Floor Statements

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

H.R. 1021 has been adequately explained by the majority, and we have no objection to this legislation. We also have no other speakers.

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

Madam Speaker, I rise in support of H.R. 658, and I yield myself such time as I may consume.

H.R. 658 was introduced by the very effective Congressman from Nevada, Jon Porter, and would authorize the National Park Service to enter into a cooperative agreement with willing partners to protect park natural resources through collaborative efforts on land inside and outside of units of the National Park System. This was recommended by the Government Accountability Office, as the Park Service is still the only land management agency without this particular authority. So we expect this will help control the spread of invasive species and increase the protection of parks and wildlife.

At this point, Madam Speaker, I would like to engage the majority bill manager, Mr. Grijalva, in a colloquy to clarify an issue related to this bill, if he would.

I understand that the International Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies has brought to the committee's attention their concern that H.R. 658 not be interpreted to give the National Park Service authority to manage fish and wildlife outside park boundaries.

Management authority for fish and wildlife resources within State boundaries has customarily been held in trust by the respective States. Congress has repeatedly affirmed this. This trust responsibility has been implemented primarily through State fish and wildlife agencies. In general, these principles are expressed in relevant fish and wildlife policies of the Department of the Interior found in volume 43 of the Code of Federal Regulations, part 24.

Can the chairman of the subcommittee please clarify that the States' existing authority to manage fish and wildlife is not affected by H.R. 658?

I yield to the gentleman from Arizona.

Reclaiming my time, I thank the gentleman for his assurances, and with that, I urge adoption of the bill.

Madam Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Madam Speaker, I am pleased to yield such time as he may consume to the gentleman from Nevada (Mr. Porter), the author of this very good piece of legislation.

Madam Speaker, we have no further speakers, and I yield back the balance of my time.

Madam Speaker, I rise in support of H.R. 838 and yield myself such time as I may consume.

H.R. 838 conveys to Park City about 110 acres of Bureau of Land Management land that was previously marked for disposal. This land would be used by Park City as recreational open space. The residents of Park City have placed a premium on preserving this space for the character of their resort town; and as the chairman accurately said, they have approved a $20 million bond to purchase this environmentally sensitive land. The conveyance of this is consistent with Park City's long-range plan to protect its sensitive landscape.

Park City hosted many of the events of the 2002 Olympics, and visitors from around the world visit there to ski and

partake of the scenic vistas, which will be enhanced by this bill. As was stated, this bill, as passed by the 109th session of Congress and as considered today, enjoys the support of both Republicans and Democrats and does have a companion bill that has been introduced in the United States Senate.

I ask for your support of this particular bill.

Madam Speaker, I actually have no additional speakers, and I yield back the balance of my time.

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

I rise in support of H.R. 839. The Bureau of Reclamation's Weber Basin Project, which is located in northern Utah only a short distance from the historic Brigham City, stores and delivers water from the Weber River into its tributaries.

The Arthur V. Watkins Dam, which is part of the Weber Basin Project, is part of an off-stream reservoir on the northeastern edge of the Great Salt Lake. It is formed by a roughly rectangular perimeter dam that is about 14.5 miles long. Water from the Weber River near its outlet to the Great Salt Lake is diverted into the reservoir by the Willard Canal and pumped from the reservoir by that same canal for multiple purposes. In addition to providing water supply, the reservoir is a popular recreation facility.

Recent drought and a growing population of Utah have highlighted the need for additional water storage. As a result, the Weber Basin Water Conservancy District, a water user which manages the Arthur V. Watkins Dam and Reservoir, desires the Bureau of Reclamation's assistance in determining the feasibility of adding water storage capacity to the reservoir.

H.R. 839 authorizes such assistance. This bill passed in the 109th Congress by voice vote. I again ask for your support.

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

Madam Speaker, I rise in strong support of H.R. 1006, the Marine Mammal Rescue Assistance Act amendments.

This legislation, introduced by the distinguished Ranking Republican on the Natural Resources Committee, Don Young, and the ranking Republican on the Fisheries, Wildlife and Oceans Subcommittee, Henry Brown, will extend the John H. Prescott Marine Mammal Rescue Assistance Grant Program.

The Prescott Grant program was first authorized in 2000 to assist the National Marine Fisheries Service with recovery and rehabilitation of stranded marine mammals. The Prescott Grant program has been very successful in supporting facilities around the Nation which volunteer space and staff time to rehabilitate these sea creatures and return many of them to the wild.

The National Marine Fisheries Service has received $4 million in appropriations each year for the Prescott Marine Mammal Rescue Assistance Grants. In 2006, the Service issued 42 grants to facilities in coastal States. While the Prescott Grant program has been successful in these areas, there are still areas of the country that do not have appropriate coverage; the Alaska region and the Southeast region are two examples.

This legislation will increase funding for the Department of Commerce to address this lack of coverage and will also increase the number of grants that can be issued each year. The legislation will also cap administrative costs and roll over any unused funds into the grant program. The administration will have the authority to enter into cooperative agreements with trained personnel to allow for removal of floating debris from marine mammals to prevent the stranding and/or the death of those animals.

This legislation also authorizes emergency assistance funding. In addition, it will reauthorize funding for the Marine Mammal Unusual Mortality Event Fund, which allows the agency to respond to mass stranding events and reimburse facilities that have assisted in the response activity.

This is an important conservation bill. I urge an ``aye'' vote on

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

I rise in support of H.R. 759, which has been well explained by the subcommittee chairman. We support the designation of the Bob Hope Memorial Library. We urge the adoption of this particular bill.

In 1940, Bob Hope starred, with Paulette Goddard and Richard Carlson, in a remake of the movie ``The Ghost Breakers.'' In that picture, as they are talking about zombies that would be attacking the house that is owned by Paulette Goddard, she said, ``Zombies! That's horrible.'' Richard Carlson said, ``It's worse than horrible because a zombie has no will of his own. You see them sometimes walking around blindly with dead eyes, following orders, not knowing what they do, not caring.'' At which time Bob Hope said, ``Oh, you mean like Democrats.''

I am very grateful that the other side of the aisle has taken this opportunity to recognize and reward both the wit and the wisdom of Bob Hope with this piece of legislation. I firmly support it.

Madam Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

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

Mr. Speaker, it is said that politicians live in the past and statesmen vote for the future. Indeed, the options that we have today, both militarily and diplomatic, are based on votes that were taken by Congress 10 or 15 years ago.

The supplemental act recently unveiled by the Democratic majority appears to have been written by politicians, not statesmen. It includes the postponement of the acquisition of two F-35 fighter aircraft, which by itself does not seem too significant, but it bespeaks an attitude to be feared. For when we postpone the acquisition of technologically advanced military equipment, we place the future air superiority, something we have had since the Korean War and take for granted, in jeopardy. When we divert dollars from one branch of the military to support another branch of the military, we place all of the military in jeopardy. All four branches of the military deserve to be fully and adequately funded, and that is something this supplemental does not do.

This supplemental simply starts us down the road to a place where a future Congress will look back and criticize us for our failure to be statesmen.

Mr. Speaker, I rise to support H.R. 122, as amended, and yield myself such time as I may consume.

H.R. 122, sponsored by our colleague, David Dreier, authorizes the Bureau of Reclamation to participate in two water recycling projects in Southern California that will allow the water districts there to be less reliant on imported water.

As the water demand grows and supplies become more scarce in Southern California, this bill would help to drought-proof this arid area. These projects would add over 75,000 acre-feet of water annually to one of the last recycled water distribution systems in the Santa Ana River Watershed. This legislation passed the House during the past two Congresses, and I urge my colleagues to support this noncontroversial bill.

Mr. Speaker, I would like to yield as much time as he may consume to the sponsor of this piece of legislation, the gentleman from California (Mr. Dreier).

(Mr. DREIER asked and was given permission to revise and extend his remarks.)

Mr. Speaker, I have no further requests for time, and I yield back the balance of my time.

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

I rise in support of H.R. 467. H.R. 467, sponsored by our colleague Mike Simpson, allows for the early repayment of capital costs associated with a Federal water project in Idaho.

Under existing law, landowners who benefit from this water project cannot prepay the capital costs they owe to the Federal Government. But this bill gives the Bureau of Reclamation the ability to accept prepayment from these landowners. This legislation benefits the American taxpayer because it allows early revenue to flow into the U.S. Treasury and allows local landowners to reduce their debt.

I urge my colleagues to support this very good, commonsense bill.

Mr. Speaker, I have no further requests for time, and I yield back the balance of my time.

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

I rise in support of H.R. 276.

Last year the Republican majority was supportive of this measure, and this bill was passed in the House of Representatives. This year, we once again support this bill and commend Representative Capps for her work to recognize this historic site in her district.

Mr. Speaker, I have no further requests for time, and I yield back the balance of my time.

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

I rise in support of H.R. 903.

Mr. Speaker, H.R. 903 would require the Forest Service to review non- Federal lands in or adjacent to the Arapaho-Roosevelt National Forest and recommend strategies to maintain open space. Republicans do not object to this legislation, but considering the current budget constraints on the Forest Service, we believe funds would be better used to tackle the enormous risk of catastrophic wildfire in Colorado. Currently, 42 percent of Colorado's forests are suffering from bark beetle infestation, which continues to spread and will likely kill thousands of acres of trees. These dead and dying trees pose extremely high wildfire risks to Colorado's forests. Surely funds would be better spent on removing dead and dying trees that pose a tremendous threat to homes and communities, watersheds and wildlife habitat.

Moreover, we believe that local and State governments should address open space and smart growth options rather than Federal Government agencies based here in Washington, D.C. While we commend Mr. Udall's good intentions, we believe recommendations and solutions to these problems should come from the counties and the States, not from the Federal Government.

Mr. Speaker, I have no further requests for time, and I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of H.R. 995 and yield myself such time as I may consume.

Mr. Speaker, H.R. 995 has been adequately explained by the majority and we support the extension to establish a memorial honoring our disabled veterans.

I note that the original law authorizing this memorial was authorized by our own war hero, Congressman Sam Johnson of Texas. Last year, Congressman Sue Kelly of New York introduced this extension bill, and I am happy to see that Congressman Hare is carrying on her legacy. I urge the adoption of the bill.

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

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

Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of H.R. 299, and I yield myself such time as I may consume.

Mr. Speaker, the majority has adequately explained this bill, which passed the House in the 109th Congress and is supported by the administration. I urge adoption of this bill.

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

Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of H.R. 247 and yield myself 45 seconds.

Mr. Speaker, the majority has adequately explained this bill. We have no objections. It is a good bill.

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

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

Mr. Speaker, the majority has adequately explained H.R. 1047, but I wish to note that while this legislation passed in the House in the 109th Congress, it is not supported by the administration because the memorial is not distinguished beyond that of many war memorials, and it is not known whether it meets the criteria of national significance.

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

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