Floor Statements

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to recognize an outstanding young leader, Alex J. Wilson, a student at Cass Job Corps in Ozark, Arkansas. Alex is currently enrolled in the Heavy Equipment Operations Pre-Apprentice Trade, where he has demonstrated exceptional leadership, service, and perseverance--qualities that embody the Cass Cougar spirit.

Alex's leadership extends far beyond the classroom. As the Student Government Association President and a Student Ambassador for the Youth-to-Youth initiative, he is a dedicated voice for his peers, advocating for their needs and championing opportunities for student success. Through the Youth-to-Youth program, Alex has worked to combat violence and drug use while promoting positive mental health on campus.

His servant-style leadership is evident in his commitment to both his fellow students and the broader community. As a member of the Cass Job Corps Fire Crew, Alex has trained extensively to serve and protect, further exemplifying his dedication to helping others. Recognizing the challenges new students face, he implemented a volunteer program with Needy Paws, a local animal shelter, providing students with an opportunity to ease stress and homesickness through service.

Alex's impact reaches beyond campus through his involvement in numerous community service projects. He has participated in a River Valley event honoring local veterans, served as Sergeant at Arms for Bumpers North Dorm, and was selected for the Cass Community Leadership Program. His commitment to excellence also earned him a spot in

a real-world work experience opportunity with the West Central Arkansas Planning and Development District.

Alex attributes his passion for Heavy Equipment Operations to the mentorship of his instructors, Mr. Chris Wilson and Mr. Hibbs, who have instilled in him the values of discipline, hard work, and innovation. Their guidance has fueled his ambition to secure an apprenticeship with the International Union of Operating Engineers--a goal I have no doubt he will achieve.

Mr. Speaker and distinguished colleagues, Alex J. Wilson exemplifies the very best of our young leaders. His work ethic, commitment to service, and ability to elevate others will undoubtedly lead him to success. I am proud to recognize Alex today and wish him the very best in his future endeavors.

Mr. Speaker, pursuant to House Resolution 5, I call up the bill (H.R. 26) to prohibit a moratorium on the use of hydraulic fracturing, and ask for its immediate consideration in the House.

Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may have 5 legislative days in which to revise and extend their remarks and include extraneous material on H.R. 26.

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

Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of H.R. 26, the Protecting American Energy Production Act.

H.R. 26, introduced by Congressman Pfluger, would prevent any President from issuing a moratorium on hydraulic fracturing while also establishing a sense of Congress that States should regulate the practice on State and private land.

Hydraulic fracturing has been around for nearly 100 years. With other advancements in the industry, such as horizontal drilling, hydraulic fracturing has become a staple of the oil and gas industry. The practice has propelled the United States to energy superpower status. In fact, fracking in the United States provides 64 percent of American crude oil and 78 percent of the country's natural gas.

This surge in supply has contributed to lower energy prices for consumers, stimulated economic and job growth, and improved the quality of life for Americans.

In truth, a ban on hydraulic fracturing would devastate the American economy while surrendering world energy leadership to adversary nations with large oil and gas reserves, such as Russia, Iran, Venezuela, and China.

Federal efforts to regulate fracking, which is adequately regulated by the States, could have an equally detrimental impact. The Energy Policy Act of 2005 clarified that Congress never intended the Federal Government to regulate fracking under the Safe Drinking Water Act.

There is even precedent from the courts to not allow the Federal Government to regulate fracking. In the Obama administration, the Bureau of

Land Management attempted to regulate the practice for Federal lands and minerals, but the courts correctly threw out the effort. In the decision, the judge clearly stated: ``Congress has not delegated to the Department of the Interior the authority to regulate hydraulic fracturing. The BLM's effort to do so through the fracking rule is in excess of its statutory authority and contrary to the law.''

States regulate fracking, and each has comprehensive laws and regulations to provide for safe operations, protect drinking water sources, and ensure effective regulations of oil and gas exploration and production.

This bill would prevent future administrations from implementing a unilateral fracking ban and express Congress' sense that States should maintain regulatory authority over fracking on State and private lands.

Madam Speaker, I urge my colleagues to join me in supporting this important piece of legislation, and I reserve the balance of my time.

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

Fracking has been challenged. It has been challenged by the Biden administration, and fortunately, the courts stepped in and said that you can't regulate fracking to the BLM. If you look at what our abundant clean supply of natural gas in the United States has done, it has allowed us to reduce emissions more than any country in the world.

We produce the cleanest, most reliable gas in the world with a 40 percent cleaner carbon footprint than what Russia produces. Natural gas not only provides jobs and energy here at home, but it can be a source of national security to help bolster our partners around the world.

We are blessed with natural gas from the Permian Basin in west Texas and New Mexico to the Marcellus and Utica shale plays in Pennsylvania, Ohio, and New York. I believe those two combined are the largest natural gas field in the world.

We have a tremendous resource that we can use to do many good things, and if fracking were banned, that resource goes away.

Madam Speaker, I yield 4 minutes to the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Pfluger), the lead sponsor of the bill.

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

The benefits that clean American energy, reliable, affordable energy, has on health benefits are too numerous to even get into in a discussion here today. It saves lives not just in providing energy and heat but in providing the many materials that are made from oil and gas in the United States.

Even the Obama administration's EPA found that fracking has no ``widespread systemic impacts on drinking water resources in the United States.'' No evidence has arisen that the practice is dangerous, and to say anything else is simply fear-mongering and pandering to the radical left that would rather rely on Iran, Russia, and Venezuela for energy.

Madam Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to the gentleman from Minnesota (Mr. Stauber).

Madam Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from Ohio (Mr. Latta).

Madam Speaker, I think a lot of the general public doesn't realize that natural gas goes into a lot more than just producing energy but it is, in essence, the main ingredient in agriculture, and it is the main ingredient that can help lower our food prices as most fertilizer is made from natural gas. When we have abundant, affordable natural gas, then that means we have more abundant and affordable fertilizer so that we can grow more crops and keep prices low.

Madam Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from Pennsylvania (Mr. Thompson), who is the chairman of the Agriculture Committee and who has seen firsthand the benefits of fracking in the Marcellus shale.

Madam Speaker, I yield an additional 30 seconds to the gentleman.

Madam Speaker, I yield 2\1/2\ minutes to the gentlewoman from Colorado (Ms. Boebert).

Madam Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from Georgia (Mr. Carter).

Madam Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Weber).

Madam Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentlewoman from Oklahoma (Mrs. Bice).

Madam Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from Ohio (Mr. Balderson).

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

Mr. Speaker, in closing, I will cite a 2019 study by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce's Global Energy Institute. Their research shows a ban on fracking would have eliminated 19 million jobs between 2021 and 2025, while simultaneously reducing the U.S. gross domestic product by $7.1 trillion over the same period. The efforts of a ban like this cannot be overstated.

Mr. Speaker, I include in the Record the link to the study by the Global Energy Institute. The link is: https://www.uschamber.com/assets/ documents/gei/hf__ban__report__final.pdf

Mr. Speaker, as we think about what that ban would have done just between the years 2021 and 2025, what if the Obama administration had been successful, what if their BLM had been successful in banning fracking on Federal lands, America would not have led the world in reducing greenhouse gas emissions.

We would have seen even higher energy costs. The cost of food would have gone up. It could have changed the course of our country and not in a good way had this ban gone into effect.

The Global Energy Institute's research also shows that over the same 2021 to 2025 timeframe, energy prices would have skyrocketed with natural gas prices rising by 324 percent. This would cause household energy bills for the average American to quadruple and the cost of living to increase by $5,661 per year.

Additionally, the price of gasoline would double and government revenues would plummet by almost $1.9 trillion.

Let's think about that: $7 trillion of GDP. We know from history that about 17\1/2\ percent of the GDP goes right into the Federal Government's tax revenues. This would have driven the deficit much higher had a hydraulic fracking ban been put in place.

It could also trigger a global recession. In 1973, when Saudi Arabia implemented an oil embargo and roughly 7 percent of the global oil supply was removed from the markets, world oil prices skyrocketed 400 percent.

With these sobering facts in mind, I urge my colleagues to support H.R. 26, and I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 836) to require the Secretary of Agriculture, acting through the Chief of the Forest Service, and the Secretary of the Interior to conduct an evaluation with respect to the use of the container aerial firefighting system (CAFFS), 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 extraneous material on H.R. 836, the bill now under consideration.

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

I rise in strong support of Congressman Valadao's bill, the Emergency Wildfire Fighting Technology Act of 2025. This timely legislation offers us a chance to equip land managers with another tool in their arsenal to combat the catastrophic wildfire crisis by testing a new and innovative method for wildfire suppression.

Last month, wildfires in southern California took the lives of at least 29 people and changed thousands of lives forever. These fires destroyed more than 16,000 structures and racked up untold fire suppression costs and economic damages.

This tragedy is a wake-up call for millions of Americans and demonstrates just how important it is to proactively address the wildfire crisis. Unfortunately, decades of inadequate forest management have created an unprecedented forest health crisis. Across our country, 1 billion acres are now at risk of wildland fire. In the absence of dramatic change, the future outlook remains bleak.

When it comes to fighting these out-of-control infernos, it is critical that we utilize all available technologies that could improve the cost efficiency and effectiveness of fire suppression. Wildland firefighters on the front lines of these disasters must have all the tools and methods available to fight fires and protect lives and property.

Aircraft and helicopters provide lifesaving support to ground crews, often by delivering water or fire retardant. In order to drop water or fire retardant from a plane or helicopter, the aircraft must be designed or retrofitted for such purpose, which limits the number of aircraft available.

Representative Valadao has worked with various stakeholders who have developed and improved container aerial firefighting systems that drop water or fire retardant from aircraft via disposable containers. This technology could decrease the response time to wildfires by increasing the number of aircraft available, which could, in turn, save lives and critical infrastructure.

This technology is not new and is used successfully in other parts of the world. However, U.S. wildland firefighting agencies have not recently studied the system.

H.R. 836 would require the U.S. Forest Service and the Department of the Interior to evaluate the use of container aerial firefighting systems in response to wildfires. The evaluation will focus on effectiveness, cost, ease of delivery, and safety.

Directing our wildfire firefighting agencies to study new and emerging technologies is a win for the wildland firefighting crews and a win for those who live in vulnerable, fire-prone areas.

I applaud Congressman Valadao for his leadership on this important topic. His legislation passed the House unanimously last year, and it has also passed the House twice with bipartisan support as part of the Fix Our Forests Act.

Mr. Speaker, I support the bill and reserve the balance of my time.

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

Mr. Speaker, I thank my friends across the aisle for their overwhelming support of Representative Valadao's bill. We should have that kind of support for a bill that is addressing a huge issue in our country with wildland fire and the dangers that it imposes.

Mr. Speaker, I believe you and Mr. Valadao both serve on the Committee on Appropriations where Republicans brought an Interior appropriations bill to the floor with firefighter pay funding in that bill, and it was voted down by our friends across the aisle.

We do need to take care of our firefighters. When we get bills on the floor that increase pay for firefighters, I would hope we could get more bipartisan support on that.

Mr. Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to the gentleman from California (Mr. Valadao), the lead sponsor of the bill.

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

Mr. Speaker, H.R. 836 is a good, commonsense piece of legislation that has passed the House three times on a bipartisan basis.

I commend Representative Valadao for his proven leadership on bipartisan solutions that meaningfully improve forest health and reduce wildfires. If we could get the Senate to act on some of these bills, we wouldn't have to pass them so many times.

I appreciate Representative Valadao being so persistent and continuing to work on his good legislation. I encourage adoption of the bill.

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

Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 837) to require the Secretary of Agriculture to convey the Pleasant Valley Ranger District Administrative Site to Gila County, Arizona.

Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may have 5 legislative days in which to revise and extend their remarks and include extraneous material on H.R. 837, the bill now under consideration.

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

Mr. Speaker, I rise in strong support of H.R. 837, which is led by my friend from Arizona, Representative Crane.

This is a good bill that would transfer land from the Forest Service to create a retreat facility in Gila County, Arizona, for veterans and their families. Over 5,000 veterans call Gila County home, and there are over 500,000 veterans in all of Arizona.

Creating this facility will help the brave men and women who have served our country find healing, reconnect with nature, and ease the transition back to civilian life.

Nearly 60 percent of the land in Gila County is Federally owned, which creates significant limitations on available land for commendable efforts like the veterans' retreat center. The proposed location of this new center is a Forest Service site that is scheduled to be torn down.

This 232-acre site includes 17 buildings, 2 residences, 2 barracks, a historic ranger house and barn, and helipads.

Gila County plans to remodel and renovate many of the buildings to provide an excellent experience for veterans and their families. Repurposing the site is a win-win, as it will be a great resource for Arizona's veterans while freeing the Forest Service from maintaining property it no longer needs.

I commend Representative Crane for his leadership on this effort on behalf of his constituents. As a veteran himself, I know he understands how important this center will be for his community. His diligent work with Gila County and the Forest Service has led to this important effort, which will make a meaningful difference in the lives of Arizona's veterans.

Mr. Speaker, I support the bill, and I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to the gentleman from Arizona (Mr. Crane), the lead sponsor of this bill about a veterans' retreat center.

Mr. Speaker, I applaud Representative Crane for his leadership in this effort. Representative Crane honorably and bravely served our Nation, and now, he is providing exemplary service to his constituents by championing this legislation.

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

Madam Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 835) to provide a one-time grant for the operation, security, and maintenance of the National September 11 Memorial & Museum at the World Trade Center to commemorate the events, and honor the victims, of the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, and for other purposes.

Madam Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members have 5 legislative days to revise and extend their remarks and to include extraneous material on H.R. 835, the bill now under consideration.

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

I rise in support of Representative LaLota's bipartisan bill, the 9/ 11 Memorial and Museum Act. This important legislation honors the victims of the horrendous 9/11 attacks by providing a one-time grant to assist with security costs for the 9/11 Memorial & Museum.

Located in Lower Manhattan, the National September 11 Memorial & Museum occupies the former World Trade Center site. This unique facility serves as the principal tribute of remembrance and honor to the nearly 3,000 people killed in the terrorist attacks at the World Trade Center on September 11, 2001, and February 26, 1993.

A prominent feature of the museum is an art installation with the quote ``No Day Shall Erase You From the Memory of Time.'' These words are much more than a quote. They are a solemn promise from each and every American that we will never forget and will not allow our future Americans to forget the tragic events of 9/11.

More than 23 years after these horrific attacks, we still remember the innocent men, women, and children who perished on that September morning. We know that time has not erased the scars, both visible and invisible, carried by the survivors, families of victims, and all who watched those horrific attacks unfold.

Representative LaLota's legislation will help ensure that the memories of those we lost on 9/11 remain eternal by providing a one- time grant of between $5 million and $10 million to assist with security costs for the 9/11 Memorial & Museum.

As the location of one of the most high-profile terrorist attacks in American history, the museum shoulders more than $1 million per month in security costs to protect visitors and the exhibits throughout the museum.

This grant, which would come from Department of Homeland Security's existing appropriations, will help reduce the burden of those significant security costs.

I thank Representative LaLota for his efforts to advance this legislation. As a native New Yorker and veteran of the global war on terrorism, he has a profound respect and understanding for what it means to never forget the events of September 11, 2001. His bill would help the 9/11 Memorial & Museum continue operations, fund safety measures, and provide free admission for military veterans, first responders, and victims' families.

H.R. 835 passed the House unanimously in the 118th Congress, and I urge my colleagues to support it again today.

Madam Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Madam Speaker, I yield 4 minutes to the gentleman from New York (Mr. LaLota), the lead sponsor of the bill.

Madam Speaker, I have no further requests for time. I am prepared to close, and I continue to reserve the balance of my time.

Madam Speaker, H.R. 835 ensures that the hallowed grounds on which the 9/11 Memorial & Museum are located remain a place of remembrance and honor for families, first responders, and Americans from across our great Nation.

I urge the adoption of the bill, and I yield back the balance of my time.

Madam Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 42) to amend the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act to exclude certain payments to aged, blind, or disabled Alaska Natives or descendants of Alaska Natives from being used to determine eligibility for certain programs, and for other purposes.

Madam Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members have 5 legislative days to revise and extend their remarks and to add extraneous material on H.R. 42, the bill now under consideration.

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

Madam Speaker, H.R. 42 would exclude the amounts distributed or benefits provided from the Alaska Native corporation, or the ANC, settlement trusts to Alaska Natives who are blind, disabled, 65 years or older, or their descendants, when determining eligibility for means- tested Federal benefits.

Federal means-tested benefits include programs such as Supplemental Security Income, Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, and Federal housing benefits.

In 1988, Congress amended the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act, or ANCSA, to exclude the first $2,000 any Alaska Native individual receives from an ANC when determining eligibility for means-tested Federal benefits.

Additionally, the 1988 amendments authorized ANCs to establish settlement trusts to distribute benefits to Alaska Native beneficiaries.

Yet, benefits from settlement trusts were not excluded when determining recipient eligibility for government assistance programs, as with the first $2,000 of other benefits Alaska Natives can receive from ANCs.

ANCs have brought forward concerns with this discrepancy and the impact it has on Alaska Natives, particularly those who are aged, blind, or disabled. Often these individuals are placed in the position of choosing between accepting the settlement trust income or qualifying for government assistance programs.

H.R. 42 would address this oversight and exclude the amounts for benefits distributed to aged, blind, or disabled Alaska Natives from settlement trusts when determining eligibility for means-tested Federal benefits.

I thank the sponsor of this legislation, our freshman Member from Alaska, Mr. Begich, for his leadership in addressing this important issue and for introducing this bill on the first day of the 119th Congress so it could quickly be brought to the floor for consideration.

Madam Speaker, I support the bill, and I reserve the balance of my time.

Madam Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to the gentleman from Alaska (Mr. Begich), who is the lead sponsor of this bill.

Madam Speaker, I have no further requests for time. I am prepared to close, and I reserve the balance of my time.

Madam Speaker, again, this legislation would ensure that amounts distributed or benefits provided from Alaska Native corporation settlement trusts to Alaska Natives who are blind, disabled, or elders aged 65 and older, or their descendants, are excluded when determining eligibility for means-tested Federal benefits.

Again, Madam Speaker, I thank Mr. Begich for his work on an important issue for Alaska Natives, I urge the adoption of the bill, and I yield back the balance of my time.

Madam Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 43) to amend the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act to provide that Village Corporations shall not be required to convey land in trust to the State of Alaska for the establishment of Municipal Corporations, and for other purposes.

Madam Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members have 5 legislative days to revise and extend their remarks and to add extraneous material on H.R. 43, the bill now under consideration.

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

H.R. 43, the Alaska Native Village Municipal Lands Restoration Act of 2025, would amend the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act, or ANCSA, and to return lands back to Alaska Native Village Corporations that are currently held in trust by the State of Alaska for future municipalities.

ANCSA was enacted to settle aboriginal land claims of Alaska Natives, and in doing so Alaska Native corporations were created to receive land and disburse payments to Alaska Natives.

ANCSA required Alaska Native Village Corporations that received land to convey some land to an existing municipality. If no municipality existed, the land was conveyed to the State of Alaska to be held in trust for a future municipality.

Over the past 53 years, only eight Village Corporations have seen a municipality created, with the most recent municipality created in 1995. This leaves 11,500 acres throughout 83 villages unable to be developed because it must be held in trust by Alaska in perpetuity for the unlikely creation of a municipality.

H.R. 43 would end this requirement for Village Corporations to reconvey lands for a potential municipality and return land already conveyed under this provision to Village Corporations. If returned, Village Corporations anticipate developing this land for housing, community buildings, and other economic development projects.

There is widespread support for H.R. 43 within the State of Alaska.

The Alaska State Senate unanimously passed S.J. Res. 13 on May 9, 2024, which encouraged the enactment of Federal legislation to return the reconveyed lands to Alaska Native Village Corporations. Alaska Governor Mike Dunleavy is also supportive of the legislative fix that H.R. 43 would provide.

Again, Madam Speaker, I thank the sponsor of this legislation, Mr. Begich, for his work to introduce this bill on the first day of the 119th Congress so that we could bring it to the floor quickly. I appreciate his diligence and swift work on behalf of Alaska, and I reserve the balance of my time.

Madam Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to the gentleman from Alaska (Mr. Begich), who is the lead sponsor of the bill.

Madam Speaker, I have no further requests for time. I am prepared to close, and I reserve the balance of my time.

Madam Speaker, again, this legislation would amend ANCSA to return the land in question to impacted Alaska Native Village Corporations and eliminate the unnecessary land conveyance requirement in the statute.

I thank Mr. Begich for his leadership and working on this important issue for his constituents in Alaska.

Madam Speaker, I urge adoption of H.R. 43, and I yield back the balance of my time.

Madam Speaker, on that I demand the yeas and nays.

Madam Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 226) to take certain Federal lands in Tennessee into trust for the benefit of the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians.

Madam Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members be given 5 legislative days to revise and extend their remarks and to include extraneous material on H.R. 226, the bill now under consideration.

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

Madam Speaker, I rise in support of H.R. 226, the Eastern Band of Cherokee Historic Lands Reacquisition Act, introduced by my friend from Tennessee, Congressman Fleischmann.

H.R. 226 places approximately 96 acres of Tennessee Valley Authority land and permanent easements along the shores of the Little Tennessee River and Tellico Reservoir in Monroe County, Tennessee, into trust for the benefit of the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians.

These areas include the Sequoyah Birthplace Museum, the Chota Memorial, the Tanasi Memorial, and lands to support these properties and cultural programs.

The parcels placed into trust under the bill will be used to memorialize and interpret the history of the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians.

The Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians is one of three federally recognized Cherokee Tribes. Their ancestral homeland includes substantial parts of seven eastern States, including Tennessee, and the 57,000-acre Qualla Boundary Cherokee Indian Reservation in North Carolina.

In 1979 after the TVA completed the Tellico Dam, the Tribe approached the TVA about lands that were historically significant to the Tribe and impacted by the dam. In 1984 and 1986, the Tribe and the TVA reached an informal agreement that allowed the Tribe to manage two easements, including the Sequoyah Birthplace Museum.

H.R. 226 helps this cause by transferring approximately 76 acres of historically significant lands from the TVA to the U.S. Government to be held in trust for the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians.

It also creates two permanent easements over TVA property, held in trust for the Tribe, to create recreational trails between the sites.

This legislation will give the Eastern Band greater control over the historic homelands and the opportunity to memorialize the history and culture of the Cherokee people.

Pursuant to the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act, gaming will be prohibited on the land. The bill also ensures that the TVA will be able to continue its river control and development activities to power the Tennessee Valley region.

Madam Speaker, I urge adoption of the measure and commend the gentleman from Tennessee (Mr. Fleischmann) for his continued work on this important legislation, and I reserve the balance of my time.

Madam Speaker, I yield 5 minutes to the gentleman from Tennessee (Mr. Fleischmann), the lead sponsor of the bill.

Madam Speaker, I have no further requests for time. I am prepared to close, and I reserve the balance of my time.

Madam Speaker, I yield myself the balance of my time.

Madam Speaker, H.R. 226 is a commonsense bill that facilitates greater control for the Eastern Band of Cherokee over their sacred and historic homelands in Tennessee. It ensures the protection of their timeless heritage, culture, and tradition and allows them to memorialize the history and culture of the Cherokee people.

This Tribe has worked with the Tennessee Valley Authority for over three decades on this issue, and this legislation is long overdue.

I will echo the words of my colleague, the gentleman from Tennessee (Mr. Fleischmann), and say that the Senate needs to take this bill up and act on it when we pass it again.

Madam Speaker, I thank Mr. Fleischmann for his leadership on the matter. I urge my colleagues to support this bill, and I yield back the balance of my time.

Madam Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 776) to reauthorize the Nutria Eradication and Control Act of 2003.

Madam Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may have 5 legislative days to revise and extend their remarks and include extraneous material on H.R. 776, the bill now under consideration.

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

Madam Speaker, I rise in support of Representative Harder's legislation, which would reauthorize the nutria eradication program at existing funding levels through 2030.

This bill is identical to the one passed in the House during the last week of the 118th Congress. Unfortunately, it failed to receive a vote in the Senate. I am glad to have the opportunity to speak again in support of this important legislation.

Nutria are invasive rodents native to South America that were imported to the United States in 1899 for fur production. Since then, the nutria population has exploded in places like northern California, Oregon, and the Louisiana bayous, as well as the Chesapeake Bay and Eastern Shore ecosystems.

These rodents eat, dig, and trample healthy wetland habitats, causing significant erosion and habitat damage to native ecosystems.

When this legislation was first enacted in 2003, an estimated 70 percent of the Chesapeake Bay's marshlands had already been destroyed by nutria. Due to the aid of this program, nutria eradication efforts have been very successful.

For example, in Maryland, they have been declared eradicated. In Louisiana, where more than 432,000 acres were damaged or destroyed by nutria from 2002 to 2021, over 5 million nutria have been taken. Passing the legislation would allow these successful efforts to continue.

I thank Representative Valadao for co-leading this legislation, which will benefit California's Central Valley in its work to eradicate nutria.

Madam Speaker, I urge my colleagues to support H.R. 776, and I reserve the balance of my time.

Madam Speaker, I commend Representative Harder for his bipartisan work and his hard work to bring this important bill to the floor.

Madam Speaker, I have no further requests for time. I am prepared to close, and I reserve the balance of my time.

Madam Speaker, H.R. 776 would reauthorize a program that has proven very effective in protecting our country's vital wetlands and marshes from destructive invasive species. While great work has been accomplished in controlling these invasive pests, or swamp rats, as my colleague called them, continuing the nutria eradication program is crucial to ensuring our native species of plants and animals can recover.

Madam Speaker, I note that if gators and Cajuns can't eradicate these things from south Louisiana, we know our friends in the Central Valley need help, as well. I thank my colleagues for their diligent work on this bill, and I urge all Members to support this commonsense, bipartisan legislation.

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

Madam Speaker, on that I demand the yeas and nays.

Mr. Speaker, I am joined today by the Arkansas delegation, Messrs. Womack, Crawford, and Hill. We rise in honor of the life and legacy of Beryl Franklin Anthony, Jr., who passed away on Saturday, January 11.

Mr. Anthony, born in El Dorado, proudly represented the Fourth District of Arkansas in the House of Representatives from 1978 to 1993. His devotion to his family and friends and his 24 years of public service and commitment to the Natural State leave an indelible mark on his legacy.

Not only do I share a connection with Mr. Anthony through proud service of the Fourth District in the House of Representatives, but we are also both proud alumni of the University of Arkansas and both represented the Razorback athletics program.

Mr. Anthony's history of public service began in Fayetteville at the university, and in 1963, with his juris doctor in hand, he was ready to serve the people of Arkansas.

After his time as State assistant attorney general and deputy prosecuting attorney for Union County, Mr. Anthony chose to turn to private practice, serving as counsel for his fourth-generation, family- owned timber company, Anthony Forest Products.

Later, Mr. Anthony returned to public service, utilizing his background in law to lead several initiatives for Arkansas criminal code reform and improving the professionalism of State prosecutors.

In 1978, Mr. Anthony was sworn in as a Member of Congress. Receiving the confidence of his fellow Members, he served as the vice president for his freshman class. This proved to serve him well, as he was appointed to the House Ways and Means Committee, where he was a leader in tax code negotiations.

After countless wins in Congress, Mr. Anthony returned to private practice, still serving where he could through corporate boards or charitable organizations.

A true son of the Natural State, Mr. Anthony was a lover of the great outdoors and a genuine sportsman, teaching his grandchildren how to fish and spending his time photographing wildlife.

I express my deepest sympathies to Mr. Anthony's wife, Sheila; his family; and all who benefited from his leadership, dedication, and tireless efforts, not only in the Halls of Congress but across the State of Arkansas.

Mr. Speaker, I yield to the gentleman from Arkansas (Mr. Hill.)

Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members have 5 legislative days in which to revise and extend their remarks and insert extraneous material on H.R. 471.

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

Mr. Chair, I rise in strong support of H.R. 471, the Fix Our Forests Act, a bipartisan bill I am leading with my good friend from California (Mr. Peters), along with 16 other Democrats and 37 additional Republican cosponsors.

Our prayers are with the people of California as they are enduring horrendous wildfires and experiencing loss of life and property. We have a unique opportunity today to put feet to those prayers and prevent those tragedies from happening again in the future.

There are two reasons why we can't afford to wait any longer to reform forest management policies in this country. Number one, the stakes are too high, and number two, what we are doing is not working.

First, let's talk about the stakes. The Los Angeles wildfires have caused unimaginable damage and will likely become the costliest in American history, with early estimates suggesting upward of $250 billion in damages.

More than 16,000 structures--homes, schools, grocery stores, entire neighborhoods, and communities--have burned. Sadly, at least 28 people have tragically lost their lives.

We all know that such figures can tell only part of the story. No price tag can be placed on the loss of a beloved family member or friend. No property valuation can register the pain a family feels after losing a home where cherished memories were made. No bookkeeping accounts for the lost dreams of a small business owner whose lifework has gone up in smoke. These are the true costs, the human costs, of catastrophic wildfire.

Losing 16,000 structures is nearly unfathomable. Local officials reported that it looked like a bomb was dropped on these communities after the smoke had cleared.

What is truly startling is that there are 44 million homes in the wildland-urban interface nationwide. There are more than 70,000 communities just like Pacific Palisades at risk of being wiped out by catastrophic fire.

This brings me to my second point. What we have been doing is not working. This bill passed the House last September with a strong bipartisan vote. Unfortunately, the Senate failed to move it. In the interim, more than 1.5 million acres burned across the country.

The Fix Our Forests Act offers a broad set of commonsense solutions that must be enacted. This legislation creates a needed framework for prioritizing treatments in our highest risk areas. To identify these areas, FOFA utilizes state-of-the-art technology to determine the most vulnerable firesheds across the country. Then, it incentivizes the use of emergency actions to prevent wildfires.

Many of these actions, like clearing brush and creating fuel breaks, are exactly what local authorities hastily undertook as they scrambled to save threatened neighborhoods in Los Angeles. The key difference, however, is that this bill ensures that such measures take place well before the fires start, not in the heat of an approaching blaze.

Without these tools, completing a single forest management project takes an average of 3 to 5 years. Under FOFA, land managers can act immediately to protect communities.

FOFA also expands existing categorical exclusions up to 10,000 acres so that prevention measures can meet the scale of the crisis. Under the status quo, if land managers want to reduce hazardous fuels in an area roughly the size of the Palisades fire, they would need eight separate categorical exclusions. Under FOFA, they need only two.

This change is based on proven results, like the 10,000-acre CE in the Lake Tahoe Basin. That was a bipartisan effort by Representative McClintock and the late Senator Dianne Feinstein. These efforts saved South Lake Tahoe from certain destruction during the Caldor fire.

FOFA also protects communities by creating a community wildfire risk reduction program and clearing hazardous trees from utility rights-of- way to prevent fires like the ones that destroyed Lahaina in Maui and Paradise in California.

FOFA supports wildland firefighters by creating a new casualty assistance program for firefighters killed or injured in the line of duty, ensuring access to the latest technology so they can detect and put out fires faster and standardizing repayment timelines with local fire departments so non-Federal partners aren't waiting years to get the money they are owed.

I have only briefly described some of the important bipartisan pieces in FOFA, but it involves much more to make forests more resilient, healthier, and safer, from sea to shining sea.

All of these tools available in this bill echo a similar theme: We must restore common sense to our approach to forest management. This comprehensive package is a result of years of hard work and bipartisan collaboration formulated through hearings, site visits, and Member feedback.

Fixing our forests should not be a partisan issue, and today, it is not.

Mr. Chair, I urge my colleagues to support this bill, and I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Chair, if throwing money at a problem would fix it, then we wouldn't be having fires today. Over the past few years, our Federal land managers have been showered with $12 billion to battle wildland fires and to make our forests more resilient. The result of that is that Forest Service estimates they are going to treat less acreage than they treated before.

It is not a money problem. It is a policy problem and Fix Our Forests will help solve that problem.

Mr. Chair, I yield 3\1/2\ minutes to the gentleman from California (Mr. McClintock).

Mr. Chairman, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from California (Mr. LaMalfa).

Mr. Chair, as a forester, I can say that the only clear-cuts that are happening on Federal lands right now are wildfires. That is nature's way of clear-cutting.

When we see these devastating wildfires that burn everything off of the landscape, that is a clear-cut. What Mr. LaMalfa was talking about was uneven-age forest management and thinning, which we know works.

Mr. Chair, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from Oregon (Mr. Bentz).

Mr. Chair, I yield 1\1/2\ minutes to the gentleman from Minnesota (Mr. Stauber).

Mr. Chairman, I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from Colorado (Mr. Crank).

Mr. Chairman, I am happy to report that Republicans have an appropriations bill for the Department of the Interior that has firefighter pay increases in that appropriations bill, and I hope that we can all work to pass that as we move forward.

Mr. Chair, I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from California (Mr. Valadao).

Mr. Chair, I had the opportunity just last October to visit Orange County and to fly over the Airport fire with Representative Kim and also to attend the local townhall meeting where I saw residents who were traumatized by these fires, but also residents who had concerns because they either couldn't find homeowners insurance to buy or they couldn't afford it if they could find it.

These fires are devastating. What we are doing is not working. There are provisions in the Fix our Forests Act that will allow us to create these defensible zones around communities in the wildland urban interface.

Mr. Chair, I yield 1\1/2\ minutes to the gentlewoman from California (Mrs. Kim).

Mr. Chair, I yield 1\1/2\ minutes to the gentleman from California (Mr. Kiley).

Mr. Chair, I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from California (Mr. Fong).

Mr. Chair, I yield an additional 30 seconds to the gentleman from California.

Mr. Chair, I include in the Record 102 supporting organizations. These stakeholders include Tribal and local governments, grazing and forest management organizations, and a diverse coalition of hunters, conservationists, natural resource managers, outdoor recreationists, educators, and scientists.

Mr. Chair, 47 of those organizations also provided support letters. Each letter expresses strong urgency for passing H.R. 471 to ensure improved forest management on Federal land.

The groups that wrote support letters included: American Sportfishing Association, Boone and Crockett Club, Citizens' Climate Lobby, Confederated Tribes of the Colville Reservation, Federal Forest Resource Coalition, Public Lands Council, American Sheep Industry Association, National Cattlemen's Beef Association, American Farm Bureau Federation, American Forest Resource Council, Association of California Water Agencies, California Farm Bureau Federation, Family Farm Alliance, National Association of Counties, San Bernardino County, and many others.

List of Organizations Supporting the Fix Our Forests Act

Agricultural Retailers Association, American Farm Bureau

Federation, American Forest and Paper Association, American

Forest Foundation, American Forest Resource Council, American

Forests, American Loggers Council, American Property and

Casualty Insurance Association, American Seed Trade

Association, American Sheep Industry Association, American

Sportfishing Association, American Wood Council, American

Woodcock Society, Archery Trade Association, Arkansas

Forestry Association, Associated Oregon Loggers, Association

of California Water Agencies, Association of Firetech

Innovation, Bipartisan Policy Center Action, Boone and

Crockett Club, California State Association of Counties, Camp

Fire Club of America, Catch A Dream Foundation, Citizens For

Responsible Energy Solutions, Confederated Tribes of the

Colville Reservation, Congressional Sportsmen's Foundation,

Conservation Force, Dallas Safari Club, Delta Waterfowl,

Edison Electric Institute, Evangelical Environmental Network,

Family Farm Alliance, Family Water Alliance, Federal Forest

Resource Coalition, Federation of American Scientists, Forest

Landowners Association, Forest Resources Association,

Grassroots Wildland Firefighters, Hardwood Federation,

Houston Safari Club, Idaho Forest Group, Independent

Insurance Agents & Brokers of America, Inc, Intermountain

Forest Association, International Inbound Travel Association,

Inter-Tribal Timber Council, Kittitas Reclamation District,

Masters of Foxhounds Association, Metzler Forest Products,

Minnesota Timber Producers Association, Mississippi River

Trust, Mule Deer Foundation, National Alliance of Forest

Owners, National Association of Conservation Districts,

National Association of Counties, National Association of

Forest Service Retirees, National Association of Home

Builders, National Association of Mutual Insurance Companies,

National Association of State Foresters, National Cattlemen's

Beef Association, National Congress of American Indians,

National Deer Association, National Rural Electric

Cooperative Association, National Shooting Sports Foundation,

National Special Districts Association, National Wild Turkey

Federation, North American Falconers Association, North

American Grouse Partnership, Orion: The Hunter's Institute,

PG&E, Pheasants Forever, Placer County Water Agency, Pope and

Young Club, PotlatchDeltic, Professional Outfitters and

Guides of America, Property and Environment Research Center,

Public Lands Council, Public Lands Foundation, Quail Forever,

Reinsurance Association of America, Rocky Mountain Elk

Foundation, Ruffed Grouse Society, Safari Club International,

Salt River Project, San Bernadino County, San Bernardino

County Professional Firefighters Local 935, Sierra Pacific

Industries, Sportsmen's Alliance, The Wildlife Society,

Theodore Roosevelt Conservation Partnership, U.S. Biochar

Coalition, Utah Farm Bureau Federation, Western Fire Chiefs

Association, Weyerhaeuser Company, White Oak Initiative,

Whitetails Unlimited, Wild Sheep Foundation, Wildlife

Forever, Wildlife Management Institute, Xcel Energy, and XR

Association.

Mr. Chair, I am prepared to close, and I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Chair, I yield myself the balance of my time.

Mr. Chair, I will state again that Republicans have a firefighter funding fix in the appropriations bill that, when it came to the floor, was not supported by my friends across the aisle. We want to provide more funding to our firefighters. This is an authorization bill. It is not an appropriation bill.

It is regrettable that we are having to bring this bill up again already because we passed it last year with large bipartisan support. We had 55 of our friends across the aisle vote with every Republican to pass this bill, but unfortunately, it went nowhere in the Senate.

We are bringing it back again because this is bipartisan legislation. I hope this is an example of how this Congress will go because I don't know that I have worked on a more bipartisan piece of legislation during my time in Congress.

I thank my colleague, Representative Peters, for all of his time and effort in bringing this bill to the floor once again.

I will say that the time to fix our forests is now.

Actually, now is not the real time to fix our forests. The time to have fixed our forests was yesterday. It was last year. It was 10 years ago. It was 30 years ago.

The condition our forests are in now is as a result of bad management decisions over a long period of time. It is like the saying about planting a tree. The best time to have done it was when you were a child. The next best time is today. If not today, we need to do it tomorrow.

Regardless of where and when catastrophic wildfires occur, they offer a grim lesson: The costs of thoughtful prevention would have been far less than those inflicted by merciless flames. The old adage that an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure is never more true than when it comes to managing our forests.

We spend billions of dollars fighting fires every year. Our forests should be an income stream to our Federal Government, not a cost. People manage forests all over the country, and they actually produce great products that go into homes and sustainable buildings and that become a carbon sink because wood is 50 percent by weight carbon. This table was atmospheric carbon that was stored in this wood at some point in history. It is still in this wood.

Instead of burning these forests up and spewing more carbon into our atmosphere, we should be looking at innovative ways to use our forests, to keep them healthy and resilient. Forests provide clean air, clean water, and wildlife habitat, but they don't do that when they are burned to the ground.

These fires oftentimes are so hot that they burn the organic material out of the soil, so it is hard to get trees to grow back. We have seen this in the Angora fire. I visited it several years ago, 12 years after the fire. It had been replanted six times, and the trees still wouldn't grow on it because the soil had been so damaged by these intense wildfires.

The argument has been made that these fires are the result of climate change. If that is the case, the question still remains, what are we going to do about it?

We have unhealthy forests. They are way overstocked with way more trees per acre than we have ever seen. Small trees are competing with other trees for light, water, and nutrients. They get weakened and die. Insects and disease come in. This isn't just in California. It is all across our country.

We know what to do. The question is, will we do it? The Fix Our Forests Act will give us the opportunity to do what we know needs to be done.

I have talked to many of our Federal land managers across the country. They wanted to commit their life to working in an area to make a difference, and it is disheartening to them to have gone to forestry school or whatever educational experience they had and then to see these resources they are charged with taking care of going up in flames. Instead of being land managers and forest managers, they are firefighters. That is really what most of the budget for our Federal agencies goes to anymore, to fight fires. It doesn't have to be that way.

This is something that should be bipartisan. It is going to be bipartisan today. It is something the Senate should take up in a bipartisan manner and get to President Trump's desk as soon as possible.

Again, I encourage everyone to support the Fix Our Forests Act, and I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. Chairman, I rise in support of Representative Perry's amendment, which would remove certain references from section 301 of the bill.

I wholeheartedly support section 301 of the bill, which provides an opportunity to have a new market for this overgrown material that needs to come off of the land and into biochar.

Biochar can be thought of as a soil amendment that improves soil fertility. It allows more water and nutrients to be stored in the soil. It almost seems like the perfect thing to have in these Western forests where we have water issues and overgrown forests. We can actually make a product that is very beneficial to the whole system out there.

Mr. Chairman, I appreciate the gentleman's support, and I support his amendment.

Mr. Chair, I claim the time in opposition to the amendment, even though I am not opposed to it.

Mr. Chair, I rise today in support of the amendment offered by Representative Carbajal, which would enable the Forest Service to approve the removal of hazardous trees near power lines on Federal land without being required to do a formal timber sale.

This would help address a very serious wildfire threat. Downed hazard trees within utility rights-of-way remain one of the biggest ignition threats and have sparked some of the most significant and deadly fires in the country's history.

For example, the largest single wildfire in California's State history, the Dixie fire, ignited when a hazard tree fell onto electric lines. Similarly, the Camp fire, the deadliest wildfire in California's history, was caused by a faulty electrical transmission line. The Camp fire killed 85 people and destroyed the communities of Paradise and Concow.

In recent years, catastrophic fires in Maui and Texas have also been linked to downed utility lines, and early reports suggest this may have been the cause of the Eaton fire near Pasadena and Altadena, California.

To mitigate these threats, utility companies try to maintain clear rights-of-way by removing hazard trees within their utility corridors. This is done under a special use permit.

However, to dispose of the felled timber, utility companies are required to go through a lengthy timber sale process. This frequently leads to wood waste stacking up in piles, which further increases wildfire risk.

It is an unnecessary burden that is preventing active management in some of the highest risk areas in our national forests. This amendment will allow the Forest Service to permit utility companies to fully remove hazard trees and other vegetation within the vicinity of distribution or transmission lines without going through a separate timber sale.

If utilities eventually sell the material, this amendment requires the proceeds to be returned to the Forest Service. This amendment was a bipartisan effort during the 118th Congress and a similar stand-alone bill was passed unanimously out of the House Committee on Natural Resources.

This is a good amendment. It is a commonsense amendment that will empower expedited wildfire mitigation efforts near at-risk communities, and it is a great example of why we need to take action to change bureaucratic policies that have gotten in the way of commonsense forest management.

Mr. Chair, I urge my colleagues to support the amendment, and I yield back the balance of my time.

Madam Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 186) to authorize the National Medal of Honor Museum Foundation to establish a commemorative work on the National Mall to honor the extraordinary acts of valor, selfless service, and sacrifice displayed by Medal of Honor recipients.

Madam Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may have 5 legislative days in which to revise and extend their remarks and include extraneous material on H.R. 186, the bill now under consideration.

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

Madam Speaker, as we approach the 250th celebration of our Nation next year, there is perhaps no greater way to celebrate our history than passing H.R. 186, which honors the valor and sacrifice of some of our Nation's bravest heroes, Medal of Honor recipients.

Madam Speaker, 162 years ago, President Abraham Lincoln awarded the first Medal of Honor in the midst of the Civil War. It remains our Nation's highest honor awarded to members of the Armed Forces and is bestowed sparingly to only those who have demonstrated the highest acts of valor. Less than 70 Medal of Honor recipients are alive today out of the more than 3,500 medals that have been awarded.

As the highest and most prestigious military decoration in the United States, the Medal of Honor symbolizes extraordinary acts of bravery, selflessness, and sacrifice beyond the call of duty.

Madam Speaker, by recognizing these remarkable individuals, the Medal of Honor inspires a sense of national pride, honors the memory of fallen heroes, and motivates future generations to embody the values of courage and honor.

The Medal of Honor continues to instill a profound sense of respect and gratitude for the sacrifices made in the defense of freedom and justice.

Congressman Moore's bipartisan bill, the Hershel ``Woody'' Williams National Medal of Honor Monument Location Act, will ensure that the monument honoring these brave heroes can be placed on what is known as the Reserve but is commonly referred to as ``The National Mall'' here in Washington, D.C.

A monument honoring our most exceptional citizens should be placed in an equally exceptional location. According to National Park Service data, The National Mall receives upward of 25 million visitors each year. The monuments and memorials located on The National Mall are the centerpiece of this history, and it is appropriate to include a new monument honoring veterans who have displayed the most courageous acts of valor recognized by our country.

In my home State of Arkansas, our State capital also has a memorial dedicated to Medal of Honor recipients. I hope the monument in D.C., like the one in Arkansas, can inspire reflection, patriotism, and gratitude for our Nation's military heroes.

Last Congress, the Committee on Natural Resources had the privilege of hearing from one of the 61 living Medal of Honor recipients, Master Chief Special Warfare Operator Britt Slabinski. In his inspiring testimony, he reminded us the Medal of Honor represents those willing to go above and beyond in any circumstance, no matter how small.

This monument will serve as an everlasting reminder of this country's greatness and the difference that one single person can make. The legislation before us today, H.R. 186, would authorize the location of the National Medal of Honor Memorial in a prominent location on The National Mall, with the intent to keep it near the Lincoln Memorial as President Lincoln was the first to give out this special award.

I was proud to support the original legislation authorizing this memorial. I am proud to support this subsequent legislation today.

Madam Speaker, I thank Congressman Moore for his leadership. I urge my colleague to support the bill, and I reserve the balance of my time.

Madam Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from Utah (Mr. Moore), the lead sponsor of this bill.

Madam Speaker, I thank the gentleman for his hard work on this legislation. I thank the gentleman from California and the minority for supporting it, as well.

Madam Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

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

Madam Speaker, I note that this bill has been named after Hershel ``Woody'' Williams who, sadly, passed away in June of 2022. He was known for his extraordinary heroism in the Battle of Iwo Jima in World War II. At the young age of 21, he single-handedly cleared a path for American troops against Japanese forces in an act of extraordinary bravery.

This is a good bill that honors Hershel ``Woody'' Williams, our Nation's heroic Medal of Honor recipients, and all those who have served. It honors their memory, remembers their legacy, and reaffirms our unwavering commitment to upholding the principles for which they fought so valiantly.

Madam Speaker, I urge adoption of the bill, and I yield back the balance of my time.

Madam Speaker, on that I demand the yeas and nays.

Madam Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 187) to provide for the standardization, consolidation, and publication of data relating to public outdoor recreational use of Federal waterways among Federal land and water management agencies, and for other purposes, as amended.

Madam Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may have 5 legislative days to revise and extend their remarks and include extraneous material on H.R. 187, the bill now under consideration.

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

Madam Speaker, I rise in support of H.R. 187, the Modernizing Access to Our Public Waters Act, or MAPWaters Act, sponsored by Congressman Moore of Utah.

This bill seeks to improve recreational access for our country's boaters and anglers by requiring agencies to digitize the maps of Federal waterways and information related to the regulations and restrictions on accessing those waterways.

The bill then calls upon Federal land management agencies to publish this information online and work with the private sector to make it easily available to the public. This bill is necessary because access to information related to regulations and restrictions on Federal waterways can often be hard to come by.

The Natural Resources Committee heard testimony about a specific example of an unfortunate situation at Yellowstone National Park. A group of backpackers were hiking to a remote lake in the park where the group planned to fish. Upon arriving at the lake, they discovered that half the lake was off-limits to fishing because of nesting swans. The half of the lake

that was closed to fishing was the part of the lake where they were permitted to fish.

This is unacceptable. Passing this bill would prevent incidents like this by ensuring this information is easily available to the public.

The House passed a nearly identical version of this bill by voice vote in December. The bill language we are considering today incorporates technical edits that have been agreed to with the Senate, helping to ensure that this bill can advance through both Chambers in a timely fashion.

Madam Speaker, I urge my colleagues to support the bill, and I reserve the balance of my time.

House of Representatives,

Committee on Agriculture,

Washington, DC, January 10, 2025.

Hon. Bruce Westerman,

Chairman, Committee on Natural Resources,

Washington, DC.

Dear Mr. Chairman: This letter confirms our mutual

understanding regarding H.R. 187, the ``MAPWaters Act.''

Thank you for collaborating with the Committee on Agriculture

on the matters within our jurisdiction.

The Committee on Agriculture will forego any further

consideration of this bill. However, by foregoing

consideration at this time, we do not waive any jurisdiction

over any subject matter contained in this or similar

legislation. The Committee on Agriculture also reserves the

right to seek appointment of an appropriate number of

conferees should it become necessary and ask that you support

such a request.

We would appreciate a response to this letter confirming

this understanding with respect to H.R. 187 and request a

copy of our letters on this matter be published in the

Congressional Record during Floor consideration.

Sincerely,

Glenn ``GT'' Thompson,

Chairman.

Madam Speaker, I yield myself the balance of my time.

Madam Speaker, I again thank Representative Moore from Utah for his work on this bill and as a Member of this body to increase recreational access to our public lands. It is something he cares deeply about. I thank Mr. Huffman and the minority for supporting this good legislation.

Madam Speaker, I urge my colleagues to support the bill, and I yield back the balance of my time.

Madam Speaker, on that I demand the yeas and nays.

Madam Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 207) to direct the Secretary of Commerce to establish a task force regarding shark depredation, and for other purposes.

Madam Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may have 5 legislative days to revise and extend their remarks and to include extraneous material on H.R. 207, the bill now under consideration.

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

Madam Speaker, I rise in support of H.R. 207, sponsored by the Committee on Natural Resources vice chairman, Congressman Rob Wittman of Virginia.

Concerns over shark depredation are increasingly common in the Florida Keys, the Gulf of Mexico, and North Carolina's Outer Banks. Shark interactions can be frustrating for anglers, resulting in loss of catch, damaged gear, and degraded fishing experiences. They also potentially impact the post-release survival of both target fish and bycatch.

As the number of reports of shark depredation has increased, the underlying cause remains uncertain. It could be due to an increase in the number of sharks as stocks rebuild, a learned behavior by sharks as they recognize motors, fishing techniques, or shark feeding locations as a source of food. We simply don't have enough information to answer all the questions.

To emphasize the scale of this issue, during the consideration of this legislation, we heard from Captain Jack Graham, who fishes out of the renowned Oregon Inlet in North Carolina. Captain Graham has been keeping records of tuna depredation impacting his small marina of about 25 boats. By his estimates, a staggering 250,000 pounds of tuna are depredated each month during tuna season just within his marina.

To make matters worse, shark depredation involves many Federal and State jurisdictions, but because no single entity is responsible for addressing it, very little is being done.

H.R. 207 would require the Secretary of Commerce to establish a task force to address shark depredation. The task force membership would include representatives from NOAA, the Regional Fishery Management Councils, marine fisheries commissions, State fish and wildlife agencies from the States within the Regional Fishery Management Councils, and non-Federal experts.

In the 118th Congress, this legislation was passed unanimously through the Committee on Natural Resources, and it passed the House by voice vote. I am grateful that we are again considering this legislation that will help the Federal Government respond to the challenge.

Madam Speaker, I applaud Representative Wittman for his work, and I reserve the balance of my time.

Madam Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to the gentleman from Virginia (Mr. Wittman), the lead sponsor of this bill.

Madam Speaker, I yield myself the balance of my time.

Madam Speaker, I again thank my colleague, Mr. Wittman, for taking action to address the challenge that fishing communities across the United States currently face.

I have had the opportunity to do some recreational fishing in the western and eastern Gulf. I have had the opportunity to go out on research vessels and even down in the Florida Keys and on the Atlantic Coast. There is one thing in common, and it is you can be certain somebody is going to be reeling in a fish and a shark is going to take everything but pretty much the lips off of the hook.

People who fish more than I do and who are around this will tell you that it has gotten much more common over the years. Improving coordination between fisheries managers, State agencies, and other experts to solve the challenge of shark depredation is an approach that respects the bottom-up approach that has allowed the United States to be the gold standard in fisheries management.

Madam Speaker, I encourage my colleagues to support the bill, and I yield back the balance of my time.

Madam Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 197) to provide for a land exchange in the Chippewa National Forest, Minnesota, and for other purposes.

Madam Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may have 5 legislative days to revise and extend their remarks and to include extraneous material on H.R. 197, the bill now under consideration.

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

Madam Speaker, I rise in strong support of H.R. 197, the Lake Winnibigoshish Land Exchange Act of 2025, led by Representative Stauber.

This commonsense legislation authorizes the U.S. Forest Service to enter into a land exchange with the Bowen Lodge, a family-operated resort on the shores of Lake Winnibigoshish in northern Minnesota.

Exchanging parcels between the Chippewa National Forest and Bowen Lodge will create a win-win scenario. The lodge will gain permanent access to the lake, and the Forest Service will be able to reconfigure part of its unwieldy checkerboard pattern of land ownership. This change will provide excellent fishing and recreation opportunities for the local community and improve management efficiencies for the Federal Government.

Representative Stauber has done an excellent job of leading this bill that would help this small business improve its operation for years to come. This bill would improve outdoor recreation opportunities for its constituents and for all who have the pleasure of visiting and recreating in northern Minnesota. He has long been a strong advocate for responsible public land management and access to outdoor recreation, and this legislation is an excellent reflection of that commitment.

Last Congress, this bill passed the House unanimously by voice vote. I urge my colleagues to do the same today and support this important piece of legislation.

Madam Speaker, I support the bill, and I reserve the balance of my time.

Madam Speaker, the gentleman from Minnesota has invited me to Minnesota to fish before. It is a lovely time of year to fish in Minnesota if you like fishing through a little hole in the ice, but I am sure it would be great on Lake Winnie.

Madam Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to the gentleman from Minnesota (Mr. Stauber), who is the lead sponsor of the bill.

Madam Speaker, I yield an additional 30 seconds to the gentleman from Minnesota.

Madam Speaker, I have no further requests for time.

In closing, Madam Speaker, this is a straightforward bill that benefits the people of northern Minnesota and our public lands.

Once again, I applaud Representative Stauber for his work on the legislation, I urge its passage today. I hope the Senate will take up this legislation quickly, and I yield back the balance of my time.