Ken Calvert

Mr. CALVERT

Mr. CALVERT. Mr. Chairman, I urge a ``no'' vote, and I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. CALVERT. Mr. Chairman, I am happy to support this amendment. The recent court decision earlier this year overturned, really, a longstanding EPA exemption for reporting from farms. These family farms and ranchers across the Nation shouldn't be burdened with just more and more paperwork to do an activity they have been doing for many, many years in this country. It is not what Congress intended. Congress, last I looked, still makes the laws around here. I would support the gentleman's amendment and urge its adoption.

Mr. CALVERT. Mr. Chair, I rise in opposition to the amendment, reluctant opposition.

Mr. CALVERT. Mr. Chair, I won't take the 2 minutes. I just want to let the gentleman know I am prepared to accept the amendment, and I encourage adoption of the amendment.

Mr. CALVERT

Mr. CALVERT. Mr. Chairman, I rise in opposition to the amendment.

Mr. CALVERT. While the amendment itself is drafted in order as a general increase to EPA geographic programs, the gentleman proposes to fund a program that was not requested in the budget and is not authorized. Further, he proposes to reduce grants from DERA, the DERA program, which is a key program for improving air quality in areas like mine that are in a nonattainment area with existing standards. For those reasons, I oppose the amendment and urge my colleagues to vote ``no'' on this amendment. I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. CALVERT. Mr. Chairman, I yield to the gentlewoman from New York (Ms. Slaughter).

Mr. CALVERT. Mr. Chair, I urge a ``no'' vote, and I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. CALVERT. Mr. Chair, I am sorry. I didn't hear the gentleman, and I happily accept his offer to withdraw the amendment. I will happily work with him to see if we can't work some time in the future to find room for this program that the gentleman is obviously supportive of.

Mr. CALVERT. Mr. Chair, I rise in opposition to the amendment.

Mr. CALVERT. Mr. Chair, given our allocation, which was $824 million below the fiscal year 2017 level, we had to find areas to trim. It is also important to note that the bill does not support the elimination of the program, as has been proposed in the President's budget. It was the committee's effort to find some middle ground. While I can certainly appreciate the gentleman's interest to maintain fiscal year 2017 enacted level, the allocation of the committee doesn't support those levels. So, therefore, I urge my colleagues to vote ``no'' on the gentleman's amendment. Mr. Chair, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. CALVERT. Mr. Chairman, I urge a ``no'' vote, and I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. CALVERT. Mr. Chairman, I yield to the gentleman from Maryland (Mr. Harris) for the purpose of a colloquy.

Mr. CALVERT. Mr. Chairman, as I mentioned at our full committee markup, I understood that my colleague, Dr. Harris, was offering his amendment to address local concerns from his residents with respect to the visibility of offshore turbines. With all of these offshore projects, many varying viewpoints need to be taken into account. I appreciate that we have been able to discuss many of these views and concerns here today. It is my hope that we can work with the authorizing committees of jurisdiction, the administration, and all interested stakeholders to identify some better solutions as we move forward through the fiscal year 2018 process. Mr. Chairman, I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. CALVERT. Mr. Chairman, I understand the gentleman's overall goal is to continue funding for the AML pilot project, consistent with a fiscal year 2017 enacted level, and structure for the six Appalachian States. Therefore, we can accept this package of amendments at this time, work toward maintaining funding for 6 States in a final fiscal year 2018 enacted bill. If we are able to achieve that goal, I hope we can count on the gentleman's support to pass both this House package and to enact the 2018 end-of-year spending bill. Mr. Chairman, I encourage my colleagues to adopt this amendment.

Mr. CALVERT. Mr. Chairman, as the designee of Chairman Frelinghuysen, I move to strike the last word.

Mr. CALVERT. Mr. Chairman, I yield to the gentleman from Georgia (Mr. Jody B. Hice) for the purpose of a colloquy.

Mr. CALVERT. Mr. Chairman, I rise in support of the en bloc and urge its adoption. Mr. Chairman, I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. CALVERT. Mr. Chairman, I thank the gentleman for yielding. I am certainly prepared to accept this amendment. I understand the importance of the program to the gentleman from Pennsylvania and other Members in the Appalachian region. I look forward to working with him and all of the interested Members. Mr. Chairman, I encourage adoption of the amendment.

Mr. CALVERT. Mr. Chairman, as the designee of Chairman Frelinghuysen, I move to strike the last word. The Acting Chair. The gentleman from California is recognized for 5 minutes.

Mr. CALVERT. Mr. Chairman, I yield 1\1/2\ minutes to the gentleman from Minnesota (Mr. Emmer).

Mr. CALVERT. Mr. Chair, I rise in opposition to the amendment.

Mr. CALVERT. Mr. Chair, I certainly appreciate my friend's support for the research conducted at the EPA, and particularly the Research Triangle Park. I am a supporter of the world class research that occurs at RTP with respect to the computational toxicology program. That research has helped to identify alternative high throughput testing methodologies that have reduced the number of animals used in laboratories. Given the current allocation, however, which is $824 million below the fiscal year 2017 level, we had to find areas to trim. We certainly don't have a funding level that can support the fiscal year 2017 enacted levels, but we tried to do the best we could to find common ground. I certainly look forward to working with the gentleman in the future, if we happily come to some kind of budget agreement, where we can reallocate funds to something as important as this. But, again, because of our allocation, I must oppose the amendment and urge my colleagues to vote ``no'' on the gentleman's amendment. Mr. Chair, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. CALVERT. Mr. Chairman, I yield an additional 30 seconds to the gentleman from Minnesota.

Mr. CALVERT. Mr. Chairman, I rise in support of the gentlewoman's amendment. I certainly urge Members to support it. This bill maintains the increases provided last year for deferred maintenance and increases the construction account by $10 million. This amendment will further our efforts to address the longstanding deferred maintenance needs. I urge an ``aye'' vote on the amendment, and I yield back the balance of my time.