Floor Statements

Mr. Speaker, I rise to congratulate the Oregon Wheat Growers' League on its 100-year anniversary.

Since its inception in 1926, the Wheat Growers' League has supported, encouraged, and promoted the production of wheat, one of the most important sources of nutrition in the world.

Over the past 100 years, the League has transformed the individual voices of wheat farmers into a formidable and effective political organization.

The League's advocacy is essential because Oregon's agricultural sector continues to face serious challenges, including skyrocketing fertilizer and energy costs, market uncertainty, severe drought, and misguided regulation.

Again, congratulations to the Oregon Wheat Growers' League on reaching its 100th year. I thank the generations of producers, families, and local leaders who helped build and maintain this successful and essential organization. I look forward to working with all of them as we build a brighter future for Oregon's wheat producers.

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

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

Mr. Chair, I rise to offer my amendment designated Bentz No. 2 which modestly expands the definition of ``renewable biomass'' under the Renewable Fuel Standard so that it includes materials generated in the manufacture of forest products, such as mill residuals, wood chips, bark sawdust, and shavings.

The amendment would also amend the current statutory other framework to include as renewal biomass, trees, shrubs, and slash from our Federal forests, Tribal forests, non-Federal land, and public lands, rather than being limited to a small part of these lands. This amendment would allow materials from these sources to be economically used for domestic biofuel production.

I thank Chairman Westerman, Congressman Fulcher, and Congressman Stauber for their support of this amendment.

The amendment falls within the farm bill under title VIII, forestry, and title IX, energy. Consistent with these titles, this amendment will incentivize removal of excess fuel from our forests, thus reducing fire risk and improving forest health, and it will make possible the productive use of what otherwise would be considered waste.

For too long, Federal policy has treated wood fiber from Federal lands in only two ways: either as merchantable sawtimber with commercial value or as waste with no value whatsoever. This policy ignores an entire category of low-value woody material that could be removed from Federal forests, including slash, limbs, storm debris, thinning materials, small diameter trees, and other byproducts that do not fit neatly into traditional lumber markets but still carry real economic value. This amendment would help realize on that value.

Mr. Chairman, my amendment is a practical fix. It treats Federal forest material as an opportunity, not a liability. It creates value where Federal policy currently perpetuates waste, and it provides land managers, mills, and rural communities with another tool to make Federal forests healthier, more productive, and less dangerous.

Mr. Chair, I urge adoption of the amendment, and I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Chair, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from Arkansas (Mr. Westerman).

Mr. Chair, I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from Georgia (Mr. Austin Scott).

Mr. Chair, I am prepared to close.

Mr. Chairman, this is an excellent bill, and we need it in Oregon. We have 30 million acres of trees. We absolutely need what this bill would provide.

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

Mr. Speaker, I rise to honor Doug LaMalfa, my good friend. His office is right across from mine and his district is right across from mine in California from Oregon. This meant we worked together over and over again on issues involving water to try to save it from the grasp of misguided environmentalists.

He was a great friend and an incredible advocate for his district. He did his very best for his constituents. He never gave up. He focused on wolves, water, forests, and fire. May my good friend find solace in Heaven and may his family find comfort in knowing he was a man of integrity, faith, and truly deserving of our honor and our deepest respect.

Mr. Chair, the purpose of process is to create a predictable sequence of steps to achieve an outcome consistent with substantive law. When process is allowed to intrude, the purpose of the law itself is perverted.

As philosopher Franz Kafka described it, the process becomes punishment. You aren't guilty or innocent yet. You are simply processed until you run out of money, time, or sanity.

Procedure exists to serve substantive rights, not to supplant them. As the Supreme Court stated in the Seven County case: NEPA is a purely procedural statute, not a mandate for a particular result.

This bill, H.R. 4776, is designed to create sideboards on process so that rote compliance is no longer the purpose of what we are about but instead we focus on progress for this Nation.

Mr. Chair, I urge support of this bill.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today in strong support of H.R. 845. The bill would address at least some of the injury and injustice being inflicted on my State and my constituents by the inappropriate and unfair enforcement of the Endangered Species Act as it has been applied in the reintroduction of the gray wolf.

This injustice is apparent in the Federal Government's inability to manage and control the killing, the maiming, and the terrorizing of thousands of head of livestock across my district and the rest of the United States and in the failure of the government to properly pay for the cost of its decision to reintroduce the wolf.

I will address the lack of management first.

Let me begin my discussion of failed management by showing several pictures which are graphic illustrations of the lurking reality that many of my ranching families must deal with every single day.

As you can see, there is nothing refined about how a wolf goes about feeding itself. You can only imagine the feelings of the rancher when he or she finds their livestock torn apart or dying. You can try to imagine the anger they feel, knowing that they are legally prevented from stopping that wolf before it causes this pain and horror for their cattle and calves and stopping these wolves from doing this over and over again and again.

I have held meeting after meeting across my district listening over and over to stories about wolves attacking herds, scattering to the four winds terrified cattle and calves, and ignoring the sad hazing efforts that we heard about earlier from across the aisle that livestock owners are reduced to using under the law to try to protect their livelihoods.

The fury, the anger, the frustration, the fear that a wolf may at some point attack a child, which it came close to doing earlier last year while children in my district were waiting for a schoolbus, is totally understandable and why we are on this floor sharing the reality of the wolf in America today.

If we are to protect those who are trying their best to feed this country, to make a living, to keep their communities viable and safe, to put out range fires, to pay their taxes, and continue to be productive parts of this Nation, we must manage the wolf. This means we must delist the wolf and move management of these creatures back to the States. Remember, this is exactly what the Democratic Obama and Biden administrations and Republican Bush and Trump administrations have agreed needed to be done literally years ago. The wolf listed status continues only because of judicial fiat.

Let me turn to the actual cost of reintroduction of the wolf and the need for those who have created this cost to be responsible for paying for it.

University studies show that the annual cost of the wolf to the cattle business as of a few years ago was estimated to be $128 million. That is each year. This number is far higher now that cattle prices are higher.

Many think the only cost of the wolf is the killing of the livestock, but the impact of the primal fear and terror cattle understandably feel when a wolf is near has dramatic and serious impacts on weight gain and on pregnancy rates. These losses in production are real, and they are serious. In a time when even the President is concerned about beef prices, these losses affect everyone by causing a reduction in the size of America's cattle herd and, of course, their productivity.

In recognition of this damage caused by the wolf, laws have been enacted, some in the big, beautiful bill and some at the State level, to try to bring at least some ESA reimbursement equity into play by providing some payment to the owners for the death of cattle caused by wolves, but these programs come nowhere close to offsetting the very real loss.

Mr. Speaker, I can assure you that the rancher would be absolutely happier if he or she could completely avoid these losses that lead to asking for justice under these programs.

If we are to properly, fairly, and logically manage the wolf, we must pass Congresswoman Boebert and Congressman Tiffany's bill, H.R. 845, the Pet and Livestock Protection Act.

This bill would federally delist the wolf and allow States to actually manage wolf populations--not exterminate, manage. If we are to properly allocate responsibility for the monetary cost of the wolf-- that is, the cost of the Endangered Species Act--America itself must pay for the consequences of this law. That means Congress must manage the problem and appropriate dollars to pay for it.

Mr. Speaker, let's begin by passing this bill.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to call out the injury and injustice being inflicted on my State and my constituents by the inappropriate and unfair enforcement of the Endangered Species Act as it has been and is being applied to the reintroduction of the gray wolf.

This injustice is apparent in the Federal Government's inability to manage and control the killing and maiming of livestock and in the failure of the government to properly pay the costs of its decision to reintroduce the wolf.

I will address the lack of management first. Let me begin my discussion of failed management by showing several pictures, which are graphic illustrations of the reality that my ranching families face all too often.

Mr. Speaker, as you can see, there is nothing refined about how a wolf goes about feeding itself. You can imagine the feelings of the rancher when he or she finds livestock torn apart and dying.

Mr. Speaker, these animals may have been part of the herd for a decade or more.

We can try to imagine the incredible anger they feel, knowing they are legally prevented from stopping the wolf that caused this pain and horror to their cattle and calves from doing this again and again.

I have held meeting after meeting across my district, listening over and over to stories about wolves attacking herds, scattering cattle, and ignoring the ineffective hazing efforts that owners of these cattle are allowed to use under the law to try to protect their livelihoods. The anger and intense frustration they feel is totally understandable. It is why I am on the floor today, sharing as best I can their pain with my colleagues.

If we are to protect those who are trying their best to feed this country, to make a living, to keep their small and often remote communities viable, to put out range fires, to pay their taxes, and to continue to be productive parts of this Nation, we need to delist the wolf and move the management of these animals back to the States.

Let me turn to the actual cost of the reintroduction of the wolf and the need for those who have created this cost to be responsible for paying it.

The actual annual cost of the wolf, imposed upon the cattle businesses across this Nation, as of a few years ago is estimated to be $128 million a year. This number is higher now that cattle prices are higher. Many think the only cost of the wolf is the killing of livestock, but the impact of primal fear that cattle understandably feel when a wolf is near has dramatic and serious impacts on weight gain and on pregnancy rates.

These losses are real, and they are serious. At a time when even the President is concerned about beef prices, these losses affect everyone by reducing the size of the cattle herds and their productivity.

There has been legislation enacted, both in the One Big Beautiful Bill Act and at the State level, to try to bring some reimbursement equity into play by providing at least some payment for the death of cattle caused by wolves. These programs, although welcome, come nowhere near to making those damaged by wolves whole.

In addition, I can assure everyone that the rancher would absolutely be happier if he or she could completely avoid the losses that lead to asking for justice under these programs.

If we are properly, fairly, and logically to manage the wolf, we must pass Representatives Boebert and Tom Tiffany's bill, H.R. 845, the Pet and Livestock Protection Act. This would delist the wolf and allow States to manage these populations.

If we are to properly allocate responsibility for the monetary costs of the wolf, those millions of dollars each year unjustly imposed on ranchers and farmers damaged by the reintroduction, we must appropriate the money needed to make these good people whole.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of S. 356, the Secure Rural Schools Reauthorization Act of 2025.

Mr. Speaker, in 1990, the spotted owl was listed under the Endangered Species Act as a threatened species. Almost immediately, timber production from Federal forests in the Western United States plummeted by 80 percent.

The economic and societal costs of timber-dependent States and their timber-reliant counties was appalling. Demand for SNAP and Medicaid shot up. Alcoholism and meth addictions became routine. County tax revenues were decimated.

A belated but needed response was the Secure Rural Schools Act first passed in 2000, 10 years after the listing of the owl. This law, and the funding it provides, was designed to partially offset the massive decline in Federal timber revenue. It provides a modest amount of funding for critical services, including: infrastructure maintenance, search and rescue, fire prevention, and, most importantly, money for children's education.

As this chart shows, all of those billions did nothing to help recover the owl. The population has declined from 1,200 pairs in 1980 to around 200 pairs today. When society enacts laws that seemingly benefit the broader public but end up harming small communities, society must assume responsibility for that harm. That is what this bill partially accomplishes.

Mr. Speaker, I thank my colleagues. I thank the leaders of the committees that helped put this bill together. I thank Speaker Johnson for this bill and the funding my counties so desperately need. I urge my colleagues to support S. 356.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of my legislation, H.R. 655, the Dalles Watershed Development Act.

The City of The Dalles, located in my district, depends on its municipal watershed for almost all of its supply of drinking water. Protecting and managing this watershed is vital to the health, safety, and future of The Dalles community.

Today, that task is complicated by the fact that critical infrastructure, the Crow Creek Reservoir and the surrounding timbered area, is located on both City-owned and federally managed Forest Service lands.

The City operates these facilities under a special use permit, which is inefficient and costly and limits the City's ability to expeditiously expand and modernize this water supply.

The City of The Dalles is a growing City. It is an important City, and it is one that deserves this kind of help and attention. I am happy to bring this bill to achieve this purpose.

This bill offers a practical solution by transferring 150 acres of Forest Service land within the watershed of the City into the City's ownership. This transfer will allow the City of The Dalles to officially upgrade the Crow Creek Dam, increase its reservoir capacity by 2,100 acre-feet, eliminate the need for ongoing special use permits with Forest Service, and allow implementation of a comprehensive watershed management strategy. We would also save tens of thousands of dollars in administrative costs for both the City and the Forest Service.

Mr. Speaker, this is a narrowly tailored, community-driven proposal that directly supports clean water, public safety, economic growth, and good government.

Mr. Speaker, I thank Chair Westerman and the members of the committee for their support of this bill, and I urge a ``yes'' vote on H.R. 655.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to recognize the Korean and Vietnam War veterans from Oregon's Second Congressional District who, are visiting their memorials and the WWII Memorial, because of the efforts of the Honor Flight of Southern Oregon. Whenever I have the opportunity to meet these heroes, I am reminded of the words of President Abraham Lincoln: ``The struggle of today, is not altogether for today, it is for a vast future also.'' Our veterans embody this spirit, having fought valiantly in the Korean and Vietnam Wars. Their courage and dedication remind us that the price of liberty is high. It is my privilege to include their names in the Record.

Veterans on this Honor Flight from Oregon are: Russell

Bronson, Joyce Button, JoAnn Compton Taplin, James Dahl, Chad

Davenport, Thomas Davis, David Ford, Jerry Fraley, Thomas

Garland, Larry Grow, Eldon Hendrix, Orville Houston, John

James, William Kendrick, William Koreger, Walter Lindner,

James Little, Kenneth Montgomery, Dennis Paul, Richard

Seehawer, Patrick Smith, Gelacio Valdez, Walter Vaughan,

Robert Verlezza, and Allen Ayers. We especially honor the

memory of Danyl H. Christianer, whose legacy of service will

live on through this tribute.

These heroes join over 250,000 Veterans who have been honored through the nationwide Honor Flight Network of volunteers, since 2005.

Mr. Speaker, President George W. Bush once said, ``We have been the recipients of the greatest blessings of liberty ever known to man. We live in freedom because others have made the ultimate sacrifice. As a Nation, we must never take for granted, the liberties we enjoy today, recognizing that these freedoms have been hard-won by the honor, commitment, and sacrifice of our Veterans. Each Member in this chamber and every citizen in these United States should be humbled by the courage of our brave Veterans who voluntarily faced danger and adversity to preserve our country and our way of life. Colleagues, please join me in thanking these Veterans and the volunteers of Honor Flight of Southern Oregon for their remarkable service and devotion to our great country.

Mr. Chair, I thank Chair Westerman for yielding me time and for his tireless efforts as an engineer and a forester to help save our forests.

Mr. Chair, I am from Oregon. My State has some 15 million acres of Federal forests. H.R. 471 addresses many issues, but the fix of the infamous Cottonwood decision applicable to all 15 million of those Federal acres is one of the most important.

Section 122 of this bill clearly states that no additional consultation under section 7(a)(2) of the ESA will be required under certain circumstances set forth in the bill.

This part of H.R. 471 is one of the key provisions that constitutes the long-awaited fix for the 2015 Cottonwood decision. This reform limits unnecessary litigation, enabling forest management projects to proceed without undue delay, and ensures that critical restoration and fire prevention efforts can actually occur.

With this legislation, the Forest Service and BLM will no longer have to delay dozens of wildfire prevention projects anytime a new species is listed, critical habitat is designated, or other information is brought forward. This legislation will fix this wrongfully decided case.

Mr. Chair, I am in full support of this bill.

MR. HUFFMAN. Mr. Chairman, I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from central California (Mr. Panetta).

Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman for allowing me to join this Special Order today and discuss this horrid and tragic situation in Southern California, truly a national emergency.

Note that I call this a national emergency. Why? Because soon Congress will be sending hundreds of billions of dollars to California to help clean up this mess and rebuild.

The most basic level of common sense demands that we not send billions upon billions to California without first looking carefully at the causes of this catastrophe, and when they are identified, making sure these causes will be addressed and resolved.

The sad benefit that will come from understanding the cause of these southern California fires and also of understanding why California's fire protection systems failed isn't limited to California. Every State is facing hotter and dryer conditions. Every State must do a far better job adapting to these conditions. We need to look at what causes these horrific fires, what they did wrong or what we do wrong in trying to put them out, and then apply those lessons accordingly.

You might ask why these questions were not asked and answered in any of the other fires that we have been suffering that were referred to by Congressman LaMalfa a few minutes ago. We have certainly had enough up in Oregon and northern California, but people in positions of authority perhaps haven't been listening. Perhaps it is because those affected didn't have the political clout or perhaps the actions that needed to be taken such as cleaning up our forests are viewed as politically incorrect.

There is little doubt that this time around those who have been hurt in southern California are politically powerful, and they can do something about this, and we want them to. That means doing something about adapting to warmer, hotter, and dryer.

There is a separation, I guess, in how we approach our response to changing climate. One approach is to invest billions, as California has done, in mitigation, that is reducing CO2, and the other is to recognize it is going to stay this way for a very long time.

It was said by members of the climate commission at Oregon State University that if we stopped all CO2 production today, our climate would not improve for between 30 and 40 years. During this period of time, we are going to see a repeat of what we are seeing in southern California unless we do something about it.

What is that something?

Well, the first thing to do is recognize that the money you put into mitigation is not going to be available for

adaptation. When I say, ``adaptation,'' I mean protecting people from the kinds of events we are now seeing occur in southern California. We absolutely have to do this. Wishing this away or blaming it on climate change and shrugging ones' shoulders that this isn't happening will not work.

California is raising literally billions, billions, of dollars through clean fuel standards, cap-and-trade devices, and other things, but they are not investing it in protecting their people. They are not. I would hope that those who are watching Congressman LaMalfa and me today would reach out to their Congress folks and say we want you to do something. We want you to not just come in and help repair and clean up, which we will do, but, also, we want you to try to stop the damage that is being done to our forests. We actually want you to do something.

There will be an opportunity, I think perhaps as early as next week, to vote on Bruce Westerman's Fix Our Forests Act. It would go a long way to making our forests look like this. Why wouldn't we be doing this? What is happening now is certain folks are filing lawsuits to stop us from going into the woods and cleaning them up so that they are not destroyed by wildfire. We can do the same thing in places like southern California by working on water delivery systems and by working on storing more water and having better abilities to put out fires once they start.

Even though this was a, I hope, rare event with these cataclysmically driven winds, this will happen again. This happened in Oregon over and over, it has happened in northern California over and over, and it is time for us to do something about it.

The people who are listening today can do something about it. They can get on the phone and call. They can call their Congressman or - woman and say that we need your help.

I thank Congressman LaMalfa again for taking the time today to bring this issue to the attention of the American people. I think it is incumbent upon the American people to step up, call their Congressman and let's do something about it.

Mr. Speaker, I rise this morning along with Congressman LaMalfa to honor a constituent for his decades of selfless advocacy on behalf of his family, his community, and his fellow farmers and ranchers.

Throughout a life of tireless work on his family's legacy cattle ranch with origins reaching back to the founding decades of two states, Mike Byrne has gone above and beyond at home in the Klamath Basin and around the country to support his community and enhance the legacy created by his family

Mr. Byrne's family first came to the Klamath Basin in the 1860's, developing large-scale ranching operations on hundreds of thousands of then unclaimed acres in Klamath County, Oregon, and Modoc County, California. The family has a personal relationship with the Klamath Project since its inception, as the initial holdings of Jesse Carr were taken via eminent domain by the federal government for the construction of the Clear Lake Reservoir after the Klamath Project was authorized in 1902. Remaining acres that once comprised the initial family holdings are still grazed seasonally as an integral part of the summer cattle operations under cooperative management with the U.S. Forest Service and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.

Mike's grandfather W.C. Dalton moved the family from Clear Lake to the shore of the receding Tule Lake and was instrumental in building the D Canal to bring water from Klamath Lake to that area. Dalton sold virgin land to Czech immigrant families--many of whom still are farming--who cleared and planted the area as water was initially delivered and supported the founding of the town of Malin, Oregon.

Mike was born in 1951 to Bob and Betty Lou Byrne. He attended Newell Elementary School and, like all his siblings, was sent on a train at 13 years old to boarding school in California. While attending Bellarmine College Preparatory in San Jose, California, Mike met his wife Bev at a sophomore mixer. We'd like to congratulate the two on the 50th wedding anniversary they celebrated last year, and for their two grown children Matt and Brianna--each of whom have two grade school boys and help on the family ranch as well.

While attending University of California, Davis, Mike earned a degree in animal science and returned home to help on the ranch any chance he could. He moved home permanently in 1973 to work with his parents and siblings, with his years of school representing the only time he lived away from the ranch. At home, Mike's demonstration of leading by example on the ranch have garnered many treasured long-term employees; integral individuals he has supported and who have supported him for decades.

Mike was happy working the ranch, but in the early 1980's, at the urging of family friend and ranching industry leader Rob Flournoy, Mike was encouraged to pursue what became decades of involvement, volunteerism and support for the agricultural community on three key fronts: supporting agricultural water supply and rights, sustaining public lands grazing and supporting conservation as part of a working agricultural business.

Mike initially became involved in the Modoc County Cattlemen's Association, volunteered heavily, moved through all the officer chairs and was named Cattleman of the Year in 1992. He continued his advocacy at the California Cattleman's Association, serving as public lands committee chairman (a position he likely held for longer than any other in the organization's history) and Second Vice President from 1989 through 1991. He was also a long-time President of the California Public Lands Council. Balancing his volunteer work with daily needs on the ranch--including the fact that his father was confined to a wheelchair--Mike chose not to accept the offer to move up further in the organization at the time but remained heavily involved.

Mike was exceptionally involved in the fallout from the galvanizing 2001 Klamath water shut off. That event set off a frenzy of activity in the community and Mike participated meaningfully and wholeheartedly, taking dozens of trips to Washington, D.C.--where he was on a first name basis with multiple cabinet secretaries and influenced countless staffers of all political stripes with his unique, disarming sense of humor, participating in countless tours and hearings with federal officials and the media and acting as a principal organizer of The Klamath Bucket Brigade. Mike knew the efforts made by so many at that time were significant and meaningful and he was honored to play a role.

In addition to his role as an advocate during the water shut off, Mike was deeply involved closer to home as Chairman of the Lava Beds Resource Conservation District, which helped to quickly and efficiently distribute relief funding to a reeling local farming community that was suddenly not sure if they would ever farm again. Fortunately, the water has come back on, but, unfortunately, efforts to secure real certainty for the community continue to this day.

He later became deeply involved in the National Cattleman's Beef Association, where he ascended to a national position as Policy Chairman in 2004, and the national Public Lands Council, where he served as President from 2004 to 2006. From those national positions he represented cattle producers in all 50 states, but he always kept his eye on the West and his heart in the Basin.

In addition to leadership roles and meetings, the Byrne family has spent many days in the field demonstrating conservation leadership. Mike and his brother Dan were recognized with the National Resources Conservation Service's nationwide Excellence in Conservation Award in 2004 and the Society for Range Management with the Excellence in Range Management award in 1998. They were also featured in two editions of the conservation ranching publication, Grazing for Change. Mike was proud to participate not for personal accolades, but to demonstrate to a wide range of stakeholders the positive possibilities of successful working landscape management and wildlife. Along those lines, he was also very proud of his role in relocating and releasing breeding pairs of sage grouse from Nevada to lekking areas near the original family headquarters that are still grazed annually by the Byrne family.

Mike continues to selflessly attribute the success of his efforts to being blessed with the right history, the right connections, and being in the right place at the right time. Fair enough, but then we can all count ourselves lucky that he took advantage.

While we see hundreds of committed advocates in my office each year, there are two things that make Mike unique.

First is the longevity and breadth of his service. While many people join a single organization and pass through leadership then retire, Mike's willingness to remain involved in multiple organizations providing counsel and support after his term as leader has ended is truly remarkable. He remains Chairman of the local RCD and has just recently completed many terms as board member at the Klamath Water Users Association and the Public Lands Council.

Second is his willingness to stand back from the limelight and deflect credit to others at all times while maintaining consistently good, or if you know Mike very well, you might say great humor--even if you don't quite get it. By being willing to work hard and support the community in bringing diverse groups together without caring who got the credit, Mike followed one of former President Ronald Reagan's political rules and was able to accomplish much.

We thank Mike for his many efforts and his continued support to this day and we stand with the community in saying we appreciate what he has done and thank him for what he continues to do.

Mr. Speaker, I am proud to share with my colleagues and the Nation, my regard for an outstanding American.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to recognize the members of the emergency medical services (EMS) profession who dedicate their lives to providing often lifesaving medical care and transport services to patients as well as entire communities. These health care professionals are on the frontlines of providing vital emergency 9-1-1 and interfacility ambulance services.

Every year, the dispatch of an ambulance is the first response to millions of medical emergencies. Often, the survival of a patient is enhanced by the prompt medical attention provided by paramedics and emergency medical technicians (EMTs) prior to the arrival at an emergency department. As a result of the selfless acts of these courageous and devoted professions, the lives of thousands of Americans are saved each year. While these professionals do not expect to receive recognition for their work, they deserve our outmost gratitude.

I would like to highlight a very special group of EMS professionals or ``Stars of Life'' who were honored this by the American Ambulance Association. These Stars of Life are meeting with their members of Congress this week and I strongly encourage my colleagues to take the time to chat with these exceptional individuals.

The American Ambulance Association honors each year those paramedics, emergency medical technicians, dispatchers and other ambulance service personnel who exemplify what is best about the EMS field. The American Ambulance Association has appropriately designated these individuals as ``Stars of Life''. Past Stars of Life have included paramedics and EMTs who were part of evacuation and response efforts to natural disasters, acts of terrorism and public health emergencies. Members of this year's Stars of Life program are no different and were involved with exceptional acts such as delivering and saving a baby born pulseless during transport to a hospital and extracting a patient involved in a fiery

car crash and then providing critical medical care.

Of equal importance, this program also pays tribute to those ambulance service personnel whose heroic acts or community service activities may not have made the news, but were just as meaningful to the people they aided. They are truly America's health care safety net.

I am especially proud of the five Stars of Life from Oregon being recognized this year who serve Oregonians with pride. They are Aubree Arneson, Jorge Garcia, Jason Hodges, Don Marr and Joe Scott. I had the opportunity to meet with Jorge Garcia with Umpqua Valley Ambulance from Roseburg, Oregon today and can tell you he is a fIrst-class EMS professional who deeply cares about his community and his patients.

Mr. Speaker, I include in the Record the names, organizations and hometowns of the 2024 American Ambulance Association Stars of Life honorees.

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Names Company Location Display ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Frank Alba................................... American Medical Response....... Kansas City, KS Johan Alvarado............................... Air Evac Lifeteam............... Laredo, TX Aubree Arneson............................... Cal-Ore Life Flight............. Brookings, OR Adam Aronberg................................ Northwell Health System Center Norwalk, CT

for EMS. Glenn Arremony............................... Hartford HealthCare EMS Network. Meriden, CT Robyn Asher.................................. Priority Ambulance, LLC......... Oak Ridge, TN Krystal Barboza.............................. Hall Ambulance Service.......... Bakersfield, CA Keone Bareng................................. Life EMS Ambulance.............. Grand Rapids, MI Henry Barsh.................................. American Medical Response....... Philadelphia, PA John Basile.................................. Superior Air-Ground Ambulance Highland, IN

Service. Jason Baum................................... Falck........................... Orange, CA Alec Belau................................... Priority Ambulance, LLC......... Phoenix, AZ Antoine Berenger............................. Rural Metro Fire................ Tempe, AZ Samantha Blackwell........................... Acadian Ambulance............... Lafayette, LA Cornelius Brady.............................. VMSC Emergency Medical Services. Lansdale, PA Spencer Brittain............................. Life EMS........................ Enid, OK Gregg Bulman................................. Gundersen Tri-State Ambulance... Dorchester, IA Jade Calvin.................................. Bell Ambulance, Inc............. Waukesha, WI Jeremiah Capps............................... Superior Mobile Health.......... Converse, TX Josh Cavaness................................ EagleMed........................ Chanute, KS Emily Chandler............................... American Medical Response....... Duxbury, MA Cassandra Clark.............................. Medix Ambulance Service Inc..... Vancouver, WA Eric Constantine............................. Medic Ambulance Service Inc..... Santa Rosa, CA Jason Cooke.................................. Priority Ambulance, LLC......... Darlington, SC Bernard Cote................................. Rescue Inc...................... Newfane, VT Janiece Cox.................................. Superior Air-Ground Ambulance Valparaiso, IN

Service. Brandi Crist................................. Metropolitan EMS................ Bigelow, AR Andrew Davalos............................... American Medical Response....... Rancho Cucamonga, CA Dwight Derby................................. Advanced Life Systems, Inc...... Selah, WA Michael Dobrosky............................. Superior Air-Ground Ambulance Genoa, OH

Service. Dianna Drake................................. Hartford HealthCare EMS Network. Meriden, CT Nate Dutt.................................... Sanford Ambulance............... Fargo, ND Amie Ebarb................................... Southern Oklahoma Ambulance Ardmore, OK

Service. Riggs Egolf.................................. American Medical Response....... Hampton, VA Yahya Elshawarbi............................. Falck........................... Orange, CA Steve Emery.................................. Priority Ambulance, LLC......... Indianapolis, IN Aidan Enders................................. Mohawk Ambulance Service........ Delanson, NY Juvencio Estrada............................. Air Evac Lifeteam............... Laredo, TX William Fisher............................... Air Evac Lifeteam............... Walnut Ridge, AR Jason Florance............................... American Medical Response....... Overbrook, KS Eric Foell................................... Regional Ambulance Service, Inc. Rutland, VT Robert Ford.................................. Lifenet Inc..................... Stillwater, OK John Frierson................................ Lifenet Inc..................... Wake Village, TX Jorge Garcia................................. Umpqua Valley Ambulance......... Roseburg, OR Hope Garrison................................ Lifenet Inc..................... Royal, AR Craig Gesterling............................. Sunstar Paramedics.............. St. Petersburg, FL Taylor Gibson................................ Mayo Clinic Ambulance Service... Rochester, MN Jacob Gilmore................................ Mohawk Ambulance Service........ Burnt Hills, NY Wayne Gooding................................ Emergent Health Partners........ Jackson, MI Jessup Grogan................................ Metropolitan EMS................ Little Rock, AR Kenneth Guzman............................... Northwell Health System Center Farmingville, NY

for EMS. Diamond Hall................................. Superior Air-Ground Ambulance Oak Park, IL

Service of Illinois. Morgan Halliburton........................... Pro Med Ambulance............... Maynard, AR Scotland Hamlin.............................. American Medical Response....... Orlando, FL Kayleen Harding.............................. Priority Ambulance, LLC......... Fort Washakie, WY Josh Harrington.............................. Sunstar Paramedics.............. Tampa, FL John Hathaway................................ Spirit Medical Transport, LLC... Greenville, OH Robert Hatzikonstantis....................... Armstrong Ambulance Service..... Arlington, MA William Helm, Jr............................. REMSA Health.................... Reno, NV Jason Henry.................................. Rural Metro Fire................ Mesa, AZ Kylend Hetherington.......................... Medstar Ambulance............... Auburn, MI Jon Hibbard.................................. Action Ambulance Service, Inc... Tuftonboro, NH Timothy Hinchcliff........................... Burholme Emergency Medical Philadelphia, PA

Services. Jason Hodges................................. American Medical Response....... Wilsonvolle, OR Royce Hsiung................................. Lakes Region EMS................ North Branch, MN Alan Hughry.................................. Medic Ambulance Service Inc..... Vallejo, CA Kristen Hunter............................... Action Ambulance Service, Inc... Southboro, MA Heather James................................ American Medical Response....... Hogansville, GA Lillie Jamison............................... Priority Ambulance, LLC......... Nesbit, MS Steve Jaskot................................. Emergent Health Partners........ Chelsea, MI Brian Keith.................................. Superior Air-Ground Ambulance Oshkosh, WI

Service. David Kingdon................................ American Medical Response....... Wailuku, HI Alissa Krisher............................... Superior Air-Ground Ambulance New London, WI

Service. Daniel Laguna................................ REACH........................... North Salt Lake, UT Matthew Lambert.............................. Lifeguard Ambulance Service..... Florence, AL Carla Landrum................................ Priority Ambulance, LLC......... Buchanan, GA

Miki Leslie.................................. American Medical Response....... White Swan, WA William Loftus-Rooney........................ Cataldo Ambulance Service, Inc.. Holyoke, MA George Lombardo.............................. Superior Mobile Health.......... Kirby, TX Patti Ludvig McCartney....................... Life EMS Ambulance.............. Portage, MI Eric Lumpkin................................. Priority Ambulance, LLC......... Dacula, GA Don Marr..................................... Bay City Ambulance.............. Coos Bay, OR James Martin................................. Pafford EMS..................... Tulsa, OK Maurice Matthews............................. Superior Air-Ground Ambulance Berkley, MI

Service. Amanda McQuistian............................ Priority Ambulance, LLC......... Hampton, VA Alyssa Meier................................. Life Line Ambulance............. Prescott, AZ Eli Melamed.................................. Life Line Ambulance............. Prescott Valley, AZ Shelly Miller................................ Mecklenburg EMS Agency.......... Charlotte, NC Loren Mitchell............................... Gundersen Tri-State Ambulance... Waterloo, IA Michael Mitchell............................. Superior Air-Ground Ambulance Yorkville, IL

Service. Kevin Moore.................................. Cataldo Ambulance Service, Inc.. Newburyport, MA Amber Munch.................................. East Baton Rouge Parish EMS..... Baton Rouge, LA Scott Munoz.................................. Missoula Emergency Services..... Frenchtown, MT Adam Mysona.................................. Falck........................... Aurora, CO Philip Neff.................................. Falck........................... La Palma, CA Shellaine Novak.............................. PatientCare EMS................. Sioux Falls, SD Stacy Omdahl................................. LifeCare EMS.................... Roseau, MN Megan Overbeck............................... Abbott EMS...................... Decatur, IL Michael Penna................................ American Medical Response....... Grand Terrace, CA Lori Peterson................................ Medstar Ambulance............... Shelby Twp, MI Jon Jakob Peterson........................... Sanford Ambulance............... Fargo, ND Emily Robillard.............................. East Baton Rouge Parish EMS..... New Roads, LA Kevin Rochford............................... American Medical Response....... Temple, TX Brian Rogers................................. Superior Air-Ground Ambulance Ontario, OH

Service. Daniel Schaefer.............................. Metro-Area Ambulance Service.... Mandan, ND Madison Schatzer............................. McClain-Grady County EMS........ Moore, OK Mark Schiltz................................. Gundersen Tri-State Ambulance... Caledonia, MN Ryan Schott.................................. Mecklenburg EMS Agency.......... Charlotte, NC Joe Scott.................................... Medix Ambulance Service Inc..... Warrenton, OR Allison Sharp................................ East Baton Rouge Parish EMS..... Baton Rouge, LA Faith Shuff.................................. Priority Ambulance, LLC......... Oxford, GA Nicole Silver................................ Northwell Health System Center Staten Island, NY

for EMS. Dale Simmons................................. Mercy Ambulance Service, Inc.... Savannah, GA Lance Smeal.................................. American Medical Response....... Lockport, NY Chad Smith................................... Priority Ambulance, LLC......... Mohawk, NY Robin Smith.................................. Priority Ambulance, LLC......... Nashville, TN Thomas Smith................................. EMSA............................ Claremore, OK Raquel Soto.................................. American Medical Response....... Newington, CT Jason Southard............................... American Medical Response....... Tucson, AZ Allen Steele................................. Priority Ambulance, LLC......... Darlington, SC Savannah Steele Welch........................ Acadian Ambulance............... West Monroe, LA Ambrose Stevens.............................. American Medical Response....... Redding, CA Dalton Stewart............................... Pafford EMS..................... Boyle, MS Sam Swanson.................................. Hall Ambulance Service.......... Bakersfield, CA Jessicah Sweet............................... Monticello Ambulance Service.... Monticello, AR Sam Sye...................................... Gundersen Tri-State Ambulance... Mindoro, WI Keri Taylor.................................. EMSA............................ Oklahoma City, OK Nikki Taylor................................. Metropolitan EMS................ North Little Rock, AR Heather Teague............................... Mecklenburg EMS Agency.......... Charlotte, NC Shane Terry.................................. Air Evac Lifeteam............... Snyder, TX Chris Thomason............................... Pro Med Ambulance............... El Dorado, AR Cynthia Torkelson............................ Gundersen Tri-State............. Monona, IA Richelle Treece.............................. REACT EMS....................... Shawnee, OK David Trimberger............................. Pafford EMS..................... Edmond, OK Cheryl VanSeters............................. Life EMS Ambulance.............. Grand Rapids, MI Andrew Clei Varela........................... American Medical Response....... Keyes, CA Lucie Walters................................ AirMed International............ Foley, AL Nicole Warren................................ Air Evac Lifeteam............... Osceola, AR Andrew Watson................................ EMSA............................ Oklahoma City, OK Paul Winter.................................. Hartford HealthCare EMS Network. Shelton, CT Amy Wollenburg............................... Mayo Clinic Ambulance Service... Austin, MN Haywad Yusufzai.............................. Armstrong Ambulance Service..... Arlington, MA Ronnie Zermeno............................... Pafford EMS..................... Sherwood, AR ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of H.R. 7938, as amended.

This long overdue legislation is necessary if the Federal Government is to honor critical commitments it has made to farmers and ranchers in my district in Oregon and Mr. LaMalfa's district in northern California.

For generations, farmers and ranchers receiving water delivered from the Klamath River and Klamath Lake have assumed the risk of weather, skyrocketing costs of production, wildly fluctuating markets, while playing by the rules, conserving more and more water, and continuing to do their best to provide high-quality food for our Nation.

However, over the past 25 years, they have done so under the additional burden of federally mandated drastic reductions in the amount of water they have State certified rights to use. These reductions dictated federally, coupled with increasing drought, threaten farmers' and ranchers' livelihoods, the communities that rely upon them, and ultimately our Nation's food supply.

The reason this legislation is needed now is because earlier this year, the four hydroelectric dams on the Klamath River in Oregon and California were dismantled and removed. This leaves operation of instream structures, located upriver from the now removed four hydroelectric dams, at legal risk through no fault or action of or by the farmers.

As context, Mr. Speaker, for over 100 years, there were four hydroelectric facilities on the Klamath River. These facilities were located downstream from the Klamath Reclamation Project diversion structures. The four hydroelectric dams generated low-cost, clean, renewable energy for over a century. Although they were built by a local company, they were eventually acquired by PacifiCorp, a nationally operating investor-owned electrical utility.

In recent years, State and Federal regulators decided they wanted the four lower dams on the Klamath River removed. Regulations and litigation drove the cost of relicensing these dams through the roof, leading their owner, PacifiCorp, to the not-too-surprising conclusion that disposing of rather than relicensing the dams was the best path forward.

Based on this, PacifiCorp agreed the dams could be removed, but only if someone else assumed all legal responsibility and paid for all the work.

In addition, as a condition of allowing the four hydroelectric dams to be removed, PacifiCorp demanded that the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation assume ownership of all remaining water infrastructure previously owned by PacifiCorp, including the Link River and Keno Dams, regardless of their condition, shifting all and whatever liabilities, known and unknown, that might burden them to the Bureau of Reclamation.

In the 15 years before removal of the hydroelectric dams, farmers and ranchers on the Klamath Project were promised that they would not have to bear the cost of retrofitting and updating this upstream infrastructure. This legislation will finally deliver on those promises.

Mr. Speaker, I include in the Congressional Record a link to this copy of the 2016 Klamath Power and Facilities Agreement, which reflects some of these promises: https://bentz.house.gov/sites/evo-subsites/ bentz.house. gov/files/evo-media-document/OR02Sharp__20241217__150611- compressed.pdf

In addition, Mr. Speaker, H.R. 7938 partially addresses another consequence of the destruction of these dams. The major reason for their removal was to allow salmon, steelhead, and other fish to migrate up rivers and streams to new areas. However, accompanying these returning fish are regulations and regulators anxious to make sure that the fish have appropriate means of passage, but the Klamath Project's irrigation infrastructure was not built or designed to deal with the needs of these species.

Over the past 15 years, irrigators in the Klamath Project have been repeatedly assured that there would not be any significant new regulatory burden or costs imposed upon them associated with removal of the four dams and the resultant arrival of fish, yet here we are.

Fortunately, this legislation would give the Bureau of Reclamation some of the authority and tools needed to keep that promise.

I thank my colleagues, Mr. LaMalfa, Ranking Member Huffman, and the Natural Resources Committee for supporting and working with me on this important bill. I also thank Chair Westerman.

Mr. Speaker, I urge a ``yes'' vote on H.R. 7938.

Mr. Speaker, H.R. 7326 amends chapters 4, 10, and 131 of title 5 to account for laws passed by Congress in the previous 2 years.

Title 5 deals with Federal agencies and employees, and these chapters in particular concern inspectors general, advisory committees, and ethical standards.

This bill was submitted to the Judiciary Committee by the Office of Law Revision Counsel who informed us that this update of title 5 is one of their most urgent projects.

The OLRC is a nonpartisan office that assists the committee in our responsibility to oversee and maintain the United States Code. From time to time, it is necessary for Congress to pass bills, such as this one, to update the Code to account for laws passed by Congress. This bill does not change the meaning of any law on the books. It simply updates the Code to account for action by Congress.

Mr. Speaker, I urge all Members to support the bill.