Floor Statements

Madam Speaker, I rise today to call attention to the 5th Annual Sea Otter Awareness Week, September 23-29, 2007, sponsored by Defenders of Wildlife. This week-long event provides the opportunity to educate the broader public about sea otters, their natural history, the integral role that sea otters play in the near-shore marine ecosystem, and the conservation issues they are facing.

In the past, the killing of these animals for their fur brought their numbers down to less than 100 by the 1930s. The decline of southern sea otter populations not only has impacts on the species itself, but also affects other marine populations and the surrounding ecosystem. For instance, the demise of sea otters allows their prey sea urchins to proliferate unchecked, which leads to the alarming overgrazing of kelp beds--one of the ocean's nursery grounds for many marine animals. In particular, research shows that the absence of sea otters has a direct link to the sharp decline of kelp along portions of California's coast. Sea otter research also has proven to be an effective method of monitoring toxins and diseases in the marine environment, both of which can affect the health of humans and other wildlife.

The presence of the California sea otter has become an icon of the State's coastal environment and culture, and these charismatic animals bring significant tourism revenue to Californian coastal communities. Protecting them is not only directly advantageous to the otter population, but also fosters indirect benefits on a greater scale.

Groups such as Defenders of Wildlife, Friends of the Sea Otter, The Otter Project, and The Ocean Conservancy have raised public awareness and helped protect this important species under the Marine Mammal Protection Act and the Endangered Species Act. Due to these efforts, the southern sea otter population has increased to more than 2,800 animals.

However, these numbers are still significantly less than what is necessary to consider the population stable and their population growth in recent years is slower than expected. Researchers are beginning to identify indirect hazards for sea otters such as non-point source pollution, pathogens, and entrapment in fisheries gear that are causing their population growth to slow. Such realizations support the need for continued research and preventive measures to respond to these issues, while continuing to ward against the direct killings/takings that still occur.

California has taken the first step toward addressing these emerging concerns by signing into law California Assembly Bill 2485, which establishes a State fund for sea otter conservation. This year Californians had the option of donating a portion of their tax returns to sea otter conservation. To date, this has raised $145,000.

However, this is a federally protected species and the State cannot go it alone. In addition to working with my colleagues to secure Federal funds to support a continued and complete recovery of the population, I am also introducing the Southern Sea Otter Recovery and Research Act today. This bill provides for research and recovery programs for the southern sea otter.

Madam Speaker, I applaud the many accomplishments of Defenders of Wildlife and other non-profit environmental organizations, working with the Monterey Bay Aquarium, researchers, fishermen, State and Federal agencies, schools, and many other institutions and individuals, who devote tremendous effort to protect and recover the southern/California sea otter. Sea Otter Awareness Week is just one of their many activities geared towards honoring and saving this species, and I am proud to be associated with this vital work.

Madam Speaker, I rise today to recognize one of my district's most outstanding citizens, Violet de Cristoforo. Today, the National Endowment for the Arts will honor Mrs. de Cristoforo with a National Heritage Fellowship Award, our country's highest honor in folk and traditional arts.

Violet de Cristoforo was born Kazue Yamane in Ninole, Hawaii. At the age of 8 she was sent to Hiroshima, Japan for her primary education. Then at the age of 13 she returned to the United States to attend high school in Fresno, California. Upon her graduation Mrs. de Cristoforo married Shigaru Matsuda. It was also around this time that Mrs. de Cristoforo joined the Valley Ginsha Haiku Kai, a local haiku kais, or poetry club, and began focusing on the newer kaiko style that loosened haiku traditional 5-7-5 structure.

With the onset of WWII, Mrs. de Cristoforo, her husband and three children were moved to forced detention facility in Jerome, Arkansas. After her husband refused to complete a questionnaire, the family was split up; Mrs. de Cristoforo and her children were sent to Tule Lake, California, while her husband was sent to a detention facility in Santa Fe, New Mexico. While under forced internment, she wrote hundreds of haikus reflecting on her environment and everyday life in the camps. Sadly, only fifteen of the hundreds of haikus survived upon her release in 1946.

It is important that we recognize Mrs. de Cristoforo not only for her own haikus but for the hard work and dedication she contributed to the preservation, translation and publication of other haikus of the Japanese culture and life in the forced internment camps. Mrs. Cristoforo's own book, ``Poetic Reflections of the Tule Lake Internment Camp, 1944'' was published over 40 years after it was originally written. Years later Mrs. de Cristoforo compiled the haikus of many former internment camp poets and published, ``May Sky: There's Always Tomorrow: A History and Anthology of Haiku''. These poems are not just their history; they are part of our American history, because these people were also Americans.

It is sad that so few of these works survived that time, for not only were many lost in the camps but, prior to their forced detention when many of them were destroyed. At the time Mrs. de Cristoforo and her husband ran a small bookstore in Fresno. This material is forever lost which makes her work that much more important.

Madam Speaker, Violet Kazue de Cristoforo is truly deserving of our thanks and her recognition by the NEA with the National Heritage Fellowship Award is but a small token of appreciation for a lifetime of dedication and sacrifice.

Madam Speaker, I rise today to honor the achievements of a truly exceptional member of her community. On this day we celebrate Mrs. Ann M. Soldo's 50 years of service and membership in Soroptimist International of Watsonville, as well as the many other important accomplishments and contributions she has made for the city of Watsonville. Over the years she has been an invaluable asset to the community. She has served as an educator of our youth, a leader in local politics, and as a member of countless clubs and organizations. All of these activities speak volumes about her commitment to improving the lives of others.

Ann began her education in Watsonville, California at Pajaro Elementary School and later studied at Watsonville Union High School. She received her associate of arts degree from Hartnell College in 1940 and a bachelor of arts degree from San Jose State University in 1942. Upon graduating, Ann began a career in education, teaching at the Hall District School. Throughout the 1940s and 1950s, Ann taught at several other elementary schools, including a U.S. Army School in Germany. In 1954 she received her master's degree from Stanford University and eventually moved from teacher to principal, constantly demonstrating her penchant for leadership. After years of educating young minds, she finally retired from Pajaro Valley Unified School District in 1978.

Although she had completed her career in education, Ann continued to demonstrate exemplary leadership in the community. In 1979 she was elected to the Watsonville City Council and was appointed vice-mayor. In 1983 Ann made history when she became the first female mayor of the city of Watsonville.

Ann has contributed countless hours to community organizations in the pursuit of helping others. She has been a president of the Seniors Council of Santa Cruz County, Soroptimist International of Watsonville, the California Elementary School Administration Central Coast Section, the Pajaro Valley Performing Arts Association, and the Multiple Sclerosis Society of Monterey Bay; to name just a few. She has also served as a board member for the Watsonville Community Hospital and the Visiting Nurse Association of Santa Cruz County and other charitable organizations. Mrs. Soldo is extremely well respected for her years of hard work and dedication to helping others. In the year 2000 the Ann Soldo Elementary School, named in her honor, opened its doors in Watsonville, California.

Her 50 years of membership to Soroptimist International of Watsonville will be celebrated on September 17, 2007 with the declaration of this date as Ann M. Soldo Day. The mission of Soroptimist International is to ``improve the lives of women and girls in local communities and throughout the world.'' As her outstanding record of community service demonstrates, Ann has truly lived this motto throughout her years as an educator and local leader, and through her selfless involvement in community organizations. I am honored to know this amazing woman and am proud to acknowledge her tremendous achievements.

Madam Speaker, I rise today to honor two great American families and the company that they have created. That company, Tanimura & Antle, turns 25 years old this fall. In that time, T&A has grown into the Nation's largest privately held lettuce company, shipping over 150,000 cartons of fresh produce daily. While you may have never heard the name, I can guarantee that every member of this House has eaten something grown and shipped by T&A. I know I speak for the whole House in expressing our congratulations to the company's employees and partners for their past and continued success.

Of course the story of any company is the story of the people behind it. And in the case of Tanimura & Antle that story is of the two families who have given their names, not to mention their expertise, creativity, passion, dedication, and time to build the company that we know today.

The Tanimuras first immigrated to California's Central Coast in the late 19th century and settled in San Juan Bautista. By the 1920s the second generation of Tanimuras had started farming lettuce in the Salinas Valley and began raising a large third generation family of 12 children. During WWII, the U.S. government interred the family in Arizona while one of the sons, Charlie Tanimura, served in the U.S. Army in Europe. Following the war and their release from internment, several of the Tanimura brothers reestablished themselves in the Salinas Valley lettuce business and began selling crops to local lettuce brokers. One of those brokers, Bud Antle, so trusted the quality of the Tanimuras' product that he entered into an exclusive contract with them. Older brother George Tanimura and Bud Antle became trusted friends, and that legacy has passed on through the generations.

Bud Antle followed his father Lester into the lettuce business in the 1930s. They started their own packing and shipping operation in the early 1940s. Based on their relationships with growers such as the Tanimura's, the Antle's operation grew throughout the 1940s. In the 1950s, Bud Antle led the produce industry to shift from railcars to refrigerated trucks to ship produce to market. That meant lettuce and other crops arrived fresher and lasted longer, helping to further expand consumption. In the 1970s, Bud's son Bob took over the enterprise.

During the 1970s, the personal and professional relationships between the Tanimura's and the Antles grew. Finally, in 1982, seven Tanimuras-- brothers George, Bobby, Charlie, Johnny and Tommy, and their nephews, Gary and Keith, partnered with Bob, and his sons Rick and Mike Antle to form T&A. This amounted to a perfect marriage between world-class farmers and world-class shippers. It is a marriage that over the last 25 years, has enriched the Salinas Valley and California as a whole in so many ways, economically, culturally, socially. For example, the T&A company has been a leader in raising wage and working conditions for their workforce and setting the standard for the produce industry generally. The families themselves have become great patrons of one of California's newest universities, California State University Monterey Bay, that grew out of the closure of Fort Ord.

Madam Speaker, the story of the Tanimuras and the Antles is a great American story. It is an example to us all that success comes from cooperation and in that teaches us, in the words of George Tanimura that ``many are stronger than one.''

Madam Speaker, I rise today to express my appreciation and support for South Bay Stand Down For Homeless Veterans. From September 8th through September 10, 2007, the United States Department of Veterans Affairs is reaching out to homeless military veterans living in the South San Francisco Bay region.

Held in Santa Cruz County, South Bay Stand Down aims to reduce the many barriers faced by homeless veterans and to assist them with a wide variety of services. For three days, veterans will be able to access clothing, food, water, and shelter, and can interface with a wide variety of government and public service organizations. Veterans will have the ability to learn about benefits that they may be entitled to, and even access free legal assistance and health services.

I am truly inspired to see that the South Bay Stand Down for Homeless Veterans is a community effort. A diverse array of organizations have come together to ensure that the problem of homelessness among military veterans is properly addressed. Notable participants include the Veterans Transition Center, the County of Santa Cruz Veterans Services Office, Capitola Vet Center, Shelter Network, Not This Time Vets, Easter Seals, and the Red Cross.

Homeless veterans face incredible hurdles in areas of life that many people simply take for granted. Access to shelter, food, and employment are immeasurably more difficult to attain. With as many as 50,000 homeless veterans living in the state of California alone, it is imperative that the government and local communities reach out to assist those who have served our nation. The South Bay Stand Down accomplishes just that. I commend the participating veterans and organizations for their willingness to better the lives of our community members.

Madam Speaker, I wish to express my gratitude to the organizers of South Bay Stand Down and to all of the participating organizations. To the veterans who attend, I offer my most sincere appreciation for your service in the armed forces of our nation. I can think of no other group more deserving of community support and recognition than the men and women who served in the United States military.

I thank the gentleman for yielding.

Mr. Speaker, I would like to rise after my colleague from California as a fellow Californian and tell him he is dead wrong. This is the best bill you could ever have for investment in California. We are booming with energy alternatives. And do you know what we have done? We have banned offshore oil. The public in California does that unanimously. We are not about oil in California; we are about investment in the future.

This bill allows the utility companies, which now every utility company in California gives a rebate. There are companies in California that are buying cars for their workers if they are hybrid cars. This allows the incentive to be increased, doubled, tripled.

This is about investment, and I just totally disagree with my colleague on the other side of the aisle. It is not about looking at the future through the rearview mirror; it is about investment. That is what this bill is all about. This is the best gift you could ever have in the tool box to help California grow economically.

I ask for an ``aye'' vote on this bill.

Madam Speaker, I rise today to pay tribute to a man who has committed his life to public service. Officer James Howes of the Santa Cruz Police Department in Santa Cruz, California will retire on September 6, 2007, after more than 26 years of personal sacrifice for his community and his country.

Officer Howes was born in Monterey, California and has since spent most of his life in the Monterey Bay area. A graduate of Watsonville High School, he later went on to study at Cabrillo Community College and the University of Phoenix, where he earned a degree in Business Management.

As a young man, Jim enlisted in the United States Marine Corps to defend our homeland. Stationed in Camp Pendleton, California and Okinawa, Japan, he attained the rank of Sergeant while proudly serving our nation.

Throughout his 26-year career at the Santa Cruz Police Department, Officer Howes has protected the public as a Patrol Officer, Field Training Officer, and as a DUI Enforcement Officer, where he helped keep dangerous drunk drivers off of our roads. For 8 years, Officer Howes has served as the Santa Cruz Police Department's Community Service Specialist. He has helped to empower his community and has coordinated the National Night Out, the Citizen's Police Academy, and Business and Neighborhood Watch Programs.

Serving as a member of law enforcement is never easy. Each time a police officer such as

Officer Howes reports to the scene, they can rarely know what to expect. The sacrifices they make are shared with their families, who have the same uncertainty every time these brave men and women leave for work. I would therefore like to recognize the sacrifice that Officer Howes' family has also made during his years of service. Officer Howes and his family have certainly made a significant contribution to the city of Santa Cruz, and I truly appreciate their efforts.

In addition to the outstanding work he has done as a member of law enforcement, Officer Howes regularly serves his community while off duty. He teaches vocational programs to local high school and college students, placing an emphasis on law enforcement and career guidance. Through his great efforts to create a better Santa Cruz, Officer Howes has garnered the admiration of his community, and in 2006, was chosen as a Community Hero by the Santa Cruz County Community Assessment Project through the United Way. The service and dedication that Officer Howes has shown throughout the course of his career further proves that he is a hero.

Madam Speaker, I take this opportunity to thank and congratulate Officer James Howes for his many years of commitment and service to the city of Santa Cruz and to the people who live there. Although he will retire soon, I am sure that his commitment to the city of Santa Cruz will last throughout his life.

Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman for yielding, and I thank Chairman Rosa DeLauro for an incredible bill that I would like to get to so we can vote on it.

The debate on this rule I think just shows what is going on here, which is a reason to stall, a reason to just eat up the time so that we really don't get to the underlying issues. Because they know when we pass this bill it is going to pass with a bipartisan vote.

No, I will not yield; and I want to say why.

In law, you learn an old adage that says, in order to get equity, you have got to show equity.

The other night we were on the floor with a bunch of amendments, and the amendment was debated, and it was accepted by the chairwoman. And then we went on and debated with motions to adjourn, motions to rise for a number of hours.

The gentleman who offered the original amendment that was adopted also had 11 other amendments. This is a $100 billion operation, the U.S. Department of Agriculture, $100 billion. His amendments were to cut $50,000, another amendment for $60,000, another amendment for $7,000, another amendment for $39,000. And it went on. The list went on and on. He could have put all of those into one amendment. It still wouldn't have even matched $1 million.

So the point is that these were all dilatory amendments to just try to delay the time; and I think that equity was not shown, partnership was not shown, bipartisanship was not shown. And that is why we have a rule that is fair, allows these amendments, 12 more, to be debated, and the self-executing rule did self-execute some Republican amendments as well.

I urge the adoption of this rule.

Mr. Chairman, I rise in opposition to this amendment.

Let's be practical. This is about rural America. These are about towns that are under 20,000 people who have come together and decided they want to build community facilities, community centers so people can get together and solve problems. They have to put up the money for their match, and they are asking for a competitive grant program, means that their ideas have got to compete with other ideas in small towns around the Nation.

This gentleman gets up and berates the fact that he is taking all this time to cut this money out of rural America for something that they want. You go back and tell your taxpayers that, while we are sitting here, we spent $13,732,620 in Iraq in one hour, in one hour. And they are building community centers over there for the Iraqis. We can build community centers for our communities in the United States.

I oppose this amendment.

Announcement by the Acting Chairman

Mr. Chairman, I rise in opposition to this amendment, and I hope the author will tell that mother in rural America that his money cuts grants to rural areas, to her local schools in rural areas, to her hospitals and to her rural businesses who all want to get access to broadband. They're leaving the rural area because they don't have this.

Also tell that mother that the same amount of money is being spent in Iraq in 45 minutes, in 45 minutes. In just the time of this debate, we're spending more money than this amendment cuts in Iraq to build those things that he wants to cut away from rural America.

This amendment is wrong. I oppose it.

Mr. Chairman, I rise in opposition to this amendment for a very practical reason. The State of California, which is probably the most populous State in the United States, has done more for cutting energy costs by doing energy conservation and renewable energy. It has built all kinds of plants, all kinds of opportunities for renewable energy. It has reduced the per capita energy use in the United States to the lowest per capita in the country, doing the best job. And every one of those facilities was built under Davis-Bacon law.

It is not a problem. We have built every courthouse, every schoolhouse, every road, every capital in this country. It has been on the books for a long, long time. And this is just a get at labor, get at people, try to cut wages, go to the lowest cost. Essentially, it increases all kinds of imported labor.

This is the wrong way to do it. It is a mean amendment, and it should be defeated.

Mr. Chairman, I thank the gentlewoman for yielding.

None of this money comes to my State or the universities in California involved in this consortia, but the State of California and other States, including Mr. Flake's own, are very interested in the outcome of this. I will tell you why. Because the rangelands

of America are under great threat; and certainly in those rangelands in the rural areas, you raise cattle and sheep and bison, which we don't raise in our State.

But what this grant does, why you ought to be interested in it, is that they're learning new ways in which to graze. What they're doing is studying the effects of grazing herds of cattle, horses, sheep all together, because they eat different kinds of grass, and if you herd them essentially, move them on, you can preserve and bring back the native grasses, which is what we want to do.

Our cattlemen are very interested in this process, and this is the place to do that study. You get kind of a funny name for some of these things like this Ruminant Nutrition Consortium, but, in fact, it's a grant program. It is competitive, and the benefits of it are I think what keeps America strong. We've got to keep putting money into research dollars.

You know, if this was medical research, you wouldn't be criticizing it, but it's agricultural research, and it sounds funny. But, you know, you didn't take on my earmark, which was about lettuce and germ plasma. That's a pretty funny one, but it's very important if you like lettuce and you want to keep America ahead in the lettuce world.

So striking these few earmarks, by your time, trying to do this, fortunately, I think you are a great Member and you get an A for effort; but you also get A for 100 percent failure in being able to strike earmarks, because these are good earmarks.

Madam Speaker, I rise today to honor the Monterey Jazz Festival, which will celebrate its 50th anniversary this September in remarkable style. The Monterey Jazz Festival is a nonprofit organization that provides year-round jazz education programs locally, regionally, nationally, and internationally. The festival is famous for being the longest running jazz festival in the world and deserves recognition for its dedication to enabling the uniquely American form of music to remain alive in our community and country.

The Monterey Jazz Festival began as a dream for cofounders Jimmy Lyons and Ralph Gleason. In 1958, the dream finally became a reality with the commencement of the first Monterey Jazz Festival. The festival attracted many brilliant artists to the stage such as Dizzy Gillespie, Louis Armstrong, John Lewis, Shelly Manne, Gerry Mulligan, Art Farmer, Ernestine Anderson, Harry James, Max Roach and Billie Holiday. Ever since that initial festival, one full weekend in September is devoted to the Monterey Jazz Festival, which presents the best jazz performers in the world for a 3-day celebration. The Monterey Jazz Festival not only presents live performances, but it also features jazz conversations, panel discussions, workshops, exhibitions, clinics,

and an international array of food, shopping and festivities spread across the 3-day extravaganza.

Although the Monterey Jazz Festival is mostly recognized for its importance to the legacy of jazz, it is also devoted to keeping jazz alive in future generations and has donated its proceeds to musical education since its beginning. In fact, every spring, the Monterey Jazz Festival holds the ``Next Generation Festival'' which invites top student bands from across the country to compete in several music competitions, attend clinics and concerts, and even audition for the Next Generation Jazz Orchestra. By conferring so many educational scholarships to deserving students, the Monterey Jazz Festival displays its commitment to music and education. After 50 years of incredible jazz performances, the Monterey Jazz Festival continues to keep the tradition alive.

Madam Speaker, it is an honor to recognize an organization that is so deeply devoted to the perpetuation and education of jazz. I am excited for this year's celebration and look forward to many more years of jazz in the Monterey Peninsula.

Mr. Chairman, I thank the chairwoman for yielding to me.

I am the only Californian that sits on the Agriculture Appropriations Committee, and I am very proud that this bill is in partnership with the progressive new provisions that were adopted last week in the farm bill. This spends the money to implement those provisions. As the Chair just said, this bill takes us in a new direction, a direction that rural America can be really proud of.

Many people know California as the most populous State and think of our large metropolitan areas. But few know that California is the number one ag-producing State in the United States. Every one of the 58 counties in California produces agriculture, from the smallest county in San Francisco, which has nursery and flower stock, to the most populous county in California, Los Angeles County, with row crops and cattle ranches.

The new leadership in Congress has taken us in a new direction. That direction is good news for rural America. That is good news for fresh foods, for fresh vegetables and fresh fruits to get into the diet. This bill takes us in a new direction for consumers. A new direction so that people have choices. A new direction for green technology to be used in the energy field. A new direction for conservation to be a part of good management practices.

I applaud the committee's new Chair for taking us in a new direction and the opportunity for farming in America to be economically viable. This is good because it preserves open space and preserves the rural character, which is such a strength of this country.

For California, this is good news. Our agriculture is like our technology. It's changing, always changing. It needs to be state-of- the-art of technology, of research, of university work. We are the leaders in organic growing, from wines to artichokes. I am proud to represent the part of California that is called the ``Salad Bowl Capital of the World.'' The farmers who implement the best management practices in caring not only for their farm workers, and there is a big discussion on that in issues with immigration, but we have the largest farm worker force in the United States and they are now getting paid good wages. In fact, a lot of them have their own health care plans, which most Americans don't have, and they have 401(k)s for their families and scholarships for their children to go to school. This is a new attitude about farm workers.

I want to thank Congresswoman DeLauro, the Chair of this committee, for taking America into a new direction, a more healthy direction.

Let's reject the reckless amendments to this bill that undermine the positive gains made for America. This is a good appropriations bill. I applaud the Chair, Mr. Obey, for bringing it to the floor and to the members of the committee, and I urge all my colleagues to adopt this bill.

Mr. Chairman, I move to strike the last word.

Mr. Chairman, the underlying amendment of the Agriculture appropriations bill, the amendment that is on the floor, strikes $50,050 from the Office of the Secretary of Agriculture, $50,050. We have now on this side accepted the amendment. The other side has used over 1 hour of procedural delay, which essentially has spent that $50,000 on the operation of the Capitol with no savings to the taxpayer; and I think that these people who get up and talk about fiscal responsibility ought to learn a little bit of oratorical responsibility.

I yield back the balance of my time.

Madam Chair, parliamentary inquiry.

Mr. Chairman, I rise in support of H.R. 2419, the Farm, Nutrition, and Bioenergy Act of 2007 and urge my colleagues to pass this meaningful legislation.

I want to thank Chairman Peterson for crafting this legislation and I also want to again thank the Chairman for visiting my district and talking and listening with my farmers and ranchers on the Central Coast of California.

I am glad the Chairman got to experience the rangelands of South County Monterey and the mile after mile of nutritious fresh produce as we drove through the Salad Bowl of the World, the Salinas Valley.

As the number one agriculture State in the union, California for too long has been the stepchild of farm policy. My own district grows more than 85 crops commercially with a value of more than $4 billion.

Our region leads the nation in the production of artichokes, broccoli, brussels sprouts, cauliflower, celery, garlic, several varieties of lettuce, spinach, strawberries, flowers and foliage.

The Central Coast contains some of the most fertile and productive farm land in the world. It's a combination of soil, climate, and private risk capital because for too long specialty crop growers in California have sat on the sidelines as other commodities received the largess of Federal assistance.

H.R. 2419 takes farm policy in a new direction, for the first time in the history of the Farm Bill we have a package that has something for everyone.

Specialty crop growers finally will get the investment of mandatory funds for vital research, technical assistance, pest detection, market promotion, and much needed produce food safety will all receive mandatory funding.

With this influx of money we can go beyond new farm policy, we can promote health policy as part of the farm bill.

This great health debate is taking place in American homes, in the medical community, and in schools. For the first time we now have a link from farm programs to healthy nutritious fruits and vegetables.

Here we are as a society, talking constantly about obesity and diets, and yet until now our farm policies were not structured to encourage the kind of diet that the food pyramid suggests we should adopt.

I have said it many times--if people would eat more of what California grows we would be healthier for it. Specialty Crops are now taking its rightful place at the center of the debate on how to solve the problem.

The Agriculture Committee's version provides funding for important conservation programs, nutrition programs, and a strong farm safety net to protect America's farm economy.

H.R. 2419 includes additional funding for conservation programs, $350 million to expand the fruit and vegetable snack program to schools throughout the country, $365 million to fund the specialty crop block grant program, funding for pest exclusion activities, $215 million for specialty crop research, and $30 million for organic research.

I want to make special note of the $25 million in mandatory spending for the produce food safety grants included in this bill. As ground zero for the spinach E. Coli outbreak last year I understand all too well what happens when the food system breaks down.

I am thankful for the $25 million investment in mandatory research grants so we can gain the needed knowledge and understanding so we never have to go through this kind of outbreak again.

All of these provisions provide significant benefits to California's specialty crop growers, who make up the majority of California agriculture.

Mr. Chairman, I move to strike the last word.

Mr. Chairman, I would like to enter into a colloquy with the chairman.

First of all, I want to thank the chairman and ranking member of the committee. Many of you remember, last year I was down here haranguing the committee for dropping the ``O'' for oceans out of NOAA, and I want to thank the chairman for putting the ``O'' back into the National Oceanic Atmospheric Administration in this year's CJS appropriations bill, and I want to thank the gentleman for providing ample funding for the National Marine Sanctuary program as well.

It is the funds in the sanctuary program's construction account that I would like to ask the chairman about.

The Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary would like to build a visitor's center in the city of Santa Cruz. This center will be the only one of its kind in the country. The site was chosen because it attracts people that do not regularly have access to the ocean.

It is my understanding that this project is one of NOAA's highest priorities, and they intend to grant the city of Santa Cruz $5 million from the construction account for the visitors center.

The question is, is it the intent of the committee to support the partnership between NOAA and the city of Santa Cruz by providing NOAA with the necessary funds so that they can grant the $5 million to the city of Santa Cruz for the construction of the visitors center? The money is included in the bill.

I yield to the gentleman from West Virginia.

I thank the chairman. That was the purpose of this, to get that intent on record, and I want to thank the ranking member as well.

Amendment Offered by Mr. Etheridge

Mr. Chairman, I move to strike the last word.

Mr. Chairman, I didn't come here to speak on this issue. I've certainly, I think like most Members of Congress, been following the sensation that television and others have made of this issue. But in the debate, I just wanted to share a couple of things that I've observed as a member of the Appropriations Subcommittee on Homeland Security and as Member of Congress who spent several days traveling all along the border with the Border Patrol.

It was very interesting because I ran into a lot of people that had been detained. I speak Spanish and was able to interview many of the people that were detained, and we don't really get into the day-to-day administration of the detention, release and so on. What was very interesting and kind of surprising to me, because this case has been argued in the media and certainly here on the floor, I was a little bit shocked by the last speaker who indicated that this is not a matter of facts. It is a matter of facts, and I think that we don't always deal with the facts.

I would point out that the drug dealer, the person that was shot in this case, was released. Did you know that the U.S. Attorney's office does not prosecute anybody who brings less than $5,000 worth of drugs across the border, less than $5,000? A lot of those marijuana packs that the smugglers carry are determined to be less than $5,000, and so nobody who is essentially

a mula is arrested, arrested but not detained.

We also, when we detain people, we give them the option, Do you understand you're now arrested? You have the right to a trial by jury as anybody in this country would have a right to unless you waive it. And 99.9 percent of everybody waives that and, therefore, gets released to their country of origin.

So this catch-and-release is not unusual. In fact, it's the norm, and the fact that this gentleman wasn't prosecuted for his drug record is of other facts.

What really struck me, and I'm just sharing, this is anecdotal information, but I think this amendment and the Congress bringing this up, in my opinion, is an abuse of power. Why? Because if, indeed, and I don't know the sentencing of these border patrolmen, but I know that there is a process if these sentences are extreme, you can appeal those. We have a sentencing commission, and the courts certainly review that. And so I think there is a remedy within our justice system to appeal where the sentences are too harsh.

But here's the thing that's most interesting to me. I didn't find one single member of the Border Patrol that supported these two people that had been arrested, who had been convicted by trial of law. So, on this floor, you're making them out as national heroes. They were convicted in a court of law in the United States for wrongdoing, and I think that, as the chairman has indicated, that it is not wise for the Congress to second-guess and make this a sensational case.

I've visited high school friends who were convicted of drug issues in prison, and I sympathize with everything that people say about these gentlemen, about their families and about the situation of being incarcerated. But I'm also concerned as a Member of Congress that we ought not to override the jurisprudence system that we've established in this country, and that I do think that the remedies in law lie in a court of law, and therefore, this amendment is not appropriate.

Mr. Chairman, I yield back.