Floor Statements

Mr. Speaker, we lost a beloved Southwest Washington resident and Navy veteran this past month. Gordon Walter Sondker passed away on May 13th at the age of 91, leaving a legacy his family will carry on for generations.

Born on February 10, 1927, in Holton, Kansas, Gordon lived his life full of passion and pride for his community and country. Gordon served in the Navy and was very active in the Monticello Lions Club and Toastmasters. He was also a founding member of the Southwest Washington Canoe Club. Gordon and his wife, Barbara, were also very involved in their community and gave back whenever they had the opportunity. Gordon was also involved with the Longview Community Church, American Field Service, Kelso Methodist Church and the Columbia Theatre Guild.

To say Gordon dedicated his life to helping others and working to better his community would be an understatement. Gordon was an exceptional example of what it means to be an American patriot, and he will be missed by everyone who was blessed to know him.

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

Mr. Chairman, I thank Chairman Conaway for the opportunity to speak on this important amendment that I am offering to the farm bill today.

I also want to thank my colleague, Congressman Westerman, for his tireless work on behalf of our rural communities that are dependent on timber.

Mr. Chairman, the key takeaway here is simple: If moneys are generated during restorative work in our forests, then a portion of those moneys generated from that work ought to remain in the community.

Traditional timber sales require that a quarter of the revenues stay in the local county. But when the U.S. Forest Service or the Bureau of Land Management use what is called stewardship contracts to work in the forests, none of those proceeds remain locally.

Our forested counties are facing a financial crisis right now. Federal endangered species listings have left timber-dependent counties in southwest Washington with little to no revenue from timber sales.

In counties that are primarily federally owned, like Skamania County in my district, which is 97-percent owned by the government, they are unable to make up these drastically reduced revenues from property taxes. This means that, by no fault of their own, they lack the local tax base to support even the most basic needs of their local communities, like schools or roads or local fire and police.

To help make up some of that revenue, Congress created the Secure Rural Schools program in 2000. Unfortunately, despite my and my colleagues' persistent effort to find a long-term solution through SRS, we cannot keep relying on the Federal Government's short-term fixes. That is not doing right by these communities.

This commonsense amendment will empower desperately needed funds to stay in local communities. Individuals and families should not be victim to Federal dysfunction. Let's not allow a Federal contracting program for timber harvest and forest restoration to leave those neighboring communities empty-handed.

I urge my colleagues to vote ``yes'' on this amendment to ensure that a portion of the proceeds from these contracts are being rightfully directed to timber counties.

Mr. Chairman, I urge support of this important amendment.

Mr. Chairman, I yield such time as he may consume to the gentleman from Arizona (Mr. Westerman).

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

Mr. Speaker, I thank Chairman Bishop for yielding time for me to speak on this important legislation, and for the work his committee has been doing to support vibrant salmon runs, as well as protect low-cost, renewable, clean energy.

Leading scientists and Federal agencies, Northwest States, sovereign Tribes, and notably, the Obama administration, crafted what is known as the 2014 Biological Opinion on how the Columbia River Federal hydropower system should operate.

The BiOp, as it is called, was developed with the utmost standards of integrity and transparency, and importantly, collaboration. Conservative Republicans and the Obama administration got together and used the best available science.

Under this plan's implementation, we have seen several years of record or near record returns of adult salmon.

The plan is working, so why are we here today?

Unfortunately, in 2016, a U.S. district judge rejected the 2014 BiOp and ordered the Federal agencies start the process over, with a requirement that they look at breaching the four Snake River dams.

Here is the reality. I can't express how important this hydro system is for the entire Northwest. I have heard you couldn't match the energy produced by these dams with six or more coal-fired power plants. None of us want to return to that.

More recently, that same judge who issued the order issued a mandated spill over the Columbia and Snake River dams.

Now, spill occurs when water and young migrating salmon are shot over the dams.

Spill is like medicine. The right dosage can help you, but too much can harm or even kill you. The same is true for salmon.

The judge's ruling lacked scientific backing, as Federal fisheries scientists believe these spill mandates will provide little or no benefits to juvenile salmon or returning adult salmon. And as we have seen, these actions are not only in blatant contradiction to the best available science, they are also a direct attack on ratepayers, the families and small businesses, and the local economies who depend on affordable, clean, reliable energy.

Ratepayers in our region spend almost up to $1 billion a year, when all is said and done, on protecting these wild runs through science- backed spill that already takes place in other mitigation efforts. But abusive litigation robs hundreds of millions of dollars per year of hard-earned tax money from the pockets of my constituents. The price tag on the judge's spill mandates are estimated to be an additional $40 million taken from ratepayers this year.

So now we find ourselves here today needing to pass H.R. 3144 for the sake of salmon runs, for the sake of our ratepayers, and for the sake of the environment. Again, this is not a partisan bill; in fact, it is bipartisan, and

it represents restoring the Obama administration-led collaborative plan to responsibly manage our salmon populations and hydroelectric infrastructure.

The exact same opponents of this bill who claim it would ``gut'' protections--I repeat, the exact same groups--asked the court to keep the 2014 BiOp in place. So, basically, before they opposed it, the bill's opponents asked to do exactly what our bill does.

So scientists, Federal agencies of jurisdiction, and, yes, at one time, even the bill's opponents have said that the agencies should operate under the 2014 BiOp while a new plan is developed.

This is a vote for listed salmon because it keeps current measures in place, and we know that they are working. This is a vote for the region's economy, and it avoids wasting millions of dollars. And this is a vote for the environment because we cannot match the clean, renewable energy produced by our hydro system.

I urge a ``yes'' vote.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to honor Kim Karnofski, a constituent of mine from Castle Rock, Washington. Kim is receiving the prestigious Recognizing Inspirational School Employees Award for her outstanding service to the students of Washington state and I'm proud to recognize her achievement today.

Since 1988, Kim has served as an invaluable resource to students and families of Castle Rock. She has dedicated her life to leading service projects in her community, working with credit recovery students to help them achieve post-graduation success and even implementing a Life Fitness P.E. program to teach healthy habits to students. Kim also devoted her time as a member of the Public School Employees of Washington SEIU Local 1948, serving as an advocate for her colleagues dedicated to serving our students.

The RISE Award is presented by the National Coalition of Classified Education Support Employee Unions, a coalition of state and national unions that represent one million school support employees. Five individuals from across the country are recognized for their extraordinary efforts to promote quality education, foster positive learning environments and ensure student success. The award is given to those who have made exceptional contributions to education, promoting student achievement, student safety, as well as helping to build a brighter future for our children.

I was very proud to learn about Kim and the work she's done to become one of those five individuals recognized for their exemplary service to students, and I am equally proud to have her as a member of Southwest Washington's community. I want to congratulate Kim on receiving this well-deserved award and thank her for her unwavering leadership and contributions to the students of Castle Rock.

Mr. Speaker, on Tuesday, April 10, 2018, I am not recorded on three votes because I was unavoidably detained due to my commercial flight experiencing mechanical issues.

Had I been present, I would have voted: Yes on Roll Call 130; Yes on Roll Call 131; and Yes on Roll Call 132.

Mr. Speaker, since the first time I heard about Oregon's scheme to impose tolls on the I-205 and I-5 bridges at the State line with Washington without providing any benefit to my constituents, I have fought to protect southwest Washington commuters.

This is nothing but a money grab by Oregon to improve its infrastructure projects that would rarely, if ever, be used by the vast majority of the folks paying the tolls, those from southwest Washington.

This was certainly a creative and politically expedient funding source dreamed up by Oregon, but it is a raw deal for hardworking Washingtonians whose jobs happen to be located across the river. This does nothing to fix the I-5 bridge. In fact, it actually makes that task harder.

That is why I secured an amendment in this Chamber to prohibit these tolls until Oregon goes back to the drawing board and comes up with a plan that doesn't use Washingtonians as a piggy bank. However, through the negotiations of the omnibus spending package, my amendment lacked support from the United States Senate. Without that support, my amendment to protect southwest Washington commuters did not move forward.

It is a disappointment, but I am not going to give up on this issue. In fact, it is critical that Oregon come to a solution with Washington that benefits both sides of the river without unfairly targeting just one side. Until we get that result, Mr. Speaker, I am not done fighting on this issue.

Mr. Speaker, today I rise to honor the life of Marvin ``Cy'' Meyers and recognize his lifelong service to the United States Military and to his community of Winlock and across Lewis County.

Born during the Great Depression and from a military family, Cy grew up poor, but he had an abundant love of family. In the summer of 1943, Cy joined the Marines and served in World War II, where he fought at Iwo Jima.

After his service in the military, Cy came home to the Pacific Northwest and met the love of his life, Bonita. A friend of Cy's started an egg farm in Winlock and asked him to work delivering eggs, a job Cy maintained for 20 years. Cy and Bonita bought a home in Winlock, where they settled for the remainder of their lives and raised their four children.

Cy was a cornerstone community member. Everyone in Lewis County knew him. He served on the city council, Educational Service District 113 Board, Civil Service Commission, Board of Adjustment, and the Washington State Republicans Executive Board. Cy also served as mayor of Winlock for 6 years.

Please join me in honoring the selfless and passionate dedication of Marvin ``Cy'' Meyers and his legacy that will remain with us all, as this was the week that he left this world for the next. We love him. We are grateful to him and his family for his service, and we will remember him.

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

Mr. Speaker, I move that the House do now adjourn.

The motion was agreed to; accordingly (at 12 o'clock and 27 minutes p.m.), under its previous order, the House adjourned until tomorrow, Friday, March 9, 2018, at 10:30 a.m.

Mr. Speaker, I was detained in a traffic security line trying to get in to vote. Had I been present, I would have voted ``yea'' on rollcall No. 44.

Mr. Speaker, I am so glad we are now back here with the government open. I have been here these last few days over the weekend with my staff working hard to make sure that we get our government open and working for its people, for its military families.

Today, I was over on the Senate floor when the Senate closed its vote in support of reopening our government. Now we can complete the work at hand. This is incredibly important.

I just wanted to mention this. I, too, actually, as a previous speaker talked about being detained in the security lines, was unavoidably detained in those same security lines, but I wanted to come here onto the House floor and make sure that folks know we are here hard at work, we are going to make sure that we move forward from this. I am looking forward to addressing the issues at hand, making sure that we get a long-term solution.

I am pleased with the CHIP funding that we were able to put through. This is something we have been working on now for several months. The House has voted in support of this. I have supported it many times now.

As an appropriator, we had gotten these bills funded months ago. I am looking forward to a permanent solution here so we can get about doing the people's work.

Mr. Speaker, on November 28th and 29th, I am not recorded on four votes because I was absent due to illness.

Had I been present, I would have voted: Yes on Roll Call 638, the Fowler and Boskoff Peaks Designation Act; Yes on Roll Call 639, the Superior National Forest Land Exchange Act of 2017; Yes on Roll Call 640, ordering the Previous Question on H. Res. 631; and Yes on Roll Call 641, the combined rule providing for consideration of the bill H.R. 3017 and H.R. 3905.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to recognize the work and the achievement of Steve Hildreth, an exemplary employee and member of our community. Steve celebrated his retirement last month after working for 30 years at the Georgia Pacific Paper Mill in Camas, Washington.

Steve started at the mill in 1987, as sleeter helper in the print department. By the time he retired, he held the position of the shift team leader for the shift instrumentation technicians. He was well respected by the operators and crews of the machines, and he knew the job was to make their job easier.

He was also a member of the Association of Western Pulp and Paper Workers union throughout his career and held office in Local 5 for several years.

Fortunately, Steve has options in retirement. According to his wife, Shari, he is a true Renaissance man, in that he can build, troubleshoot, and fix just about anything. He is spending his time remodeling their Washougal home, setting up his new shop, and making his way through Shari's extensive honey-do list.

Mr. Speaker, southwest Washington has been fortunate to have someone like Steve Hildreth as an employee, father, husband, grandfather, and resident for the past 30 years. I would like to congratulate Steve on his retirement and wish him all the best in the years to come.

Mr. Speaker, September is the time when students return back to school, and it also marks Attendance Awareness Month.

Chronic absenteeism is a concerning trend in my district in southwest Washington State and across America. In the 2013-2014 school year, more than 6.8 million students missed enough class to be considered chronically absent.

My State of Washington has the second highest chronic absenteeism rate in the country, with 25 percent of students being chronically absent. We can do better.

To understand the challenges locally, I recently met with several superintendents in southwest Washington, and there are a myriad of issues that these students are facing.

We are trying to address some of these with H.R. 1864, the Chronic Absenteeism Reduction Act, which I have introduced with my Democratic colleague, Tim Ryan from Ohio.

This bill would empower schools to solve attendance problems locally, using such tactics as partnering with local health, transportation, and social service providers, and implementing school-based mentoring programs.

Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to cosponsor this bill.

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

Mr. Chairman, recently, the State of Oregon passed a transportation package that included a provision to establish tolls on the State line between Washington and Oregon. Since that time, there has been a lot of concern in my district that tolls could be established on the bridges on the Washington border, I-205 and I-5 on the Washington side.

So far, that is not an unreasonable idea if those tolls are going to be used on that stretch of roadway. But here is the kicker, Mr. Chairman: my constituents do use those bridges overwhelmingly. Upwards of 50,000 people a day commute into Portland to work. The problem is that the proposal, this scheme, would be used to pay for projects well south of Portland and a structure of roadways my constituents don't overwhelmingly use. So they would be paying a toll, and that money would be used elsewhere in the State for improvements. That is fundamentally unjust, Mr. Chairman.

I am not opposing the concept of tolls, but that creates a real problem in terms of how the money is used and I think would break faith with really the American people. So I am opposing that. That is what my amendment would do, is stop this practice in this area.

It is not that I oppose the concepts of a fee paid by the users of a resource. Let me be clear about that. The issue is that that fee then needs to be allocated towards the construction or the maintenance or upkeep of that resource. There needs to be that nexus there.

Honestly, we have issues on those two bridges that need to be addressed, and if those tolls were then diverted for use elsewhere, then we are going to have some major problems.

So I am opposing this. My amendment would oppose this.

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

Mr. Chairman, to the speaker's point, I do understand, but Interstate 5 and Interstate 205 are highways with significant Federal interests. They are Federal highways. These are not backwoods roads. These are not even State routes. These are Federal highways. The I-5 corridor is over 13,050 miles with an average daily traffic of 71,000 and a maximum of 300,000 vehicles. So it is a pretty major Federal investment.

Here is the thing: levying tolls is one thing. That is something this body does. I think user fees are fundamentally a fair concept, but we need to apply them fairly. Any attempt to levy tolls on I-205 or I-5 at the Washington

State line, the lion's share would be paid by Washington commuters to pay for infrastructure improvements that these commuters then wouldn't benefit from. This is where I feel like this is unfair in the extreme.

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

Mr. Chairman, I would like to inquire as to the time remaining.

Mr. Chair, I will make this brief.

I think a lot of the points the gentleman from Oregon made are valid, and I don't reject them at all. I think we need to come up with solutions to pay for these things. We need to fix the congestion issue. We are one region, and we need to work together.

I completely agree with all of that, which is why the scheme that was put together to tax one portion, essentially charge a toll on Washington commuters who are paying into the Portland and Oregon economy through their income taxes already and using that money collected from those tolls not on the bridge, not on the Columbia River crossing, the area where we all agree we need to find a solution, but using it elsewhere in the State is fundamentally unfair. He made my point. That is the problem.

It is not that I oppose the idea of tolls. We are going to have to bring something to the table. I am not afraid to advocate for that. That is not the issue here. Even within this commission, they are going to be looking at other ways to fund their projects throughout the State. That is great.

It is fundamentally unfair to pick the pocket of working people who don't even have a right to redress Oregon's government. They don't get to vote. So to take their money because you can smacks of really being a bully. That is what I am against; that is what is unfair; that is what I won't stand for; and that is why I am offering this amendment.

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

Mr. Speaker, the day of July 27, 2017, I am wrongly recorded on the Cartwright Amendment No. 43 to H.R. 3219. I intended to oppose this amendment.