Floor Statements

Mr. Chairman, I rise today in opposition to this block of amendments, and I do appreciate that this block seeks to increase funding to address the National Park Service's $11.3 billion backlog of deferred maintenance.

I firmly believe that we need to increase annual appropriations for our parks, but funding shouldn't come at the expense of other critical agency accounts.

In my neck of the woods, the Olympic National Park, alone, has $150 million in backlogged maintenance needs, so we are not going to accomplish this enormous goal a few million dollars at a time. The real solution is for Congress to provide a robust and dedicated funding source, and that is why I partnered with Representative Hurd and my fellow Washingtonian, Representative Reichert, to introduce the National Park Service Legacy Act, which will create a dedicated source of funding to address the National Park Service maintenance backlog. This bipartisan and bicameral bill is funded through unobligated mineral royalties and would generate up to $500 million, annually, through 2047.

So, if we are serious about addressing the overwhelming maintenance backlog in our national parks, I urge my colleagues to oppose this amendment and join me in support of the National Park Service Legacy Act.

Mr. Chairman, I would like to thank Chairman Calvert and Ranking Member McCollum for supporting important policies and programs protecting the unique landscapes you find in the Pacific Northwest.

Our region values Federal lands, and, likewise, we are proud to host all branches of the United States military.

People come from all over to hike and travel through our forests and waterways, and we want to make sure sensitive areas are protected.

The goals of protecting our environment, the economy that relies upon it, and ensuring the readiness of those serving in uniform are not mutually exclusive. For the past several years, I have been working with the Park Service, the Navy, and many other agencies to understand their missions, concerns, and interests with regard to the impact of local military jet noise.

At the same time, I have worked to ensure that they can go the extra mile when it comes to public outreach on their plans. Through this effort, I have learned that the Park Service and the Navy measure noise differently. This has led to difficulty in understanding the impact of the noise on the missions of other agencies, local communities, and protected lands, such as Olympic National Park. Moreover, it complicates any basis to examine possible solutions.

In order to support a fact-based conversation regarding the impact of this noise, I wrote to the Council on Environmental Quality in March asking that they work with both agencies to find an agreeable method of measuring and reporting the sound of military aviation.

While I have recently been notified that the CEQ is looking into the matter, I look to Chairman Calvert for his support to ensure that the relevant parties cooperate and resolve this issue.

Mr. Chair, I appreciate Chairman Calvert's willingness to work with me on this effort. Having grown up on the Olympic Peninsula, I understand our responsibility to be stewards of the environment and to make sure that the Navy is a good neighbor.

I look forward to working with the chairman, CEQ, the Park Service, and the Navy to address this issue.

Mr. Chairman, I thank my colleague for yielding. I also rise to oppose this amendment because I support quality jobs for folks and the laws that protect them.

When I go around my district, I hear from folks who are still feeling squeezed that are ready to seize opportunities that they might not have right now. Since 1931, the Davis-Bacon Act has been there to help working men and working women earn a decent wage.

I would respond to the good gentleman's statement that Davis-Bacon is about embracing the premise that when we use taxpayer dollars to build a project, it is not just about building that project. It is about building the middle class.

I oppose this amendment because it seeks to undo three generations worth of protections that have helped our country create the strongest middle class in the world. I don't support nickeling and diming workers.

We have a responsibility to make sure the future is better for the generations to come, and if those who follow us earn less or get injured more and can't take care of their health, that is a step backward and not forward.

So I urge my colleagues, once again, to defeat this amendment.

Mr. Chair, I want to thank the chairman and our ranking member. I have great respect for both of them.

Mr. Chair, the most important responsibility we have is to keep our Nation and our citizens safe. In order to fulfill that responsibility, we have a commitment to those who serve, that they will have the training and equipment and support that they need to be the most capable fighting force the world has ever seen.

We also have a commitment to the men and women who serve that we will have their back, not only when they are on duty, but when they come home.

This Congress should support a pay raise for our Nation's troops. This Congress should support a cutting-edge Naval fleet. This Congress should make sure that we can say that every veteran will get the care that he or she has earned.

But this Congress should also be opposed to a bill that puts the Department of Defense right in the path of the across-the-board spending cuts known as sequestration.

Now, I admit, I had not heard of sequestration until I first ran for this job. It turns out it is a Latin word for stupid, because when you face our military leaders, even in my district, they have implored this Congress to do away with the bind that sequestration threatens to put them in. They think this is a bad idea.

But what we are doing this week ignores the advice of our top commanders and our military experts. Instead, it would put the Department of Defense on a collision course with sequestration. That would mean harmful cuts, across-the-board cuts to our military, regardless of priority.

The failure of this Congress to pass a legitimate budget is a disservice to our Armed Forces and to every man and woman who serves in it. We should be giving those in uniform certainty that their paychecks will arrive on time, that their gear will be the best, that they will get the training that they need, and that cuts won't hurt their readiness.

So let's get serious about a budget. Let's vote down this bill and do better. Pass a responsible bill.

Listen, a majority of the Members in this Chamber are willing to support a plan that not only funds our military, but also makes sure we don't approach yet another government shutdown. That is what the American people sent us here to do, Mr. Chair. Let's listen to their voices.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to commemorate the 26 year service record of Colonel John G. Buck, District Commander for the Seattle District of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, and I am proud to offer my sincere congratulations on his upcoming retirement.

Col. Buck received his U.S. Army commission in 1991 from the United States Military Academy. He has served in various leadership positions throughout the United States, Europe, and the Middle East.

In 2005, he was awarded the Bronze Order of the de Fleury Medal for his outstanding performance of duty. He then served as commander of the 14th Engineer Battalion at Joint Base Lewis McChord, where he effectively trained a battalion for deployment to Afghanistan. His successful training methods served as a model for other engineering units.

Throughout his career, Col. Buck has demonstrated strong dedication and leadership that has been an asset in every position he has held, exemplifying the values and ideals of the U.S. Army and the Corps of Engineers.

I have had the honor of knowing and working with Col. Buck over the past three years while he served as Commander of the Seattle District where he spearheaded the advancement of a number of key projects for the State of Washington.

During his tenure, the Seattle District successfully completed their first two favorable reports in nearly a decade. Thanks to his direction, the Puget Sound Nearshore Restoration Project and the Skokomish River Ecosystem Restoration Project were approved and congressionally authorized in 2016. Collectively these projects represent roughly half a billion dollars in new authority to complete over 2,000 acres of aquatic ecosystem restoration in our state. This is an enormous accomplishment.

I am also especially grateful for his hard work and dedication to resolving a difficult and complicated permitting issue and providing some much needed regulatory clarity to shellfish growers in our region. Thanks to his efforts, more people will have more economic opportunity.

Mr. Speaker, it is truly an honor to represent a man of this caliber here in our nation's capital. I am humbled to be able to speak in recognition of his impressive career and service record today in the United States' Congress, and I am grateful for the many contributions he has made to our country as well as the State of Washington.

Mr. Speaker, with the Shelby County v. Holder decision, the Supreme Court effectively gutted the Voting Rights Act.

At the time, Chief Justice John Roberts said that the key protections the Court removed from the act were, as he put it: ``extraordinary measures to address an extraordinary problem.''

Sadly and extraordinarily, many of those problems still exist. I would argue that the Voting Rights Act was extraordinarily successful.

Since that decision, the Federal Court commented that a voter ID law in North Carolina didn't stop fraud. Instead, the provisions that were struck down ``target African Americans with almost surgical precision.''

Courts found significant disenfranchisement caused by new laws in Wisconsin as well.

Mr. Speaker, every American has a right and the freedom to cast their vote without interference. People have fought and bled for that right. We are in danger of going back to a time when those rights were cast aside.

That is why it is time for Congress to pass the Voting Rights Advancement Act to modernize the law, to put back in place provisions stripped from the Voting Rights Act, and to ensure that no State can discriminate by creating barriers to the ballot box.

If we want to remain a nation that empowers its citizens, we need swift action on this bill.

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

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

Mr. Chairman, I am here this morning to talk about the biggest thing on the minds of the folks that I represent: jobs.

I am glad that we are having a discussion today about how to help people land a job that they can be proud of.

Whether I am at a VFW or a county fair, in a lot of the parts of the region that I represent, this is the concern that I hear more than anything else.

Today's bill would help people who are looking for work acquire skills that help them land a bigger paycheck and a better career. I am glad to offer an amendment with a fellow member of the Bipartisan Working Group, Representative Valadao, to make sure that the bill that is passed does some good for rural communities and for our tribal partners as well.

I know firsthand the challenges that small towns across America are facing. I grew up in a timber town in Washington State and watched some of the parents of my friends and some of my neighbors lose their jobs as mills shut down. These men and women are the hardworking Americans that want work, want training, and want careers. In short, they want a shot at a better life.

That is what this bill will do. I commend Mr. Curbelo and Mr. Davis for bringing it forward. With our amendment, we can make sure that shot is extended to all communities, no matter their ZIP Code.

Our amendment directs the Secretary of Health and Human Services to take a look at how to address employment challenges in rural areas and those challenges facing members of federally recognized Native American Tribes. It directs the Secretary then to provide recommendations to Congress on what fixes actually work best.

When it comes to providing the training to get folks into quality jobs, we want to make sure that we are not flying blind. Our amendment makes sure that we have all the information we need to make the right decisions and give folks who want a quality job a shot at that.

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

Mr. Chairman, I thank the gentleman for his support. And, again, I thank Representatives Curbelo and Davis for their work on the underlying bill, and the cooperation of Mr. Valadao for working to address this challenge.

Mr. Chairman, I urge adoption of the amendment, and I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, there are people in a person's life that have a lasting influence, educators who help shape the person that you become. Ron Jones of Port Angeles, Washington, was one of those people for me and for hundreds of others.

For the last 42 years, Mr. Jones has been an outstanding music teacher who, for generations of students, was a difference maker in a way that would make Mr. Holland and his opus jealous. On multiple occasions he brought musicians to perform in Carnegie Hall and other places all around, and in doing so, he didn't just enhance a student's musical skills, he broadened the horizons of young people. I know he did that for me. He made you want to be better. He made you want to try harder. He made you want to perform well enough to get that genuine Ron Jones smile.

Mr. Speaker, as Mr. Jones prepares for his retirement, it is my honor to recognize him here on the floor of the United States House of Representatives, to wish him well, and, on behalf of many grateful students, to simply say: Thank you, Mr. Jones.

Mr. Speaker, we know from our law enforcement and intelligence agencies that there was an effort by Russia to covertly influence our elections.

And we know that, according to Republican Intelligence Committee Chairman Richard Burr, Russia is both covertly and overtly trying to influence elections right now in France and in Germany.

What most folks may not know is that right now there is a loophole in our campaign finance laws that would allow foreigners to use their wealth to influence our elections, possibly including wealthy individuals aligned with Russian dictator Vladimir Putin and corporations controlled by Putin allies.

This is not a partisan issue. This is an American issue. There was more than $1 billion spent by outside groups in the 2016 election. It is virtually impossible to know where all this money is coming from.

While U.S. laws prohibit foreign money from being used in our elections, there is a loophole that could allow this money in. That is why I am introducing the Election Protection and Integrity Certification Act to close that loophole and keep money from Russia and other foreign sources out of our election system.

Mr. Speaker, our democracy is under attack and Democrats and Republicans need to join together to stop Russian influence in our elections. We need to close the foreign money loophole.

Madam Speaker, on Thursday, March 31, 1910, Bertel Spier was born, and tomorrow she will celebrate her 107th birthday.

Just imagine what she has seen: two world wars, technological advancements beyond our wildest dreams. When she sees a video on a telephone, she cannot believe it.

She has an extraordinary legacy: a loving daughter, four adoring and adorable great-grandchildren, and three grandsons to whom she is a hero. I am proud to be one of them.

My grandma is someone who is a testament to the greatness of this Nation and of the importance of what happens in this building.

She immigrated to the U.S. from Holland and was welcomed here and accepted here, built a life here. That is part of the greatness of this Nation.

A person born 10 years before women's suffrage, she proudly voted herself this past November. That is part of the greatness of this Nation.

A person who outlived any projected retirement, she has been able to retire and live with dignity because of two of our country's most successful public policies: Medicare and Social Security. That is part of the greatness of this Nation, too.

Madam Speaker, it is such an honor for me to say four of the most extraordinary and almost unbelievable words that I may ever say on this floor:

Happy 107th birthday, Oma. We love you.

Mr. Speaker, climate change is real; and it is so real that, before Donald Trump became President, he petitioned Ireland for a permit to build a seawall for one of his greatest golf courses in the world. His permit application said rising sea levels and extreme weather conditions from climate change threatened his property.

As President, he seems to have changed his tune. In fact, a draft budget proposal from the administration zeros out investments in NOAA'S Coastal Zone Management Program, zero dollars for an initiative that provides critical resources to communities facing the same threat from rising sea levels as the President's golf courses.

You know, if it sounds like I am outraged about this, it is because I find this so outrageous. This is going to hurt people in coastal communities.

I would like to invite the President to Taholah on the Quinault Indian Reservation. Tribal elders would tell him that the ocean that was once a football field away is now their front porch and creeps closer and closer every day.

They would like a brand-new seawall, too. But, unfortunately, they aren't billionaires. They need a partner in the Federal Government to protect their homes. So do folks in Ocean Shores and Westport and Neah Bay and coastal communities throughout my State.

Before releasing his budget, I hope the President remembers that it is not just his golf course that is at risk. We are talking about people's homes and people's lives, and they deserve better than this.

Mr. Speaker, when you come in to Bremerton, Washington, on the ferry, you see one of my favorite sights. It is Building 460 of the Puget Sound Naval Shipyard, and it says on the side of the building: ``Puget Sound Naval Shipyard Building on a Proud Tradition.'' Puget Sound Naval Shipyard is far and away the largest employer in the region I represent, and these are men and women who take great pride in their work and have done so for over 125 years.

They are also critical to the success of our Navy's national security mission, but too often in this town, they don't get the respect they deserve. That is why my guest this evening is Bruce Baillie with the Bremerton Building and Metal Trades Council. Bruce is a local leader for our shipyard workers, and I want to make sure that this new administration understands how important this workforce is to our country.

These are not just talented professionals. They have been amazing partners in putting together an action agenda for shipyard workers that we introduced last week: exempting our shipyard workers from the hiring freeze which is critical to our Nation's security, making sure that retired servicemembers--our veterans--are able to secure jobs in our Defense Department, and halting policies that lower the compensation of defense workers--changes in per diem and overtime policies that affect their take-home pay.

It is important that we have the backs of these vital workers, and that is why I have invited Bruce Baillie as my guest this evening.

Mr. Speaker, on Monday, February 06, 2017, I missed two votes due to unavoidable travel delays in route to our nation's capital. Had I been present, I would have voted as follows:

On roll call No.79--H.R. 689, the Bolts Ditch Access and Use Act, I would have voted yes.

On roll call No. 80--H.R. 337, the Black Hills National Cemetery Boundary Expansion Act, I would have voted yes.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to say good-bye to a dedicated public servant and a key part of my team. Judith Morris has served the Olympic Peninsula for a decade, first for my predecessor Norm Dicks, and for the past 4 years in my office.

Judith's knowledge of the peninsula and her dedication is unmatched. There are few that combine her compassion and guidance to any constituent who had a question or who needed help with a Federal agency. Whether at the office or at the grocery store or at an event, Judith was available.

Mr. Speaker, Judith has served our Nation with distinction, first in the Peace Corps, and now in the United States House of Representatives, making equity and conservation and human rights a tenet of her time in service. Judith's wit, thoughtfulness, and easygoing manner will be missed.

Our entire community thanks her and her husband, David, an outstanding public servant in his own right, who worked for the National Park Service, for leaving a legacy of integrity, excellence, and service.

I am humbled and honored to offer my sincere thanks to Judith Morris for her dedication to the Sixth Congressional District, and I wish her the best as she continues to explore her passion for travel and service all around this world.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to defend jobs.

In my region, Federal workers at Olympic National Park, which brings millions of visitors to our area, help that park run smoothly. They provide needed health services and care for our veterans at local VA facilities. Federal workers serve our Nation and help our sailors and submariners be safe through their work at the Puget Sound Naval Shipyard, which has been operating for 125 years.

We should have admiration and respect for the work they do. I don't think that this Chamber did right by them this week. That is because the

House approved a rule that would allow any Member to add an amendment to spending bills to cut Federal jobs and lower the pay of workers.

These workers shouldn't be unfairly singled out on the House floor. This is not the way to do business. Having worked in the private sector, you would never see a successful employer treat their employees with the disrespect that Congress treats the Federal workforce.

It is time to tell everyone at that shipyard, at the park, at the VA, and all Federal workers in my region and throughout this country that Congress respects and honors the work that they do. It is time to do away with this rule.