Jason Chaffetz

Mr. CHAFFETZ

Mr. CHAFFETZ. I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. CHAFFETZ. Mr. Speaker, I have been very critical of a lot of resolutions that have come to the floor recognizing things like the Hollywood Walk of Fame. But there are certain people, certain things that rise to a level of excellence that are so extraordinary that they deserve the recognition of this Nation and of this body, and I find that this fits that category. So it is my honor to join in strong support of this resolution and urge my colleagues to vote for it.

Mr. CHAFFETZ. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. I rise today in support of House Resolution 1743, congratulating Gerda Weissmann Klein on being selected to receive the Presidential Medal of Freedom. Mr. Speaker, last month, on November 17, Gerda Weissmann Klein was informed that she will be receiving the Presidential Medal of Freedom. This award is the highest civilian honor that an American can receive, and Ms. Klein is very deserving. She was born in Poland in 1924, and was taken prisoner when Nazi Germany invaded Poland in 1939. After being separated from her parents, Ms. Klein spent the next 6 years in concentration camps--6 years. In 1945, Ms. Weissmann was forced to walk 350 miles in a death march where roughly 2,000 women were subjected to starvation, exposure, and arbitrary execution. Ms. Weissmann was one of less than 120 women who miraculously survived the death march and were liberated by the United States forces in Czechoslovakia. One of the U.S. soldiers who was there to liberate the women was Lieutenant Kurt Klein. Klein and Ms. Weissmann soon fell in love and were later married. Since moving to America after the war, Mrs. Weissmann Klein has worked tirelessly to promote Holocaust education and remembrance, teach tolerance, and combat hunger. She has written multiple books about her experience as a Holocaust survivor, and, to this day, she works to promote tolerance and educate people about the horrors of the Holocaust. It is with great honor I commend her on being selected to receive this award and thank her for the work she has done. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. CHAFFETZ

Mr. CHAFFETZ. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. I rise today in support of S. 3794, the FOR VETS Act of 2010. Mr. Speaker, this is a simple bill that is long overdue. The FOR VETS Act, known as the Formerly Owned Resources for Veterans to Express Thanks for Service Act--that's a great acronym right there--makes organizations whose membership is comprised primarily of veterans eligible to receive excess personal Federal property. I think it's appropriate that we draw a distinction between personal property and real property. There are major differences, and the value is certainly one of them. Every day, Mr. Speaker, the General Services Administration, through State agencies, donates surplus goods, such as computers and home appliances, to a wide variety of organizations such as hospitals, schools, and public libraries. The FOR VETS Act simply adds veterans organizations to this list of eligible recipients who can receive the excess Federal personal property. The property being donated under the FOR VETS Act will be items that the Federal Government is no longer using. I can't imagine a more deserving segment of the population to which we should be donating this excess property. Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. CHAFFETZ

Mr. CHAFFETZ. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. I rise today in strong support of H.R. 6205, to designate the facility of the United States Postal Service located at 1449 West Avenue in Bronx, New York, as the Private Isaac T. Cortes Post Office. Mr. Speaker, Private Cortes was born and raised in the Bronx and joined the Army in November of 2006. After basic training, he was assigned to the 10th Mountain Division based out of Fort Drum, New York. In September 2007, Private Cortes deployed to Iraq to support Operation Iraqi Freedom. And sadly, Mr. Speaker, less than 2 months later, on November 27, 2007, Private Cortes died when the vehicle he was riding in was struck by an improvised explosive device. Private Cortes was awarded the Purple Heart and the Bronze Star to honor his bravery and courage. Mr. Speaker, it is altogether fitting and proper that we name this post office to honor Private Cortes. This was a man who made the ultimate sacrifice for his country, fighting for our freedom and the freedom of the Iraqi people. The least we can do is honor his memory by naming this post office after him. I join all Members to join me in strong support of this bill. I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. CHAFFETZ

Mr. CHAFFETZ. Mr. Speaker, I would like to commend those individuals who were once Fellows and have gone on to serve our Nation with such distinction. I urge all Members to join me in support of this resolution, and I yield back the balance of our time.

Mr. CHAFFETZ. I yield such time as he may consume to the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Barton). (Mr. BARTON of Texas asked and was given permission to revise and extend his remarks.)

Mr. CHAFFETZ

Mr. CHAFFETZ. Mr. Speaker, we have no objection to this bill. We believe it should be passed and sent to the President for signature. Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. CHAFFETZ. Mr. Speaker, I yield such time as he may consume to my distinguished colleague from Alaska (Mr. Young). (Mr. YOUNG of Alaska asked and was given permission to revise and extend his remarks.)

Mr. CHAFFETZ

Mr. CHAFFETZ. Mr. Speaker, I have no further requests for time, and I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. CHAFFETZ. Mr. Speaker, this is a reasonable and needed piece of legislation. I commend the bill's sponsors and all those that have worked on it. I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. CHAFFETZ. I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Speaker, the case for adding a small amount of land to the Hoh Reservation is compelling. Because the tribe's reservation receives about 140 inches of rain per year and is located within a tsunami zone, the tribe must expand its eastern border inland from the coast so they can construct safe housing and other facilities outside of the tsunami zone. To accomplish this, H.R. 1061 places in trust several tracts of land for the tribe, most of which are currently owned by the tribe. These additions to the reservation are separated from the existing reservation by a 37-acre parcel of Federal land that is part of the Olympic National Park. H.R. 1061 transfers ownership of this 37-acre parcel of Olympic National Park land to the tribe without consideration. This transfer creates a contiguous, intact reservation with full access across the reservation assured in the form of a road to Highway 101. This bill also sets an important and needed precedent by transferring these 37 acres without extorting either a land exchange or payment to the Federal Government. There are many instances when fairness and necessity justify the transfer of Federal lands to States, localities, tribes, or other American citizens. There are also instances when roads that are vital to park neighbors and park visitors should be repaired and rebuilt even though they may be located in otherwise protected areas. It is worth noting that the National Park Service supports transferring the land from Olympic National Park to the tribe without the need for a land exchange or compensation. I also note the absolute silence and, hence, implied support from advocacy groups to give away this 37 acres of national park lands. I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. CHAFFETZ

Mr. CHAFFETZ. Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of our time.

Mr. CHAFFETZ. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. As a matter of policy, authorizing 99-year lease terms for tribes is a means of increasing tribal independence from the Bureau of Indian Affairs bureaucracy. Therefore, we have no objection to this bill.

Mr. CHAFFETZ

Mr. CHAFFETZ. I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. CHAFFETZ. Mr. Speaker, let me simply say the majority has done a wonderful and thorough job of describing the justification for this bill. I commend Mr. Posey, our colleague from Florida, for introducing this bill and urge support of this bill.

Mr. CHAFFETZ

Mr. CHAFFETZ. Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. CHAFFETZ. I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Speaker, S. 1405 has been adequately explained by the majority, and we support the legislation. We see no reason to oppose it. I just want to briefly thank the chairman. I am a freshman here in this body. I appreciate the leadership that he gave and the way that he conducted the Natural Resources Committee. I understand he is going to be a ranking member or in leadership on, perhaps, a different committee. I didn't want to let this time pass and this opportunity pass without thanking him for his leadership, for his fairness and for being able to share things with young folks like myself who are new to the House. I just want to wish him all the best and thank him for his leadership. I look forward to spending Christmas Eve here with you, unfortunately. Hopefully not. I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. CHAFFETZ

Mr. CHAFFETZ. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. As a matter of policy, authorizing 99-year lease terms for tribes is a means of increasing tribal independence from the Bureau of Indian Affairs bureaucracy. Therefore, we have no objection to this bill.

Mr. CHAFFETZ

Mr. CHAFFETZ. Mr. Speaker, I rise in opposition to this bill. This bill is amnesty. We should not be rewarding illegal behavior. We should be prioritizing Americans. And we should be prioritizing the millions of people who are not willing to break the law. They are trying to do it legally, lawfully, sometimes waiting 20 years to go through the process. We need to fix legal immigration, not reward illegal behavior. Further, while I have the greatest respect for the leadership within the committee, I need to say that in the 23 months that I served on the Subcommittee on Immigration, it is an embarrassment that we met 12 times and never discussed this. Never, never did we have a substantive hearing or discussion on this bill. Yet under martial rule we bring it here to the floor with a very short time span, in the middle of the night here and try to slam this through. That is fundamentally wrong to the process; and when the process is wrong, you get a bad result. I urge my colleagues to vote ``no.''

Mr. CHAFFETZ

Mr. CHAFFETZ. Mr. Speaker, I demand a recorded vote.

Mr. CHAFFETZ

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

Mr. CHAFFETZ. Mr. Speaker, just to finish the conclusion of that thought, the reason, at least from my vantage point, and I would hope that you would address this, the reason that this resolution is moving forward is that there is a benefit to the Congressional Hispanic Caucus Institute. They can use this as a tool to go out and solicit more money, more support, and grow their own personal foundation. It's not something that's afforded to other foundations. And the only reason this is moving forward is because we have 13 Members in this body that are cosponsors of this legislation that sit on the board of directors. And that is of deep concern.

Mr. CHAFFETZ. My question, my concern about this is I have one about recognizing sports folks--and that's a separate issue. He has certainly accomplished so much on the golf course and off the golf course. I admire the work that you have done in this Congress.

Mr. CHAFFETZ. But it does seem to be a huge conflict of interest to sponsor a bill recognizing Chi Chi Rodriguez, who then, in turn for his accomplishments for youth programs of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus Institute. Isn't that a conflict of interest?