Floor Statements

Mr. Speaker, I demand a recorded vote.

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

Madam Speaker, I rise in support of H.R. 6011, the Right-of-Way Application Transparency and Accountability Act.

There is a rapidly growing demand for renewable energy across the country, and our Federal public lands have significant potential to support that growth. In fact, we are well on our way to developing 25 gigawatts of clean energy on public lands by 2025, the goal set in the Energy Act of 2020.

Right now, the Bureau of Land Management is processing 74 utility- scale onshore clean energy projects, including solar, wind, geothermal, and transmission lines, all of which are vital to the clean energy transition.

In order for solar, wind, and transmission to use our public lands, however, these renewable projects are required to secure a right-of-way any time a project will use or disturb public lands.

Also, the bipartisan infrastructure law and the Inflation Reduction Act have tremendous amount of potential on our public lands, as well as on Tribal lands. However, for example, when a Tribe, such as the Navajo Nation in my district, needs to repair a bridge, they must also secure a right-of-way. This can be an incredibly cumbersome process, especially when dealing with the checkerboard pattern of many Tribal areas that intersect with BLM land, Forest Service land, private land, allottee land, and land held in trust.

This legislation would, however, require that the Secretary of the Interior, with regard to Bureau lands, and the Secretary of Agriculture, with regard to National Forest System lands, to notify a right-of-way applicant within 90 days of applying as to whether the application is complete, or if it is not, to specify what information is missing.

I am grateful to my colleagues on the other side of the aisle for working with committee Democrats on compromise language to create these timelines while ensuring that they are workable for applicants and for our Federal agencies.

These clear requirements set out in this legislation will support the efficient and responsible deployment of clean energy on public lands. They will allow us to build those bridges, highways, and so much more that we authorized in the bipartisan infrastructure law.

I look forward to continuing to work with my colleagues on commonsense reforms to enhance clean energy deployment on public lands.

Madam Speaker, I urge support for this bill, and I reserve the balance of my time.

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

Madam Speaker, I rise in support of this bill. I do recognize the important work that Representative Valadao has done working on this bill, and I appreciate the fact that he pointed out this bill would help with job creation.

As I noted earlier, the bipartisan infrastructure bill and the Inflation Reduction Act, these bills that we passed in the 117th Congress, brought resources into our communities to build what we need for America's future.

Repairing those roads that cross our rural areas are so essential for districts and States like Montana and New Mexico and across the West. I am very appreciative of this bill, and I urge support of this legislation.

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

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

Mr. Speaker, I rise today also in support of H.R. 4389, the Migratory Birds of the Americas Conservation Enhancements Act, which would help ensure the long-term protection of neotropical migratory birds.

More than half of our Nation's birds travel thousands of miles to spend winters south of the tropics, but habitat destruction has led to the loss of more than one in four of these birds since 1970. Imagine, a quarter of these birds have been lost.

This bipartisan bill will protect habitats along these migratory routes by reauthorizing the Neotropical Migratory Bird Conservation program.

This program has already benefited 5 million acres of migratory bird habitat in over 40 countries, and this bill will provide additional Federal support for these efforts.

This funding will facilitate multinational partnerships, conservation projects in habitat conservation, research, monitoring, and community outreach and education.

The bill will also address stakeholders' concerns and program inequities by easing matching requirements and enabling more high- quality projects to compete for grants.

These efforts will provide long-term protection for our beloved bird species and the habitats they rely on.

Our world is facing a biodiversity crisis with impacts that we are only just beginning to understand. I am pleased that we are working together across the aisle in a bipartisan manner today to address at least a part, but a very important part, of that serious challenge.

We all want to be able to continue to listen to the birdsong, to look up and marvel at the fact that these birds have traveled so far and are so essential to our entire habitat. I am very grateful for this bill.

Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to support the bill, and I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I really do commend the sponsor of the bill. As she noted, this bill is supported on a bipartisan basis by some of our most illustrious colleagues. I remember this bill when it was introduced last session as well, and the work that Representative Salazar and Ranking Member Larsen have done on this bill is commendable.

Mr. Speaker, I yield such time as he may consume to the gentleman from Washington (Mr. Larsen).

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

As noted, this bill is bipartisan. It brings such joy as well as economic vibrancy to our communities. Listening to the lists of birds that have benefited from this bill, I cannot help but think about those amazing rufous hummingbirds that fly around and pollinate our flowers and bring smiles and joy to all of our lives in our small gardens.

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

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

Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to be a cosponsor of H.R. 1246, which would amend the Long-Term Leasing Act to authorize federally recognized Tribes to enter into lease agreements on their lands for periods of up to 99 years.

As noted, currently under the Long-Term Leasing Act, Tribes are generally limited to lease agreement terms that are no more than 25 years with an option to renew for an additional 25 years. This has led so many Tribes to enter into very complex leasing agreements of 25 plus 25 when all of that puts a constraint on the economic development opportunities that Tribes must be taking advantage of and that they want to take advantage of.

As you can imagine, Mr. Speaker, these limits are challenging, and they are not needed.

For that reason, though, historically, Congress has passed noncontroversial bills to allow certain Tribes that come before them to have longer leases under the act. We have done this in a piecemeal fashion. In fact, as noted, since the passage of the Long-Term Leasing Act in 1955, some additional 60 Tribes have been added to the growing list of exceptions to the act.

Last Congress, we authorized long-term leasing authority for the Seminole Tribe, and on the floor of the House, I called for legislation to make this applicable to all Tribes so we didn't have to do it one at a time. I am pleased today that, under the leadership of Chair Hageman, we are moving to make that a reality.

Today's bill, H.R. 1246, would strengthen Tribal sovereignty by allowing all federally recognized Tribes to enter into lease agreements for periods up to 99 years, providing Tribes the ability to pursue economic development activities for the benefit of their communities that have been typically limited under the Long-Term Leasing Act.

In closing, Mr. Speaker, as noted, I urge all of my colleagues to support this bill and, in this manner, to support Tribal sovereignty and, once again, bipartisan legislation, which we often see coming out of the Subcommittee on Indian and Insular Affairs. This is the way that we need to encourage to have work coming out of our committees in a bipartisan fashion that increases Tribal sovereignty and that leads us to honor our trust responsibility to our Tribes.

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

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

Mr. Speaker, I rise also in support of H.R. 6443, the Jamul Indian Village Land Transfer Act.

The bill would take approximately 172 acres of land located in San Diego County, California, and owned in fee by the Jamul Indian Village of California, into trust for the benefit of the Tribe. The land in question contains four parcels, which include Tribal housing, council buildings, a historic church, and an ancestral cemetery. Each of these parcels is already within the Tribe's ancestral territory and is located near the Tribe's existing reservation.

I again want to acknowledge that land is the very essence of Tribal sovereignty, cultural survival, and economic prosperity in the future. That is why these land-into-trust transfers are so very important and why in Congress we should respond to them when they come before us and use them as another element of how we honor our trust responsibility to Tribes.

For that, I thank Representative Issa for bringing this legislation forward.

Once the 172 acres have been placed into trust, the Tribe will be able to increase Tribal housing, preserve and protect cultural sites, and better provide essential governmental operations, including healthcare services, administrative offices, law enforcement, and other community resources such as a grocery store and educational services.

This bill honors the connection of the Tribe to its ancestral land and is a win for their self-determination.

Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to support the bill, and I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I also have no further requests for time, and I am prepared to close.

Mr. Speaker, as noted, this is a worthwhile bill for taking this land into trust.

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

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

Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of S. 382, the Puyallup Tribe of Indians Land Into Trust Confirmation Act of 2023, introduced by Senator Cantwell and led in the House by my incredibly brilliant colleague from Washington, Representative Kilmer.

We know that land is at the very essence of Tribal sovereignty, cultural survival, and economic sovereignty. That is why taking land into trust for Tribes, either through the BIA or congressional process, is essential if we are to honor our trust responsibilities to Tribes, if we are to honor our commitment to help reverse, if only by a few acres at a time, some of the worst of our Federal policies from the 19th and 20th centuries.

This bill would authorize the United States to take approximately 17.2 acres of land located in Pierce County, Washington, and owned by the Puyallup Tribe into trust for the benefit of the Tribe.

Typically, land is taken into trust under the Bureau of Indian Affairs administrative process. However, it is not uncommon for Tribes to take a legislative route depending on their circumstances.

In the case of the Puyallup Tribe, the Tribe identified legacy contamination from historical industrial sites when undergoing environmental site assessments.

When placing land into trust, the Federal Government does not take liability for environmental contamination that could have occurred prior to the transfer. As that is the case here, the BIA is unable to take the land into trust administratively, and congressional action through legislation is the most viable option for the Tribe in this case.

This legislation would move the Tribe's land-into-trust process forward and ultimately expand job and economic development opportunities. By adding these lands in the port area, the Tribe will be able to develop a 21st century shipping terminal that will help address the backlog facing our Nation's ports. Placing this land into trust will make this land the first international Tribal trade center in modern times. I say in modern times because we know there was much trade that was going on before European contact.

The Puyallup Tribe is a signatory to the Treaty of Medicine Creek of 1854, which designated 200,000 acres as permanent homeland for their people. However, the ink had barely dried on the treaty before efforts to take the Tribe's land began through acts of Congress, illegal sales of reservation land, and outright theft.

Given so much historical and cultural loss, it is appropriate to grant the restoration of these lands to the Tribe.

Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to vote ``yes'' on the bill, and I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I yield such time as he may consume to the gentleman from Washington (Mr. Kilmer).

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

Mr. Speaker, I thank Representative Kilmer and Senator Cantwell for bringing this legislation forward. I also thank Chairman Sterud and the people of the Puyallup Tribe because what they are doing here today is beneficial not only for the Tribe, but, as noted, for the entire region.

I think we will see this over and over again in the bills we are hearing today and that we will hear into the future with regards to taking land into trust. It benefits not just the Tribe and the local economy, but those who live around the Tribe. In this instance, because of the port, it will benefit the entire Nation. Therefore, we are grateful for the work that they have done in terms of pursuing this land-into-trust application.

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

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

Mr. Speaker, H.R. 1792, the South Pacific Tuna Treaty Act of 2023, will ensure the continued effective management of tuna fisheries and the conservation of marine resources in the South Pacific, benefiting American fisheries in the South Pacific and contributing to the stability of the region.

Specifically, this legislation would implement the South Pacific Tuna Treaty, a multilateral treaty between the United States Government and the Pacific Island States. This treaty authorizes a small U.S. purse seine vessel fleet to fish in specific and exclusive economic zones of Pacific Island countries that are party to the treaty. These parties are Australia, the Cook Islands, the Federated States of Micronesia, Fiji, Kiribati, the Marshall Islands, Nauru, New Zealand, Niue, Palau, Papua New Guinea, the Independent State of Samoa, Solomon Islands, Tonga, Tuvalu, and Vanuatu.

The South Pacific Tuna Treaty entered into force in 1988 and was extended in 1993 and then again in 2002. Most recently, the parties began to renegotiate the treaty and its annexes starting in 2009.

The treaty has been vital for almost three decades, fostering a mutually beneficial strategic and economic relationship between the United States and the Pacific Island countries.

The treaty provides access to lucrative tuna fishing grounds and facilitates cooperation on various issues.

H.R. 1792 proposes adjustments to the South Pacific Tuna Act of 1988 to implement the amended treaty, mainly providing more flexibility for U.S. vessels and the Pacific Island countries to negotiate access levels while ensuring a stable operating environment.

This legislation will enable the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration to efficiently implement annual access and fee agreements and new operational requirements, thereby allowing the United States and its vessels operating under the treaty to better utilize its benefits.

Mr. Speaker, I, too, thank Mrs. Radewagen for leading on this issue and for understanding the needs that we see in the Blue Continent and understanding the needs of the nations, the freely associated States and territories in pursuing this kind of legislation.

Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to support the bill, and I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I am ready to close.

Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to support this bipartisan legislation so that we can continue to protect our fishing fleet, protect the waters, and, importantly, protect the tuna that provides such economic vitality to those fishermen in those countries which rely on their ability to both capture the tuna. All of those restaurants and households really want to make sure that we continue to ensure that tuna is caught in an environmentally and sound way.

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

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

Mr. Speaker, with much delight and joy in my heart, I rise in support of H.R. 3250, the National Museum of Play Recognition Act, introduced by my esteemed colleague--and very playful, I might say--from New York, Representative Joe Morelle.

This legislation would designate the Margaret Woodbury Strong Museum in Rochester, New York, as the National Museum of Play.

The Strong Museum is a unique institution dedicated to the exploration of how play serves to promote learning, creativity, discovery, and cultural history.

Who among us has not been in kindergarten or Head Start or preschool either as a child or as a parent of the child and recognize the importance of play in the growth of our children.

Indeed, I was recently reading a book this weekend that pointed out the importance of play and how we tap into the divinity and the creativity in each of us.

That is why this museum, which was established in 1969, initially housing the personal collections of the Rochester local, Margaret Woodbury Strong, is so important.

As one of the largest museums in the country, the Strong Museum displays the most comprehensive collection of historical materials related to play and provides families with interactive exhibits and programs.

This institution hosts the National Toy Hall of Fame and the World Video Game Hall of Fame and publishes the peer-reviewed American Journal of Play.

H.R. 3250 recognizes and honors the distinct and special role that the Strong Museum contributes to our national story.

I thank Representative Morelle for his leadership in this effort and the representatives of the Strong Museum for their advocacy.

This is a straightforward, bipartisan, and commonsense effort to honor and recognize the contributions of a unique and dynamic institution. I urge my colleagues to support the bill, and I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I yield such time as he may consume to the gentleman from New York (Mr. Morelle), the very serious but also very playful sponsor of the bill.

Mr. Speaker, as noted above, this bill is quite worthy of our support. While we have been talking about it with a smile in our hearts, we must recognize that it is incredibly important, and we must be thankful to those who have compiled this collection because it is so essential for us to understand our history and the history of play in our country and the contributions it makes to our society.

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

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

Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of H.R. 1829, which would authorize the Secretary of Agriculture to convey the Pleasant Valley Ranger District Administrative Site to Gila County, Arizona.

Adjacent to the rural town of Young, Arizona, the parcel was previously an administrative site for the Forest Service but is no longer in use for this purpose. The conveyance authorized by this bill would provide Gila County with the opportunity to establish a veterans retreat and community center that would support the communities in Young and the surrounding area.

Supporting and uplifting our Nation's veterans is a goal that we can all get behind. It is never enough to tell our veterans: ``Thank you for your service.'' We must always act to show our gratitude by providing veterans the services they need wherever they live.

Our rural and Native American veterans deserve to have a place of their own on their own land to carry out the services we owe these patriotic rural and first Americans. This bill contributes to that goal by conveying Forest Service land to create a vibrant veterans center with family housing, resources, meeting and event spaces, a VA mobile clinic, ceremonial grounds, and access to outdoor recreational opportunities. The partnership made possible by this bill will provide new life to deteriorating buildings, barns, barracks, and existing wastewater systems.

During our hearing on the bill, the chair of the Gila County Board of Supervisors noted the goal of creating ``the ultimate experience for veterans and their families.'' This bill is a win-win.

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

Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to support this legislation to put into good use this land for the benefit of our veterans, and I yield back the balance of my time.

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

Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of H.R. 6492, the Expanding Public Lands Outdoor Recreation Experiences Act, or EXPLORE Act, introduced by the Natural Resources Committee chair, Bruce Westerman, and my esteemed ranking member colleague, Raul Grijalva.

I am thankful for the dedication of this bipartisan duo to this legislation and the years of hard work which the chairman described in getting us to this point--the hearings, the input, the compromises, the openness to the ideas that were coming through this long process.

I am also very pleased to be an original cosponsor of the bill as well.

When I thought about the EXPLORE Act, I remembered a quote from President Jimmy Carter who noted: ``Like music and art, love of nature is a common language that can transcend political or social boundaries.''

Ada Limon, our 24th poet laureate just published the anthology, ``You Are Here,'' poems which place each of us in nature. These poems will be placed throughout our national parks. We are inspired by our parks because as she notes in her introduction: ``Because nature is not a place to visit. Nature is who we are.''

Nature needs our help sometimes, too, and that is where this bill comes in.

Our national parks and public lands are treasures that belong to each and every American. These national treasures inspire awe in those who visit. They transform lives and perspectives, but they also are an incredible economic engine for local economies.

New Mexico's beautiful Third District offers boundless opportunities to explore beautiful places from skiing the powdered slopes in Taos and Santa Fe to hiking through the otherworldly landscape of Bisti Badlands to white water rafting down the Rio Grande.

The outdoor economy in New Mexico is expanding. Last year, the outdoor economy saw job growth of 7 percent, employing over 28,000 New Mexicans similar to the amazing work that we heard about in Arkansas.

In fact, the story can be repeated in almost every State where our public lands draw so many and are such an impressive economic engine.

Nationwide, our 400 national parks reported a total of 325.5 million recreation visits in 2023, an increase of 13 million, or 4 percent over 2022.

In addition to the continued growth in overall numbers, NPS data shows that visitation is increasing in the more traditional off seasons at many parks with more visits in the spring and fall than seen in years past. Mr. Speaker, 20 parks--many of them less well known--broke visitation records in 2023.

The EXPLORE Act will improve and modernize outdoor recreation opportunities across our national parks and public lands, increasing even more public access, improving agency coordination, supporting gateway communities, and advancing equitable access to the outdoors.

This bill is a significant bipartisan effort to advance and foster outdoor recreation activities nationwide, and I thank the majority for their consideration and inclusion of several Democratic priorities.

Specifically, the EXPLORE Act includes versions of bills sponsored by Representatives Barragan, Levin, Neguse, Porter, and Stansbury, to name just a few.

Taken together, these provisions promote accessibility for disabled communities, increase job opportunities for veterans, facilitate a diverse range of recreation opportunities, and close the nature gap for underserved urban communities.

Public support for public lands and access to outdoor recreation continues to grow each year, and the EXPLORE Act will help advance the idea that the outdoors really are for everyone.

Outdoor recreation is also a growing part of the national economy, and new opportunities for access consistently support economic boosts in gateway communities and job creation across the country.

Indeed, the next time you go to a national park, listen to the many languages that will be spoken there because they are coming to us from across the globe.

The EXPLORE Act will be a significant catalyst for both goals, and I am excited to see it move forward.

However, it is vital that we ensure that outdoor recreation is safe, reliable, and accessible for everyone and that it serves to help preserve and protect our natural world.

It is also important to remember that public land conservation, stewardship, and restoration are the backbone of outdoor recreation and that recreation and land conservation go hand in hand.

We must harness the momentum of this effort to ensure durable support for place-based conservation and sustainable funding that ensures that Federal land management agencies are readily equipped to balance the directives of this bill with all the other critical components of their missions.

Thanks to the leadership of Chair Westerman and Ranking Member Grijalva, the amended bill before us today adds some meaningful and impactful provisions to the Senate version of this bill.

There is more work to be done, and we look forward to working with our Senate colleagues as they process the new pieces added by the House--the very good pieces added by the House, which we want the Senate to adopt.

Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to vote ``yes'' on the EXPLORE Act, and I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I completely agree that it is important that those who have fought to preserve our country deserve to have full access to our public lands.

It is not enough to say thank you for your service. We must always turn that gratitude into concrete action, and the sections in this bill are actually turning that gratitude into accessible trails, they are turning that gratitude into health meadows and specifically directing our agencies to make sure that our veterans have access to the public lands for which they have fought for preservation.

Mr. Speaker, I yield such time as she may consume to the gentlewoman from New Mexico (Ms. Stansbury), my ``hermana,'' ``sister,'' whose legislation is included in the EXPLORE Act.

Mr. Speaker, indeed, it is marvelous when we come together on these bipartisan bills. I would recognize the work of Ranking Member Grijalva and Chairman Westerman in bringing these kind of bipartisan bills that we have had all day long today, and the enthusiasm for the EXPLORE Act.

I like the fact that the last speaker talked about families. I need to tell you that when Latinos see the vision of a hiker who is on top of the mountain, they always ask how come he is up there alone.

Where is his family? We know that Latino families love to get out in nature and they love doing it as family.

So many of these outdoor recreation activities are often passed on from father to daughter, from mother to son, from grandfather to grandchildren, and grandmother to their children.

I think that is the other key thing about this, this is including everybody, recognizing that this is, indeed, a great American tradition to go and explore our outdoors.

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

Mr. Speaker, as we continue to hear from the different speakers about their amazing public lands, I honor our Ranking Member Grijalva, who has done so much important work on this bill. I honor the fact that, indeed, in his Arizona, he has under his jurisdiction and representing and listening to the cactuses.

Ranking Member Grijalva has the Saguaro National Park, the Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument, the Coronado National Memorial, and the Buenos Aires National Wildlife Refuge.

Indeed, these are places we think about when we go from Minnesota, the land of many lakes where you can fish, to the places that are the most arid in our country. It is this diversity of public land which makes America so beautiful and which attracts so many. Those who have many lakes want to go see what it is like when you have the deserts and saguaros. Those who live in the arid deserts want to go and marvel at the lakes and go fishing in Minnesota or in Arkansas, where they have their beautiful hot springs.

I think New Mexico is absolutely the best, but I love it when I get to explore other public lands across our country. This act will continue to allow Americans to do that into the future.

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

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

Mr. Speaker, I stand, once again, in support of this bipartisan act, which reflects so much hard work, compromise, understanding, and listening to the many voices who shared with us what they wanted to see in a bill that would increase conservation, that would increase access, and that would increase the ability of Americans to celebrate our public lands, to celebrate America's best ideas, which are our national parks. But also, to celebrate something like the 100-year anniversary of the Gila Wilderness, which I will be celebrating in a few weeks in New Mexico, where we had our first wilderness.

Indeed, even in that wilderness, we could use some help making sure that the gateway community has access to the kinds of resources we need to make sure that people who might not be able to clamor up to the cliff dwellings can access and learn about those cliff dwellings.

It is this recognition of the many hardships but beautiful opportunities that present themselves in our public lands that the EXPLORE Act addresses.

Mr. Speaker, for all of these reasons, I stand in support of this bipartisan legislation. I urge all of my colleagues to vote ``yes'' in favor of this legislation.

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

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

Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of H.R. 6233, the Community Reclamation Partnerships Act.

Two centuries of coal mining occurred in the United States before the industry was federally regulated in any meaningful way, including in New Mexico where we have many abandoned wells which litter the countryside.

Before 1977, when the Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act was passed, coal mining was done with little regard for the environment and absolutely minimal reclamation requirements. This history has left us with a massive number of abandoned coal mines across the country that create environmental and public health hazards.

Fortunately, last Congress, Democrats championed and passed over $11 billion to clean up abandoned coal mines. These funds are already being deployed to clean up hazardous sites and to create good jobs.

Even with this massive investment, however, there is much work ahead of us before we solve the abandoned coal mine problem for good though.

That is where the Community Reclamation Partnerships Act fits in. This bill would provide third-party groups, like environmental or wildlife organizations, with the ability to use their own funds to clean up streams and watersheds affected by abandoned coal mines, without assuming unnecessary liability.

I am very thankful for these organizations. Many of them are recognizing the fact that these streams are essential in order to have pristine fishing conditions and other benefits to their surrounding areas.

Under current law, these third parties are required to take on full liability if they want to engage in cleanup projects. These groups often don't have the funds or technical ability to cover cleanup all the way to full remediation. That shouldn't mean they should be stopped from making partial but substantial improvements to the environment for their communities. We can use all the help we can get.

Therefore, this legislation would create ``Good Samaritan'' protections to allow these third-party groups to enter into memorandums of understanding with the State and EPA, with public feedback, to clean up a site without holding the community reclaimer to full liability.

This community reclamation program is only part of the solution to abandoned coal mine lands, but it is a step in the right direction to clean up this legacy pollution.

I am grateful for the bipartisan work on this legislation, and I am glad to see it on the floor today.

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

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

As noted earlier, I stand in support of this legislation and the efforts that will be made under it to have cleanup occur on these coal mines, especially, as noted, Trout Unlimited is so willing to work with local communities. They do great work in New Mexico, and we need to encourage organizations to do that. I thank the sponsor of the bill for working with Trout Unlimited.

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

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to honor Sherry Hooper, the retiring Executive Director of The Food Depot. Sherry understands that food and nutrition are as essential to who we are as humans, as they are to who we are as a community.

Her dedication to building community while feeding the hungry in Northern New Mexico for over a quarter-century has nourished so many. New Mexicans benefited from the experience, compassion, and energy she developed in Kansas and Missouri when she chose our state and The Food Depot.

Under Sherry's leadership and capital campaign, The Food Depot grew from a 5,000 square-foot warehouse to the current 27,000 square-foot location. In 2023, The Food Depot distributed more than 7.4 million meals across Northern New Mexico, valued at $11.3 million. The distribution also now includes nine northern New Mexico counties.

I've personally joined the hundreds of volunteers who bag and distribute hundreds of tons of food daily. Volunteers contributed over 21,976 hours for savings of $685,837 in payroll last year and put into practice the concept of love that is inspired by Matthew 25--``For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink.''

Importantly, fruits and vegetables made up 62 percent of all food provided, making it possible for underserved communities to receive nutrient-rich foods. In fact, this year, The Food Depot is celebrating 30 years of commitment to healthy communities and innovative programming.

Sadly, Sherry's tenure ends in June of this year. She leaves the organization with a strong future. Following in her footsteps will be Jill Dixon, the current Deputy Director, whom Sherry has mentored since 2012.

I am happy that, thanks in part to Sherry's work, Congress recently approved my request for $84,150 in Community Project Funding for The Food Depot to expand the Casita de Comida in Espanola--one of my district's most underserved communities where food insecurity runs high. Casita de Comida provides healthy and culturally appropriate food as well as personal hygiene products for free. Sherry and her team presented a compelling project that my colleagues and I wholeheartedly supported.

I offer Sherry our deepest gratitude for the difference she has made. I wish her many interesting new ventures and know she will be a positive force in every avenue of her life in the future.

Mr. Speaker, I rise to honor New Mexico State Police Officer Justin Hare, a dedicated law enforcement officer and protector of our beloved New Mexico communities.

Officer Hare was known for kindness and consideration for those who travel New Mexico's long roads. Last week, he stopped to help a driver on the side of the road with a flat tire. That driver tragically shot and killed Officer Hare.

Officer Hare dedicated his life to the people of Quay County. He coached sports teams, volunteered, and lent a helping hand to whomever needed it. He loved his partner, Daizzare Quintana; their daughters, Juliann and Caydence; and the unborn child they expected in September.

Today, we honor Officer Hare and the sacrifice he made for the community he loved so dearly.

I send my deepest condolences to his family and to his colleagues in the New Mexico State Police.

Mr. Speaker, when you next see a State Police officer on the road, send them a quiet prayer of remembrance for Officer Hare.

Mr. Speaker, this weekend, Oppenheimer is expected to win multiple Oscars.

In the film, we watched the pain and guilt in J.R. Oppenheimer's face when he heard what the atomic bomb did to the people of Hiroshima and Nagasaki.

What the film didn't show--and the story that remains untold--is how thousands of New Mexican families were exposed to harmful amounts of radiation.

We didn't see how radioactive ash rained down on children, families, and farms from that first atomic bomb tested in New Mexico.

We didn't see the tears and pain as those families saw their loved ones die of cancers and rare diseases tied to radiation exposure.

So I present this film one more award: the award for the most incomplete story--for the missing, the countless American lives lost as a result of the Trinity test.

Congress can write a better ending to this story. A bipartisan coalition of Senators and Representatives have amendments to the Radiation Exposure Compensation Act, which would finally compensate New Mexico downwinders and uranium workers, as well as workers in Missouri, Alaska, Kentucky, and Tennessee, and downwinders in other States who were left out of that original Radiation Exposure Compensation Act.

Earlier this year, these amendments were included in the NDAA as passed by the Senate. Sadly, Republican leadership for some inexplicable reason stripped these amendments from the final NDAA.

But today, soon, Congress can write a happier ending. We can now include it in our future funding bills.

Let's write an ending that honors those who sacrificed everything for our national security. Congress can do it. I call on my colleagues to join this bipartisan effort for justice.

Women's History Month

Mr. Speaker, as we begin Women's History Month, we must remember something historic that has happened to women and to women's freedoms.

For 50 years, women enjoyed limited but certain reproductive freedoms. A Trump-packed Supreme Court overturned that history, overturned Roe v. Wade, and all of a sudden history, a sad history was made when for the first time in history women lost an essential right.

We are going back to a very sad time when women cannot make decisions about how and when and if to have a family without governmental interference.

We are going back to a sad time in history when women who were suffering complications from pregnancy, who were suffering miscarriages, cannot get healthcare, but instead, get handcuffs.

We are suffering a sad time in history when IVF is now prohibited in places like Alabama; and let us remind everybody, almost 200 Republicans in this very Chamber have voted for, have cosponsored legislation which mirrors the Alabama law, which prohibits IVF.

As we begin Women's History Month, let's not turn back the clock on women's progress.

Mr. Speaker, recently Speaker Johnson and most House Republicans cosponsored a bill that could ban IVF nationwide and criminalize reproductive healthcare. The Alabama Supreme Court's anti- IVF ruling is consistent with these extreme attempts to steal women's freedom to decide when, how, and if to have a family.

Trump and the MAGA extremists want a Federal abortion ban. Packing the Supreme Court to overturn Roe v. Wade wasn't enough for them. Every State law and constitutional amendment protecting women's reproductive freedoms from New Mexico to Kansas to Ohio could be overturned if Donald Trump and Republicans win in 2024.

Criminalizing pregnancies, outlawing IVF and birth control, and forcing pregnancies on children who have been raped--that is the nightmare we face unless women and those that love them act now to defeat this extremism. Women need healthcare, not handcuffs.