Honor America's Guard-Reserve Retirees Act

I thank Chairman Hastings for yielding.

Mr. Speaker, it is a great privilege to speak on my bill, H.R. 5742, the Soledad Canyon Settlement Act. I appreciate the opportunity to appear before the House, and I want to thank Speaker Boehner, Majority Leader McCarthy, and Chairman Hastings for their steadfast support of this legislation. Without their support, we wouldn't be standing here today on the floor with this bill.

I would also like to thank the gentlewoman from California, Senator Boxer, for her efforts in finding an agreeable solution for the inclusion of language that brought the score of the bill to zero. And I second the remarks of Chairman Hastings and hope that she will be able to bring this to a conclusion in the final days that the Senate is in session. One of the things that Senator Boxer added to this bill was introducing legislation that brought the cost of this bill to zero. Crossing that hurdle has moved us to this point now in solving this intractable issue.

Finally, I would like to thank the gentleman from California, Congressman Sherman, for his support of my legislation. I continue to believe in bipartisanship as the way to address critical issues for our constituents, and we have shown time and again that we can find common ground if we try.

Mr. Speaker, the Soledad Canyon mine, operated by CEMEX, is located just outside the city of Santa Clarita, California, in the 25th Congressional District that I have had the opportunity to represent now for the last 22 years. Under two current contracts held by CEMEX, they are authorized to extract approximately 56 million tons of sand and gravel over a 20-year period, with two 10-year contracts.

Residents of my congressional district and city leaders have been expressing their concerns for the past 24 years about a large mine operating in close proximity to where they live. And, as the chairman mentioned, this has become much closer over the years. They fear the effects of pollution, increased truck traffic, and environmental health issues on their families and the community. Throughout my 22 years in Congress, I have worked endlessly to find a solution. I have engaged with civic leaders, residents of my district, environmental leaders, the county of Los Angeles, CEMEX, BLM, the Department of the Interior, Chairman Hastings, and the leadership of our conference.

Mr. Speaker, allow me to give just a bit of background on the situation that has arisen in my district. In 1990, two privately held valid Federal contracts were awarded to Transit Mixed Concrete. Southdown, the parent company of Transit Mixed Concrete, was acquired by CEMEX in 2000, resulting in CEMEX holding the Federal contracts.

The Bureau of Land Management approved a mining plan of operations and prepared a draft environmental impact statement with respect to the Soledad Canyon mine, which was released on May 6, 1999. The environmental impact statement was subsequently modified to address the growing concerns among Santa Clarita residents about the impact that mining operations in Soledad Canyon have on air quality and health, truck traffic, and declining property values in Santa Clarita. The final environmental impact statement was released to the public on June 2, 2000, with a list of eight alternatives for mining the Soledad Canyon site.

Under the California Environmental Quality Act, the county of Los Angeles

completed the environmental impact report in 2001 and subsequently voted in 2002 to deny the permit, citing the right and responsibility of the county to impose reasonable environmental and resource protection and regulation on mining in Soledad Canyon.

Numerous lawsuits were filed between 2002 and 2004 involving the city of Santa Clarita, the county of Los Angeles, the Center for Biological Diversity, and CEMEX. A consent degree resulted from the settlement of CEMEX, Inc. v. County of Los Angeles in 2004. The consent decree contains the mitigation agreement between CEMEX and the county of Los Angeles, which lists 40 conditions that CEMEX is required to meet in order to mitigate the environmental, health, traffic, endangered species, and safety concerns raised by the county, local residents, and the city of Santa Clarita.

Mr. Speaker, as I mentioned before, I have worked throughout my entire congressional career to bring all parties together to work out a deal that is mutually beneficial. I have introduced eight bills on this issue over the years, each of which took a different approach to dealing with the mine as new issues arose.

In the 106th Congress, I introduced H.R. 3060, which would have withdrawn specified lands from the operation of Federal mining and mineral leasing laws and would have nullified any existing permits issued on those lands. The same bill was introduced as H.R. 679 in the 107th Congress. In the 108th Congress, I introduced H.R. 3529, the Soledad Canyon Mine Lease Cancellation Act. This legislation would have canceled the two mining permits for the Soledad Canyon mine and would have prohibited the Secretary of the Interior from issuing permits for mining above historical levels in Soledad Canyon.

In the 109th Congress, I introduced H.R. 5471, the Soledad Canyon Mine Leases Adjustment Act. This legislation would have canceled the two mining permits for the Soledad Canyon mine, directed the Secretary of the Interior to provide additional financial and mineral production opportunities in exchange for the economic value invested to that date on the two permits, and would have prohibited the Secretary of the Interior from issuing permits for mining above historical levels in Soledad Canyon.

In the 110th Congress, I introduced H.R. 5887, the Soledad Canyon Mine Act. This legislation would have authorized the Secretary of the Interior to cancel the two mining contracts, prohibited future mining in Soledad Canyon, provided a means for CEMEX to recover just compensation for the cancelation of the contracts, provided the Bureau of Land Management with the necessary tools to verify the expenses incurred by CEMEX, provided relief to CEMEX for such expenses, and provided for a dispute resolution process.

In the 111th Congress, I introduced H.R. 4332, the Soledad Canyon High Desert, California Public Lands Conservation and Management Act of 2009. This legislation had a similar set of actions as H.R. 5887, but added two notable ones: it provided a mechanism to offer for sale, by competitive bidding, lands identified for disposition near Victorville, California; and to acquire environmentally-sensitive land and collect the proceeds of the sale of lands near Victorville, California.

Finally, in the 112th Congress, I introduced H.R. 6469, the Soledad Canyon Mine Mitigation and Relocation Act of 2012. This legislation would have begun a study of the legal and administrative steps-- including obtaining sufficient funding--necessary to carry out the goals of the Soledad Canyon High Desert, California Public Lands Conservation and Management Act of 2009, H.R. 4332.

I mention each of these in order to illustrate how the tug and pull of all parties influenced the legislative process. Each party gave ideas to further perfect legislation that would finally solve this vexing issue that affects the residents of my district.

I believe because of all our joint efforts, we have reached a critical mass on this issue. It is time for a solution once and for all. I am looking forward to the full House acting on H.R. 5742 today, a solution that would take the mine out of commission and lift this two decades' long burden off the backs of my constituents.

This is a solution borne from the great compromise between the city of Santa Clarita and CEMEX, who each offered to put up the difference in cost to bring the cost of the bill to zero. This zero score is critical to the bill's success and couldn't have been achieved without the partnership that has developed over the many years of action on this matter.

The bill achieves all the aims of my previous legislation, particularly H.R. 4332, with the solution to the vexing issue of how to ensure there is no cost to the Federal Government.

Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to support this legislation. I thank the gentleman again for allowing me the time to explain this critical issue in my district and thanks again to our House leadership and Chairman Hastings for bringing this legislation to the floor.

Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 5742) to provide to the Secretary of the Interior a mechanism to cancel contracts for the sale of materials CA- 20139 and CA-22901, and for other purposes.

Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may have 5 legislative days to revise and extend their remarks and include extraneous materials on the bill under consideration.

I yield myself as much time as I may consume.

Mr. Speaker, we are here today to address the Soledad Canyon Settlement Act, H.R. 5742, as introduced by our colleague from California (Mr. McKeon). This bipartisan bill will solve a longstanding controversy surrounding a pair of sand and gravel leases located near the community of Santa Clarita, California.

In 1990, the Bureau of Land Management, or BLM, issued two leases for sand and gravel mines to CEMEX. At the time, this area was much more remote than it is today. As CEMEX was preparing a plan of operation, it became clear to all parties involved that local community development had made the project incompatible with the local community. Local community leaders, the region's congressional delegation, and the company have all worked for more than a decade to find a legislative solution to make the company and Federal Government whole while returning the lease to the Federal Government.

As a result, we are here today to move forward with a plan to cancel these leases while at the same time making both the contract holder and the Federal Government whole. This legislation has the strong support of State and local communities, the contract holder, and the regional congressional delegation.

Now while this bill has just recently been introduced, it is the product of years of hard work and careful communication and review by the committee. The gentleman from California (Mr. McKeon) has been a tireless advocate on behalf of his local communities. He has demonstrated patience and diligence in pursuing a workable solution that the Congress can successfully act upon. I am confident that the community of Santa Clarita already knows just how fortunate they have been to have had Mr. McKeon as their Congressman for 11 terms.

Now, it is also my understanding, Mr. Speaker, that the gentlewoman from California, Senator Boxer, shares Mr. McKeon's commitment to this legislation, and I hope that she will be able to follow his lead before the end of this Congress by shepherding this bill through the Senate. This bill deserves the support of both the House and the Senate.

With that, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I am very pleased to yield such time as he may consume to the gentleman from California (Mr. McKeon), the author of this legislation, the chairman of the Armed Services Committee.

Mr. Speaker, I yield myself the balance of the time.

Mr. Speaker, as Mr. McKeon pointed out, this has been a long process for a vexing problem in Santa Clarita, and Mr. Sherman pointed out very well that Mr. McKeon is to be commended for this, and this would be kind of the capstone on the career that he has.

All that is left if this House adopts this measure is very simply for the other body to take it up, and with the interests that Senator Boxer has shown on this issue, I hope that she can

move this legislation through the Senate.

With that, Mr. Speaker, I urge adoption, and I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of the bill and would like to hear from the gentleman from California (Mr. McKeon), so I will reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I yield myself as much time as I may consume.

Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of the Soledad Canyon Settlement Act. This act is a testament to bipartisanship, fiscal responsibility, environmental stewardship, local consensus building, and tireless tenacity for the public good.

Bipartisanship: Here in this House, the bill is introduced, carried, and written by our colleague, Buck McKeon. In the Senate, the same language has been introduced by Senator Barbara Boxer and is supported by Senator Feinstein. You can't get any more bipartisan than that.

Fiscal responsibility: CBO says this bill costs the government zero dollars and zero cents. You can't get a lower cost estimate on a bill than that.

Environmental stewardship: this bill is supported by the Sierra Club, and this land will become the gateway to the new San Gabriel Mountains National Monument.

Local consensus building: this bill has the support of local leaders and legislators, Governor Jerry Brown, CEMEX, the local lease owner, and virtually everyone involved in public life in Santa Clarita, which is Los Angeles County's third largest city.

Tireless tenacity: Mr. Speaker, tireless tenacity for the public good is exemplified by our friend, Buck McKeon, 22 years in Congress and I believe 22 years focused on this problem, and now, on what may very well be his last legislative day, we have a chance to solve this problem in a way that I think exemplifies what we should be trying to do here in Congress.

In addition to Buck's tireless tenacity, I want to commend the city leaders of Santa Clarita, many-time Mayor Laurene Weste, who I believe is now a city council member and has been mayor of that city so often; Bob Keller, now the mayor pro tem; Ken Striplin, the city manager; and hundreds and thousands of people in Santa Clarita and the immediate area.

Mr. Speaker, this is a bill that is needed because it will stop the mining of 56 million tons of sand and gravel, which is now incompatible with a city that has grown to more than double its size when the project was originally planned, and now constitutes an area of well more than a quarter million people.

This sand and gravel mining operation is incompatible with the new population of the area, and it is also incompatible with the roads and traffic which is busy not only at rush hour, but throughout the day.

I want to commend the gentleman from Santa Clarita for his decades of work for his district, and all the people of California.

Mr. Speaker, I urge an ``aye'' vote on the Soledad Canyon Settlement Act, and I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

I rise in support of H.R. 1405, as amended.

I introduced this legislation, H.R. 1405, to improve the veterans' claims appeals process. Currently, a veteran must first exercise his or her appeal rights before the appeal process formally begins and the VA sends the required forms.

H.R. 1405, as amended, requires the VA to include an appeals form with the notice of decision for every claim. This cuts out several steps and speeds up the appeals process. This commonsense change will immediately reduce the time frame of the appeals process by 60 days.

H.R. 1405 will also allow the VA to provide better customer service to those veterans who are already struggling with significant delays and bureaucratic challenges.

This legislation is, indeed, a commonsense improvement that will result in veterans in southern Nevada receiving the benefits they have earned in a timely fashion. I constantly hear from veterans in Las Vegas that the process is too complicated and takes too long. This change will eliminate an unnecessary bureaucratic step and speed up the process for those veterans and all our veterans across the country.

H.R. 1405, as amended, is supported by the VA and the veterans service organizations who came and testified.

This piece of legislation also includes language from three other bills: H.R. 679, the Honor America's Guard-Reserve Retirees Act, introduced by Representative Walz of Minnesota; Chairman Runyan's bill, H.R. 733, the Access to Veterans Benefits Improvement Act; and Mr. Johnson's bill, H.R. 894, to reform VA's fiduciary program.

I want to thank the chairman of our subcommittee, Mr. Runyan, for moving this legislation through the subcommittee and for the bipartisan cooperation that guides our work on behalf of Nevada's veterans.

I also want to thank the many veteran service organizations for their helpful input and for supporting this legislation.

I urge my colleagues to support passage of H.R. 1405, and I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from Minnesota (Mr. Walz), who brings incredible expertise and compassion to the committee as a decorated veteran himself.

Mr. Speaker, I would urge my colleagues to join us in support of H.R. 1405, as amended, and I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I would like to thank the chairman and the ranking member of the full committee and the subcommittees for doing exceptional work, for putting our veterans first, for bringing a package of commonsense legislation to honor our Nation's veterans, and doing it in the best and smartest manner we can. If the entire Congress functioned like the VA Committee, I think the American public would be far better served.

There is a provision in this bill that is very simple. It recognizes the service and sacrifice of members of the National Guard and Reserves. These are the men and women of our Reserve component. They take the same oath of office. They do the same training. They and their family sacrifice their time and energy and stand at the ready at all times. They assist flood victims in Colorado and Minnesota, fight fires across the Western United States, and stand ready to fight and defend this Nation at a moment's notice. They truly are the minutemen.

I would guess that the vast majority of Americans and maybe even Members of this body don't recognize that you can serve 20 years doing that, and if you are not called to a specific title X service, you cannot be considered a veteran. You can go to the VA hospital, you can go use the GI Bill, you can be buried in a veterans' cemetery, but you are technically a military retiree.

This may seem like a small thing, but it is not. The title of ``veteran'' means more than just a license plate you get from your State. It is something your neighbors know about. These people don't and should not have to explain that they are technically not a veteran.

This piece of legislation--and I thank, again, the people who made this possible--simply corrects that. Very seldom do we get a chance to do this. It doesn't add any cost, and it does the right thing. So it is not an added benefit--which was earned, by the way. It simply corrects this, puts it in line, and honors. If you serve 20 or more years in uniform, you stand ready, you train people who went to war, we are going to give you the dignity and the honor of calling you a veteran.

So I ask my colleagues to support this important package of legislation. This one small piece is the right thing to do. It is many, many years overdue. I ask for the support of H.R. 1405.