Floor Statements

Mr. Speaker, I proudly pause to recognize John Carpenter Erickson. John is a very special young man who has exemplified the finest qualities of citizenship and leadership by taking an active part in the Boy Scouts of America, Troop 5, and earning the most prestigious award of Eagle Scout.

John has been very active with his troop, participating in many scout activities. Over the many years John has been involved with scouting, he has not only earned numerous merit badges, but also the respect of his family, peers, and community. John has also contributed to his community through his Eagle Scout project. John led an effort to redo the community garden at Camp Mabry. John mapped out plant beds, ordered the necessary materials, recruited and coordinated volunteers, and handled the logistics of the food that was donated.

Mr. Speaker, I proudly ask you to join me in commending John Carpenter Erickson for his accomplishments with the Boy Scouts of America and for his efforts put forth in achieving the highest distinction of Eagle Scout.

Mr. Speaker, I proudly pause to recognize David Stengel Erickson. David is a very special young man who has exemplified the finest qualities of citizenship and leadership by taking an active part in the Boy Scouts of America, Troop 5, and earning the most prestigious award of Eagle Scout.

David has been very active with his troop, participating in many scout activities. Over the many years David has been involved with scouting, he has not only earned numerous merit badges, but also the respect of his family, peers, and community. David has also contributed to his community through his Eagle Scout project. David raised $3,800 to resod the playground at the Helping Hand Home for Children. He planned, coordinated, and recruited all of the volunteers. Furthermore, David handled the logistics of food and beverage donations for the volunteers, so that they had something to eat and drink while they worked.

Mr. Speaker, I proudly ask you to join me in commending David Stengel Erickson for his accomplishments with the Boy Scouts of America and for his efforts put forth in achieving the highest distinction of Eagle Scout.

Mr. Speaker, I proudly pause to recognize Elijah Bosley. Elijah is a very special young man who has exemplified the finest qualities of citizenship and leadership by taking an active part in the Boy Scouts of America, Troop 412, and earning the most prestigious award of Eagle Scout.

Elijah has been very active with his troop, participating in many scout activities. Over the many years Elijah has been involved with scouting, he has not only earned numerous merit badges, but also the respect of his family, peers, and community. Most notably, Elijah held the rank of Tom Beater in the Tribe of Mico-Say and earned both the National Outdoor Achievement and the World Conservation Award. Elijah has also contributed to his community through his Eagle Scout project. Elijah led the construction and installation of 4 benches in the Harbor Lake neighborhood. The benches will be utilized as resting spots and scenic areas along the trail system in the neighborhood. Additionally, one bench is a bus stop location for school age kids.

Mr. Speaker, I proudly ask you to join me in commending Elijah for his accomplishments with the Boy Scouts of America and for his efforts put forth in achieving the highest distinction of Eagle Scout.

Mr. Speaker, for the purposes of debate only, I yield the customary 30 minutes to the gentleman from Washington (Mr. Larsen), the ranking member of the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure, pending which I yield myself such time as I may consume.

General Leave

Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may have 5 legislative days to revise and extend their remarks and include extraneous materials on the veto message on H.J. Res. 27.

Mr. Speaker, I am proud to once again rise in support of H.J. Res. 27, which I introduced to negate an ill-timed and ill-conceived rule coming out of the Biden administration.

I remind my colleagues on both sides of the aisle that since I last spoke on the floor of this Chamber in support of H.J. Res. 27, the resolution passed both the House and the Senate with bipartisan support.

While the Clean Water Act has greatly improved the health of our Nation's waters in the 50 years since it has become law, this administration's rule defining a ``water of the United States,'' or WOTUS, is just the latest in a string of examples of executive overreach beyond the intent of the Clean Water Act.

Decades of agency interpretations and misinterpretations of WOTUS have created a lot of uncertainty for rural communities, farmers, businesses, and industries that rely on clean water, and this rule does absolutely nothing to provide clarity.

In his message to the House regarding the veto of this legislation, the President claims that H.J. Res. 27 ``would leave Americans without a clear definition of `waters of the United States.'''

This is simply untrue and disingenuous, especially considering it was his own administration that decided to get rid of the 2020 Navigable Waters Protection Rule, which provided long-awaited clarity on the scope of WOTUS, in favor of this new overreaching and unclear definition.

This issue matters to everyday Americans all over the country, and I hear about it all the time.

I am disappointed to see the President favor radical environmental activists over America's families, small businesses, farmers, builders, and property owners.

That being said, I am hopeful that the Members of the House and Senate can come together to override this veto, terminating this ambiguous and burdensome rule in favor of greater economic prosperity for Americans nationwide.

Recently, two Federal courts halted enforcement of the administration's rule, granting relief to farmers, homebuilders, and landowners in 26 States.

Every Member today has the opportunity to vote to override the President's veto and ensure all 50 States are relieved of the burdens this rule has created.

Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to join me in voting to override the President's veto of H.J. Res. 27, and I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from Arkansas (Mr. Crawford), the chairman of the Highways and Transit Subcommittee.

Mr. Speaker, I yield 4 minutes to the gentleman from North Carolina (Mr. Rouzer), the cosponsor of the resolution and the chairman of the Water Resources and Environment Subcommittee.

Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from California (Mr. Duarte), who is somebody who personally knows how disruptive this rule can be.

Mr. Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to the gentleman from Tennessee (Mr. Burchett).

Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from New York (Mr. Williams).

Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from Pennsylvania (Mr. Perry), who is the chairman of the Economic Development, Public Buildings, and Emergency Management Subcommittee.

Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentlewoman from Oklahoma (Mrs. Bice).

Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from Kansas (Mr. Mann).

Mr. Speaker, I yield myself the balance of my time to close.

Mr. Speaker, the administration's definition of ``waters of the United States'' under the Clean Water Act is an onerous, burdensome, and ambiguous rule that is going to create even more issues for hardworking farmers, builders, small businesses, and property owners throughout the Nation.

While the President claims that the rule is going to help advance infrastructure projects, economic investment, and agricultural activities in his veto message, this simply is not the case. Instead, this costly, overreaching rule favors radical environmentalists at the expense of infrastructure, agriculture, and economic growth and those who depend on these activities.

Last month, Members from both parties in the House and Senate came together to stand up for everyday Americans by rejecting this flawed rule. Today, we have the opportunity to do so again.

Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to override the President's veto and vote in support of H.J. Res. 27, and I yield back the balance of my time.

The previous question was ordered.

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

Mr. Chair, I rise today in support of H.R. 1, the Lower Energy Costs Act, which will unlock United States energy potential, benefiting Missourians and Americans nationwide.

Broadly speaking, this bill is important for so many reasons, from increasing domestic energy production to encouraging the production of critical minerals to modernizing the NEPA process for energy and other infrastructure projects. This bill does exactly what the title says.

Division C of the bill was produced by the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, and it focuses on streamlining and clarifying the scope of section 401 of the Clean Water Act to prevent its continued abuse in blocking energy infrastructure projects.

Many projects that require water quality certifications under section 401 are critical to our Nation's energy production, such as natural gas pipelines, LNG, and coal export terminals.

Division C of the bill makes clear that States cannot block important energy projects on grounds outside of the Clean Water Act quality standards, consistent with the intent of the original law.

Last month, H.R. 1152, which is encompassed within division C, was marked up and passed out of the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee.

As included in H.R. 1, division C is incredibly important to lowering energy costs and boosting energy production while still ensuring water quality.

Mr. Chair, I thank two of my subcommittee chairmen, David Rouzer and Garret Graves, for their leadership in sponsoring this piece of legislation.

Mr. Chair, I would urge support of the bill. By passing H.R. 1, the House would support moving critical energy projects forward and support lowering costs for Americans through greater energy independence.

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

Mr. Chair, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from North Carolina (Mr. Edwards), a member of the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee.

Mr. Chair, I yield 4 minutes to the gentleman from Tennessee (Mr. Burchett), a member of the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee.

Mr. Chairman, I yield 3 minutes to the gentlewoman from Oregon (Mrs. Chavez-DeRemer), who is a member of the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee.

Mr. Chairman, I yield 5 minutes to the gentleman from Louisiana (Mr. Graves), who is the chairman of the Aviation Subcommittee.

Mr. Chairman, I yield an additional 5 minutes to the gentleman from Louisiana (Mr. Graves).

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

Mr. Chairman, one of the things I like to do in the Capitol is learn about the individuals who came before us and the wisdom and the knowledge that they possessed.

Daniel Webster served in the U.S. House of Representatives from 1823-1827. He is considered one of the great orators in the U.S. House. He actually also served in the other Chamber. A very good quote of his went on to say, ``Let us develope the resources of our land, call forth our powers, build up its institutions, promote all its great interests, and see whether we also, in our day and generation, may not perform something worthy to be remembered.''

That individual is the only individual that is quoted here in this Chamber, Daniel Webster, right up there on the wall above the dais. That first part is what says it all, ``Let us develope the resources of our land.'' That is exactly what we are trying to do so that we can be energy dependent on ourselves.

Mr. Chairman, the gentleman from North Carolina (Mr. Rouzer) will manage the remainder of the time for the majority.

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

Mr. Speaker, pursuant to House Resolution 199, I call up the joint resolution (H.J. Res. 27) providing for congressional disapproval under chapter 8 of title 5, United States Code, of the rule submitted by the Department of the Army, Corps of Engineers, Department of Defense and the Environmental Protection Agency relating to ``Revised Definition of `Waters of the United States' '', and ask for its immediate consideration in the House.

Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members have 5 legislative days to revise and extend their remarks and include extraneous material on H.J. Res. 27.

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

Mr. Speaker, I am proud to rise in support of H.J. Res. 27, which I introduced, to negate an ill-timed and ill-conceived rule coming out of the Biden administration which, if Congress fails to act, will go into effect later this month.

The Clean Water Act is landmark legislation that was signed into law 50 years ago that has greatly improved the health of the Nation's waters.

Unfortunately, we have consistently seen increasingly expansive interpretations of the Clean Water Act result in the implementation of a flawed and overreaching water policy. This has hindered our ability to achieve the Clean Water Act's true underlying water quality goals.

There is no clearer example of this overreach than the debate over the definition of waters of the United States, or WOTUS.

Decades of agency interpretation and misinterpretations have created uncertainty for rural communities, for farmers, for ranchers, for businesses and industries who rely on clean water.

Although the 2020 Navigable Waters Protection Rule finally provided long-awaited clarity on the scope of WOTUS, the new administration decided to unravel the water protection rule and attempt to replace it, once again, creating confusion and chaos.

The definition of WOTUS matters to the everyday lives of people all over the country, including in my district.

For instance, I have a constituent who wanted to build a pond on his property and had received local and State permits to do just that. But then the Army Corps of Engineers, they stepped in and they said he would have

to spend $165,000 in environmental mitigation. This is absolutely outrageous.

Returning to a more costly, burdensome, and broad WOTUS definition could have a massive impact on local communities and Americans' ability to do their jobs and manage their own private property.

I urge support of this joint resolution to stop this burdensome and overreaching WOTUS rule.

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

Mr. Speaker, I yield 2\1/2\ minutes to the gentleman from North Carolina (Mr. Rouzer), the cosponsor of the resolution.

Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Williams), the chairman of the Small Business Committee.

Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from Arkansas (Mr. Crawford).

Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from Pennsylvania (Mr. Thompson), the chairman of the House Agriculture Committee.

Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from Illinois (Mr. LaHood).

Mr. Speaker, I yield an additional 30 seconds to the gentleman from Illinois.

Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from Wisconsin (Mr. Van Orden).

Mr. Speaker, may I inquire how much time is remaining.

Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentlewoman from Wyoming (Ms. Hageman).

Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from Pennsylvania (Mr. Perry).

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

Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from California (Mr. Duarte).

Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from California (Mr. LaMalfa).

Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from Kansas (Mr. Mann).

Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from New York (Mr. Williams).

Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from Washington (Mr. Newhouse), who is the chairman of the Congressional Western Caucus.

Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from Minnesota (Mr. Stauber).

Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentlewoman from Colorado (Mrs. Boebert).

Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from Missouri (Mr. Burlison).

Mr. Speaker, I yield 1\1/2\ minutes to the gentleman from Pennsylvania (Mr. Meuser).

Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from Oklahoma (Mr. Brecheen).

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

Mr. Speaker, in closing, while the Clean Water Act has greatly improved the health of our Nation's waters, expansive interpretations of it have also led to a whole lot of uncertainty in the 50 years since it was passed, specifically when it comes to the definition of WOTUS.

Mr. Speaker, the Biden administration may think that they can get away with this overbearing WOTUS rule and dramatic, dramatic expansion of Federal authority, but we have to ensure that everyday Americans are not subject to this outrageous government power grab, and that is what it is.

Let's keep flawed Federal overreach out of the government by passing H.J. Res. 27.

Mr. Speaker, I urge support of the resolution, and I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, on that I demand the yeas and nays.

Mr. Speaker, I include in the Record the cost estimate prepared by the Congressional Budget Office for H.J. Res. 27-- Providing for Congressional disapproval under chapter 8 of title 5, United States Code, of the rule submitted by the Department of the Army, Corps of Engineers, Department of Defense and the Environmental Protection Agency relating to ``Revised Definition of `Waters of the United States.' '' The cost estimate was not available at the time of the Committee Report filing.

Mr. Speaker, I proudly pause to recognize a special resident of Center, Missouri.

Mr. Ron Evans has served on the school board in Ralls County, Missouri for 30 years. In 1967, Ron graduated from Mark Twain High School. His wife, Judy, their 3 children, and several grandchildren have all been students at Mark Twain High School. He was elected to the Ralls County R-II School Board in 1993 and went on to serve 9 more three-year terms, at times serving as President.

Over the course of Ron's 30 years of service to the district, many changes have occurred including the consolidation of all Ralls County communities into one education building. Ron has been involved with more than $20 million dollars of renovations and projects.

Mr. Speaker, I proudly ask you to join me in recognizing Ron Evans on his retirement. I ask you to join me in thanking him for his service to his community and for being an outstanding leader. I am proud to represent Mr. Evans in the United States House of Representatives.

Mr. Speaker, pursuant to House Resolution 75, I call up the joint resolution (H.J. Res. 7) relating to a national emergency declared by the President on March 13, 2020, and ask for its immediate consideration in the House.

Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members have 5 legislative days to revise and extend their remarks and include extraneous materials on H.J. Res. 7.

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

Mr. Speaker, today, I rise in support of H.J. Res. 7, which terminates the March 13, 2020, national emergency declared for COVID-19 under the National Emergencies Act, or the NEA.

The time has come to move past the COVID-19 pandemic. It is no longer a global emergency as it was nearly 3 years ago. It is that simple.

President Biden said, in his own words, ``The pandemic is over.'' He said that last September, and our Senate colleagues, with a bipartisan vote, agreed by passing a resolution last Congress, on November 15, 2022.

The NEA was intended to provide emergency authorities to the President to respond to extraordinary situations in which the President must act quickly. We are no longer in that spot.

The national emergency was declared by President Trump at the beginning of the pandemic, nearly 3 years ago, in March 2020. At that time, it was a new virus. The American public and the world at large had little information, and we had to get a handle on the spread of

Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from Arkansas (Mr. Crawford), the chairman of the Subcommittee on Highways and Transit.

Mr. Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to the gentleman from Arizona (Mr. Gosar).

Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from Pennsylvania (Mr. Perry), the chairman of the Subcommittee on Economic Development, Public Buildings and Emergency Management.

Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from California (Mr. LaMalfa).

Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from Kentucky (Mr. Massie).

Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from Illinois (Mr. Bost).

Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentlewoman from Colorado (Mrs. Boebert).

Mr. Speaker, in closing, last year President Biden acknowledged that the pandemic is over, as has been pointed out.

There is no compelling need for the President to continue exercising the extraordinary authorities under the NEA. The Senate, on a bipartisan basis, agreed in November, and here in the people's House I think it is time that we do the same.

Mr. Speaker, I urge support of this joint resolution, and I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, on that I demand the yeas and nays.

Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 255) to amend the Disaster Recovery Reform Act of 2018 to develop a study regarding streamlining and consolidating information collection and preliminary damage assessments, and for other purposes.

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

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

Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentlewoman from Puerto Rico (Mrs. Gonzalez- Colon) for her leadership on this bill.

H.R. 255 is commonsense legislation to establish a process that is going to identify ways to streamline and consolidate the collection of certain disaster information.

While the Federal Emergency Management Agency, or FEMA, is the lead Federal agency on disasters, there are often many Federal agencies involved in the disaster response and recovery process.

It is critically important that these agencies are all working efficiently to minimize overlaps in their assessments and utilize new technologies to streamline processes.

Specifically, the legislation is going to establish a Federal working group led by FEMA to coordinate with the Council of the Inspectors General on Integrity and Efficiency to identify ways to reduce duplication and streamline the Federal damage assessment process.

This is just a good government bill that will help improve disaster recovery efforts which were previously passed by the House in the 116th and 117th Congresses.

Mr. Speaker, I urge support of this legislation, and I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I yield such time as she may consume to the gentlewoman from Puerto Rico (Mrs. Gonzalez-Colon).

Mr. Speaker, I have no further speakers.

Mr. Speaker, in closing, H.R. 255 is just good government legislation that is going to help streamline disaster recovery efforts by improving the coordination efficiency of Federal agencies involved in disaster assistance.

Mr. Speaker, I urge support of the bill, and I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 259) to provide for an online repository for certain reporting requirements for recipients of Federal disaster assistance, and for other purposes.

Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members have 5 legislative days in which to revise and extend their remarks and insert extraneous material into the Record on H.R. 259.

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

Mr. Speaker, H.R. 259, the Post-Disaster Assistance Online Accountability Act, introduced by our Republican colleague from Puerto Rico (Mrs. Gonzalez-Colon), will increase transparency for post- disaster Federal assistance.

H.R. 259 requires agencies that provide Federal disaster assistance to update a central website quarterly with information on their disaster assistance programs. This increased transparency is going to allow the American taxpayers to see where their hard-earned dollars are going and which areas are receiving the most Federal assistance for post-disaster recovery.

The Post-Disaster Assistance Online Accountability Act passed the House last Congress overwhelmingly by a vote of 412 yeas to 2 nays. I hope we can repeat this very strong showing this Congress.

Mr. Speaker, I urge support of this legislation, and I reserve the balance of my time.

House of Representatives,

Committee on Small Business,

Washington, DC, January 19, 2023.

Hon. Sam Graves,

Chairman, Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure,

House of Representatives, Washington, DC.

Dear Chairman Graves: I write concerning H.R. 259, the Post

Disaster-Assistance Online Accountability Act. The bill was

referred primarily to the Committee on Transportation and

Infrastructure, with additional referrals to the Committee on

Financial Services and the Committee on Small Business.

Specifically, provisions of H.R. 259 fall within the Rule X

jurisdiction of the Committee on Small Business.

I recognize and appreciate your desire to bring this

legislation before the House of Representatives in an

expeditious manner, and accordingly, the Committee on Small

Business will forgo action on the bill. However, this is

conditional on our mutual understanding that doing so will

not prejudice the Committee on Small Business with respect to

the appointment of conferees or to any future jurisdictional

claim over the subject matter contained in the bill or

similar legislation that falls within the Committee on Small

Business's Rule X jurisdiction. Further, should a conference

on the bill be necessary, I appreciate your agreement to

support my request to have the Committee represented on the

conference committee.

Finally, I would ask that a copy of this letter and your

response acknowledging our jurisdictional interest in the

bill be included in the Congressional Record during

consideration of H.R. 259 on the House floor.

Sincerely,

Roger Williams,

Chairman,

House Committee on Small Business.

Mr. Speaker, I yield such time as she may consume to the gentlewoman from Puerto Rico (Mrs. Gonzalez-Colon).

Mr. Speaker, in closing, this commonsense accountability measure is going to enable taxpayers to get a greater sense of where their money is going and allow agencies to see where they can coordinate post-disaster recovery efforts.

Mr. Speaker, I urge support of this legislation, and I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 388) to amend title 40, United States Code, to eliminate the leasing authority of the Securities and Exchange Commission, and for other purposes.

Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all

Members have 5 legislative days in which to revise and extend their remarks and insert extraneous material in the Record on H.R. 388.

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

H.R. 388 revokes the Securities and Exchange Commission's, or the SEC's, leasing authority for general office space and brings them in line with current leasing practices through the General Services Administration, or the GSA.

In 2012, the SEC violated Federal law by signing a lease for 1.4 million square feet that cost taxpayers $566 million. This resulted in investigations by the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee and the SEC's Inspector General.

The conclusions of these investigations indicated that not only did the SEC exceed its authority with this lease, but also that the SEC had a history of mismanaging its leasing authority.

Recent actions by the SEC during GSA's procurement of leased space for the SEC seem to indicate that the agency may be turning back to its old ways.

This bill ensures that the SEC, like other Federal agencies, continues to use the GSA for its space needs and provides more safeguards for the taxpayers' money.

Mr. Speaker, I urge support for the legislation, and I reserve the balance of my time.

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

Mr. Speaker, I am prepared to close, and I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I yield myself the balance of my time to close.

H.R. 388 ensures that the SEC is going to work with the GSA on leasing to improve oversight, reduce costs, protect taxpayers against wasteful spending, and minimize Anti-Deficiency Act violations in the future.

Mr. Speaker, I urge support of this legislation, and I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 346) to establish a task force on improvements for notices to air missions, and for other purposes, as amended.

Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may have 5 legislative days in which to revise and extend their remarks and include extraneous material in the Record on H.R. 346, as amended.

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

Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of H.R. 346, as amended, the NOTAM Improvement Act of 2023.

Just 2 weeks ago, Americans woke to the largest ground stop of aircraft since 9/11 due to the outage of the Federal Aviation Administration's, FAA's, notice to air mission, more commonly called the NOTAM system.

As a professional pilot, I use the NOTAM system on a regular basis and know firsthand just how important it is to ensure that it is reliable and functional.

This incident highlights a huge vulnerability in our transportation system. As much as I wish we could say that this incident surprised us, this kind of issue was inevitable. Committee leaders have repeatedly raised the alarm about our woefully out-of-date NOTAM system.

This same bill has been introduced and passed two Congresses in a row, and multiple laws coming out of the Transportation Committee have demanded that the Department of Transportation and the FAA step up and address the well-known issues with the NOTAM system.

What occurred nearly 2 weeks ago is unacceptable, and the American people deserve much better. Hopefully, this incident was the wake-up call that the DOT and the FAA needed to shake off their ongoing failure to properly maintain our Nation's air traffic control system.

H.R. 346, as amended, is going to help address this failure by identifying issues with the NOTAM system and proposing solutions to prevent an incident of this magnitude from ever occurring in the future.

This bill creates a special task force to improve the utility, stability, resiliency, and cybersecurity of the FAA's NOTAM system. Composed of representatives from airlines, aviation safety experts, and other important aviation stakeholders, the task force is going to review existing NOTAM policies, regulations, and the system's overall integrity to determine best practices to increase the system's efficiency and decrease its susceptibility to outages, which cause other disruptions.

Originally, this bill was focused on improving the NOTAM presentation so that pilots and dispatchers could focus on critical information that matters. In 2017, an Air Canada flight nearly landed on a crowded taxiway in San Francisco because the NOTAM informing them of a runway closure was buried on page 8 of 27.

Mr. Speaker, we urgently need a better system and a more stable system. I thank the gentleman from Minnesota (Mr. Stauber) and the gentleman from California (Mr. DeSaulnier) for their leadership and foresight on this particular piece of legislation.

H.R. 346 is a good, bipartisan, and timely aviation safety bill. It shows that the people's House can rise to the urgent issues of the day.

Mr. Speaker, I support the legislation, and I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I yield such time as he may consume to the gentleman from Minnesota (Mr. Stauber), the sponsor of the bill.

Mr. Speaker, I have no further speakers. I am prepared to close, and I reserve the balance of my time.

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

Mr. Speaker, in closing, H.R. 346, as amended, takes a very important step in ensuring that America's National Airspace System is going to remain intact, remain operational, and remain safe for the American people.

Again, I thank Mr. Stauber and Mr. DeSaulnier for their work on this legislation. It is a good bill, and I urge all Members to support it.

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

Mr. Speaker, on that I demand the yeas and nays.

Madam Speaker, I proudly pause to recognize Cooper Werner Lowe. Cooper is a very special young man who has exemplified the finest qualities of citizenship and leadership by taking an active part in the Boy Scouts of America, Troop 410, and earning the most prestigious award of Eagle Scout.

Cooper has been very active with his troop, participating in many scout activities. Over the many years Cooper has been involved with scouting, he has not only earned 23 merit badges, but also the respect of his family, peers, and community. Most notably, Cooper has served 2 terms as Patrol Leader and also served as Troop Chaplain. Cooper has also contributed to his community through his Eagle Scout project. Cooper coordinated and led the construction of a 12 x 16 storage shed behind a church that the Lowes attended.

Madam Speaker, I proudly ask you to join me in commending Cooper Werner Lowe for his accomplishments with the Boy Scouts of America and for his efforts put forth in achieving the highest distinction of Eagle Scout.

Madam Speaker, I proudly pause to recognize Colton Harris. Colton is a very special young man who has exemplified the finest qualities of citizenship and leadership by taking an active part in the Boy Scouts of America, Troop 1376, and earning the most prestigious award of Eagle Scout.

Colton has been very active with his troop, participating in many scout activities. Over the many years Colton has been involved with scouting, he has not only earned 33 merit badges, but also the respect of his family, peers, and community. Colton has achieved much as a scout, having achieved the ranks of Patrol Leader, Assistant Senior Patrol Leader, Troop Guide, Quartermaster, and Librarian. Colton has also contributed to his community through his Eagle Scout project. Colton's project entailed 200 hours of extensive landscaping to enhance the area in which he worked.

Madam Speaker, I proudly ask you to join me in commending Colton Harris for his accomplishments with the Boy Scouts of America, and for his efforts put forth in achieving the highest distinction of Eagle Scout.