Floor Statements

Mr. Speaker, I rise in strong support of H.R. 1181, the Veterans 2nd Amendment Protection Act. Our veterans should not lose their right to bear arms and defend themselves and their families simply because they receive health care from the VA and have someone appointed to help them with their finances.

Currently, when a veteran appoints a fiduciary to help them manage their VA benefits, the VA automatically adds the veteran's name to a list that prevents them from purchasing a firearm. It makes no sense to take away a veteran's constitutionally protected rights simply because someone else is managing their finances.

Opponents of this bill argue that dangerous or suicidal veterans could have easy access to guns if this VA process is stopped. However, the program does not make any determination on veterans' mental health or the dangers they pose to others. The VA system focuses only on whether veterans receive assistance with their finances.

The right to bear arms is too important to deprive veterans of due process without a judicial determination of whether the veteran poses a threat to themselves or others. Those who defend our Nation, whether or not they use a fiduciary to manage their benefits, are entitled to the right to defend themselves.

I urge my colleagues to support this good bill.

Mr. Chairman, I thank Chairman Roe of Tennessee for

his leadership on this legislation and also for letting me speak.

I rise today in strong support of H.R. 1259, the VA Accountability First Act. For years, my colleagues and I have fought hard to hold VA bureaucrats accountable. The VA still lacks the ability to take swift action against employees who prevent veterans from getting the benefits that they have earned.

We should be able to terminate senior executives at failing hospitals that force veterans to languish on secret wait lists. We should not award bonuses to poorly performing employees who engage in misconduct, and we shouldn't provide full retirement benefits to convicted criminals whose crime harmed veterans.

We can't stop there. We must go further to pursue bold reform at the VA. I look forward to working with Chairman Roe of Tennessee, Chairwoman McMorris Rodgers, and others to pass the Caring for Our Heroes in the 21st Century Act, which would finally empower veterans, including the almost 100,000 in my congressional district in Colorado, to make their own healthcare decisions.

Let's pass H.R. 1259 today. It is a good piece of legislation.

Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of the rule for H.R. 1301, which will fund our national defense for fiscal year 2017. This bill is a vital first step as we begin to work on rebuilding our military. The best way to look at defense spending over time is as a percentage of U.S. gross domestic product.

Since World War II, we have spent an average of 5 percent of our GDP on defense during peacetime. Despite a world that has gotten more dangerous, the defense drawdown in recent years cut defense spending from 5 percent of GDP to 3 percent of GDP. And in a $17 trillion economy, that is real money.

Meanwhile, since Vietnam, we have spent an average of 21 percent of the Federal budget on defense. Today, we spend well below that, about 15 percent of the overall budget.

Things are so bad today--and I don't have time in 2 minutes to go into all the details--that we are actually at risk of losing more American lives than we should in the event of another war.

The next step is to pass a robust defense supplemental and then to fund defense for fiscal year 2018 at a minimum level of $640 billion. Anything less will not keep Americans safe and will not allow us to rebuild our military as we desperately must do.

Congress must deal with sequestration. Trying to fund defense at BCA levels is like trying to put a size 10 foot into a size 7 shoe. It simply doesn't work and it is dangerous for our own security and it is dangerous for the world.

Mr. Speaker, I was unavoidably detained. Had I been present, I would have voted ``yea'' on rollcall No. 88.

Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 618) to authorize, direct, expedite, and facilitate a land exchange in El Paso and Teller Counties, Colorado, and for other purposes.

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

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

I rise in strong support of H.R. 618, the Crags, Colorado Land Exchange Act of 2017 that I introduced along with Congressman Tipton and Congressman Polis. This legislation will facilitate a mutually beneficial land exchange between the U.S. Forest Service and the Emerald Valley Ranch in El Paso and Teller Counties in Colorado.

Specifically, this legislation would convey to the United States the 320-acre Crags property located on the west side of Pikes Peak that is currently owned by The Broadmoor Hotel, and a perpetual public-access easement for the lower portion of the popular Barr Trail. In exchange, an 83-acre Federal parcel located at Emerald Valley Ranch on the southeast side of Pikes Peak and a perpetual access easement along two Forest Service roads would be granted to The Broadmoor. This would eliminate the management and liability issues currently facing the United States because of the significant upgrades and improvements The Broadmoor has made to the Emerald Valley Ranch parcel.

This land exchange is intended to provide increased recreational opportunities for the public on the Pike National Forest. The 320-acre Crags property is completely surrounded by the Pike National Forest and has been the top acquisition priority for the Pikes Peak Ranger District for several years. The property provides several opportunities to connect Forest Service trails emanating from the Crags campground with trails in the Putney Gulch area. In addition, existing trails within the property could become key links in the proposed Ring the Peak trail.

I thank Chairman Bishop and Chairman McClintock and the entire staff of the Subcommittee on Federal Lands for all of their work and bringing this bill to the floor.

I urge the adoption of the measure, and I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I echo what my colleague has just said about those of us from Colorado working together. Of the six bills that we are going to be discussing today, four of them are from Colorado; and yourself, myself, and Representative Tipton from southwest Colorado have collaborated on these four bills. It is bipartisan and we have worked hard and have gotten some good legislation to offer to the House for consideration. I look forward to doing this through the rest of the afternoon, plus two other bills as well.

Mr. Speaker, I have no additional speakers, and I reserve the balance of my time.

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

Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 698) to require a land conveyance involving the Elkhorn Ranch and the White River National Forest in the State of Colorado, and for other purposes.

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

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

H.R. 698, the Elkhorn Ranch and White River National Forest Conveyance Act sponsored by my colleague, Congressman Scott Tipton of the great State of Colorado, and cosponsored by Congressman Polis and myself, resolves a longstanding surveying issue in the White River National Forest in western Colorado.

In the early 20th century, the U.S. Government issued a series of patents conveying Federal land to private landowners in the region. However, a land survey conducted in 1949 brought these conveyances into question, and the ownership of the land has been in dispute for nearly 70 years. In 2014 the White River National Forest conducted a survey to finalize the land ownership and concluded that 148 acres were improperly within the forest's boundary.

This legislation simply conveys this land back to its rightful ownership. This land conveyance is consistent with the existing forest management plan, and the Forest Service is managing this land as though it were already private property.

This bill has the support of a wide range of stakeholders in the community and I thank the Congressman from Colorado for his work on this legislation. I would point out, as we discussed earlier, there is bipartisan support from within the Colorado delegation for this bill as well.

I urge adoption of the measure and I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I appreciate those comments. I would point out, for anyone who is interested, that the three of us who are here-- and I am about to yield the floor to Representative Tipton--we are all on the Natural Resources Committee. This is a committee that is going to be doing a lot of exciting and interesting things in this Congress. We are going to be very busy. I am looking forward to that.

Mr. Speaker, I yield such time as he may consume to the gentleman from Colorado (Mr. Tipton), my friend and colleague, who is also a member of the committee.

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

Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 688) to adjust the boundary of the Arapaho National Forest, Colorado, and for other purposes.

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

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

H.R. 688, sponsored by Congressman Jared Polis and cosponsored by Congressman Tipton and myself, would adjust the boundary of the Arapaho National Forest in the State of Colorado to incorporate 93 acres. It passed the House under suspension of the rules during the 113th and 114th Congresses.

The legislation would incorporate 10 undeveloped parcels of land into the Arapaho National Forest. The parcels sit between the Arapaho and the Rocky Mountain National Park and will help the Forest Service to better manage this land. The bill ensures that private landowners with parcels within the national forest will continue to have access through these parcels. Additionally, the land purchased by the Forest Service must be with the written consent of the landowner.

I urge adoption of the measure.

I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I would like to just build on what my colleague was saying about the rest of his bills.

On this one, there is strong collaboration and consensus. I look forward to working with him to pass it. I will make an offer on the rest of his bills. If he lets me help him write them, I bet we could get them to the floor sooner.

In all seriousness, the Rocky Mountain National Park is a crown jewel of the National Park System. I believe it is in the top five of all parks in the entire country in terms of visitorship. It is very popular, and for good reason. It is a spectacular and accessible place near Boulder, Colorado, not far from Denver.

Mr. Speaker, I have no additional speakers.

I reserve the balance of my time.

I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 689) to insure adequate use and access to the existing Bolts Ditch headgate and ditch segment within the Holy Cross Wilderness in Eagle County, Colorado, and for other purposes.

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

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

Since 1882, the town of Minturn, Colorado, has used Bolts Ditch to fill Bolts Lake, a place of recreation for the town and an important source of water for the surrounding community. When Congress passed the Colorado Wilderness Act in 1980, 450 feet of Bolts Ditch was inadvertently included in the Holy Cross Wilderness area, leading to questions and the town's ability to access this important infrastructure. After a discussion amongst stakeholders, the town agreed to seek a legislative solution to address this access issue.

This bipartisan bill, sponsored by Congressman Jared Polis and cosponsored by Congressman Tipton and myself, simply allows the Forest Service to issue a special use permit to the town of Minturn to allow nonmotorized access to maintain a headgate and water ditch in the Holy Cross Wilderness. This bill ensures the town will have access to Bolts Ditch for basic maintenance needs.

H.R. 689 was developed in consultation with the community and the Forest Service and enjoys support from a wide range of groups in the region. I urge adoption of the measure.

I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I have no additional speakers.

I reserve the balance of my time.

I yield back the balance of my time.

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

Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 337) to transfer administrative jurisdiction over certain Bureau of Land Management land from the Secretary of the Interior to the Secretary of Veterans Affairs for inclusion in the Black Hills National Cemetery, and for other purposes.

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

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

I rise in strong support of H.R. 337, the Black Hills National Cemetery Boundary Expansion Act, sponsored by Congresswoman Kristi Noem of South Dakota.

This bill expands the Black Hills National Cemetery, outside of Sturgis, South Dakota, by permanently transferring the jurisdictional authority of approximately 200 acres of undeveloped Federal land from the Bureau of Land Management to the Department of Veterans Affairs.

Originally opened in 1948, the cemetery now houses a memorial carillon, a memorial to Korean war veterans, and is the final resting place of many notable veterans, including Medal of Honor recipient Sergeant Charles Windolph. With its existing acreage, the cemetery can only accommodate a finite number of additional burials. Transferring jurisdiction of the land from the BLM to the VA will provide space for hundreds of additional grave sites for future generations of American veterans. Without the transfer, the National Cemetery Administration will be forced to close the cemetery to further burials in the very near future.

This is a commonsense piece of legislation that will ensure that the Black Hills National Cemetery can continue to provide proper burial sites and final resting places for America's fallen heroes.

At this point, I include in the Record an exchange of letters with Chairman Roe of the Veterans' Affairs Committee regarding this bill. I thank him for helping to expedite the consideration of this bill today.

I commend Representative Noem for working closely with both the BLM and the VA on this issue, and I urge the adoption of the measure.

I reserve the balance of my time.

House of Representatives,

Committee on Veterans' Affairs,

Washington, DC, February 1, 2017.

Hon. Rob Bishop,

Chairman, Committee on Natural Resources,

Washington, DC.

Dear Mr. Chairman: I am writing to you concerning H.R. 337,

the Black Hills National Cemetery Boundary Expansion Act.

There are certain provisions in the legislation which fall

within the Rule X jurisdiction of the Committee on Veterans'

Affairs.

In the interest of permitting your committee to proceed

expeditiously to floor consideration of this important bill,

I am willing to waive this committee's right to sequential

referral. I do so with the understanding that by waiving

consideration of the bill, the Committee on Veterans' Affairs

does not waive any future jurisdictional claim over the

subject matters contained in the bill which fall within its

Rule X jurisdiction. I request that you urge the Speaker to

name members of this committee to any conference committee

which is named to consider such provisions.

Please place this letter into the committee report on H.R.

337 and into the Congressional Record during consideration of

the measure on the House floor. Thank you.

Sincerely,

David P. Roe, M.D.,

Chairman.

Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman from Colorado for his gracious remarks.

I yield such time as she may consume to the gentlewoman from the great State of South Dakota (Mrs. Noem), who is working hard for the people of her State.

Mr. Speaker, I urge the adoption of this bill.

I yield back the balance of my time.

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

Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 494) to expand the boundary of Fort Frederica National Monument in the State of Georgia, and for other purposes.

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

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

H.R. 494, introduced by my colleague Congressman Buddy Carter of Georgia, expands the boundary of Fort Frederica National Monument by authorizing the Secretary of the Interior to acquire approximately 21 acres of land. The St. Simons Land Trust currently owns the additional acreage and will steward the land until the National Park Service can acquire the property.

The Fort Frederica National Monument, located on St. Simons Island, Georgia, preserves the archaeological remnants of a fort established in 1736 by James Oglethorpe. Oglethorpe constructed the fort to protect the Colony of Georgia from attack from the Spanish. The fort successfully fended off a Spanish attack in 1742 and confirmed Georgia as a British territory.

This bipartisan legislation is fully supported by the Georgia delegation, and an identical version of this legislation passed the House by voice vote in the 114th Congress. I urge the passage of the bill.

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

Mr. Speaker, I yield such time as he may consume to the gentleman from Georgia (Mr. Carter).

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

Mr. Speaker, perhaps no aspect of America's economy has been as overregulated as energy under the Obama administration; so this week, the House has already acted to repeal two of the most damaging energy regulations.

This morning we continue the fight to reduce the unnecessary regulatory costs that are passed along to all Americans by repealing the Bureau of Land Management's venting and flaring rule. Some estimates show that this rule could inflict staggering costs

of $1.26 billion on national, State, and local economies, while generating less than $4 million in new royalties.

In addition, the legal basis for this rule is tenuous at best. The Clean Air Act authorizes the EPA, not BLM, working in conjunction with States, to make rules affecting air quality.

The BLM's venting and flaring rule's extreme compliance cost will force many companies to shut in their wells rather than to continue to operate them. This will be particularly true for marginal wells that are often run by family-owned businesses.

And beyond the loss of jobs in Colorado and elsewhere, State and Federal Governments would lose up to $114 million in tax receipts. This is money that States like Colorado depend on for funding education and other critical services.

The increase in natural gas production is to the benefit of everyday Americans. The U.S. energy boom saved drivers $550 in fuel costs each year and saved American households over $1,000 last year alone.

Affordable, environmentally responsible energy development is critical to the U.S. economy, but this rule is a needless burden on American families. I urge my colleagues to join me in supporting the joint resolution of disapproval.

Mr. Speaker, on December 20, 2016, the stream rule was finalized in the last days of the Obama administration by the Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement, OSM. Ostensibly, the rule is about keeping American waterways clean. In reality, it is a power grab aimed at giving Federal regulators more authority to make coal too expensive for anyone to mine or use.

But no one should be surprised. In 2008, then candidate Barack Obama told the San Francisco Chronicle that while people would still be free to build a coal-powered electricity plant under his energy policies, it would bankrupt them because of the high costs his regulations would impose. And that is exactly what President Obama has tried to do.

Under the stream protection rule, Federal regulators will have expanded power to draw up new standards that make it harder to get a coal mining permit. OSM's Federal water standards would suddenly take precedence over the State standards that have long governed the industry under the Clean Water Act. The Fish and Wildlife Service would also gain the power to veto coal permits.

The aim is to take permitting power from States and impose a one- size-fits-all standard. When this process started, 10 States signed on to Interior's rulemaking process as State cooperating agencies. But 8 of the 10 later withdrew because Interior wasn't interested in what they had to say.

The subcommittee I chaired held 13 hearings to expose the flaws behind this rule. The rule provides no discernable environmental benefits, while duplicating extensive existing environmental protections at both the Federal and State levels.

In fact, the rule's only purpose appears to be to support the environmental lobby's ``keep it in the ground'' platform, locking away up to 64 percent of our domestic coal reserves, putting tens of thousands of Americans out of work, and raising energy costs for millions of Americans.

I urge my colleagues to join me in supporting the joint resolution of disapproval under the Congressional Review Act.

Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that Representative Himes be removed as a cosponsor of H.R. 611.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to give voice to the millions of lives that have been lost in the aftermath of Roe v. Wade.

In the 44 years since that disgraceful decision, an unconscionable 58 million abortions have been performed. That represents 58 million children who will never grow up, never make their own decisions, and never influence the world around them, but whose lives are cut short.

The House took a vital step today with the passage of H.R. 7, the No Taxpayer Funding for Abortion and Abortion Insurance Full Disclosure Act. I am proud to be a cosponsor of this bill that permanently prohibits taxpayers from funding abortion through the Hyde amendment.

Since its original passage, this amendment has saved over 2 million babies. Congress must make permanent these protections to honor the conscience rights of a strong majority of Americans who do not want their taxpayer dollars paying for abortions.

This week, we gather to mourn the tragic loss of life and to seek God's forgiveness for the stain of abortion on our Nation's conscience.

May God have mercy on our country.

Mr. Speaker, in a few short weeks an inspirational military leader will retire after serving his country proudly for over three decades. Today I recognize and commend Colonel R. Scott Jarvis for his exceptional leadership over those 30 years, most recently as the Deputy Director for Installations and Mission Support, and Command Civil Engineer at Headquarters Air Force Space Command, Peterson Air Force Base, Colorado.

The son of a career Air Force officer, Colonel Jarvis graduated from Iowa State University with a Bachelor of Science degree in Civil Engineering and was commissioned a Civil Engineer officer in the United States Air Force in 1985. Throughout his career, he earned additional Masters degrees in International Relations, Military Operational Art and Science, and National Security and Strategic Studies.

An outstanding leader throughout his distinguished career, Colonel Jarvis' service has spanned the country with assignments in North Dakota, Colorado, Hawaii, Idaho, Alabama, Rhode Island, and Washington, DC, and stretched across the world with tours in the United Kingdom, Japan, and Germany. He commanded at the squadron and group levels at Mountain Home Air Force Base, Idaho, and Kadena Air Base, Japan, respectively. Additionally, he commanded a 13-person deployed Civic Action Team in the remote location of Chuuk, Micronesia, with politico- military responsibilities. Early in his career, Colonel Jarvis also deployed to Turkey and northern Iraq as commander of a 19-person well- drilling team supporting Operation PROVIDE COMFORT I.

Colonel Jarvis has served at both major command and Air Force levels in the programming and housing arenas. Most notably, as Chief of the Unaccompanied Housing Program for the Air Force Civil Engineer, he was one of the original architects of the Air Force Dorm Master Plan, which served as the foundation for the Air Force initiative to replace or renovate every dorm in its inventory. The program vastly improved quality of life for over 70,000 Airmen living in 875 dorms throughout the Air Force.

Prior to his current assignment, Colonel Jarvis served as the Deputy Director for Installations, Logistics, and Mission Support, and Command Civil Engineer, at Headquarters United States Air Forces in Europe, Ramstein Air Base, Germany. In that capacity, he was responsible for all civil engineering activities for over 9,000 civil engineer personnel operating and maintaining USAFE's $15.7 billion physical plant at 10 major installations and numerous smaller installations.

Colonel Jarvis has been recognized for excellence at all levels in the Air Force, to include accolades at the Squadron, Group and Wing levels. In addition to numerous military decorations, his significant recognition includes the 2008 Air Force Major General Robert H. Curtin Award for Most Outstanding Large Civil Engineer Unit, the 1996 Air Force Civil Engineering Staff Action Officer of the Year, and the 1991 Third Air Force Civil Engineering Military Manager of the Year. Additionally, Colonel Jarvis was recognized for invaluable contributions to the engineering profession in 2013, when he was named to the Society of American Military Engineers Academy of Fellows. This honor is bestowed to a select few engineers each year for dedication to mentorship and outstanding service to the Society and the military engineering profession.

Colonel R. Scott Jarvis epitomizes excellence, integrity and commitment to service. He has dedicated his life to serving our nation and advancing the engineering profession. I join my colleagues today in honoring his admirable service to our nation and all the Airmen, Sailors, Soldiers, Marines, and civilians who have served alongside him. We offer our heartfelt appreciation to Scott, his wife Meg, and their daughters, Maddie and Lucy, and hearty congratulations on his retirement from the United States Air Force.