Rob Bishop

Mr. BISHOP of Utah

Mr. BISHOP of Utah. Mr. Chair, I move that the Committee do now rise.

Mr. BISHOP of Utah. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may have 5 legislative days to revise and extend their remarks and include extraneous material on H.R. 218.

Mr. BISHOP of Utah. Mr. Chair, I include in the Record my statement on the ABCs of Izembek. Alaska's ardently asking for action and assistance to acquire acute acres to always allow actual access across areas and assuredly avert atrocious aviation accidents after appalling administrative blockades on building basic boulevards between beautiful bays before blizzards. The bill doesn't bombard birds like Black Brants because Congress can carefully craft conveyances to create consistent courses for certain care in this Cove community. Construction cop outs and crumbling commitments cause a cacophony of complex concerns and constitute considerable consternation when crossing channels in choppy conditions. Don's diligently doting on his district, dutifully demanding demonstrable developments daily so the Department doesn't dawdle on their domain. Despite dangerous dashes and emergency evacuations, expanding elevated environmental evaluations exploded expenses. Exact exchanges exempt events to enhance embarking on equally enjoyable exits in eleven expanses. Frankly, fifty-five frigid flights fleeing fast from freezing fields in furious flurries found frighteningly few fancy facilities for fearful families. Geese gradually got generally greedy, grimly generating genuine grief on giant goals of going great grounds on gravel and grabbing glory from good glacial gateways. Historically, hovercraft hijinks harmfully hampered hurrying to hospitals and hobbled healing, harpooning hope and hardening hardships near the harsh harbors. The House must hastily have a helpful hand in halting havoc and hindering hefty hazards for Izembek inhabitants instead of idling indefinitely. Interior's indecision impeded infrastructure and informally interrupted implementing instant improvements, isolating irate individuals in increasingly impassible journeys. Jewell jumped into jeopardy when justifying juxtapositions and jarring, jolty jaunts from King Cove that keep killing kind kin without kindling key kernels of keen knowledge. King Cove lacks life-saving lanes linking lonesome localities on land while lofty liberals lamely lament losing limited landscapes and maroon many who might make mends with medical ministration. Masterful mandatory medivacs must make miraculous moves after miniscule mainland migrations. Narrow native neighborhoods need necessary navigable networks now that nasty neglect notched nineteen needless obituaries. Other offered options outlined aren't okay or optimal for opening outbound opportunities over a one-lane, non-paved preferred path across a pulchritudinous peninsula. Patients patiently practice peacefully praying to postpone pain and postmortems while partisan panels prioritize protecting a percent of the preserve over the perishing population. Perhaps people quietly question this quixotic quandary, quickly quarreling over quality, quaint routes. Resilient rural Refuge residents require really rapid resolutions to reliably ride on requisite roads routinely in rough situations. Seventy segments of street are still stationed in the sanctuary, so small sections won't subvert the surroundings. The State swap saves the site's sheltered status while swelling up safety and security for this scorned society. 1,000 tormented townsmen tempt their tombs in terrifying travels. They take threatening treks that traverse the tough tundra between the two towns in treacherous temperatures. United, we urgently untie this unbelievably unjust ultimatum for a unique unwinding of unfortunately unreliable voyages. Valid in vibrant victory we venture to vote to viciously vanish vanity and vacate this wrongdoing. When we want wins, wavering willfully won't work. We weigh wishes of wilderness with wild winter weather while ways wane for wandering within windstorms. Xylophone. Yeah, yeah, yeah, you're yawning and yearning for me to yield and stop yapping like a yelling yahoo while you're still young. So I'll zig-zag and zoom past zany zealots in Zen like Ryan Zinke.

Mr. BISHOP of Utah. Mr. Chair, I yield 5 minutes to the gentleman from Alaska (Mr. Young), the author of the bill, the only Representative Alaska has here on this floor, and someone who understands this issue because he has been dealing with it for a number of years. (Mr. YOUNG of Alaska asked and was given permission to revise and extend his remarks.)

Mr. BISHOP of Utah. Mr. Chairman, I yield 5 minutes to the gentleman from Arkansas (Mr. Westerman), who is hurriedly making his way to the front podium.

Mr. BISHOP of Utah. Mr. Chairman, I yield 5 minutes to the gentleman from Arizona (Mr. Gosar), a subcommittee chairman of the Natural Resources Committee.

Mr. BISHOP of Utah

Mr. BISHOP of Utah. Mr. Chair, let me say in 90 seconds then, it may sound counterintuitive that BRAC doesn't save us money, but even though it can take money off the Defense rolls, the question is: Where does this property end up and who pays for it? The bulk of the property ends up in the hands of local government, State government, and if it was public domain to begin with, the Department of the Interior has got first crack at it. I have also always sarcastically said every time there is a BRAC base closure, I end up with a new national park and national monument. And even though we have never done a study to verify it, I can give you a half dozen off the top of my head where that happened. So the question is: Does the taxpayer save money? And if you invent a BRAC process that will guarantee that the Federal estate will not be enlarged, that you won't simply transfer property from one Federal entity to another or from the Federal Government to State governments so the taxpayer saves money, then I will gladly support a BRAC process. But until we can guarantee that, all we are doing is shifting the money around, shifting the entity around. We may help the Department of Defense change their budget, but the taxpayer is still on the hook for all the property and all the efforts that go into it, and that is wrong, and that is the process. When we change the BRAC process to make it more public, to make it so the taxpayer saves, then I will support it, but that hasn't happened yet. Therefore, I ask Members to vote ``no'' on the amendment.

Mr. BISHOP of Utah

Mr. BISHOP of Utah. Mr. Chairman, management of the forests and forest fires is an important and significant topic, but it is not the issue that we are having here today. Climate change is an important significant topic, but it is not the issue that we are talking about today. We are talking about how you transfer power from point A, where it is produced, to point B, where people live, and make sure that you can continue to have that power flowing there because it impacts the quality of life. This is about how we improve our lives. That is the key issue. The examples have been given out here before of examples of where that has been interrupted simply because we failed to maintain transmission lines. A good example is down in New Mexico, where, once again, an ash tree--pun intended--actually fell on a forest, on the line, creating a 150,000-acre fire; and then the company that actually owned the line and wanted to maintain it but was not allowed to by the Forest Service was given a $35 million bill. Unfortunately, the liability of that company was only $20 million, so you can understand the difficulty that company is in right now. That is the reality in which we are dealing, and we have to realize that this is a solution to that issue. It is about how we provide power to people. The only chance I had of meeting President Obama was when he came to Utah and visited Hill Air Force Base, and he was there to talk about solar power that is being used on Hill Air Force Base. Hill Air Force Base also has a great power source that comes from a neighboring trash dump, which provides steam and methane power that goes to the base itself. And I told the President, when he asked us questions about this, that it is very easy for Hill Air Force Base to have this power source because it is next door. But for most people, they live miles and miles away, and you have to have transmission lines that get the power from where it is produced to where they live, and often across Federal lands. To his credit, President Obama lit up and said: Yes, not only is that an important issue, but it is also an issue dealing with our entire grid structure that needs to be worked on; another issue that is not today's discussion matter. And to his credit, his office did contact our office, our committee, and started helping us work on some issues. Even though they did not stay with us to the final conclusion of the bill, the bill we have before us today is the result of those discussions, the result of that effort. I try to emphasize how bipartisan this bill is; an effort to try and solve a real problem that helps real people with real circumstances that have caused problems in the past that need to be changed. That is what we are attempting to do here. So I applaud the committee that came up with this bill. I applaud the chief sponsor of that bill. I urge my colleagues to please support this. This is the right thing to do if you really care about helping people.

Mr. BISHOP of Utah

Mr. BISHOP of Utah. Mr. Speaker, I rise to pay tribute to Colonel Jonathan ``Jon'' Howerton, United States Army, for his extraordinary dedication to duty and selfless service to the United States of America. Colonel Howerton will be moving on from his present assignment as the Chief of the Army's Liaison Division to the United States House of Representatives where he served from April 1st, 2016 to June 1st, 2017 to become the Deputy Commander for Maneuver of the 2nd Infantry Division (Republic of Korea-United States Combined Division), Camp Casey, Republic of Korea. The son of a career Army officer, Colonel Howerton grew up on posts, camps, and stations across the continental United States and in Europe. He was commissioned through the Reserve Officer Training Corps into the Field Artillery upon graduation from Texas Christian University in 1990. After his first assignment as a lieutenant, he commanded Field Artillery units at the Battery, Battalion and Brigade levels and has served in a variety of tactical, operational, and strategic level leadership and staff positions. He has extensive experience overseas including a previous assignment to Korea and one to Germany along with operational deployments to Bosnia-Herzegovina supporting Operation Joint Guard, and three to Iraq supporting both Operations Iraqi Freedom and New Dawn. He has also been stationed at numerous military installations in the United States to include Fort Sill, Oklahoma; Fort Leavenworth, Kansas; Fort Polk, Louisiana; Fort Hood, Texas; Fort Carson, Colorado; Schofield Barracks, Fort Shafter and Hickam Air Force Base, Hawaii; and Washington, D.C. Mr. Speaker, it is a pleasure to recognize Colonel Howerton's long and decorated career. On behalf of a grateful Nation, I ask my colleagues to join me today in recognizing and commending Colonel Howerton for a lifetime of service to his country, and for all he and his family have given and continue to give to our country. We are in their debt. We wish him, his wife Tricia, his daughter Baylor, and his son Cooper all the best as they continue their Army journey to the Republic of Korea.

Mr. BISHOP of Utah

Mr. BISHOP of Utah. Mr. Speaker, the independent nation of Taiwan is a highly-advanced industrialized democracy which contributes greatly to the world economy, particularly in the area of high tech, and is a long-time stalwart ally of the United States. We congratulate President Tsai lng-wen on her one year anniversary as President of Taiwan. The economic and military ties between our two nations have been built steadily over the past several decades, and I believe that it is important that the U.S. remains committed to this important bilateral relationship. While our two countries have much to celebrate on this occasion, at the same time, some of the old diplomatic and political challenges are resurfacing which threaten Taiwan's participation as a constructive member of the global community. Recently, the World Health Organization (WHO), an arm of the United Nations, declined to invite Taiwan to participate in its annual World Health Assembly despite Taiwan's participation and contributions during the previous 8 years running. Mr. Speaker, this deliberate snub was politically motivated, and violated the WHO's Constitution by excluding the people of Taiwan for no legitimate reason. The 23 million citizens of Taiwan should not be denied access to this and future annual meetings, especially if the stated goal of the World Health Organization is to provide a better healthier future to all peoples of the world. I believe that the United States has an obligation to step forward and express strong disapproval of this WHO action. To ensure that there is no gap in the disease prevention network and that, together, all might work for the advancement of human health worldwide, it is imperative that the United States Congress and the Administration rise in full support for Taiwan in this matter. The WHO Secretariat should be admonished regarding its moral and legal obligation to uphold its charter of independence and impartiality. The WHO and its leadership should not be at the service of any member state in particular. I ask my colleagues to join me in voicing our support for Taiwan's full and meaningful participation in the WHO, as well other international organizations now and in the future.

Mr. BISHOP of Utah

Mr. BISHOP of Utah. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may have 5 legislative days to revise and extend their remarks and include extraneous material on H.J. Res. 69.

Mr. BISHOP of Utah. Mr. Speaker, I yield 5 minutes to the gentleman from Alaska (Mr. Young), the only Member of Congress in the House from Alaska, the dean of the Republican side. (Mr. YOUNG of Alaska asked and was given permission to revise and extend his remarks.)

Mr. BISHOP of Utah. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself the balance of my time. Madam Speaker, we are here to repeal a rule issued by the Federal Fish and Wildlife Service to restrict hunting on the national wildlife refuges in Alaska. This rule is a solution. The only problem is no one knows for what it is a solution because there is no problem. And the sad part is that means that this rule is basically a useless rule. It has no efficacy to it. Despite the assertions that had been made repeatedly and a cacophony of all sorts of practices that are seeming to be wrong and bad, this rule doesn't do that. This rule does not abandon any of the practices you are talking about on subsistence hunting, only on nonsubsistence hunting, which simply means that, if you are classified as a subsistence hunter, anything that the other side talked about and raled about is actually allowed by the silly rule. That is why the rule makes no sense. The State of Alaska had it under control, and there is no real problem that is solved by this rule that is totally inefficient, but did make something nice about it. Now, it makes things worse because it is talking about predator control only on nonsubsistence hunting. Unfortunately, the predators don't know, when they go after their prey, whether that prey is designed for a subsistence hunter or a recreation hunter. They haven't learned to distinguish that yet. Ergo, how you administer this law is totally ineffective. It is impossible to do so, and what you do is simply make a blanket approach so that everyone gets harmed in the same equal fashion. That is what Fish and Wildlife has decided to do. In addition to that, yes, it is illegal. It usurps State authority, and it usurps it very clearly. You know, it is amazing to me. I cannot believe that in the first Congress that we had, the Founding Fathers were there coming up with the Bill of Rights and the 10th Amendment, they thought the 10th Amendment would eventually some day be imagined by a bureaucrat in Washington to overrule Congress on matters that were clearly intended for State discretion, but that is precisely what we have done here. This rule violates three congressionally passed statutes that have precedence on this particular issue. And this rule violates Federal law passed by Congress on three separate occasions. What was supposed to be envisioned with this system was a cooperative relationship between the State and the Federal Government. What this rule simply does is allow for Fish and Wildlife on the Federal level to have supremacy, to destroy that cooperation and coordination and take over control totally. That is wrong. It should never be there. There are 16 different refuges up there. That is 76 million acres of land now going to be controlled by the Fish and Wildlife system here in Washington. That is more acreage than 46 of the 50 States that we have. And, once again, for many of those people, this hunting is a source of subsistence up there. Here is the bottom line: Mr. Blumenauer came up here and said, why don't we let the professionals make their decisions. They do. Those professionals are the Alaska Department of Fish and Game who know exactly what they are doing, they know the area, and they know the animals. The so-called helicopter hunting that was raled against up here is not done by any recreational hunter. Alaska doesn't allow that. The Alaska Fish and Game will do that for management control based on scientific purposes and reasons and that only. This rule doesn't change any of that. No. I'm sorry, this rule actually doesn't change any of the recreational hunting, which is already outlawed by the State of Alaska. It only stops the Fish and Wildlife system of Alaska from simply doing their job as they know how to do it. I include in the Record a letter supported by 27 different organizations all dealing with outdoor life in support of this particular resolution. February 6, 2017. Hon. Paul D. Ryan, Speaker, House of Representatives Washington, DC. Hon. Kevin McCarthy, Majority Leader, House of Representatives, Washington, DC. Dear Speaker Ryan and Leader McCarthy: We write representing organizations that collectively include millions of wildlife conservationists, hunter conservationists, wildlife enthusiasts, and wildlife scientists, in strong support of H.J. Res. 49 from Cong. Young (AK), which would nullify the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service's (FWS) final rule ``Non-Subsistence Take of Wildlife, and Public Participation and Closure Procedures, on National Wildlife Refuges in Alaska'' (81 Fed. Reg. 52248 (August 5, 2016)). Our community exhausted all Executive Branch appeals and remedies urging the FWS to slow down the Proposed Rule, and revise it to reflect a proposal mutually agreed to by the State of Alaska and the FWS; all to no end. It is time for Congress to nullify this final rule. This final rule boldly preempts the authority of the Alaska Department of Fish and Game to manage wildlife for both recreational and subsistence hunting on NWRs, which authority of the state is affirmed by Congress in the Alaska Statehood Act, the Alaska National Interests Land Conservation Act, and the National Wildlife Refuge System Improvement Act. The FWS final rule was premised on meeting as a priority the FWS policy on Biological Integrity, Diversity and Environmental Health; which would inadvisably set a precedent nationally. Many members of our organizations enjoy Alaska's bounty of fish and wildlife resources and their habitats for unrivaled hunting, fishing and outdoor experiences. The sustainable management of these natural resources needs to be led by the State working in cooperation with the FWS. We urge that you favorably consider H.J. Res. 49 which will restore the jurisdictional state- federal relationship as Congress has previously directed. Thank you very much for your consideration of our concerns about this harmful and illegal rule which if left un- remedied, significantly affects the use and appreciation of the magnificent natural resources found in Alaska. Sincerely, Archery Trade Association, Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies, Congressional Sportsmen's Foundation, Council to Advance Hunting and the Shooting Sports, Dallas Safari Club, Delta Waterfowl Foundation, Ducks Unlimited, Houston Safari Club, Masters of Foxhounds Association, Mule Deer Foundation, National Rifle Association, National Shooting Sports Foundation, National Trappers Association, National Wild Turkey Federation, Orion the Hunter's Institute. Pheasants Forever, Professional Outfitters and Guides, Quail Forever, Quality Deer Management Association, Ruffed Grouse Society, Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation, Safari Club International, Sportsmen's Alliance, Whitetails Unlimited, Wild Sheep Foundation, Wildlife Forever, Wildlife Management Institute.

Mr. BISHOP of Utah. Madam Speaker, this comes from groups all over the Nation who understand what is going on and also realize the problem of this--I mean, there are some people who might think this only deals with Alaska. Technically, it does. The problem is, if this happens to Alaska, if the ability of the Federal Government to supersede the State happens in Alaska, this could also happen to anyone of the lower 48 States. We are simply one lawsuit away from Fish and Wildlife Service being either allowed or required to order similar regulations for everything across the lower 48 States as well. And that is what is so difficult and impossible to understand. Look, let me try and sum it up this way: None of the practices that have been railed about today actually are existing, and any of those that are are easily controlled by the Alaska Department of Fish and Game. The underlying premise, both of the rule that the Fish and Wildlife Service of the Department of the Interior did and the underlying premise of most of the debate that has happened here on the floor, is that only somebody who lives here in Washington has the intelligence, the foresight, the vision to make these kind of rules that unfortunately people in Alaska are simply too dumb to do it. You are a bunch of redneck hicks that don't understand how to rule yourself. You don't understand science. You barely have television. I don't know what it is, but why do we have this mindset that only Washington can make these decisions when actually the States have proven, not only that are they capable, they are superior to what happens from this Department here in Washington. That is what this is about, an illegal rule that simply takes away from the States what they are doing and what they are doing well; and that is why this should be opposed. That is why this rule should be pulled away. This midnight rule, once again, should be taken back. Allow them to start over and do something intelligently. At least, recognize the professionals--the real professionals who work in the States to make this system work. They can do it. They have done it. Allow them to do their jobs, and protect the rest of us from any judge saying, oh, if it happened in Alaska, maybe it can happen in your State as well. That is the fear. This is a rule passed by Fish and Wildlife at the last minute of the Obama administration that doesn't solve anything and will be impossible to administer. It violates everything that has gone on before. Vote for this rule. Bring back sanity and allow the States to do their job as they are supposed to do and as the law prescribes for them to do. I urge support of this. I don't know if you are undecided on whether I was for this resolution or not. Just, for the record, yes, I support this resolution. I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. BISHOP of Utah. Mr. Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to the gentleman from California (Mr. McClintock), the chairman of the Subcommittee on Federal Lands in our full committee.

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

Mr. BISHOP of Utah. Mr. Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to the gentleman from Arkansas (Mr. Westerman), the vice chairman of the Federal Lands Subcommittee.

Mr. BISHOP of Utah. I yield 3 minutes to the gentleman from Georgia (Mr. Austin Scott).

Mr. BISHOP of Utah. Mr. Speaker, pursuant to House Resolution 123, I call up the joint resolution (H.J. Res. 69) providing for congressional disapproval under chapter 8 of title 5, United States Code, of the final rule of the Department of the Interior relating to ``Non- Subsistence Take of Wildlife, and Public Participation and Closure Procedures, on National Wildlife Refuges in Alaska'', and ask for its immediate consideration.

Mr. BISHOP of Utah. Madam Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. BISHOP of Utah. Mr. Speaker, I yield 4 minutes to the gentleman from Arizona (Mr. Gosar), a member of our committee, who is also going to talk about the reality of what we are facing here.

Mr. BISHOP of Utah. Madam Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from Alaska (Mr. Young), the one who actually lives there and knows the area and knows the names of the towns.

Mr. BISHOP of Utah. Mr. Speaker, I yield 4 minutes to the gentleman from South Carolina (Mr. Duncan).

Mr. BISHOP of Utah

Mr. BISHOP of Utah. Mr. Speaker, pursuant to clause 1, rule I, I demand a vote on agreeing to the Speaker's approval of the Journal.

Mr. BISHOP of Utah

Mr. BISHOP of Utah. Mr. Speaker, by direction of the Republican Conference, I offer a privileged resolution and ask for its immediate consideration.