Dennis Cardoza

Mr. CARDOZA

Mr. CARDOZA. Resuming, Mr. Chair, I would thank the chairman for his work on this bill. It's a fine piece of legislation, and I thank him for supporting my amendment. Mr. Chairman, as Merced College, Modesto Junior College, and San Joaquin Delta College work hard to retain our workforce and educate the next generation of Americans, they're building a new foundation for hope and prosperity across the country. Investing in these schools and other institutions in these areas suffering from high unemployment rates is critical to the future success of our country. Again, I urge the adoption of my amendment. I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. CARDOZA

Mr. CARDOZA. Madam Speaker, it is with a heavy heart that I rise today to recognize the passing of a great public servant, Sergeant Steve May of the Modesto Police Department who died from medical complications sustained from a 2002 accident that occurred while on duty. As a 23 year veteran of the Department, Sergeant May gave the ultimate sacrifice to our community. Sergeant May was hired by the Modesto Police Department on February 6, 1979 and promoted to Corporal on January 28, 1992. He was then promoted to Sergeant on September 20, 1994. Sergeant May was a respected member of the Department who was a consummate professional who served his community with distinction. The accident that took Sergeant May from his family and our community occurred on July 29, 2002. Stanislaus County Sheriffs Deputies saw a black pickup that they believed to be suspicious, and after the vehicle attempted to evade officers, it rammed the deputies' patrol car and sped off. Sergeant May was on patrol and spotted the suspect's vehicle in downtown Modesto. He followed the vehicle and pursued it vigorously as the vehicle reached high rates of speed. The suspect ran two stop signs and was evading police. While running a stop sign, Sergeant May's patrol car was struck and pushed into a tree as the suspect's vehicle hit a house. Sergeant May was trapped inside his car and freed by firefighters. Suffering severe injuries, he was rushed to the hospital for treatment. Sergeant May's family and our community are deeply saddened by this loss. He leaves behind his wife Diana and their two children--Corinne and Michael. I offer my prayers and condolences as they grieve. Sergeant May was clearly a remarkable individual, public servant and law enforcement officer who remained dedicated to public safety and service throughout his impressive career. Through his dedicated work, he touched the lives of many and helped change the face of our community. Madam Speaker, it is with respect and gratitude that I ask my colleagues to join me in this posthumous recognition of Police Sergeant Steve May for his dedicated service.

Mr. CARDOZA

Mr. CARDOZA. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in strong support of the rule and the underlying bill. Since being elected to Congress, I have been a member of the fiscally conservative Blue Dog Coalition, fighting to rein in reckless federal spending and put an end to our spiraling deficit. I believe we must get back on the road to fiscal responsibility before we pass the nation's keys--and our debt--onto our children and grandchildren. You can spin this debate any way you want to, but these are the facts. President Bush inherited a $5.6 trillion surplus from President Clinton. This was squandered leaving a record deficit of $1.8 trillion for 2009 alone. In just 8 years under President George W. Bush, our Nation's debt-- now more than $11.6 trillion--nearly doubled meaning more debt was accumulated over the past 8 years than under all of the Presidents from George Washington to Ronald Reagan combined. We are in tough economic times and these extraordinary times call for extraordinary measures. But plain and simple, we cannot afford to continue writing blank checks and borrowing money from countries such as China to pay our bills. The PAYGO legislation before the House today reinstates one of the fiscal discipline tools that worked so well throughout the 1990s, and that led to the first budget surpluses since 1969. I would point out that it was the first President Bush, working with a Democratic Congress, that instituted the first PAYGO rules. The Clinton Administration and Democrats in Congress continued to work with Republicans on a bipartisan basis and turned decades of exploding budget deficits into 4 straight years of budget surpluses with record economic growth through the continued use of PAYGO. Under President Clinton, for the first time in 30 years, America actually began to pay down its debt to foreign nations. It was only when President George W. Bush and the Republican Congress abandoned any sense of fiscal discipline and allowed the proven PAYGO rules to expire in 2002, that government spending spun out of control and we rang up the largest deficits in our Nation's history. My point is that when both the Administration and the Congress are willing to cooperate and adhere to fiscal discipline, PAYGO works. Our side knows it. The other side of the aisle knows it. There is absolutely no denying PAYGO has worked in the past, and with a new Administration with a strong commitment to reversing the reckless fiscal policies of the past 8 years, we have that willingness to cooperate again today. Blue Dogs know that we should not be in this situation today. And as we all know, despite the Blue Dogs' best efforts--and the efforts of many other members on both sides of the aisle--cutting spending and making tough choices is never easy. But enough is enough. It's time to stop blaming. It's time to stop pointing fingers. It's time we return to the fiscal accountability measures that I and my fellow Blue Dog colleagues have long advocated. And it's high time we start doing the right thing and start paying for what this country buys. I ask my colleagues on both sides of the aisle to support this common sense legislation.

Mr. CARDOZA

Mr. CARDOZA. Mr. Chairman, I have an amendment at the desk made in order under the rule.

Mr. CARDOZA. Mr. Chairman, I rise today in strong support of the amendment, an amendment that makes technical changes to allow water transfers in the Central Valley of California. This amendment takes a significant step towards addressing the impacts of the water supply crisis in the San Joaquin Valley. This is a companion amendment to the one that Mr. Costa and I just introduced. Mr. Costa is my coauthor of this amendment. And together, these two amendments, in fact, do work to help us deal with the incredibly significant crisis that we have in the Central Valley. People are suffering greatly. Currently, the Bureau of Reclamation restricts certain water transfers to intracounty transfers. The inability to transfer water beyond county lines has created incredible impediments to efficient and practical water use in our State. This amendment will allow those transfers to occur beyond these county lines so that water users who have enough supply in one county will be able to use it in another county to help their fellow farmers. As Mr. Costa indicated, the amendments also direct the Secretary to implement recovery plans for the giant garter snake, an endangered species. The recovery plan will remove the bureaucratic red tape that prevents water projects from moving forward, while also protecting this important species. We could not be here today working on these problems if it wasn't for the work of the chairman, Mr. Pastor, for Mr. Obey, for the cooperation that the entire Valley delegation has shown on this issue. Mr. Costa has indicated that because of the efforts that we have employed, we have provided our farmers with 500,000 acre-feet that they wouldn't have had otherwise under the current rules. I want to specifically also indicate my sincere appreciation to Majority Leader Hoyer, who has been steadfast in his support of Mr. Costa and me trying to move this effort forward. At this time, Mr. Chairman, I would like to yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from Colorado (Mr. Salazar), who has also been a diligent supporter of our efforts and has been concerned, has actually visited our district, and I greatly appreciate his help and support.

Mr. CARDOZA. Mr. Chairman, how much time do I have remaining?

Mr. CARDOZA. Mr. Chairman, I would like to yield 15 seconds to the chairman of the committee.

Mr. CARDOZA. Mr. Chairman, I would like to thank the chairman. As I said before, without his help, we could not have made these amendments in order and brought them to the floor. I think these amendments offer significant opportunities to the Central Valley. They are not a panacea. They are not going to cure every problem. We have more work to do. But, in closing, I want to thank Secretary Salazar for taking time out, coming and visiting our valley, understanding the problem. We have a lot of work to do with the Department of the Interior, the Bureau of Reclamation, but with continued work and cooperation, I think we will make significant progress on the significant challenges that we face in the Central Valley. With that, Mr. Chairman, I would ask for an ``aye'' vote of my colleagues.

Mr. CARDOZA

Mr. CARDOZA. Mr. Speaker, by direction of the Committee on Rules, I call up House Resolution 617 and ask for its immediate consideration.

Mr. CARDOZA. Mr. Speaker, for the purpose of debate only, I yield the customary 30 minutes to the gentleman from Florida, my good friend, Mr. Lincoln Diaz-Balart. All time yielded for consideration of the rule is for debate only. General Leave

Mr. CARDOZA. I ask unanimous consent that all Members have 5 legislative days within which to revise and extend their remarks on House Resolution 617.

Mr. CARDOZA. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. House Resolution 617 provides for consideration of H.R. 3081, the Department of State, Foreign Operations, and Related Programs appropriations bill for the fiscal year 2010, under a structured rule. The rule provides for 1 hour of general debate equally divided and controlled by the chairman and ranking minority member of the Committee on Appropriations. The rule waives all points of order against the bill and its consideration except those arising under clause 9 or clause 10 of rule XXI. The rule also waives points of order against provisions in the bill for failure to comply with clause 2 of rule XXI. The bill makes in order the amendment printed in part A of the committee report and the amendments printed in part B of the committee report accompanying this resolution. Each amendment is debatable for 10 minutes. Finally, the rule also provides one motion to recommit with or without instructions. Mr. Speaker, the legislation that we will consider today, H.R. 3081, funds the Department of State, Foreign Operations, and related programs for fiscal year 2010. This bipartisan bill reflects four key priorities: it protects our national security and combats terrorism; provides critical resources to meet global health and development challenges; ensures adequate oversight and accountability of our foreign assistance; and most importantly reforms and rebuilds America's diplomatic and development capacity. In total, the bill provides $48.8 billion for fiscal year 2010. This is $3.2 billion less than the President's request, and $1.2 billion below the fiscal year 2009 enacted level including supplemental funding, a reasonable level of funding during these unprecedented fiscal times. To protect national security and combat terrorism, the State-Foreign Operations appropriations bill provides $2.2 billion to Israel, provides $2.7 billion in assistance for Afghanistan and $1.5 billion for Pakistan, and it provides $1.8 billion total in economic and security assistance for Egypt and Jordan, two of our key allies in the Middle East. It also requires a report on the status and progress of diplomatic efforts to prevent Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons, and it continues a reporting requirement on bilateral and multilateral sanctions against Iran. Further, it prevents the Export-Import Bank from providing financing to any energy producers or refiners that contribute to Iran's refined petroleum resources. The bill also continues to take aim at the war on drugs by setting aside $319 million for Mexico and Central America for counternarcotics and law enforcement programs. It also includes $520 million for Colombia to fight narcotics and criminal gangs and to promote alternatives to drug production. The State-Foreign Operations bill makes great strides in increasing global health by providing funding increases for international HIV/AIDS treatment and prevention, tuberculosis and malaria prevention, safe water and hygiene, and child and maternal health programs. These global health investments are critical, not just in saving lives overseas, but in protecting the health of countless Americans from disease. The State-Foreign Operations bill also ensures that the United States continues to meet our moral and humanitarian obligations abroad. The bill provides funding for countries facing long-term development challenges, improving foreign agriculture and food security programs and helping countries struggling with food shortages, supporting basic education needs, helping displaced people around the world with food, water, shelter and other basic needs, and providing lifesaving assistance during worldwide natural disasters. It also provides $450 million for the Peace Corps. This is $77 million above the President's request, which accelerates the President's commitment to expanding the Peace Corps, one of the most valuable programs our government can fund. The lack of capacity in our civilian agencies has resulted in an increased reliance on American troops to carry out diplomatic missions. Besides placing an additional workload on our already overburdened troops and taking their focus away from their critical core missions, it is not in the best interests of our Nation to place diplomatic missions with our military. Secretary Clinton, Secretary Gates, and the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff have all stressed the need to increase the capacity of the State Department and USAID. As such, the bill provides resources to hire 1,000 new State Department personnel and 300 new USAID personnel so our country can take the necessary steps to begin rebuilding and restoring our diplomatic capabilities that we shortchanged and underappreciated for far too long. Finally, the bill also improves and continues the Democrats' commitment to oversight and accountability. It provides nearly $150 million for activities of the Inspector General of the Department of State and USAID, as well as for the Special Inspectors General for both Iraq and Afghanistan reconstruction. In addition, this bill reverses years of accounting gimmickry through supplemental appropriations. Instead, it provides upfront, honest and transparent accounting of the true costs of meeting our critical foreign policy and national security initiatives. Mr. Speaker, this is a good bill. In these tough economic times, it is also a fair bill. And, most importantly, this is a bipartisan bill that goes a long way towards restoring the strength and capabilities of the United States both here and abroad. I commend the chairwoman, Mrs. Lowey, for her admirable efforts in ensuring our needs are met, both here and abroad, and to ensure that the national security and foreign policy commitments of the United States remain strong for many days to come. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. CARDOZA. Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the chairwoman of the committee, Mrs. Lowey.

Mr. CARDOZA. Mr. Speaker, I now yield 2 minutes to the gentlewoman from Wisconsin (Ms. Moore).

Mr. CARDOZA. The gentleman is very sincere, and I appreciate his friendship and his words. I would just make one correction, and that is when he speaks of a 40 percent increase in this bill, what we are doing in this bill is increasing the transparency from a situation where all the dollars that we're spending here were in the past few years put into supplemental bills and pretended like they didn't really count. We're taking that supplemental spending and putting it in a transparent process that we can all appreciate. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. CARDOZA. I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from Washington (Mr. Smith). (Mr. SMITH of Washington asked and was given permission to revise and extend his remarks.)

Mr. CARDOZA. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from Virginia (Mr. Perriello).

Mr. CARDOZA. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from New Jersey (Mr. Payne). (Mr. PAYNE asked and was given permission to revise and extend his remarks.)

Mr. CARDOZA. Mr. Speaker, I yield 5 minutes to the gentleman from Illinois (Mr. Jackson).

Mr. CARDOZA. Mr. Speaker, I thank my friend and colleague from Florida for his words. I concede that it is quite unfortunate that we stand here today, where we stand today, with regard to what has transpired over the past few weeks. It is not the way we want things to operate in the people's house, it's not the way my friends on the other side want to operate either. A trust and agreement have been breached. Republicans have chosen not to be able to come to an agreement from our very first appropriation bill. There was a marker laid down with dilatory tactics which could have prevented us from tending to the people's business. While Democrats have continued choosing to try and legislate and move forward and do what the voters and those who elected us to do, we have seen that there has been continuing obstructionist tactics. The State-Foreign Ops appropriations bill gets to the heart of our national security interests, and it is one of the most important appropriations bills we consider each year. This bill has no place for obstructionism and partisan politics. That has to stop at the water's edge. We simply cannot risk the people's business coming to a screeching halt on such a critical national security measure. Mr. Speaker, for the good of this institution, we must put aside our political differences and find the common ground. But until that time, we must also do what's necessary to continue doing the people's business and ensure that nothing stands in the way of providing for the safety and security of this great Nation. Mr. Speaker, simply put, the State-Foreign Ops Appropriations bill funds the United States' diplomatic and development priorities. It is a cornerstone of our national security. It is critical that we send a strong, united message to the world about the United States' foreign policy commitments, about our priorities, about supporting this bill with overwhelming bipartisan support today. Mr. Speaker, I urge a ``yes'' vote on this rule and on the previous question. The material previously referred to by Mr. Lincoln Diaz-Balart of Florida is as follows: Amendment to H. Res. 617 Offered by Mr. Lincoln Diaz-Balart of Florida Strike the resolved clause and all that follows and insert the following: Resolved, That immediately upon the adoption of this resolution the Speaker shall, pursuant to clause 2(b) of rule XVIII, declare the House resolved into the Committee of the Whole House on the state of the Union for consideration of the bill (H.R. 3081) making appropriations for the Department of State, foreign operations, and related programs for the fiscal year ending September 30, 2010, and for other purposes. The first reading of the bill shall be dispensed with. All points of order against consideration of the bill are waived except those arising under clause 9 or 10 of rule XXI. General debate shall be confined to the bill and shall not exceed one hour equally divided and controlled by the chairman and ranking minority member of the Committee on Appropriations. After general debate the bill shall be considered for amendment under the five-minute rule. Points of order against provisions in the bill for failure to comply with clause 2 of rule XXI are waived. During consideration of the bill for amendment, the Chairman of the Committee of the Whole may accord priority in recognition on the basis of whether the Member offering an amendment has caused it to be printed in the portion of the Congressional Record designated for that purpose in clause 8 of rule XVIII. Amendments so printed shall be considered as read. When the committee rises and reports the bill hack to the House with a recommendation that the bill do pass, the previous question shall he considered as ordered on the bill and amendments thereto to final passage without intervening motion except one motion to recommit with or without instructions.

Mr. CARDOZA. Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time and I move the previous question on the resolution.

Mr. CARDOZA

Mr. CARDOZA. Mr. Speaker, I move that the appeal of the ruling of the Chair be laid on the table.

Mr. CARDOZA

Mr. CARDOZA. Mr. Chair, I was unable to be present for several votes taken on the House floor earlier today as one of my children required immediate medical attention. As a result, I missed rollcall votes 480, 481, 482, and 483. Had I been present, on rollcall vote 480 I would have voted ``aye''; on rollcall vote 481 I would have voted ``aye'', on rollcall vote 482 I would have voted ``aye''; and on rollcall vote 483 I would have voted ``aye.''

Mr. CARDOZA

Mr. CARDOZA. Mr. Chair, I rise in support of Mr. Nunes' amendment. The National Marine Fisheries Service's Biological Opinion on the Central Valley Water Project and State Water Project is flawed because it attributes the pumps as a single factor in the decline of fisheries in the Bay Delta. Numerous regulatory measures under the Endangered Species Act, the Central Valley Project Improvement Act and the Clean Water have already resulted in over 50 percent cuts to water deliveries, yet haven't resulted in any improvement to the fisheries. The interim court orders under which this BO is based and a previous Biological Opinion on the delta smelt have slashed deliveries to just 10 percent, and we still are not seeing any improvement to the fisheries. Implementing the Biological Opinion truly is the definition of insanity--doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results. We cannot solve the challenges of the Delta ecosystem by continuing to curtail pumping. We are long overdue for a study that examines all of the factors affecting the Delta, such as non-native fish that are predators of endangered species, climate change, and pollution such as discharged wastewater. It is imperative we undertake a complete study that identifies all of these factors and then set policy according to a complete set of data. To continue to curtail pumping prevents a true solution. The cumulative effect of this Biological Opinion and other regulatory decisions is crippling small farm communities in the San Joaquin Valley. The San Joaquin Valley has an average unemployment rate hovering near 20 percent, with some communities at 45 percent. This is one more strike in what is an economic disaster for my constituents.

Mr. CARDOZA

Mr. CARDOZA. Madam Speaker, by direction of the Committee on Rules, I call up House Resolution 501 and ask for its immediate consideration.