Floor Statements

Mr. Speaker, several weeks ago a deputy with the Pinal County Sheriff's Office noted a speeding van and observed likely packages of marijuana through the window. After a brief car chase, the deputy was able to secure the van and found 476 pounds of marijuana. This successful bust is yet more evidence that our local law enforcement is playing a vital role in fighting back against the drug cartels.

I congratulate Sheriff Babeu and the entire Pinal County Sheriff's Department for this seizure, which will keep drugs out of our community.

Our local law enforcement in Arizona deserve recognition for a job well done. With more resources, they do even more to protect our borders and keep our communities safe.

Mr. Speaker, just across the border, heavily armed militias fueled by drug trafficking cartels are at war with the Mexican Government. Although the worst of the violence has been contained south of the border, its impact is being felt throughout the region.

These trafficking organizations are powerful, but we are fighting back. Recently, the Flagstaff Police Department busted a major drug ring that supplied a quarter of the methamphetamine in the area. I congratulate the Flagstaff Police Department on their successful bust, which helps keep drugs out of our community and is a blow against drug trafficking organizations on both sides of the border.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to encourage all of my colleagues to support S. 39, the companion to H.R. 1762, which I introduced last month. This bill will repeal the law that has held back growth in my district for 40 years.

In 1966, Commissioner of Indian Affairs Robert Bennett chose to deal with a long-running land dispute between the Navajo and Hopi Nations by establishing a construction freeze on 1.5 million acres in my district. For four decades, no construction was allowed in the area. Families could not even do basic home repair or have electricity put in. There was no economic development, and there was no hope.

Now the Navajo and Hopi have come to an agreement, and in 2006 a judge lifted the Bennett Freeze. But that is not enough. We need to permanently remove the law that kept thousands of folks frozen in time.

Far too many families on tribal lands lack basic necessities. In the area of the freeze, only 10 percent of the people have running water, and even fewer have electricity. We are trying to fight a diabetes epidemic with folks who cannot keep the medication they need at home because they don't have a plug for a refrigerator. These families deserve to know that their government will not stop them from pulling themselves out of poverty.

I was proud to join Senator McCain in introducing this legislation. Senator McCain and I believe that Washington bureaucrats should never stand in the way of folks trying to improve their lives and develop their communities. That is something that I think that everyone in this House on both sides of the aisle can come together on.

I urge your support and encourage passage of this bill.

My friend, Bill Pribil, presides as sheriff over Coconino County in Arizona. For 5 years, Bill has successfully navigated the challenges of overseeing law enforcement in a very vast and diverse area, all while keeping our community safe.

Since taking office, Sheriff Pribil has brought a new perspective to the job, having initiated a number of programs in the county to reduce crime. These programs include the Community Emergency Response Team, which provides the community with disaster preparedness and response training; the Exodus Program to reduce recidivism by helping prisoners overcome substance abuse; and the Leadership in Police Organization Program to improve training in his department, which has helped him successfully crack down on meth, drugs, and violent crime.

I congratulate Sheriff Pribil.

Madam Speaker, I thank the Speaker for allowing me the opportunity to address the bill I sponsored--H.R. 1513, ``The Veterans'' Compensation Cost-of-Living Adjustment Act of 2009.''

Many of my constituents in Greater Arizona are hurting, and the Nation's economy, while showing some signs of improvements, still has a long road to a full recovery.

No one feels this pressure or deserves the support of a grateful Nation more than our disabled Veterans.

Our Nation's veterans have made costly sacrifices to ensure the safety of America's families. For that reason, our country provides both compensation payments to service-disabled Veterans and Dependency and Indemnity Compensation benefits to the survivors of servicemembers who die in service to our Nation.

However, without this bill, these payments would not keep up with rising prices for everyday items like gas and groceries.

That's why, on behalf of the over 3 million veterans nationally-- including 65,000 in my home state of Arizona--who are currently receiving disability compensation, I am asking you to join me in support of this bill.

This bill keeps the promise to our Nation's veterans to honor the sacrifice that these brave men and women have endured while serving our country in uniform.

Mr. Chairman, I have an amendment at the desk.

Mr. Chairman, I yield to myself such time as I may consume.

Mr. Chairman, I am offering an amendment to the FLAME Act to amend the definition of ``fire-ready community.'' The overall bill is of great concern to my district, where 6 million acres of national forest provide access to unique natural resources, but also pose a great risk of fire.

We are just a few short weeks from the official beginning of wildfire season in the State of Arizona. In fact, there was a report in the Prescott Daily Courier yesterday of a start of a wildfire in the Skull Valley area. For the next 6 months, more than 7,000 professional firefighters and countless volunteers will be on constant alert. We have already begun fighting fires just miles from the site of the Rodeo-Chediski fire that devastated Arizona's First District 7 years ago. And we expect to be tested throughout the district very soon.

The drought that has been ravaging Arizona for many years makes us even more vulnerable to wildfires than we once were. Just last year, in Yavapai County, which is in my district, we lost almost 9,000 acres and nearly lost the historic community of Crown King when a hiker started a small signal fire. And that was just one of the 1,850 wildfires that ranged over our State, burning 85,000 acres. And that was a mild wildfire season.

Our firefighters have bravely contained fires year in and year out doing outstanding work to keep our citizens safe. They have risked their lives combating wildfires in Arizona and across the country. With some of the best training in the world available at the Wildfire Academy in Prescott, which was started with the efforts of my cousin, Cory Kirkpatrick, I have no doubt they will come into this wildfire season as well prepared as ever to protect our homes and communities.

But with the millions of acres of national forest for them to protect in the First District of Arizona alone and the State Forestry Division responsible for more than 22 million acres, bravery and readiness may not be enough. They need our assistance to partner with local communities for the implementation of a community wildfire protection plan, along with a provision for training, education and equipment.

That is why I have offered this amendment, which changes the definition of ``fire -ready community,'' the cities and towns that will receive Firefighting Capability Grants. Under my amendment, cities that have taken good-faith steps to prepare for wildfire and are in regions considered high priority will be eligible for these grants.

With so much at stake, we should be making it easier for towns to receive the help they need to prepare and protect against devastating wildfires. To that end, I urge support of my amendment.

I reserve the balance of my time.

I yield to the gentleman from West Virginia.

I yield back my time.

Mr. Chairman, I demand a recorded vote.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of H.R. 146, the Omnibus Public Lands Bill, in part because of the important designations it makes for areas in Arizona's First Congressional District. Among the many natural treasures that make our country beautiful, several of the most beautiful are in Greater Arizona, including the 58,000 square miles that comprise the district I represent.

One such treasure, Fossil Creek, runs along the border between Gila and Yavapai Counties, as well as between the Coconino and Tonto National Forests. The entire watershed is within National Forest land and is surrounded by Fossil Springs Wilderness and Mazatal Wilderness areas. These fourteen miles of spring-fed water provide families with opportunities for camping, birding, hiking, horseback riding, and other recreational activities.

In addition to the remarkable beauty of the area, Fossil Creek represents a cultural treasure as well. The creek sustained the Yavapai-Apache people who have inhabited the area, and the Yavapai- Apache Nation still considers Fossil Creek sacred ancestral homeland. Ancient artifacts, ruins, and pictographs have been found on numerous locations along Fossil Creek's terraces, and undiscovered archaeological treasures surely remain.

I commend the efforts of folks in Cottonwood, Camp Verde, and Clarkdale communities to have Fossil Creek included in the Wild and Scenic River System, which will rightly highlight the beautiful and unique features of the area for generations.

Walnut Canyon National Monument is another great treasure in Northern Arizona, and this bill includes a study to help develop a long-term management plan that addresses the recreational, cultural, and natural resources in the area. The study has had the strong backing of Coconino County and the City of Flagstaff, and through their efforts we will protect the natural habitat and sacred grounds surrounding the Walnut Canyon National Monument.

Mr. Speaker, thank you for the opportunity to consider this legislation, which includes so many provisions to protect and enhance our nation's natural and cultural treasures.