Plum Island Preservation Act

Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 2182) to require the Comptroller General of the United States to submit a report to Congress on the alternatives for the final disposition of Plum Island, including preservation of the island for conservation, education, and research, and for other purposes.

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

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

Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of H.R. 2182, the Plum Island Preservation Act, sponsored by my colleague from New York (Mr. Zeldin).

This bill requires the Government Accountability Office to review the alternatives for the final disposition of the Department of Homeland Security's Science and Technology Directorate's Plum Island Animal Disease Center, commonly known as Plum Island.

Since 1954, Plum Island, located in Suffolk County, New York, has served the Nation in defending against accidental or intentional introduction of foreign animal diseases, including foot-and-mouth disease. However, Plum Island's facilities are aging and nearing the end of their life cycle.

That is why in 2005, DHS announced that the work being conducted on Plum Island would be moved to a new Federal facility in Kansas. Plum Island will continue to operate until the National Bio and Agro-Defense Facility is fully operational and a complete transition has been made in 2022 or 2023.

This raises the question of what will happen to Plum Island once its activities are fully transferred over to the

new facility. The Department looked at this issue and, in June of 2016, released a report that reviewed several options for the final disposition of Plum Island.

This bill simply requires GAO to review and analyze these alternatives to ensure all necessary information was taken into account before the Department decides how to move forward with the final disposition of Plum Island. Specifically, GAO is to analyze the effects, possible implications and issues, and potential costs and revenue for each disposition.

Finally, H.R. 2182 suspends the sale of Plum Island until GAO completes this thorough review and analysis of alternatives.

My friend, Representative Zeldin, introduced H.R. 2182 with strong bipartisan support. H.R. 2182 is very similar to a bill that passed the House by voice vote last May.

In conclusion, this bill ensures that there is adequate consideration of all the options for the disposition of the island.

Mr. Speaker, I urge all Members to join me in supporting this bill, and I reserve the balance of my time.

House of Representatives, Committee on Transportation and

Infrastructure,

Washington, DC, July 25, 2017.

Hon. Michael McCaul,

Chairman, Committee on Homeland Security, Washington, DC.

Dear Chairman McCaul: I write concerning H.R. 2182, the

Plum Island Preservation Act. This legislation includes

matters that fall within the Rule X jurisdiction of the

Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure.

In order to expedite floor consideration of H.R. 2182, the

Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure will forgo

action on this bill. However, this is conditional on our

mutual understanding that forgoing consideration of the bill

would not prejudice the Committee with respect to the

appointment of conferees or to any future jurisdictional

claim over the subject matters contained in the bill or

similar legislation that fall within the Committee's Rule X

jurisdiction. I request you urge the Speaker to name members

of the Committee to any conference committee named to

consider such provisions.

Please place a copy of this letter and your response

acknowledging our jurisdictional interest in the

Congressional Record during House Floor consideration of the

bill. I look forward to working with the Committee on

Homeland Security as the bill moves through the legislative

process.

Sincerely,

Bill Shuster,

Chairman.

Mr. Speaker, I yield such time as he may consume to the distinguished gentleman from New York (Mr. Zeldin), the sponsor of the bill.

Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I, once again, urge my colleagues to support H.R. 2182.

Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I thank Mr. Donovan for his support.

I rise today in support of H.R. 2182, to prevent the sale of Plum Island by the Federal Government to the highest bidder.

Situated at the gateway of the Long Island Sound, I personally had the pleasure of visiting this treasured island.

In addition to being a critical resource for research, approximately 90 percent of the land on Plum Island has been sheltered from development, offering Long Island a diverse wildlife and ecosystem and critical habitat for migratory birds, marine mammals, and rare plants.

Plum Island is also an essential cultural and historical resource as well, with recorded history dating back to the 1700s.

The island held the U.S. military's Fort Terry, a coastal defense fortification, which was used through the end of World War II.

Since then, Plum Island has been utilized as a research laboratory and has since grown to become what is known today as the Plum Island Animal Disease Center.

In 2005, the Department of Homeland Security, which currently has jurisdiction over the island, announced that the Animal Disease Center research would be moved to a new Federal facility, the National Bio and Agro-Defense Facility, NBAF, in Kansas.

To offset the cost of this relocation, a law was enacted that called for the private sale of Plum Island by the Federal Government to the highest bidder.

However, because of the costs associated with the cleanup and closure of Plum Island, and because of local zoning restrictions, the Federal Government would receive little compensation for the sale of Plum Island.

Also, in the 12 years since the move to Kansas was approved, the new facility in Kansas is already fully paid for by a combination of Federal appropriations and State and private funds.

Allowing for continued research, public access, and permanent preservation of the island, H.R. 2182 will suspend the laws passed in 2008 and 2011 that mandated the public sale of Plum Island.

This bill will commission the Government Accountability Office, in consultation with the Department of Homeland Security, which currently owns the island, to formulate a comprehensive plan for the future of the island.

It requires the plan focus on conservation, education, and research and include alternative uses for the island, including a transfer of ownership to another Federal agency, the State or

local government, a nonprofit, or a combination thereof.

In the 114th Congress, this bill passed the House unanimously with bipartisan support as H.R. 1887.

My amendment to the Financial Services and General Government Appropriations Act of 2017, H.R. 5485, which would have prohibited any of the funding within the appropriations bill to market or sell Plum Island, also passed the House as well.

I would like to thank the other Members of Congress who have cosponsored this legislation and lent their support to this cause, especially my colleagues from Connecticut, Congressman Joe Courtney and Congresswoman Rosa DeLauro.

I would also like to thank House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy for bringing this bill to the floor, House Homeland Security Chairman Michael McCaul, and all of the local elected officials, groups, and concerned residents on Long Island who have taken an issue on this important issue.

This bill is endorsed by the Preserve Plum Island Coalition, an alliance of over 65 community and environmental groups in New York and Connecticut, focused on the conservation of this island.

I am proud to work alongside all of these great individuals and groups as we strive to save Plum Island.

Since taking office in 2015, one of my highest local priorities has been to protect Plum Island. Preserving this island's natural beauty, while maintaining a research mission, will continue to provide important economic and environmental benefits for Long Island.

Mr. Speaker, I encourage all of my colleagues to vote in support of this critical bill, as well as for the Senate to pass this legislation, so it may be signed into law this year.

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

Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of H.R. 2182, the Plum Island Preservation Act.

Mr. Speaker, since 1954, the Plum Island Animal Disease Center in New York's Long Island has served as the Nation's principal laboratory responsible for research on foreign animal diseases of livestock, such as foot-and-mouth disease and other animal diseases.

At Plum Island, the Department of Homeland Security works with the U.S. Department of Agriculture to research and develop new vaccines and diagnostic tests for animal disease outbreaks and to defend against international or accidental introduction of animal diseases into the United States.

On September 11, 2005, the Department of Homeland Security announced plans to develop the National Bio and Agro-Defense Facility, or NBAF, as a state-of-the-art biocontainment laboratory for the study of diseases that threaten both America's animal agricultural industry and public health.

As envisioned by DHS, the 580,000-square-foot facility would replace the Plum Island laboratory.

Following an extensive selection process, DHS selected a site in Manhattan, Kansas, for the new lab, and the site is slated to be fully operational by December of 2022.

What H.R. 2182 aims to answer is what will happen to Plum Island when DHS vacates the facility.

DHS is currently studying the range of options for disposition of the property, including transferring it to another Federal agency, a State or local government, or a nonprofit organization for the purposes of education, research, or conservation.

In doing so, DHS is expected to assess the full implications of each option, including cost, cleanup, and hazard mitigation.

H.R. 2182 requires the Government Accountability Office, or GAO, to assess whether the forthcoming study is satisfactory to support a decision. In the event that the study is lacking in a key area, GAO would be required to conduct its own study.

Importantly, H.R. 2182 ensures that Plum Island cannot be sold by the Federal Government to the highest bidder.

Under this bill, the sale of Plum Island is prohibited until at least 180 days after the required reports in the bill have been submitted to Congress.

Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from Connecticut (Mr. Courtney).

I yield an additional 30 seconds to the gentleman.

Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentlewoman from Connecticut (Ms. DeLauro).

Mr. Speaker, H.R. 2182 has broad support on both sides of the aisle, as we can see. Plum Island has a history dating back to the 1700s and has been owned by the Federal Government since 1899. This bill takes steps to ensure that this culturally and historically important site is not sold until all relevant questions are answered regarding the final disposition of Plum Island and that a satisfactory comprehensive plan has been developed.

I urge my colleagues to support this important piece of legislation.

Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I thank Mr. Payne for his leadership on the Homeland Security Committee and also for his hard work on this legislation, which, again, has been closely watched back home in Connecticut and on the other side of Long Island Sound, as Mr. Zeldin indicated as well, in the State of New York.

Again, I rise in strong support, with my colleague, for passage of H.R. 2182, the Plum Island Preservation Act. This has been an effort that has been ongoing since Congress, unfortunately, took, I think, a wrong turn when they enacted legislation in 2009, with the goal of trying to create funding for the National Bio and Agro-Defense Facility in Kansas; but in the process of doing that, it set up a truncated sale of this property, which really deviated from the normal GSA process of trying to exhaust other beneficial uses before putting it up for sale to the highest bidder.

Again, that has been the struggle for people on both sides of the Long Island Sound, who have been frustrated by the fact that, because Congress mandated a sale without any other options, the incredible, pristine environmental quality of this precious piece of property was basically pushed down the food chain in terms of, again, the way the Federal Government was operating.

Again, I think it is important to recognize--and my colleagues from New York, Mr. Donovan and Mr. Zeldin, understand this--this still is the most densely populated area of America. The boat traffic, the maritime traffic that flows through Long Island Sound, again, is the busiest in the country. And to have a piece of property that is this precious and this pure--which Mr. Zeldin visited, and I think he can attest to that personally, and I have sailed past it--is really an opportunity that really we just cannot possibly allow to go to a developer that would make that quality forever lost.

So this legislation, which stops the 2009 process in its tracks, has GAO step in and do a full complete analysis across the board in evaluating all options. In particular, the options of preserving this unique environmental asset is the right move for our country, and, again, it will be to the benefit of generations to come.

Again, I want to congratulate Mr. Zeldin for his persistence. Again, we did get it through the last Congress, the 114th.

I think getting this done early in the 115th Congress will hopefully allow us the opportunity to get some bandwidth in the Senate's floor schedule to finally get this to the President's desk, and, again, forever protect an asset for generations to come.

Mr. Speaker, again, I urge strong support for this measure.

Mr. Speaker, I rise in strong support of this legislation.

It is very simple. It directs the Comptroller General of the United States to submit a report to the Congress on alternative uses for Plum Island.

The report underscores its ecological significance, that is what it would do; the need to be protected; and it would be an important step toward identifying conservation alternatives to selling Plum Island.

I believe that Plum Island should be a unit of the National Wildlife Refuge System, ensuring that we would safeguard the island's sensitive wildlife and ecological value.

Plum Island is the largest area in southern New England, where seals can rest on dry land. Its 843 acres are home to two threatened bird species: the piping plovers and the roseate terns.

We need to proceed very carefully when considering the future of Plum Island. This is a refuge for wildlife and native plants, and once it is developed, it cannot be restored, which is why the legislation is so important.

By evaluating the alternative uses for Plum Island fully rather than selling it to the highest bidder, we can ensure that this ecological, historical, and cultural treasure can be protected for generations to come.

I am proud to join with my colleagues, Congressman Zeldin and Congressman Courtney, on a bipartisan basis to ensure that the environment is respected in our region and across the country.

Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to support this bill, and I thank the gentleman from New Jersey (Mr. Payne) for yielding me the time.