Charlie Bass

Mr. BASS

Mr. BASS. Mr. Chairman, I yield myself such time as I may consume. This is an amendment that I think adds flexibility and workability to the bill. What it will do is it will allow States to petition the Secretary to use grants that are covered for expenditures that are considered anti-terrorism activities and are normally duties that would be exercised by the Federal Government. What is not currently allowed in the bill are personnel costs or agreements between State and local entities that affect a Federal agency. The type of activities that this amendment would permit include, but are not limited to, border duties, assisting with the Coast Guard and ports, waterways, coastal security duties or detention of illegal aliens on a temporary basis until Federal authorities can take over. What the amendment does not do is make any changes in the allocation of resources from one entity to another, and it does not allow States to petition to recover from the Federal Government costs for services that are performed by State law enforcement agencies that are not terrorism-related. This amendment really does add flexibility to the administration of these grants. It would allow, for example, in our seacoast port of Port Smith to reimburse them for the State police boat that currently supplants those efforts being undertaken by the Coast Guard at the behest of the Coast Guard. It allows local police departments such as the police department in New Ipswich, New Hampshire, that had to detain illegals for a period of time, had to deal with them and could not get the immigration department involved quickly enough, to apply for reimbursement. It also allows local police departments to enforce border crossings, if necessary. It allows them to apply for reimbursement. It does not guarantee it, but it allows them to apply. I hope that the committee will accept this amendment. I know we have had good discussions on both sides with it. Mr. Chairman, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. BASS. Mr. Chairman, I yield 5 minutes to the gentleman from Georgia (Mr. Norwood), my cosponsor.

Mr. BASS. Mr. Chairman, I have no further speakers. I urge the support of this amendment, and I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. BASS

Mr. BASS. Mr. Chairman, I thank the gentleman for yielding time to me. As we can tell, this is the kind of issue that we could spend the next 10 years debating. I want to solve the problem. The problem is not going to be solved by filing lawsuits, by scoring political points, by paying huge legal fees to the trial bar, waiting year after year after year while constituents of all of us wait for some kind of remediation. Sure, claims have been filed, almost 100 of them, I understand. There has not been a single judgment to date. There have been some settlements, but there has not been a single judgment rendered. I do not call that a safe way to procure that our constituents get their water cleaned up. Last year CBO said that this was not an unfunded mandate. This year another analysis says it is an unfunded mandate. As one who served on the Committee on the Budget and was here in 1995, I would suggest that this would be classified, if one is an accountant, as a contingent unfunded liability or a hypothetical unfunded liability. But it will not be that way in the end because there are two choices that we face here today: an easy choice, which is to vote ``yes'' and to have the status quo and to go forward as we have in the past; or the hard vote is to really solve the problem. Having voted to strip MBTE provisions from this bill last year, I am voting the other way this year, and I am proud of it, and I will tell the Members why. I have established it with the chairman, a task force that is going to work between now and conference time on a plan that will structure a remediation program that will clean up the water, not 10 years from now or 20 years from now, not unfairly in this community and not in that community and not in this State or that State, but across the whole country. My constituents deserve a workout for this problem, and we as policymakers have an obligation to work together in a bipartisan fashion in our conference to come up with a solution. It is my hope that this solution will include the creation of a fund that will include participation by all the potentially responsible parties, a way to settle claims in a quick and fair fashion that reduces the overall cost. I do not want to see communities like South Tahoe City suing their own lawyers to try to get the money back so that they can actually perform the remediation that they had planned to do and might have been able to do if it had been settled in such a fashion so that they did not have to deal with other costs. I want to see a fund created that will really resolve this issue. Please allow this bill to go forward to conference, and when we come back with a conference product, it will be a product that my constituents who have been hurt by MBTE contamination will see their wells cleaned up, will see adequate compensation to redress their issues; and we will have the problem resolved, and we will end this endless fight that we could have if we do nothing. I urge opposition to the pending amendment.

Mr. BASS

Mr. BASS. I thank the gentleman for yielding. Madam Chairman, over the past several months, the gentleman from Texas and I have worked toward a fair and equitable solution to the problem of contamination caused by MTBE getting into our groundwater and other waters. I appreciate all his efforts and the faith he has placed in me on this issue which is so critical to New Hampshire, a State that has been affected significantly and, obviously, other affected States. Like him, I had hoped that we would be able to have our solution ready for today's House consideration of the Energy Policy Act. However, I am not satisfied that what we have agreed upon in principle is sufficient to the problem or comprehensive enough to have my support, and I would rather not rush it simply for the sake of being done today. Does the gentleman agree that spending additional time will result in an improved product that will provide a mechanism to ensure that our drinking water is clean and safe today and into the future?

Mr. BASS. I thank the gentleman for those comments. Does the gentleman also agree that the principles we have established so far, including a fair funding system, strict cleanup standard and an appropriate amount of time for contamination discovery will be safeguarded in the final product unless equivalent mechanisms can be developed?

Mr. BASS. Madam Chairman, I rise in opposition to the amendment offered by the gentleman from Michigan (Mr. Dingell). Basically, this guts the whole bill. It substitutes a power act amendment for the entire bill. It, frankly, goes far beyond anything being considered currently in the electricity debate, particularly with respect to utility security, FERC rate-making authority, reporting requirements, and industry accounting. In addition, this amendment would fundamentally rewrite portions of the Natural Gas Act, something that is clearly outside the scope of this debate. I point out that the amendment is opposed by the Edison Electric Institute, the American Public Power Association, and the National Rural Electric Cooperative Association. Those are the co-ops. It does not help site new transmission that is needed to ensure reliability and provide adequate supplies of affordable electricity to consumers. It does not repeal PUHCA, which facilitates the construction of new construction and promotes badly needed investment in the electric utility industry. It does not amend PURPA to reform the contract process and save constituents money, and it does not promote certainty of contract that is necessary to promote investment and better market operation by putting all market-based contracts at risk. It does not provide FERC the flexibility needed to regulate markets that develop in the future by issuing prescriptive rules, procedures, and penalties. What the amendment does do, unfortunately, is create market uncertainty, it imposes excessive penalties, and it institutes almost continuous investigation of all utilities with market-based rates, not only burdening utilities, but also burdening FERC and stretching its resources. Madam Chairman, I hope that the Congress will join me and other like- minded colleagues in opposing this amendment.

Mr. BASS

Mr. BASS. Mr. Speaker, Mr. Neal and I rise today to congratulate The New England Council as they celebrate their 80th anniversary of being a regional voice for the people of New England. For 80 years The New England Council has been instrumental in uniting the region's business and political leaders to discuss and shape public policies and programs that advance the economic well-being of the region. As a nonprofit alliance of schools, hospitals, corporations, public agencies and other organizations throughout New England, the Council has worked diligently to promote economic growth and a high quality of life in the six-state region. We commend your leadership in identifying challenges and opportunities and looking for regional solutions on issues including energy, workforce development, healthcare, transportation and education. Under the leadership of Jim Brett and the Council's esteemed Board of Directors, the Council has played a significant role in both providing a forum and in advocating an agenda that addresses the issues which impact New Englanders and the regional economy. We applaud the Council's efforts to promote the economic growth of New England and to improve the quality of life for those who live throughout the region. We ask our colleagues to join us in honoring the 80th anniversary of The New England Council and in wishing the Council continued success as it faces the challenges and possibilities of the 21st century.

Mr. BASS

Mr. BASS. Mr. Chairman, on rollcall No. 28 I was unavoidably detained. Had I been present, I would have voted ``no.'' Amendment No. 5 Offered by Mr. Farr

Mr. BASS

Mr. BASS. Mr. Speaker, on Thursday, January 6, 2005, I regrettably missed recorded vote 7. Had I been present, I would have voted ``nay.'' personal explanation

Mr. BASS

Mr. BASS. Mr. Speaker, on Friday, October 8, 2004, I regrettably missed recorded vote numbered 524. Had I been present, I would have voted ``nay.''

Mr. BASS

Mr. BASS. Mr. Speaker, on Friday, October 8, 2004, I regrettably missed recorded vote numbered 526. Had I been present, I would have voted ``aye''. Stated against:

Mr. BASS

Mr. BASS. Mr. Speaker, on Friday, October 8, 2004, I regrettably missed recorded vote numbered 525, Had I been present, I would have voted ``nay.''

Mr. BASS

Mr. BASS. Mr. Speaker, I rise to commend six months of operation of Rx New Hampshire, a website and program designed to bring affordable prescription drug costs to New Hampshire residents. Launched on April 5, 2004, it has already hosted more than 14,000 visits and is responsible for hundreds of anecdotal cases of Granite Staters using the information to save on their needed medications. New Hampshire Governor Craig Benson is a leader on this issue and has demonstrated that affordable prescription drugs and safety are not mutually exclusive goals. In order to provide citizens with the confidence to use any of the screened pharmacies located in Canada listed on the State website at http://www.state.nh.us/governor/ prescription/prescription.httnl, Governor Benson directed the New Hampshire Department of Health and Human Services to identify only those Canadian pharmacies that meet strict domestic and international accreditation standards. Onsite inspections of facilities in Canada have also been performed by independent New Hampshire pharmacists for each listed provider. Samples have been bought and shipped through the normal process and were analyzed for active ingredients at the NH State Police Forensic Laboratory and examined by the NH Board of Pharmacy. No significant difference between these drugs and a duplicate prescription list that was filled from local U.S. chain pharmacies was found. For more information, I have linked the prescription drug section of my Congressional Web site at www.house.gov/bass to the Rx New Hampshire page and urge my House colleagues and all Americans to visit and examine the good work and solutions offered in the Granite State. I again call on Congress and the Federal Drug Administration to adopt importation policies that do not stand in the way of such innovative and proven solutions to these growing costs. I am certain that Governor Benson and the New Hampshire Department of Health and Human Services would be willing to lend their expertise to any other State or Federal agency wise enough to follow their lead.

Mr. BASS

Mr. BASS. Mr. Chairman, I thank the gentleman for yielding me this time. I thank my colleague, the gentlewoman from Illinois, for joining him in offering what I consider to be a bipartisan amendment. I would only point out that Newdow on its face was based on a procedural issue of standing, and the math might be quite different if the decision was based upon substance rather than standing. I rise in support of this amendment offered by my friend, the gentleman from North Carolina (Mr. Watt). I sponsored H.R. 2028, along with 225 or so other Members of Congress, because I believe that we should have ``under God'' in the Pledge of Allegiance, and I voted on three other occasions in the same fashion. There are two other issues involved here. The first is whether or not we want to make sure that we have ``under God'' in the Pledge of Allegiance, and the second issue is, do we want to take on a fundamental issue that has been debated in this country for over 200 years? And that is whether or not the Supreme Court has standing in appellate jurisdiction for issues that may be unconstitutional. I come down on the side of the precedent that we have had in this country for the last 200 years. I support the Watt amendment because I support passage of the bill and the signing of the bill by the President of the United States. I want ``under God'' in the Pledge of Allegiance. I want to make policy. As a colleague of mine on the Republican side said yesterday, let us make policy, not make statements. Vote for the Watt amendment and pass the bill.

Mr. BASS

Mr. BASS. Mr. Speaker, on Thursday, July 22, I regrettably missed recorded votes numbered 407 and 409. Had I been present, I would have voted ``yea'' on both measures.

Mr. BASS

Mr. BASS. Mr. Chairman, owing to weather-caused flight delays, I was regrettably absent on Monday, July 12, 2004, and consequently missed recorded votes numbered 359 and 360. Had I been present, I would have voted ``no'' and ``aye'' respectively on these votes.

Mr. BASS

Mr. BASS. Madam Chairman, I move to strike the last word. Madam Chairman, I rise in support of the amendment offered by the gentleman from New York (Mr. Hinchey). In response to my friend, the gentleman from North Carolina (Mr. Taylor), the basic issue here is it is not necessary to kill American bison. As the gentleman mentioned when he said his opening remarks, the Department of Interior and the National Park Service both prominently display as their logos the American Buffalo. The 42nd Congress in 1872 passed legislation creating Yellowstone National Park, and it required that the Secretary of the Interior ``shall provide against the wanton destruction of the fish and game found within said park, and against their capture or destruction for the purpose of merchandise or profit.'' In 1999, the Congress spent $13 million to set aside additional Federal lands to ensure that animals in the park could migrate during the winter and summer seasons. This is in addition to the hundreds of millions of dollars which have been wisely spent to provide good stewardship of the land and protection of the wildlife for the public's benefit. Yet the National Park Service also spends millions to harass and shoot the very animals that they are supposed to be protecting. This past winter alone, they captured 482 bison and they killed 277 of them. It is absurd. This expenditure is a waste of taxpayers' dollars when there are other reasonable methods to manage one of our Nation's premier wildlife icons. Our amendment would place a 1-year moratorium on Park Service funding that is used for lethal management and would force the agency to redirect its resources toward common-sense wildlife management endeavors more in keeping with its proud record of stewardship. A few common-sense measures to safeguard livestock, fencing, vaccinations, working proactively would be far more productive and less destructive than the system and program we have in place today. The buffalo and other wildlife are why we have this park in the first place. We allow cattle grazing on it because there is enough room for both resources, but then to use the false fears of cattle ranchers as an excuse to kill these buffalo is absurd. If the ranchers do not want to risk their cattle on these Federal lands, they have many different resources, but the bison do not. Let us be clear, however. This is an amendment that is designed to halt the wasteful and unnecessary attack on the American bison. It is not about hunting and it would not affect traditional wildlife management tools such as hunting outside the national park. The basic question here is should we kill buffalo from Yellowstone National Park with one dollar while we spend other dollars on the other hand to protect them. To me it is one of these crazy concepts that needs to be stopped. It will be stopped if Members vote in favor of this amendment. Madam Chairman, I urge the committee to support the pending amendment.

Mr. BASS

Mr. BASS. Mr. Speaker, I rise to honor Staff Sergeant Randy Scott Rosenberg of Berlin, New Hampshire. He bravely served the Army's Company B, 1st Squadron, 9th Cavalry, supporting Operation Iraqi Freedom, and was considered a Task Force ``All-American'' soldier. Staff Sgt. Rosenberg made the ultimate sacrifice to protect his country and aid the Iraqi people when a vehicle-based improvised explosive device detonated near a U.S. checkpoint in Khalidiyah, Iraq, on January 24, 2004. I ask my colleagues to join me in honoring Staff Sergeant Randy Scott Rosenberg and our other servicemen and women who have courageously given their own lives in order to protect and defend the democracy we enjoy in America and to extend the freedoms that come with democracy to those who live in fear and oppression worldwide.

Mr. BASS

Mr. BASS. Mr. Speaker, I rise to honor Private 1st Class Andrew D. Stevens of Stratham, New Hampshire. He bravely served the Army's 10th Mountain Division supporting Operation Iraqi Freedom and earned his Expert Infantry Badge. Pfc. Stevens made the ultimate sacrifice in service to his country when the Blackhawk helicopter he was riding in tragically crashed during a training accident at the Fort Drum, New York on March 11, 2003. I ask my colleagues to join me in honoring Private 1st Class Andrew D. Stevens and our other servicemen and women who have courageously given their own lives in order to protect and defend the democracy we enjoy in America and to extend the freedoms that come with democracy to those who live in fear and oppression worldwide.

Mr. BASS

Mr. BASS. Mr. Speaker, I rise to honor Sergeant Jeremiah ``Jay'' Holmes of Dover, New Hampshire. He bravely served the Army National Guard's 744th Transportation Company of Hillsborough, N.H., supporting Operation Iraqi Freedom. Sgt. Holmes made the ultimate sacrifice to protect his country and aid the Iraqi people when his vehicle hit a roadside bomb on a bridge near Balad, Iraq, on March 29, 2004. I ask my colleagues to join me in honoring Sergeant Jeremiah ``Jay'' Holmes and our other servicemen and women who have courageously given their own lives in order to protect and defend the democracy we enjoy in America and to extend the freedoms that come with democracy to those who live in fear and oppression worldwide.

Mr. BASS

Mr. BASS. Mr. Speaker, I rise to honor LCpl Peter J. ``P.J.'' Sora, Jr. of Londonderry, New Hampshire. He bravely served the 3rd Battalion, 5th Marine Regiment, 1st Marine Division as an assistant machine gunner and was awarded the National Defense Service Medal. Lance Corporal Sora made the ultimate sacrifice in service to his country when the military vehicle he was riding in tragically rolled over during a training accident at the Marine Corps Air Ground Combat Center, in Twentynine Palms, California on May 4, 2004. I ask my colleagues to join me in honoring LCpl Peter J. ``P.J.'' Sora, Jr. and our other service men and women who have courageously given their own lives in order to protect and defend the democracy we enjoy in America and to extend the freedoms that come with democracy to those who live in fear and oppression worldwide.

Mr. BASS

Mr. BASS. Mr. Speaker, I rise to honor Sergeant William John Tracy, Jr. of Webster, New Hampshire. He bravely served the Army's Company B, 5-158th Aviation, supporting Operation Enduring Freedom. Sgt. Tracy made the ultimate sacrifice to protect his country and aid the Afghani people when his Blackhawk helicopter tragically crashed in Kuwait on February 25, 2003. I ask my colleagues to join me in honoring Sergeant William John Tracy, Jr. and our other service men and women who have courageously given their own lives in order to protect and defend the democracy we enjoy in America and to extend the freedoms that come with democracy to those who live in fear and oppression worldwide.

Mr. BASS

Mr. BASS. Mr. Speaker, I rise to honor Sergeant 1st Class Robert Edward Rooney of Nashua, New Hampshire. He bravely served the U.S. Army National Guard's 379th Engineer Company, supporting Operation Iraqi Freedom. Sgt. Ferguson made the ultimate sacrifice to protect his country and aid the Iraqi people when he died of injuries he sustained in an accident at the Shuabai Port in Kuwait on September 25, 2003. I ask my colleagues to join me in honoring Sergeant 1st Class Robert Edward Rooney and our other service men and women who have courageously given their own lives in order to protect and defend the democracy we enjoy in America and to extend the freedoms that come with democracy to those who live in fear and oppression worldwide.

Mr. BASS

Mr. BASS. Mr. Speaker, I rise to honor Master Sergeant Richard Lee Ferguson of Conway, New Hampshire. He bravely served the Army's 10th Special Forces Group supporting Operation Iraqi Freedom. Master Sgt. Ferguson made the ultimate sacrifice to protect his country and aid the Iraqi people when the military vehicle he was riding in tragically rolled over in Somara, Iraq on March 30, 2004. I ask my colleagues to join me in honoring Master Sergeant Richard Lee Ferguson and our other servicemen and women who have courageously given their own lives in order to protect and defend the democracy we enjoy in America and to extend the freedoms that come with democracy to those who live in fear and oppression worldwide.