Floor Statements

Mr. Speaker, on Monday, May 23, 2011, I was absent during rollcall vote No. 331 due to travel delays. Had I been present, I would have voted ``yea'' on the motion to suspend the rules and agree to H.R. 1383--Restoring GI Bill Fairness Act. This bill seeks to reintegrate veterans into the civilian work force by providing various services such as educational assistance, medical benefits, as well as employment opportunities. In order to raise the educational and productivity levels of our labor force, this bill will avert unemployment among veterans.

Mr. Speaker, on Monday, May 23, 2011, I was absent during rollcall vote No. 332 due to travel delays. Had I been present, I would have voted ``yea'' on the motion to suspend the rules and agree to H.R. 1657--To amend title 38, United States Code, to revise the enforcement penalties for misrepresentation of a business concern as a small business concern owned and controlled by veterans or as a small business concern owned and controlled by service-disabled veterans. It is despicable that business owners would misrepresent themselves as service-disabled veterans. Those business owners that do misrepresent themselves should be punished accordingly for their abuse of taxpayer funds and the disrespect for the sacrifices made by the veterans for whom those funds are reserved.

Madam Speaker, May is Mental Health Month, and as the cochair of the Mental Health Caucus, I bring to you information, especially on the military.

Since 2001 to current date, we have had 2,103 military service personnel die by suicide, suicide, my friends, in the Iraq and Afghan wars. In the Afghan war alone, it is over 1,000, more than some of the figures we have listened to recently.

One in five servicemembers suffer from major depression, posttraumatic syndrome, or traumatic brain injury, TBI. It affects the military and their families, their children. There's lots of divorce because of this and substance abuse that continues as they age.

We must expand mental health services to our military personnel and their families. Through their blood and their service they have earned it. We owe it to them. We've made some strides, but

we've got a long way to go, Mr. Speaker. We need to reduce the stigma, accept it as the illness that it is, and expand mental health services.

I ask my colleagues to join me in recognizing the military members and their families during May, Mental Health Month.

Mr. Speaker, I rise in strong opposition to H.R. 872, the Reducing Regulatory Burdens Act, in its current form. At issue, the exemption in the bill means that no Clean Water Act permit would be required for pesticide application to water bodies that are already impaired by pesticides.

Now, most pesticide applications in the United States are done in accordance with FIFRA, according to a 2006 USGS report on pesticides, and frequently are present in streams and groundwater, as you have just heard, at levels that exceed the human health benchmark and occur in many streams at levels that may affect aquatic life or fish-eating wildlife.

In the data that the States provide the EPA, more than 16,000 miles of rivers and streams, 1,380 of bays and estuaries, and 370,000 acres of lakes in the United States are currently impaired or threatened by pesticides. EPA suggests that these estimates may be low because many of these States do not test for or monitor all the different pesticides that are currently being used. I am very concerned of the effect these pesticides have on the health of our rivers, on our streams, and especially the drinking water supplies of all our citizens, especially the most vulnerable, the young, the elderly, and the poor and disenfranchised people who have no other representation.

Mr. Speaker, I would like to place into the Record two EPA reports on how pesticides in California are the number one cause of impairments to water quality, which means there are 1,787 causes in 162 water entities in California alone. This means that in all the waters in the States that are found through testing and monitoring to be impaired or polluted under the Clean Water Act, pesticides are the most significant cause of those problems.

We hear that pesticide application is already regulated under FIFRA and that the Clean Water Act review is not needed. I understand the concerns about duplication of effort and the need to minimize the impacts that regulations have on small business or business at large.

However, I am still very concerned that these pesticides are having a very significant impact on water quality and that we are creating this exemption from water quality protection requirements without considering the impacts to the waters that are already impaired with pesticides, as they are in California.

This, in turn, costs our ratepayers, our water users, hundreds of millions of dollars to filter these pollutants out of the water before it is potable. This is something I deal with on an ongoing basis, as the ranking member of the Subcommittee on Water and Power.

We currently have aquifers that are contaminated by the continued use of pesticides and fertilizers. Millions of dollars have been spent on the 15-year-long cleanup effort of a Superfund site

in my area that has pesticides as one of its contaminants.

I do oppose this bill. I do need further study on this issue before taking this very drastic step to reregulate pesticides that affect our Nation's water.

Again, I urge my colleagues on both sides to vote ``no'' on this bill.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to honor Maria Guzman- Kennedy, a good friend and committed public servant who is retiring this week after twenty years of service to the State of California. Throughout her career, Maria has shown resourcefulness, creativity, and dedication in improving the lives of the people of California. Her energy and compassion will be greatly missed.

Raised in East Los Angeles, Maria began her career with the State of California in 1991, when she was appointed to the Department of Consumer Affairs as Assistant Deputy Director. She created the California C.A.R.E.S. (Career and Resource Exchange Seminar) program, which helped find new employment for workers who were laid off by the closure of the Mare Island Naval Shipyard in Vallejo. Acting without the benefit of additional funding or staff, Guzman-Kennedy organized more than 100 private businesses and government agencies for a one-day job-finding seminar for 5,200 former base personnel. Maria built upon this success with the second California C.A.R.E.S. at the Long Beach Naval Shipyard, and her program was duplicated again at Castle Air Force Base in Atwater. Her efforts brought new employment and opportunities for thousands of base personnel who had lost their jobs.

When Maria Guzman-Kennedy moved to the California Department of Social Services in1996 during the implementation of the CAL Works welfare-to-work program, she created several new programs to help welfare recipients who were returning to the job market. Maria created the Fast Track Family Child Care licensing program to quickly establish qualified child care providers for the many parents participating in welfare-to-work. By helping provide trustworthy and effective childcare, her program made work possible for many parents who might otherwise have been forced to stay at home. Maria also ensured that many of the new childcare centers hired mothers who had previously been on welfare, creating new jobs. She continued this work with a collaboration between White Memorial Medical Hospital and the Mexican- American Opportunity Foundation (MAOF) in Boyle Heights, which helped many low-income parents in that area with child care and continues to operate successfully today. The Fatherhood Conference program, which Maria also created, helped CAL Works fathers with education, counseling, and networking opportunities by pooling the resources of several private partners and community groups.

When Maria Guzman-Kennedy moved to the California State License Board in 1998, she developed two innovative seminar series that used public education to combat scam artists and fraudulent contractors. The Consumer Information Fairs helped Spanish-speakers avoid exploitation by scam artists who saw them as vulnerable targets. Through this program, Maria educated 15,000 people across California, again without budget or staff and relying on volunteers and community partners. She continued this model with the Senior Scam Stoppers seminars series, which educated senior citizens about fraud and helped protect them from scam artists. To date, 132 Scam Stoppers seminars have been held in 5 different languages, serving an estimated 90,000 Californians.

Maria Guzman-Kennedy has been a great partner and defender of the community. She has used her creativity, passion, and perseverance to deliver new services to Californians who needed help, and she never allowed a lack of resources to stand in the way. I ask my colleagues in the House to join me in congratulating her on her many years of service, and I wish her much success in her future endeavors.

Mr. Speaker, we rise today to honor P. Michael Freeman, our good friend and long time Fire Chief of Los Angeles County. Chief Freeman is retiring after 22 years of service as the Fire Chief and 47 years as a firefighter. His commitment to the Los Angeles community, dedication to his employees, and strong leadership of the department will be greatly missed.

Chief Freeman was born and raised in Los Angeles County. He moved to Dallas and had a 25-year career with the Dallas Fire Department eventually rising to the rank of Acting Fire Chief. During that time, he served our nation honorably in the Army Reserve. It was in 1989 that the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors made the wise decision to bring Chief Freeman home and make him the eighth Fire Chief of Los Angeles County.

Chief Freeman has been one of the most respected and longest serving public servants in the history of Los Angeles County. He has steadfastly faced the many challenges that come with running a fire department in a county of 10.5 million people, 4,000 square miles, 88 cities, 70 miles of coastline, dense urban areas, towering mountain ranges and deep forests. He has effectively led the fire department through the annual wildfire seasons, overseeing and containing some of the worst wildfires in the history of California in 2003 and 2009. He coordinated the response with other government agencies to the Northridge earthquake and the many other earthquakes that have rocked Los Angeles over the years. He has expertly overseen the daily operations of the department in responding to the multitude of emergencies that arise in an urban environment.

Chief Freeman has improved the department's emergency response capabilities and has been a strong advocate for the department with the federal government. He has worked with Members of Congress to ensure the first responder community has access to the federal resources they need for fire prevention programs, emergency response equipment, and natural disaster preparedness training. He has organized and led the effort to implement a new Los Angeles Regional Interoperable Communications System (LA-RICS). This system will allow first responders throughout the county to communicate effectively on solutions to emergencies ranging from major disasters to day-to-day events.

Chief Freeman has volunteered in numerous roles with the federal government to lend his expertise to improving emergency response services across the nation. He served as chairman of the board of FIRESCOPE and as a member of the Federal Emergency Management Agency's National Urban Search and Rescue (USAR) Advisory Committee. In 2003, he was selected by Secretary Tom Ridge to serve as a member of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security's emergency responder advisory committee. He also served as chairman of the International Association of Fire Chiefs Terrorism Task Force.

As the economy has weakened and the County has faced major budget challenges, Chief Freeman has done an outstanding job of maintaining the proper staffing, professional service and quick response times that our residents have come to expect. He has managed the many facets of the department well, from emergency medical services to hazardous materials response to the lifeguarding of our many beaches. He has strengthened the department's cooperation and coordination with regional, state and federal emergency response partners. Additionally, Chief Freeman has continuously worked to improve the diversity of the department by hiring more female and minority firefighters.

Chief Freeman implemented many important life safety response programs that are integral to the department's operations today. These include Urban Search and Rescue (USAR), the Canine Search Program, a 24-hour Health Hazardous Materials Division, and the Firehawk Helicopter Program.

Mr. Speaker, as Members of the Los Angeles County delegation, we would like to personally acknowledge and commend P. Michael Freeman for his dedication to the people of Los Angeles. He is a model of the brave, honorable and selfless public servant that is displayed every day by the men and women of the Los Angeles County Fire Department. We are privileged to have worked with Chief Freeman. We ask the House to join us in congratulating Chief Freeman on his many years of service and wish him much success in his future endeavors.

Members who signed: Grace F. Napolitano, Karen Bass, Howard L. Berman, Jane Harman, Howard P. McKeon, Laura Richardson, Lucille Roybal-Allard, Adam B. Schiff, Maxine Waters, David Dreier, Xavier Becerra, Judy Chu, Kevin McCarthy, Gary G. Miller, Dana Rohrabacher, Linda T. Sanchez, Brad Sherman, Henry A. Waxman.

Madam Chair, I move to strike the last word.

I am going to speak on the issue of water.

I represent an area where we have a Superfund site called the San Gabriel groundwater contaminated site. This resolution will risk the water supply of over 30 million people and directly affects the ability to continue the 20-year cleanup that has been in effect, with another 15 years to run on the contaminated site--the size of Connecticut-- which undermines the agreement the local, the State, the Federal, and the potential responsible parties have come together on in doing the Bay Delta Conservation Plan.

With regard to Klamath settlements, which helps secure a clean water supply, an adequate water supply to farmers and the environment in the San Joaquin Valley and the Klamath Basin, impacting the entire State of California, the settlement impacts an agreement developed by not only the farmers, the tribes, and the conservation groups, but the power companies and the States of California and Oregon, negotiated by no less than the Bush administration for voluntary removal of these privately owned dams. This will prevent fair congressional consideration of the Klamath agreements.

Madam Chair, the San Gabriel Restoration Fund, the Superfund list that I cited before, on H.R. 1, is the last line of defense against migrating groundwater contamination that has affected our basin for over 35 years, which was due to pesticides, fertilizer, and other contaminants. The fund has treated 24,000 acre feet of contaminated groundwater, helped fund the construction of 24 treatment facilities, and has removed thousands of volatile organic compounds, or VOCs, carcinogens, which threaten the health of some 40, 50 communities in the southern California area. With another decade or more to complete this cleanup, the funding to fight the spread of this contamination must not be eliminated.

In the Bay Delta, the further cuts would also abolish key elements of the San Joaquin River Restoration program and the implementation of two biological opinions on endangered species protecting wild California Bay-Delta fisheries, risking millions of people's water supply delivery. Fish are species. So is the human race another species.

Conservation and water recycling save jobs, save money, and talking about conservation and these cuts is not warranted. We need that water, our economy needs the water, and the jobs all of these will produce. Our communities need our support in developing local and sustainable water supplies through all the programs we can afford.

Association of California

Water Agencies,

Sacramento, CA, February 15, 2011.

Hon. Tom McClintock,

Chairman, Subcommittee on Water & Power, House Natural

Resources Committee, Longworth House Office Building,

Washington, DC.

Hon. Grace Napolitano,

Ranking Member, Subcommittee on Water & Power, House Natural

Resources Committee, Longworth House Office Building,

Washington, DC.

Dear Chairman McClintock and Ranking Member Napolitano: The

Association of California Water Agencies strongly supports

the Bureau of Reclamation's Water Recycling and Reuse

Program, known as Title XVI, and believes it should be funded

in the continuing resolution. For this reason, ACWA opposes

amendment 286 to HR 1. ACWA represents nearly 450 public

water agencies in California that collectively supply over

90% of the water delivered in California for domestic,

agricultural, and industrial uses.

As you are aware, managing water supplies in Western states

is challenging. Title XVI projects provide a valuable source

of water and help alleviate conflicts. In California alone,

this program helps generate over 525,000 acre-feet of

recycled water each year. It is strongly supported by local

project sponsors who provide three local dollars for every

one federal dollar invested in recycling and reuse projects.

Title XVI projects also create jobs and help local

economies. As the projects are constructed, jobs are created

in both the primary and secondary job market. As noted by

Reclamation's Commissioner Mike Connor in his July 21, 2009

testimony to the House of Representatives Natural Resources

Subcommittee on Water and Power, there is a $600 million

unfunded backlog of authorized Title XVI projects. These

projects are approved by Congress and have local support and

funding. Instead of decreasing funding for this program, ACWA

encourages Congress to provide more funding. The water reuse

program creates jobs and provides near-term solutions to

water supply challenges facing many Western states.

Sincerely,

Timothy Quinn,

Executive Director.

Thank you, Mr. Markey.

Mr. Speaker, I'm listening to the debate, and I can relate to a lot of what is being said.

I am going to speak to the issue of water and the role it plays in our local economies. We've been working steadfastly with my colleagues on the other side, although sometimes I don't think they buy into some of the issues that we're trying to push forward, the water recycling, water conservation, water efficiencies that create, not paper water, that is paper on ledgers, but real water that create jobs because of what it does in the local communities.

When we refer to the ESA, I sat through many a hearing with Mr. Pombo on the Endangered Species Act and I can tell you that protecting domestic species is one of the ideals that we have in this great country of ours. Species. Fish. Species. Man. When is our turn? That's one of the things that we look towards to protect the American public, the ability for us to ensure that whatever is delivered to them, whether it is food, transportation, water, anything, that it is going to be safe not only for people but for other species.

The Bureau of Reclamation's WaterSMART grants and title XVI projects, which is water recycling, are locally initiated and fully supported and are an important part of our water supply solution. These projects create in our areas and have in the past many jobs which allow communities to sustain their economic growth while producing potable water, or water for agriculture, through real efficiencies, conservation and water recycling.

The Bureau of Reclamation created 62,000 jobs and supported through funding in 2009 through all their programming, including title XVI, and it has already awarded over $93.2 million in Federal funding for 235 WaterSMART grant projects in 16 western States from 2004 to 2010. These projects will conserve approximately 705,000 acre-feet of water per year when fully constructed at an approximate cost of $132 per acre- foot. Currently it runs anywhere from $300 to $1,500 in Arizona in some areas. Title XVI projects have produced an estimated 260,000 acre-feet of real, pure water in 2010.

Please, ladies and gentlemen, speak to your local water agencies; ask how critical projects in your communities, their funding, create jobs, local jobs, and create water so badly needed especially during times of drought, and Mother Nature does have drought cycles upon us in the United States. Real water and jobs are created through conservation, not by talk or conversation about regulation. We must support projects to conserve water, to conserve our communities and thereby create jobs.

Mr. Speaker, on rollcall No. 660, had I been present, I would have voted ``yea.''

Mr. Speaker, in the 38th Congressional District of California, we have had many exceptional, bright students struggling because of their status.

Sam, a political science degree graduate, came to the United States at the age of 2.

Abe, a psychology major who would like to become a university professor.

Nate, another psychology major, aspires to be a psychologist. We need male psychologists.

John, a chemical engineering major whose mother recently became a citizen, got killed at a bus stop while waiting for the I-130 to have him become a citizen.

Robert, a civil engineering major, lives 34 miles away from college and travels at least 7 hours to and from school so he can get educated.

This is just a microcosm of the 800,000 youngsters who were brought to the United States as infants. It is a necessity for us to be able to ensure that these young people who have been trained and educated in the U.S. remain and become our own leaders of tomorrow.

DREAM Act is a moral issue. It is the right thing to do. We must pass the DREAM Act.

Mr. Speaker, I support the DREAM Act because of the young people in my district and throughout the United States so they can fully contribute to America, the country they call home.

Mr. Speaker, I support the DREAM Act because of young people like Julieta, so that she and others like her can fully contribute to America, the country they call home.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

Mr. Speaker, I am very happy to rise in strong support and approval of H.R. 4783.

Title III through VI settle the water rights claims for seven tribes and pueblos in the States of Arizona, New Mexico and Montana. In the case of the five New Mexico pueblos, this legislation would end a combined total of 84 years of protracted, divisive and expensive litigation.

This litigation is fully paid for, as has been stated repeatedly. Most of these settlements involve either the rehabilitation of facilities or the design and construction of much-needed drinking water systems. Having an offset for the entire cost of this litigation allows for project construction to start earlier and to stay on schedule, save money, ultimately saving taxpayers millions of dollars in construction costs that are subject to inflation increases. In the case of White Mountain Apache and the Miner Flat Project, it is estimated that these savings are as much as $7 million annually.

The scarcity of water in the West and a long-running effort to meet the needs of the tribal communities has required compromise and development of trust in the process. The tribes have negotiated in good faith and ultimately have settled for water rights that is far less than what their initial claims asserted in their litigation against the United States.

When this Nation established reservations, we did so with a commitment to supply the tribes with water. The beauty of these four settlements is that the tribal, Federal, State, and local stakeholders all see the benefit as not just for the tribal members but for the communities and regions as a whole. All four settlements have received bipartisan support and have been considered and debated by the

House, whether through a subcommittee hearing or House passage.

Title VII of this legislation provides initial funding to the Reclamation Water Settlement Fund, established in Public Law 111-11 dated 3/30/09. The initial funding will go toward design, planning, and construction of the Navajo-Gallup Water Supply Project. This project will bring water to the Navajo Nation and their non-Indian neighbors. It is time that we in the United States and this Congress provide the infrastructure for these people so they don't have to wait for a water truck to navigate the unmaintained roads to deliver water to the residences. Water is a basic human right and should be provided to all of our citizens. It is time the U.S. Congress stepped up to our commitment. None of us would want to have this situation in our districts.

I would like to commend all of the parties involved in the negotiation of these settlements, from the tribes and the pueblos, their nontribal neighbors, and the local and State entities that have spent countless hours in bringing water certainty to their communities. We would also like to commend the administration in their rededication to the Indian water settlement negotiation process, and our respective staffs. It is to the administration's credit that we have in front of us four settlements that we can fully support.

It is time that we give the settlements their full support and provide water certainty, and more importantly, a water future for our tribes and their neighbors.

Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and agree to the resolution (H. Res. 1636) celebrating the 75th anniversary of the Hoover Dam.

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

I yield myself such time as I may consume.

Mr. Speaker, House Resolution 1636, a bipartisan resolution, commemorates the 75th anniversary of the dedication of Hoover Dam, and recognizes the past, the present, and the future benefits of its construction to the agricultural, to the industrial, and to the urban development of the southwestern United States.

During its 75-year history, Hoover Dam has played a pivotal role in shaping what the Southwest is today, from a region with an inconsistent supply of water, to now providing water for more than 18 million people, including irrigation water for over 1 million acres of farm land in the States of Arizona, California, Nevada and 500,000 acres in Mexico. That beautiful natural resource that sparkles adds life and economy to our west.

While this facility was completed three-quarters of a century ago, it continues for today and tomorrow to provide water and power certainty for millions of people. We currently have legislation pending in the Senate, Senate bill 2819, and H.R. 4349, the Hoover Power Allocation Act of 2010. This legislation would allocate hydropower generated at Hoover Dam, estimated at

4 billion kilowatt hours of hydroelectric power each year, for the next 50 years. I would want to reiterate our support for the enactment of this important legislation.

Mr. Speaker, I ask my colleagues to support the passage of this bipartisan resolution. Hoover Dam is truly a marvel of engineering, of technology and human endeavor. And tomorrow this reenactment of its 75- year dedication will take place in Las Vegas.

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

Mr. Speaker, very, very swiftly and quickly, before I yield back the balance of my time, I thank my staff and the minority staff on this beautiful resolution that is going to commemorate some magnificent achievements by the United States to really promote what we now know as the Southwest.

I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I was absent during rollcall vote No. 355. Had I been present, I would have voted ``yea'' on the motion to suspend the rules and pass H. Res. 1368, Supporting the Goals of National Dairy Month, which will commend dairy farmers for their hard work and commitment to the U.S. economy and preservation of open space.

Mr. Speaker, I was absent during rollcall vote No. 356. Had I been present, I would have voted ``yea'' on the motion to suspend the rules and pass H. Res. 1409, Expressing support for designation of June 20, 2010, as ``American Eagle Day'', and celebrating the recovery and restoration of the bald eagle, the national symbol of the United States.