Floor Statements

Mr. Speaker, as our country reels from the devastation of Hurricanes Harvey and Irma, another disaster ravages our Pacific Northwest. I rise today to once again bring attention to the problem that is decades in the making: wildfire in our national forests.

The mismanagement of these forests over the last 30 years has destroyed the health of our beautiful national forests. Our land management agencies are paralyzed by litigation. Radical groups dictate the policy. As a result, our forests have never been in worse condition.

Fuel loads in our forest are now so great, once a fire begins, there is little hope of being able to contain it.

With 193 million acres in the National Forest System, nearly 40 percent is vulnerable to wildfire, insects, disease, and in need of treatment; yet harvest levels on Federal lands remain low, with tree growth and mortality rates far exceeding removal.

We need to change this, or this will happen. This is the Eagle Creek fire right outside the city of Portland by the Bridge of the Gods.

Every year we don't act, the problem gets worse. We need to reform our forest management practices, and we need to do it now. Enough is enough.

Mr. Speaker, for the past few weeks, the country has tuned in to watch as catastrophic hurricanes pummel Texas and Florida, but out West we have been facing our own natural disaster, one that doesn't get nearly as much attention but one that can be equally devastating and destructive. I am talking, of course, about wildfires raging, burning a total of 7.8 million acres. In my home State of Oregon, we currently have 26 active fires.

As a member of this body, I have routinely supported emergency appropriations packages when national disasters strike this country. I have supported funding for Superstorm Sandy. I supported funding last week for Hurricane Harvey, and I will support funding for Hurricane Irma. I have done this because, as an American and as a Member of Congress, it is the right thing to do. I call on my colleagues, now, to also support us in the West. We need to change the way we pay to fight these wildfires.

My good friend from Idaho Mike Simpson and I have once again introduced bipartisan legislation, H.R. 2862, the Wildfire Disaster Funding Act, that will begin to treat wildfires like the national disasters they are. The bill will create a fund dedicated to the costs of fighting wildfires so the Forest Service and BLM will no longer have to spend over 50 percent of their budget on fighting fires that should be spent on managing our forests and their sustainable health.

This is common sense, my friends. It is time to act, time for this body to recognize the importance of this issue, especially to those of us out West who face these infernos every year.

Mr. Speaker, as the House co-chair of the bipartisan Paper and Packaging Caucus, I rise today to recognize an individual from my district who has dedicated his entire professional life to an industry that is the lifeblood of a rural community in my State, Toledo, Oregon. I am talking about Brian Berg, who, after 41 years with Georgia-Pacific, will be retiring Friday.

For 50 years, GP has been an integral part of Lincoln County and a community partner, providing paper and packaging products that are used around the world.

For over 41 years, Brian has been a leader at GP in helping ensure that the mill continues to thrive and be successful and provide for this community now and into the future.

I want to thank Brian for his dedication, his service, and his commitment to an industry that has been critical to my district and many of my constituents. I wish you all the best and hope you get to enjoy some time with your lovely wife, Janet, and kids, Savannah, Ashley, and Riley.

Mr. Speaker, I rise in strong support of the FDA Reauthorization Act, FDARA as it is called.

It could not be more evident that the time has come for Congress to reckon with the growing problem of exorbitant drug prices. Every few months sees the headlines about another extreme price hike, as was just mentioned. Some unscrupulous pharmaceutical CEO buys the rights to produce drugs that have been on the market for decades, usually where there are no competitors, then, seemingly overnight, they raise the price astronomically.

In the case of Daraprim, a drug that is used by some transplant patients and people living with AIDS, the price went from $13.50 per pill to $750. That is outrageous, a price increase of 5,000 percent. For this drug and many others, the drugs have been off patent for ages and there is no generic competitor on the market.

Competition from generic drugs saves patients and the government billions of dollars on a weekly basis. Unfortunately, generic drug manufacturers who want to bring these markets to competition face a long approval process, steep costs, and uncertainty. This FDA act reckons with that.

It is time for Congress to act, also, on those unscrupulous providers. Gus Bilirakis and I introduced a bill providing competition to drive down those costs. We provide new incentives for generic drugs to come to market and reform the process.

I am in support of the bill.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to give special recognition to Andrew Rogers, the last surviving member of the heroic 1941 Willamette University Bearcats football team. The 1941 season was a tremendous success for the team, going 8-2, capturing the Northwest Conference title.

But we remember that Bearcats historic season for far more than just athletics. At the end of the season, Willamette University was invited to play the University of Hawaii on December 6, 1941.

The following morning, the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor began. Rogers, the entire team, and visiting Willamette supporters volunteered to guard the Punahou School for 10 days while others helped with the injured.

After the attack on Pearl Harbor, Rogers volunteered to join the United States Marine Corps, where he served as an infantry platoon leader for the 3rd Marine Division throughout the Second World War. He served meritoriously during the final phase of the recapture of Guam, as well as during the Battle of Iwo Jima.

Rogers reminds all Americans of the impact we can have when we step up in times of need. His military service during a dark, uncertain time in our history is another shining example of the Greatest Generation.

I am proud to share his story and offer this small piece of recognition for all that Andrew Rogers has done for this great country.

Mr. Chair, I rise today in strong support of H.R. 1873, the bipartisan Electricity Reliability and Forest Protection Act.

I want to thank my colleague from California (Mr. LaMalfa) for working with me on this important legislation that will bring much- needed consistency and accountability throughout the Federal land management agencies.

This bill is just common sense. Putting it quite simply, we are just helping our utilities better enhance safety and reliability of the grid and protecting against wildfires and blackouts.

Contrary to what some folks have asserted, this is actually a bipartisan bill supported by quite a few Democrats. This bill is especially vital for most of those in the West, where much of our land is federally owned.

Many of your utilities' and co-ops' service territory can be more than 50 percent federally managed. We have witnessed extreme variations and approaches not only between the Forest Service and the BLM, but within the management agency districts themselves.

Jim Pena, out in Oregon: ``There is little consistency from agency to agency, district to district, or even within the same offices.'' This is the Forest Service talking.

We read and listened to the specter of big companies coming in and clear-cutting our Federal lands. I respectfully suggest that that is why we need these vegetative management plans. They are short, concise, deal with only the utility's right-of-way and the land adjacent to it that could cause problems.

I wonder sometimes what the heck folks are talking about. We have heard complaints about absolving companies from liability. That is not true. What we are saying is, if the Secretary fails to allow the utility to manage the vegetation on Federal lands or adjacent right-of- way in a way that is consistent with their approved vegetative

management plan that they have worked out with them or if the hazard tree or tree is in imminent danger of contacting an electricity line, the utility will not be held liable for wildfire damage or loss. It does not absolve a utility from liability if they are negligent or act in a way that is inconsistent with their vegetative management plan.

I give you a great example our colleague from Arizona talked about. In Oregon, a rural co-op requested trimming some dangerous trees along the rights-of-way by the Forest Service. The Forest Service denied the request. A tree fell on the power line, sparked a fire. The utility was held responsible for paying for that fire when they had actually brought the issue to them in the first place. That is ridiculous.

I urge my colleagues to support H.R. 1873.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to recognize and congratulate Command Sergeant Major Shane Lake on his retirement from the Oregon Army National Guard.

Born in Farmington, New Mexico Command Sergeant Major Lake enlisted in the United States Army in 1990. Currently, he serves as the State Command Sergeant Major for the Oregon Army National Guard. While serving his country, Command Sergeant Major Lake also worked to earn a Bachelor of Science in Social Science with a minor in Psychology from Portland State University, and works as a Field Sales Engineer in the electronics industry.

Among his countless assignments throughout his exemplary military career, Command Sergeant Major Lake spent multiple overseas deployments to the Middle East and completed a number of humanitarian missions throughout the world. A highly decorated veteran, just some of his service awards include the Bronze Star Medal, Meritorious Service Medal with three Oak Leaf Clusters, the Iraq Campaign Medal, the Global War on Terrorism Expeditionary Medal, the Global War on Terrorism Service Medal, the Meritorious Service Medal, and the Army Commendation Medal to name a few.

Command Sergeant Major Lake represents our very best that the great state of Oregon and our country have to offer. The State of Oregon, the Oregon National Guard, and his soldiers will miss the experience and leadership he brought to every mission.

I humbly thank Command Sergeant Major Lake for his many years of service to the State of Oregon as well as to our country. May his deserved retirement treat him well.

Mr. Speaker, after all these late nights and backroom deals, here we are. This version of the bill was just dropped on our lap this morning, so we ought to take a careful look at what is in front of us.

First of all, the bill defunds access to preventative health care and wellness. All the programs that we made progress on will be gone.

It shortchanges the Medicare trust fund. Seniors might be paying thousands more than they are now to get the care they need.

It returns us to a system with skimpy benefits without serious coverage for maternity care and mental health.

Most dramatically, the bill dismantles the Medicaid system as we know it, which has been a success across much of the country.

In Oregon, children and families finally have access to care that fits their needs. People living with disabilities are leading productive lives now. Hospitalizations and emergency room visits have been cut in half, and costs are down.

We are all going to do this--take health care away from 24 million Americans, 14 million just this next year--and not going to save any more money than under the original ACA?

Look, I know there are parts of the ACA that need fixing. While millions of people got coverage for the first time, premiums are still too high in the individual market. That is only 5 percent.

Vote ``no'' on this bill, and let's make the system better.

Mr. Speaker, in a bizarre rant yesterday, President- elect Donald Trump said he would be ``the greatest jobs producer that God ever created.'' Mr. Trump might need to rethink that statement, given his top priority is to repeal the Affordable Care Act.

Make no mistake, Mr. Speaker, while the Republicans haven't given us any details about an ACA replacement policy at all, we know exactly what will happen if they repeal it: millions of jobs will be lost.

Since the ACA was passed in March 2010, the U.S. economy has added more than 15 million private sector jobs and the unemployment rate has been cut in half. In fact, the longest streak in private sector job growth began the month the ACA was passed. Now, folks on the other side of the aisle want to risk all of that going away by repealing the law.

A recent study has found that repealing the ACA would kill 2.6 million jobs in just 1 year, including 45,000 in my home State of Oregon. Thirty million Americans will lose access to health care, and $350 billion gets added to our budget deficit.

Mr. Speaker, we can't afford the reckless ACA repeal policy. I urge my colleagues to reject attempts to repeal the law and focus on ways we can fix and improve our healthcare system while creating jobs.

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

Mr. Chair, on many fronts, H.R. 527 does a very good job strengthening requirements that agencies review regulations that are already on the books, with stronger analyses about how these regulations impact small businesses. Ensuring that agencies are operated in an efficient manner has never been so important. This means that efforts must be made to limit programs that tend to duplicate one another.

Now, unfortunately, section 10 of this legislation creates a duplicative program, using resources twice at the SBA. It further grows the convoluted aspects of the Federal Government's regulatory processes.

To approve a size standard has been the province of the SBA administrative office. It requires expertise and analytical resources, which the Office of Advocacy will now have to acquire. This will duplicate similar resources maintained by the SBA's office of size standards. It seems very redundant to create another office to do the same thing that a current office already does. The Chief Counsel for Advocacy for President Reagan testified in 2011 before the Small Business Committee that Advocacy should not take on the new responsibilities outlined in this very legislation.

My amendment is simple. It would strike this duplicative section and keep all the regulatory flexibility reforms that are in the bill. Eliminating this provision from the bill will not have any effect on the size standard process or on small businesses. It will be business as usual. What it does do is saves taxpayers from footing the bill for two identical size standard offices.

For these reasons, I urge Members to vote ``yes'' on this amendment, which is a vote to reduce waste and unnecessary duplication at the SBA. Reducing government complexity should be a bipartisan effort.

I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. Chairman, I demand a recorded vote.

Mr. Speaker, the House of Representatives has had 4 years to bring an immigration bill--any immigration bill--to a vote and yet has failed to do so.

Oregon businesses, labor, farmers, farmworkers, faith-based groups, and human rights advocates have all patiently waited for comprehensive immigration reform. So have millions of Americans and people all across this Nation as they wait for their legal status to catch up with the realities of their lives as good and productive members of our society. Without comprehensive reforms, Oregon businesses are in peril and Oregon families live in constant fear.

Many of us in the House have offered a bipartisan bill similar to the Senate's with better border enforcement provisions, but hard-line, rightwing extreme provisions have hamstrung any action on these bills.

As a result of the intolerable congressional inaction, the President has issued executive orders to protect folks who have immigrated to this country and been productive members of society and the economy. This executive action merely prioritizes deportations for individuals who harm or pose a threat to our society.

My hope had been that this action would spur comprehensive immigration reform. Instead, House Republicans now play games with the Department of Homeland Security's appropriations and put us all at risk.

It is time to act.

Mr. Speaker, I have to say that I am very surprised to have to be here today. I thought after millions of Americans said loud and clear this past November that they wanted us to work together and find common ground, we could put divisive bills like this behind us.

When I speak to voters in my district in Oregon, none of them ask me to raise taxes on the middle class which, effectively, this bill does. None of them have asked me to let health insurance plans discriminate against women or those with preexisting conditions, something this bill does. I don't know any seniors that want to pay more for prescription drugs, something that will happen if this bill becomes law.

Nobody I speak with wants the most vulnerable children to go without health insurance which will happen if this bill goes into effect, ending bipartisan support for the Children's Health Insurance Program.

Nobody I know wants to see the deficit grow, to pass on more debt to our future generations, or reduce the solvency of the Medicare trust fund--again, something that will happen if this bill becomes law.

Mr. Speaker, I don't think my constituents are alone in this. Americans want us to stop wasting time and come together and put this partisan nonsense behind us.

I urge my colleagues to vote ``no'' on this bill and get our priorities in line.

Mr. Speaker, our ally and friend in Southeast Asia, Taiwan, will celebrate their 103rd National Day on October 10th. Known as Double Ten Day, it celebrates the start of the Wuchang Uprising which ultimately led to the formation of Taiwan as we know it today.

Double Ten Day has the same significance to Taiwan as Independence Day does to us here in the United States. It is a day that people are able to celebrate and remember the sacrifices that led to creation of Taiwan. Both the U.S. and Taiwan are relatively new; in July we celebrated our 238th anniversary and Taiwan is celebrating their 103rd.

On this occasion, I would like to note how important Taiwan is to my home state of Oregon. Last year, Oregon exports to Taiwan reached $825.6 million. Taiwan became our 5th largest trading partner in Asia and the 7th largest in the world. From agriculture to machinery, Oregon products serve a large part of Taiwan's industries. There are more opportunities to capitalize on and I look forward to working to grow investments and exports to help both our peoples.

Again I wish a happy National Day to Taiwan. We look forward to continuing our friendship and partnership on the many issues that we both face.

Mr. Speaker, I rise deeply disappointed in Congress this week. There are real issues that Congress needs to address for the American people. But instead of addressing the long-term issues of comprehensive immigration reform, comprehensive tax reform, our debt and deficit, getting our economy going, we are considering suing the President of the United States and beating the drum of impeachment.

Where were my Republican colleagues when President Bush was issuing his egregious executive orders? The hypocrisy here is appalling.

We need to provide long-term funding for the highway trust fund, the Export-Import Bank to keep the American businesses competitive, Federal education programs to prepare our people and children for the next generation and workforce. We need to pass a long-term solution for our doctors. We need to provide funding to address the wildfires that are ravaging the Western United States, including my home State of Oregon. We need to get the unregulated amount of money out of politics.

We need to get back to work.

Mr. Speaker, this really was a truly bipartisan, bicameral effort, including, as you have already heard, an impressive coalition ranging from the American Farm Bureau and the ASPCA down to all 50 State veterinary medical associations.

It is nice, I think the public should be reminded, that while we have great differences in this body on many issues, there are also a lot of issues we agree on. I think this first 6 months

has been a very productive session for this Congress, and this particular bill I think is noteworthy.

It is a little bit of a shame we are actually here in the early stages of the Drug Enforcement Agency's efforts to control the distribution and abuse of controlled substances. They issued a very blanket type of rule that, unfortunately, scooped up veterinary medicine and animals. We have been able to avoid this issue for many, many years. It is one of those where for the last 100-150 years veterinarians have gone out to the farms and ranches--nowadays, even within the cities, going home to home with mobile veterinary clinics-- making sure those patients got the care with the appropriate medication that they deserve to be treated humanely.

DEA, in its exuberance, unfortunately, was unwilling to grant a waiver, a commonsense waiver, administratively, and forced Congressman Yoho and myself to go to a statutory change--lots of taxpayer money, lots of time by the committees. But it, unfortunately, is necessary. The good news I think for America is that common sense does prevail a lot of times in this great Congress. As alluded to, they have over 185 cosponsors of this legislation, the Veterinary Medicine Mobility Act, allowing veterinarians simply to do what they have done before, which is carry controlled substances safely to treat, dispense, and protect their patients in the field.

I think America would wonder why we are here. I think America is glad we are here, making sure that their pets, their livestock, get the care and treatment they need so they can have safe food and fiber and take care of the pets that they love and live with on a daily basis.

I am not going to go into the bill itself. I think Mr. Pitts did an excellent job of outlining things, as did Mr. Green.

I want to make sure I recognize a few folks that have been critical in the role here getting this to the floor. First and foremost, my good friend and colleague, Ted Yoho from Florida, and his right-hand man, Larry Calhoun, did a yeoman's job making sure this was a good bipartisan effort; Chairman Goodlatte and his staff for their unwavering support throughout the process; Chairman Lucas and Ranking Member Peterson were invaluable--as a matter of fact, I think we had all but four members of the Agriculture Committee sign on, Republican, Democrat, city, rural; this is a great bill--Senators Moran and King for their efforts on the Senate side; Chairman Upton and Ranking Member Waxman on the Energy and Commerce Committee.

And finally, I extend my personal gratitude and a very special thank you to Dr. Ashley Morgan at the American Veterinary Medical Association for her tireless efforts through several years' worth of time to make sure that this bill actually got to the floor and got the vote that our animal friends actually deserve and, frankly, on behalf of all veterinarians in this great country.