adds to the experience that we would not be able to build with public funding. My wife and i have a home in gatlinburg until recently and she has been a friend of the smokies forever. Mr. Reynolds great organization. Yeah, they always have different projects or things going on. What can be done to streamline the approval process for individuals who would like to repair a picnic table or trail shelter for example in one of the emotional local National Parks around . Mr. Reynolds we want to try to empower each part of the unit to deal with the project of that scale. What i would recommend is the organizations that want to do Something Like that go ask for an appointment with the superintendent and talk with him directly about what they are trying to do. They can work with us to try and we want to welcome as i said, as much help as we can and we can manage. That is pretty much what he was getting at when we were talking about earlier, the chief. He was out hiking and it was a shelter and picnic table and there was a local Boy Scout Group that actually had wanted to repair it, but they could not get permission to do it. It was rather confusing when people are willing to donate supplies and labor. Mr. Reynolds i am happy to look into that particular subject if it is still burning, but i would guess that somehow the right connections have not been made because the parks would probably welcome that kind of help. A lot of times they can you asked me how we use the Philanthropic Organizations. We can insert them into that process right away and perhaps the eagle scout can host it or help facilitate it. Ok, all right. That is all the questions i have. I dont think we have anybody else lined up, do we . Ok. I want to thank mr. Reynolds for his valuable testimony and the members for the questions. The members of the committee may have additional questions for the witness, and we will ask you to respond to those in writing. For Committee Rule three, members of the committee must make questions to the subcommittee clerk by 5 00 p. M. On tuesday, august 1. The hearing record will be held open for 10 Business Days for these responses. If there is no further business, without objection, the subcommittee stands adjourned. [background chatter]