Floor Statements

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

Madam Speaker, I rise today in support of H.R. 7638, which names a Florida post office for Marine Corporal Ronald R. Payne, Jr.

Upon graduating from Mulberry High School in Florida in 1999, Corporal Payne joined the Marine Corps and

completed boot camp at Parris Island, South Carolina.

He was deployed to Iraq where his unit, the 2nd Light Armored Reconnaissance Battalion, engaged in the initial invasion of the Iraq war.

Corporal Payne returned home from Iraq and only a few months later was deployed to Afghanistan to help with the country's elections. His mission changed when Afghanistan's elections were postponed.

On May 7, 2004, he ran a mission with his reconnaissance team to confirm that an al-Qaida operative was meeting in a village with Taliban lieutenants.

Corporal Payne was shot in the chest when he exposed himself to enemy fire to lay down suppressive fire, allowing a critically wounded fellow team member to drag himself behind cover.

Minutes later, Payne was mortally wounded by shrapnel from a rocket- propelled grenade.

For his selfless acts of heroism, after his death, Payne was awarded the Bronze Star medal with combat distinguishing device, in addition to a Purple Heart.

Corporal Payne's bravery, concern for his fellow marines, and desire to serve America embody the ethos of the Marine Corps. I encourage my colleagues to support this bill honoring an American war hero who made the ultimate sacrifice.

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

Madam Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to the gentlewoman from South Carolina (Ms. Mace).

Madam Speaker, I encourage my colleagues to support this bill honoring a dedicated local public servant, and I yield back the balance of my time.

Madam Speaker, I yield 5 minutes to the gentleman from Pennsylvania (Mr. Kelly).

Madam Speaker, I yield an additional 2 minutes to the gentleman from Pennsylvania.

Madam Speaker, I encourage my colleagues to support this bill, and I yield back the balance of my time.

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

Madam Speaker, I rise today in support of H.R. 6630 which honors Private First Class Jang Ho Kim.

Born in South Korea, he immigrated to the U.S. with his family in 1990, lived in New York, and later in Orange County, California.

He enlisted in the U.S. Army in June 2005, completing basic training and advanced individual training at Fort Benning, Georgia. He was deployed to Baghdad, though he never told his family of his deployment because he did not want to worry them.

Sadly, he was killed when a roadside bomb exploded near his vehicle. For his service and sacrifice, after his passing, he received a Bronze Star and a Purple Heart. PFC Jang Ho Kim was an American patriot who paid the ultimate sacrifice in service to our Nation.

Madam Speaker, I strongly encourage my colleagues to support this bill, and I reserve the balance of my time.

Madam Speaker, I encourage my colleagues to support this bill, and I yield back the balance of my time.

Madam Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to the gentleman from Minnesota (Mr. Emmer).

Madam Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to the gentlewoman from Minnesota (Mrs. Fischbach).

Madam Speaker, I encourage my colleagues to support this bill honoring an America patriot who paid the ultimate sacrifice and service to our Nation, and I yield back the balance of my time.

Madam Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to the gentlewoman from Minnesota (Mrs. Fischbach).

Madam Speaker, I encourage my colleagues to support this bill honoring an American patriot who paid the ultimate sacrifice in service to our Nation.

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

Madam Chair, I rise in support of the motion to recommit and in opposition to the underlying bill.

The legislation before us today is rightly labeled a wildfire response bill. But, Madam Chair, I believe instead of just focusing on wildfire response, we as Congress should be focused on wildfire prevention.

The most immediate way to protect Americans who are threatened by potential catastrophic wildfire is to prevent these fires from happening in the first place, and the only way to do this is to actively manage our forests.

Therefore, I urge my colleagues to support my bill, the Wildfire Prevention and Drought Mitigation Act, which is a part of this motion to recommit. This legislation would grant categorical exclusion authority for forest management projects whose primary purpose is to protect municipal water resources and to improve watershed health, water yield, and snowpack.

In addition, projects that are specifically tailored to adapt a forest landscape to an increased threat of drought would be granted categorical exclusion authority. Granting categorical exclusion authority to these projects would streamline the NEPA process and protect communities in my district that are adjacent to fire-prone forests.

The underlying bill we are debating here today will make it more difficult to prevent wildfires by adding new red tape and locking up millions of acres in wilderness. This is the same approach and continues to hurt my constituents.

Just a few months ago, the Black fire burned over 300,000 acres of mostly wilderness area in my district. In northern New Mexico, the devastating Hermits Peak-Calf Canyon fire burned through the unmanaged Pecos Wilderness and became the largest fire in our State history. These fires have destroyed hundreds of homes and will cost New Mexicans millions of dollars to clean up the damage and rebuild. All of this was preventable.

Instead of making it more difficult to prevent catastrophic wildfires, as the underlying bill would do, I ask my colleagues to support this motion to recommit.

Madam Speaker, I rise in support of the Advancing Telehealth Beyond COVID-19 Act, which would extend vital telehealth flexibilities through 2024. Expanding telehealth during the pandemic was a resounding success and has been recognized by many New Mexicans and rural Americans as a lifesaver.

Telehealth provided Americans continued access to healthcare services without being physically present and also allowed healthcare providers to remain in practice.

While this bill is an important step in the right direction, my Republican colleagues and I wish to go one step further by offering another bill, which would make permanent the extension of telehealth services for federally qualified health clinics and rural health clinics.

Madam Speaker, I urge my colleagues to support the bill on the floor, as well as our subsequent bill to permanently expand telehealth services to all Americans, regardless of ZIP Code. Access to the care they deserve is crucial.

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

Mr. Speaker, S. 144 would authorize the Secretary of Health and Human Services, acting through the Director of the Indian Health Service, to purchase land from willing sellers at fair market value to facilitate access to the Desert Sage Youth Wellness Center in Hemet, California.

In March 2017, IHS opened California's first youth regional treatment center in Hemet, California. The Desert Sage Youth Wellness Center was designed as a coed inpatient facility to serve Native youth aged 12 to 17 with substance abuse and co-occurring disorders.

The facility is located approximately a half mile from a paved county road. According to the IHS, a half-mile access road was granted under an easement from two landowners at the time construction began on the facility. Unfortunately, the IHS was unable to come to a purchase agreement with the landowners by the time the construction was completed.

To secure access to the facility, the IHS is requesting purchasing authority since authorities previously granted have since expired for this facility.

It is my understanding that this road has historically been dirt and gravel, and it can be washed out in heavy rains, thus affecting access to the facility.

Once the title to the access road is acquired, the IHS can make improvements, specifically to pave the road, which will provide better and safer access to the Desert Sage facility for staff, Native youth seeking care, and visitors.

After the necessary improvements are made, S. 144 provides that the IHS can continue to own and maintain the road, or it can enter into an agreement with Riverside County, California, for the county to own, maintain, and manage the road.

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. 1286, a bipartisan bill sponsored by Congressman James Clyburn of South Carolina, which would establish the Southern Campaign of the Revolution national heritage corridor.

The corridor established by this legislation would connect the greatest concentration of the Carolinas' Revolutionary War sites, including battlefields, historic communities, farmsteads, and landscapes.

A study was conducted regarding the suitability and feasibility of designating the Southern Campaign of the Revolution national heritage corridor, and the National Park Service determined that the study area met each of the criteria for designation as a heritage corridor.

The Southern Campaign of the Revolution national heritage corridor will serve to educate the public about our national identity and the ideals of liberty, natural and civil rights, equality, and responsible citizenship.

Mr. Speaker, I urge adoption of this bill, and I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I urge adoption of 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 in support of H.R. 2024, sponsored by Majority Leader Steny Hoyer, which would establish the Southern Maryland National Heritage Area.

Southern Maryland is notable for being the home of the first English colony to pass a law granting freedom of religion, which later led to the protection of religious freedom in the First Amendment.

The area also serves as home to several national historic and scenic trails, sites related to several American wars, and Project Mercury, the first human spaceflight program.

I urge adoption of this bill, and I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I urge adoption of 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 in support of H.R. 3222, a bipartisan bill sponsored by Representative Sewell of Alabama.

This bill establishes the Alabama Black Belt National Heritage Area, comprised of land in 19 Alabama counties, and designates the Center for the Study of the Black Belt at the University of West Alabama as the management entity.

The Black Belt region of Alabama stretches across the lower central portion of Alabama, from the eastern border of Mississippi to the western border of southern Georgia. The region is recognized by many as the center of the civil rights movement of the 1950s and 1960s.

Several pivotal events in the civil rights movement took place in the region, including the Montgomery bus boycott and the march from Selma to Montgomery, which helped lead to the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Voting Rights Act of 1965.

The Black Belt region is a special area of our country that deserves national recognition.

Mr. Speaker, I urge adoption of 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 in support of H.R. 4404, a bipartisan bill sponsored by Representative Darren Soto of Florida.

The Kissimmee River stretches more than 100 miles in Central Florida and serves as both the headwaters for the Everglades and the main drainage route for the expansive Kissimmee River Basin.

H.R. 4404, as amended, would authorize a Wild and Scenic River study to be completed by the Secretary of the Interior. The study will confirm whether the river meets the high standards set forth in the Wild and Scenic River Act.

I appreciate the majority supporting an amendment at markup to protect private property rights by clarifying that this study cannot be used as a justification for new restrictive management practices prior to Congress acting to officially designate the river as wild and scenic.

Mr. Speaker, I urge adoption of 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 in support of H.R. 6337, a bipartisan bill sponsored by Representative Joe Neguse.

The Biking on Long-Distance Trails, or BOLT Act, is intended to meet the needs of biking enthusiasts by increasing the number of long- distance biking trails on Federal lands.

The BOLT Act would require the Secretaries of the Interior and Agriculture to identify at least 10 existing long-distance bike trails and identify at least 10 areas where there is opportunity to develop or complete such trails.

Mountain biking is one of the fastest growing sectors in the outdoor recreation economy, and I support identifying new opportunities for the public to recreate on Federal lands. The BOLT Act will make long- distance bike trails safer and more accessible to riders throughout the country.

I urge adoption of this bill, and I reserve the balance of my time.

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