Jim Costa

Mr. COSTA

Mr. COSTA. Mr. Speaker, we rise today to pay tribute to the life and service of Mr. Mike McGarvin. Mike was the beloved founder of the Poverello House, a homeless shelter in Fresno which provides programs and support services to hundreds of people every day. For decades Mike touched the lives of countless disadvantaged people in the Fresno area using one simple message, ``Listen with compassion; give with a warm heart and a smile.'' Mike, or ``Papa Mike,'' as he was affectionately known by many, was born in San Francisco, California in 1944. After early struggles in life, he found solace in a coffee house in San Francisco called Poverello that served those in need. The coffee house was run by a priest, who later asked Mike to volunteer there, an opportunity that proved to be life changing. After seven years of volunteering at the San Francisco Poverello, Mike and his wife Mary moved back to her hometown of Fresno where he worked as a photographer for the local newspaper, The Fresno Bee. After observing Fresno's homeless population, Mike was reminded of the kindness shown to him at Poverello in San Francisco, and he pledged to find a way to give back. Mike initiated his legacy by passing out peanut butter and jelly sandwiches to the homeless and the hungry from the back of his car. Soon after, he purchased a small storefront and opened the Poverello House to help those in need in Fresno, naming his small outfit after the place in San Francisco that saved his life. Since its modest beginnings, the Poverello House has grown. It now provides three meals a day, 365 days a year to those in need as well as many other services, such as clothing distribution, emergency food bags, a medical clinic, the Men's Resident Rehabilitation program, and temporary overnight shelter for men and women. The Poverello House is truly a source of salvation for countless individuals in our community. Mike has been recognized many times throughout his life for his invaluable work, including an honorary doctorate from California State University, Fresno and the Pope John XXIII Award from the Italian Catholic Federation in honor of his years of humanitarian service. Mike will be remembered by all for his boundless kindness and deep compassion. He leaves a legacy of service and selflessness, both through the Poverello House and in the hearts of the people whose lives he touched. He is survived by his wife of 46 years Mary, daughter Clare, and grandson Tyler. Mr. Speaker, we ask our colleagues to join us in honoring the life and achievements of Mike McGarvin, whose passion for service and kindness has forever changed the lives of those in need in our community. I join Mike's family and the Poverello House in honoring his life. He will truly be missed.

Mr. COSTA

Mr. COSTA. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to pay tribute to the life of Mr. Mike McGarvin, a role model for one and all, and a gentleman who truly made a difference in his lifetime. Mike was the beloved founder of the Poverello House, a homeless shelter in Fresno, California, which provides three meals a day, 365 days a year, to those in need, as well as clothing, medical services, and temporary shelter for those who are most vulnerable and have challenges in their life. For decades, Mike served countless people in the Fresno area using one simple message: ``Listen with compassion; give with a warm heart and a smile.'' Think about that: Listen with compassion and give with a warm heart and a smile. The lives of hundreds and thousands of individuals were made better because of Mike's helping hand. He will be remembered by all for his deep compassion and boundless kindness. Mike was a role model for me and for all who knew him. He leaves a legacy of service and selflessness, both through the Poverello House and in the hearts of those people he touched throughout the years. I join Mike's family and the supporters of the Poverello House over the years in honoring his life. Congratulations to Valley Children's Hospital

Mr. COSTA. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to congratulate Valley Children's Hospital for their recent recognition as one of the Nation's top 50 children's hospitals in the country, which I represent. I have been there and know of the work they do. In their annual Best Children's Hospitals report, U.S. News & World Report ranked the hospital in a host of key critical areas as among the top in pediatric orthopedics, pediatric diabetes and endocrinology, and pediatric gastroenterology and GI surgery. To see these preemies in their beds and these young, little lives being saved as a result of the overall effort of the children's hospital is truly heartwarming. We in the Valley have known for decades how highly skilled and dedicated the nurses, doctors, and staff are at Valley Children's Hospital. It was founded more than 60 years ago with the mission to provide high-quality, comprehensive medical care to children, regardless of their ability to pay, and to continuously improve upon the health and well-being of these children. That is why, in part, the cuts that are being proposed to Medicaid are so devastating all around the country, but especially among our children who are not in a position to afford this kind of care. Valley Children's Hospital has grown and is now the second largest children's hospital in California. It has many more patients than any other pediatric hospital north of San Diego. The hospital's emergency room is the only dedicated pediatric emergency room between San Francisco and Los Angeles. Valley Children's Hospital has been designated as a magnet nursing hospital by the American Nurses Credentialing Center, which is a recognition of true excellence in nursing care. Less than 3 percent of all hospitals in the United States earn this designation. Once again, I am a regular visitor to this hospital. When you see the staff, who have an incredible heart, and all the loving care they provide, and you see the parents and families with their young babies and young children, you know that something special is going on here. On behalf of my constituents in the Valley community, I would like to congratulate Valley Children's Hospital for their recent recognition as one of the Nation's top 50 children's hospitals. I would also like to thank all of the dedicated staff, once again, who are committed to improving the health and well-being of not only the children of our Valley and in California, but across the Nation. We know that all of the nurses and physicians make a difference throughout our country.

Mr. COSTA

Mr. COSTA. Mr. Chairman, I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. COSTA. Mr. Chairman, I yield 30 seconds to the gentleman from California (Mr. Huffman), who is from Marin County.

Mr. COSTA. Mr. Chairman, I have an amendment at the desk.

Mr. COSTA. Mr. Chairman, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Chairman, I would like to first, again, thank the Rules Committee chair and Ranking Member Slaughter for making my amendment in order, as well as acknowledge my colleague from California, Congressman LaMalfa, for his work on this amendment. Mr. Chairman, a record drought and the most destructive wildfire seasons on record have brought renewed attention to California's headwaters. These forests, meadows, and other source waters play a vital role in California's water supply and management system, and they are under threat from a host of factors, including wildfires, climate change impacts, and poor management policies. More effective forest and headwaters management practices, such as increased use of forest thinning and watershed restoration, have demonstrated the potential to provide a measurable increase in water supply to the Central Valley Project reservoirs that receive runoff generated by these headwaters in the Sierra Nevadas, the beautiful mountains that we have in California. The Sierra Nevada mountain range, many people don't realize, generates nearly 60 percent of California's developed water supply--60 percent. And that is why the abundance of snow on the mountains during the wintertime is so critical. Some estimates indicate that simply by instituting more effective headwaters management policies, that up to 300,000 acre-feet of additional water supplies--300,000 acre-feet--could be generated each year. Now, that is a significant yield of water when you look at the overdraft crop problems that we have and some of the other authorization of surface storage that we have made last year during the WIIN Act. As a matter of fact, the Bureau of Reclamation has analyzed that some of the projects that I support, such as raising Shasta Dam 18 feet, would generate anywhere from 75 to over 100,000 acre-feet of water annually. So if we can generate an additional 300,000 acre-feet by better managing our headwaters, this is almost three times that yield. Simply managing our forests better could, in many instances, quadruple our water supply and better produce environmental outcomes for our forest ecosystems. To put this in context, this is enough water to irrigate over 100,000 acres, of which we have significant overdraft of land, or provide daily water for an additional 500,000 homes in California for an entire year. My amendment would authorize the Bureau of Reclamation to enter into partnerships to determine the amount of water that could be untapped by doing these kinds of efforts. Fixing California's broken water system, as I have said repeatedly, means using all of the water tools in our water management toolbox. Included in this amendment, we would be having the opportunity to improve our headwater management in an integrated and multidisciplinary approach that is responsive to the changing conditions that we face as we know that will continue to occur. Mr. Chairman, I urge my colleagues to support this amendment. Mr. Chairman, I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from northern California (Mr. Huffman).

Mr. COSTA. I yield to the gentleman from California.

Mr. COSTA. Mr. Chair, I yield myself such time as I may consume. I would like to first thank the Rules Committee chairman, and the ranking member, Ms. Slaughter, for making my amendment in order. Mr. Chair, groundwater storage is a central element of drought resilience in the San Joaquin Valley and throughout California. Recharging our groundwater that has been overdrafted is critical in terms of our overall strategy to use all the water tools in our water management toolbox. California's hydrological cycle is varied, with each year's intense rainfall and flooding like this year followed by prolonged periods of droughts like the previous 5 years. As a matter of fact, in California, it is either feast or famine. We don't have enough or we have too much water. This varied hydrological cycle means that regions like the San Joaquin Valley rely heavily on groundwater to supply regional water needs during the dry years, and that is how the overdraft takes place. An attempt to refill that pumped water during wet years comes all too infrequently. The recent record drought, coupled with previous droughts and policy changes that have led to shifting of water supplies from agriculture water uses to environmental uses over the last 25 years, has literally resulted in ground sinking beneath the feet of the people of the San Joaquin Valley. These depletions led the State of California to pass a law in 2014 that regulates the use of groundwater, with the objective of creating groundwater balance over time. It is called the Sustainable Groundwater Management Act, otherwise referred to as SGMA. Obviously, we ought to make our groundwater sustainable, and there are a lot of different ways in which we can do so in terms of that water strategy. This amendment purports to address part of that. Many groundwater basins have been overdrafted for long periods of time. Twenty-one of California's 515 groundwater basins now are considered critically overdrafted. That is a real, real serious crisis. It is critical that efforts are taken to recharge these groundwater aquifers so that the water is available during the dry years, which we know will surely come. This is all about sustainability. We know that the performance of any projected groundwater recharge and recovery project is reliant on a thorough understanding of how the surface and subsurface waters interact with a geographical region. Without thoroughly developed and field-verified information about the geophysical characteristics of California's groundwater aquifer systems and best areas for groundwater recharge projects, compliance with California's recently enacted Sustainable Groundwater Management Act-- it is simply infeasible for us to expect that we are going to do that without having all of the information together. What we are trying to do in this legislation is provide the opportunity to ensure that we have a reliable water supply so that we have food security. After all, food security, I believe, is a national security issue for America. It doesn't get looked at that way, but it is. California's Department of Water Resources has identified a number of gaps in the scientific body of knowledge that need to be filled in order to effectively recharge groundwater aquifers. Some of these studies show that simply irrigating lands in the Central Valley with right soil conditions for groundwater percolation could lead to an additional 2 million to 6 million acre-feet of groundwater infiltration. That would double the level of recovery rate in a post- drought winter like 2017. This amendment would authorize the Bureau of Reclamation, partnered with scientific agencies, the United States Geological Survey, and the University of California, to conduct surveys for groundwater aquifers to identify, one, subsurface aquifer systems framework, including the geometry of areas where water can move more easily; two, aquifer storage and transmission characteristics; and three, land areas of greatest recharge potential. I urge my colleagues to support this amendment.

Mr. COSTA. Mr. Chairman, I have an amendment at the desk.

Mr. COSTA. I thank the gentleman for yielding. That is correct. I know this was offered 5 years ago. I would like to point out, though, in the last 5 years of the drought conditions, we have learned a whole lot more about the flexibility and how you can and cannot use rescheduled water and, of course, how valuable it is. So I respect and thank the gentleman, Congressman LaMalfa, for working together on this to ensure that we protect all of the water users in their ability to have flexibility, especially during drought times.

Mr. COSTA. Mr. Chair, I thank the gentleman for yielding me this time. This amendment is about rescheduled water, and this is a technical term that, for people who aren't familiar with water use in California and other parts of the country, it allows people with water rights, whether they be senior or junior water rights, to reserve that water, in other words, to reschedule it, to hold it off for another time when it might be more valuable to use. And so this is an important tool. I agree with Congressman LaMalfa that water users throughout California should have flexibility to use their water supplies in ways that are most beneficial to be able to reschedule it. I do have some concerns that this amendment may have unintended consequences with other water users downstream should it become law without changes. Specifically, it is critical that those with more junior water rights, like some of the areas I represent south of the California delta, are not negatively impacted when they reschedule their water from senior water rights holders. Water is precious. You have water shortages. So if I want to reserve it for later in the year or for the next water year, that means rescheduled water. So for these water users, we want to protect that ability. Additionally, in the event that a future wet year causes spilling of rescheduled water, it is critical that the priority of the water spilling is addressed in a fair and equitable manner. I would like to work with the gentleman to address these concerns. And I thank him, and I thank the gentleman for yielding me the time.

Mr. COSTA. Will the gentleman yield?

Mr. COSTA. Mr. Chairman, I thank the gentleman for yielding to me. We, in the San Joaquin Valley, know that where food grows, water flows. That is not just a saying; that is the truth. It takes water to grow the food that we rely on to sustain ourselves. Luckily, this year, we have been blessed with an abundance of rain and snow on the mountains--a record year. However, it is only because of the wettest year in California's historical record that the agricultural heartland of California, a place where half of our Nation's fruits and vegetables are grown, is, this year, free from drought. Only 1 year ago, over 83 percent of California was in a moderate drought or worse. We know that the next drought is sure to come, threatening valley families and farm communities. It is either feast or famine. We measure water on 10-year averages. That is why we need solutions that solve this long-term challenge. I commend Congressman Valadao for continuing this effort. As I noted in a letter I wrote to him in February, though, I have concerns that this legislation, without some improvements, will fail to be that long- term solution that the valley and our State so desperately needs. This solution must be, at the end of the day, multifaceted, must not pick winners and losers, as California water policies in the past have so frequently done, to the detriment of both the agricultural economy, which we have felt, and California's ecosystems. Sadly, some of the provisions within this legislation, in my opinion, I think fail to meet this test. Language within titles 1 and 3 would pose threats to the wetlands of Grasslands Ecological Area, the largest wetlands west of the Mississippi, a vital component of the Pacific Flyway, in an area that contributes nearly $73 million a year alone to Merced County, which I represent. Section 106 would drastically cut collections to the Central Valley Project Restoration Fund, which pays for refuge water conveyance--that is very important--and that would transfer oversight of the fund to other water users. It would also, I think, supersede State laws in some areas that, frankly, over the experience I have had, in many years, will create more problems than it solves. In addition to these concerns, I know from having worked on water solutions for over 30 years that both here and in Sacramento, the only path to legislative success is through bipartisan, bicameral action, as we experienced in December with the passage of the WIIN Act that, by the way, authorized four reservoirs that was contained in the WIIN Act that Senator Feinstein and I and Republicans in the House worked on together in a very constructive way. So, as always, I stand ready to work with my colleagues in both the House and the Senate on a bipartisan basis to improve this legislation and get solutions to fix California's broken water system to the President's desk. I support moving this legislation forward to the Senate. But let's be clear, this is a work in progress, and much more work remains for this legislation, I think, to be successful.

Mr. COSTA. Mr. Chairman, this is a commonsense amendment that has bipartisan support. Frankly, I think as we learned so much more about how the hydrology of California's water systems develop, we need to take advantage of that knowledge. And this amendment will allow us to do so in a way that makes this so valuable resource that we sometimes take for granted--that is our water supply--to allow us to use it in a way that makes sense and will provide the water needs for all Californians. Mr. Chairman, I urge the support of this amendment, and I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. COSTA. Mr. Chair, I thank the gentleman for yielding. Fixing California's broken water system, as we all know, involves multiple strategies. Recycled water, on-farm recharge, and other innovative methods of increasing water supply, we have found, improves the situation, but there is no silver bullet to solving California's long-term water challenges. In the Valley, we understand that, and this is why many communities moved forward on efforts to diversify their water supplies. For example, the Del Puerto Water District has partnered in northern Merced and Stanislaus Counties with the cities of Modesto and Turlock on a project that uses treated wastewater to irrigate agricultural fields, creating significant water security for about 30 percent of Del Puerto's Central Valley water supply that is rarely delivered. This is cost-effective and costs less than other alternatives. We are partnering with local water districts in the city of Mendota and the city of Fresno. So this is a very valuable source of water, and we ought to encourage it whenever possible. More efforts like this are necessary. Mr. Chair, I support the amendment.

Mr. COSTA

Mr. COSTA. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to bring attention to the sixth leading cause of death in the United States, and that is Alzheimer's disease. Since 2000, deaths from Alzheimer's disease have increased by 89 percent. Right now, there are more than 5 million Americans with Alzheimer's, and that number is expected to grow to 14 million--to almost triple--by the year 2050. Alzheimer's and other dementias can be especially devastating both physically and emotionally for those who have these diseases and for their loved ones, your family and my family--for me, too many aunts and uncles, including my mother. When Lena Costa was diagnosed with the disease, she took it on with the same strength and courage she had used to beat cancer and survive heart disease. She was in her late eighties. Upon hearing the diagnosis, she turned to my sister and to me and said calmly and bravely: ``Jim, Bette, I will just do the best I can.'' Today, there is no cure for Alzheimer's and there is no effective treatment for it. There is no proven way to prevent the disease or no method for slowing its progression. Unlike my mother, we are not currently doing the best we can. We must come together to support additional Alzheimer's research--more funding. That is what we did in April when we in the House called for additional support for Alzheimer's research at the National Institutes of Health. But we must do more. Alzheimer's is a devastating disease. We must stand together, calmly and bravely, like my mom and so many of our loved ones who have been affected by Alzheimer's throughout our country. Just as importantly, we must fix America's healthcare system. Certainly, in the last week, we have proved that there is no Republican way or Democratic way, but there is an American way, and that is if we work together as Members of Congress to improve America's healthcare system for all. Executive Order 9066--Japanese Internment

Mr. COSTA. Mr. Speaker, today, I rise to speak also about Executive Order 9066, which was issued 75 years ago--75 years ago--by President Franklin Delano Roosevelt. The order authorized the evacuation and relocation of all persons deemed to be a threat to national security. What it did, however, was lead to one of the most shameful times in American history, and that was the internment of Japanese Americans. These were American citizens. From 1942 until 1945, the U.S. Government detained over 120,000 American citizens of Japanese ancestry and of resident immigrants forcing them to live in internment camps, taking them away from their homes, their farms, and their businesses, many in California, in the San Joaquin Valley. As American citizens, the internment denied them their constitutional right of due process. These were U.S. citizens who were robbed of their rights and their freedoms. Yet, some of these Japanese Americans, while their families were forced to live in internment camps, never forgot their patriotism. Many served in our Nation's military in World War II in the European theater. The 442nd Infantry Regiment Combat Team was made up of Japanese-American soldiers. The 442nd is the U.S. Army's most decorated infantry regiment ever. We must remember this time in American history and not repeat it. We had three assembly centers in the San Joaquin Valley under Executive Order No. 9066, locations where Japanese Americans were forced to relocate and stay for weeks before they were finally sent to the larger internment camps in other parts of the West. The centers in my district were the Pinedale Assembly Center, the Fresno Assembly Center, and the Merced Assembly Center. They were fairgrounds. Today, we have three memorials on these sites to ensure that we will always remember and never again treat Americans in this reprehensible way. As Americans, let us never again give into our fears and turn our backs on our fellow Americans. Let us never forget the sacrifice of American values in the name of protecting our great country. These are some of the lessons of American history that we should never, ever forget.

Mr. COSTA

Mr. COSTA. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to speak about posttraumatic stress disorder, otherwise referred to as PTSD. Roughly, 5.2 million adults in the United States have been diagnosed in a given year with posttraumatic stress disorder. Many of these individuals are men and women who have bravely served our Nation's military. The Department of Veterans Affairs indicates that between 15 and 30 percent of Vietnam veterans have had PTSD in their lifetime; about 12 percent of Desert Storm veterans have been diagnosed with PTSD in a given year; and between 11 and 20 percent of those serving in Operations Iraqi Freedom and Enduring Freedom have also been diagnosed with PTSD in a given year. So today, Posttraumatic Stress Disorder Awareness Day, I call on all of us to do more to help our fellow Americans. We can do more, and we must do more. We must be able to look at those Americans with PTSD in their eyes and say: You are not alone, and we are with you, and we are going to continue to give you the same service that you have given our country.

Mr. COSTA

Mr. COSTA. Mr. Chairman, I thank the gentleman from Marin for yielding me 2 minutes. Mr. Chairman, I rise today to support this amendment offered by my colleague, Congressman LaMalfa. As I said earlier, we need to fix the broken water system in California because reliability is key. We have a water system that was designed for 20 million people. Today, we have 40 million people living in California. By the year 2030, we are going to have 50 million people living in California. The simple truth is that in the San Joaquin Valley, where I live, which has been ground zero for the impact of an unreliable water supply because of this broken system, we have felt the devastation of the drought. This lack of reliability is due to many factors that have intensified as a result of climate change, impact on regulations, and other factors. Luckily this year, as I noted earlier, it has been a deluge of rain and snow, and for that we are thankful. But we know in California that it is either feast or famine, and so, sadly, we must plan for the future, and that means including surface storage and using subsurface replenishment of our ground water and all the other water tools that are part of this water toolbox that is critical for the long term. We need more storage. We need the underlying legislation that this provides. While not completely fixing or resolving our challenges, it is a small step, and, as was noted before, this does not amend NEPA or CEQA, but it simply provides a timeline, and a timeline is a good thing. This collaboration that this legislation envisions is not too different from the collaboration that the Governor is working with the Department of the Interior on, the proposal to fix the plumbing system in the delta. They have a record of decision that has a timeline. So if surface storage water is going to receive funding and support under the WIIN Act that we passed in December, matching State funds, along with this effort to provide the timeline, will be helpful. Let me finally say that sustainability of our agricultural economy, sustainability of putting food and fiber on America's dinner table every night, and helping feed other parts of the world is really what we are talking about here. Reliability is key to making sure that we are sustainable under the adverse impacts of a lack of a fixed water system. We need to address this. This legislation is a small step in providing timelines for certainty for this collaboration for this process to work better. I urge support of this amendment.

Mr. COSTA. Mr. Chair, this is an issue that is, I think, one of most important long-term issues that we deal with not only in California and Western States but, really, in the world, because the fact is that water is a crucial element of the sustainability of all of us, and it always has been. With the planet clicking 7 billion people a couple of years ago, soon to be 9 billion people by the middle of this century, with climate change clearly impacting our ability to manage our water supplies, we must look at the long-term needs of using all the water tools in our water toolbox. And this is one effort to, in fact, look at how we can provide additional storage capacity not only in California, but elsewhere, so that when we have these periodic times--and we measure water on 10-year averages. We have had near-record rainfall and snow in the snow-packed mountains of California, which we were blessed with the last 4 months. And after five of the most extremely dry periods of time, to have this rain and snow is wonderful. But we know that you have got to plan for the future. And so in cases like California where it is either feast or famine, having an additional water reservoir supply is one of the important water management tools in our water toolbox, along with conservation, along with better irrigation technologies which we are implementing, along with conservation of all sorts of kinds, desalinization. All of these matter, as does storage. This year, millions and millions of acre-feet of water have gone unused because of the lack of storage. This measure will help, but there are other things that we have to do to fix the broken water system in California, in the West, and, really, we can be a template if we better manage our water resources for the entire planet in the light of climate change. I ask that we support this legislation. It is helpful, and we must do much more.

Mr. COSTA

Mr. COSTA. Mr. Chairman, I thank the gentleman from Arizona for yielding me time. Mr. Chairman, I rise today to commend my colleagues for this commonsense legislation. As a result of drought and the bark beetle, there are an estimated over 107 million dead trees in over 33 million acres of forests in California, and it is also throughout the West. Part of this is due to climate change, which is one of the most vexing challenges of our time. This unprecedented tree mortality has created serious fire risk of wildfires throughout the West. Today, in California, in the Central Valley, we have record temperatures of 109 degrees and 112 degrees. Obviously, that adds to the concern. One thing that can be done, though, to prevent wildfires is to manage and control the amount of vegetation, particularly in areas where we have increased fire risk. We just, bottom line, have to manage our forests a lot better than we are. We are putting way too much of our budget for managing our forests to putting out fires, and that must change. But an example of a location with higher fire risk is a utility corridor with exposed electrical lines that we have throughout the West in forested areas. In 2015, the Butte fire in northern California, which was the seventh most destructive in California's history, was sparked by a tree that came into contact with a power line. This is easily prevented by removing those trees that could damage lines, reducing fire risk and the cost of repairs to the utility ratepayers, plus the people in the surrounding area, which these fires are devastating, and sometimes lives are lost as well as property. H.R. 1873, the Electricity Reliability and Forest Protection Act, if enacted, would create a process to expedite routine maintenance of vegetation along electric utilities in and near utility corridors and would help prevent future tragedies like the 2015 Butte fire in northern California that was devastating, once again. The bottom line is that we must do more, and we can. I concur that we should utilize the Stafford Act for forest fires, and that would free up more money to manage the forests. But that is a separate piece of legislation that, hopefully, we will get a chance to act on. This is a separate piece, and I urge support of this commonsense legislation, for my colleagues to do the same, and I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. COSTA

Mr. COSTA. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to honor the life and achievements of Mrs. Ida Johnson. Mrs. Johnson dedicated her career to serving her community, both in education and as an advocate for low income youth and families in Merced County. Mrs. Johnson was passionate about the pursuit of equality, driven by her love and compassion for others, and committed to creating opportunities for students and teachers in Merced County. Mrs. Johnson was born in Nashville, Tennessee. She attended the University of San Francisco, where she earned a Bachelor's degree in Human Relations and Organizational Behavior in 1984. Mrs. Johnson then continued her education at Chapman University, where she received a Master's degree in Educational Systems Management in 1988. She worked on gender equity as Director and Coordinator for the California Department of Education for almost 12 years, and also worked for 33 years for the Merced County Schools in various capacities, including teaching computing and business classes. Beyond her professional career, Mrs. Johnson was elected to the Merced Union High School Governing Board in 2005, where she served 8 years as a Trustee. Additionally, Mrs. Johnson was involved with numerous community and educational organizations, including the Boys and Girls Club, League of Women Voters, and the 4-H Club. She also worked with the Merced Equals Program, where she spent countless hours providing teachers, parents, and students with the tools necessary to improve math skills within the county, and she secured a significant amount of grant money. With Mrs. Johnson's passing, the Merced community mourns her loss but also rejoices in her lasting impact and legacy. The lives Mrs. Johnson touched with her career in education and devotion to her community will not be forgotten. Her spirit will live on in the hearts of her family, friends, colleagues, and neighbors. Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to join me in recognizing the life and achievements of Mrs. Ida Johnson. Mrs. Johnson's achievements cannot be measured through grants or educational programs, but in the lives she touched. Mrs. Johnson's trajectory as an educator has given students and teachers in Merced County a role model to admire and emulate as they move towards the future.

Mr. COSTA

Mr. COSTA. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to recognize the achievements of Ms. Danielle Bermudez. Ms. Bermudez has been chosen as a Fulbright scholar, the first to ever be chosen from the University of California, Merced. Her accomplishment brings great pride to the Merced community and to all who have witnessed her hard work. The idea behind the Fulbright Program began in 1945, when Senator J. William Fulbright introduced a bill to the United States Congress calling for the use of surplus war property in order to fund the 'promotion of international good will through the exchange of students in the fields of education, culture, and science.' President Harry S. Truman signed that bill into law in 1946 and Congress created the Fulbright Program. This international educational exchange program has fostered bilateral relationships, allowing both citizens and governments of other countries to work together with the United States and set joint priorities to shape the program's shared needs. Since the beginning of the program, there have been more than 360,000 Fulbright participants from the United States and other countries and Fulbright alumni from 14 countries have been awarded 57 Nobel prizes, 82 Pulitzer prizes, and 37 alumni have become heads of state or government. The Fulbright program currently awards approximately 1,900 United States student grants annually in all fields of study. In March of 2017, Ms. Bermudez was selected as a Fulbright scholarship recipient. Ms. Bermudez is a fourth year doctoral student in the Interdisciplinary Humanities at the University of California, Merced. She was nominated for Outstanding Student Leadership in 2015, 2016, and 2017. She has also demonstrated an exceptional academic and professional record, outstanding personal qualifications, and language preparation among many other qualifications to receive this award. Additionally, she served as an intern for California Assemblymember Adam Gray in 2014. Ms. Bermudez shows her dedication and hard work as the first student from the University of California, Merced to ever receive a Fulbright scholarship. Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to join me in recognizing the achievements of Ms. Danielle Bermudez for receiving this prestigious award. I know she will continue to encourage the Fulbright program's goals of promoting mutual understanding among nations through her engagement in her host community and look forward to hear what else she will accomplish next.

Mr. COSTA

Mr. COSTA. Mr. Speaker, I was unable to be present for rollcall votes taken on the House floor on June 8, 2017 as I had to return to California for medical reasons. Had I been present, I would have voted ``no'' on rollcall Vote No. 295, ``no'' on rollcall Vote No. 296, ``no'' on rollcall Vote No. 297, ``no'' on rollcall vote No. 298, ``no'' on rollcall Vote No. 299.