Norm Dicks

Mr. DICKS

Mr. DICKS. Madam Speaker, may I inquire as to how much time remains on both sides?

Mr. DICKS. Madam Speaker, I yield 2\1/2\ minutes to the ranking Democratic member of the Natural Resources Committee, Congressman Ed Markey of Massachusetts.

Mr. DICKS. May I inquire how much time remains?

Mr. DICKS. I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. DICKS. I yield 4 minutes to the distinguished Democratic whip, my good friend, Mr. Hoyer, from Maryland.

Mr. DICKS. I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. DICKS. I yield the balance of my time to the distinguished Democratic leader from California, whose State has suffered a number of major disasters over the years, so she is well versed on this subject, Ms. Pelosi.

Mr. DICKS

Mr. DICKS. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to congratulate Rear Admiral Michael McMahon, United States Navy, a resident of my home state of Washington, on his upcoming retirement August 11 after 4 years as Program Executive Officer for Aircraft Carriers and 32 years service to his country. Rear Admiral Michael E. McMahon was commissioned in 1979 from the University of Colorado where he earned a Bachelor of Science Degree in Mechanical Engineering. He has also earned a Master of Science Degree in Mechanical Engineering in 1986 from the Naval Postgraduate School and a Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) in Mechanical Engineering/Materials Science from the Naval Postgraduate School in 1996. Rear Admiral McMahon's sea assignments included engineering tours onboard USS Richard S. Edwards (DD 950), USS John F. Kennedy (CV 67), USS Ranger (CV 61), and USS Carl Vinson (CVN 70) as Chief Engineer. Rear Admiral McMahon's shore assignments included Ship Design Manager, Future Aircraft Carriers Program (CITNX), Naval Sea Systems Command, PMS-378, and Program Director, Future Aircraft Carrier Program (CVNX), Naval Sea Systems Command, PMS-378. He has served as Engineering and Planning Officer and Business Officer at Puget Sound Naval Shipyard and IMF. Rear Admiral McMahon has also served as Executive Secretary to the Naval Research Advisory Committee and Government Advisor to the Defense Science Board. In August 2004, he reported as Supervisor of Shipbuilding, Conversion and Repair, USN, Newport News, Virginia responsible for the U.S. Navy's Aircraft Carrier and Submarine Ship Construction, refueling and repair programs at Northrop Grumman Newport News. On 3 December 2007, Rear Admiral McMahon assumed command as the fifth Program Executive Officer for Aircraft Carriers. Rear Admiral McMahon distinguished himself in every aspect of his demanding and complex assignment as the Program Executive Officer for Aircraft Carriers. During his tour he led the effort to begin construction of the Navy's first aircraft carrier design in 40 years, the Gerald R. Ford Class, and achieved the major milestone of laying the keel of the first ship of the class, CVN 78, in 2009. He also oversaw the beginning of advanced construction of the second aircraft carrier in the class, John F. Kennedy (CVN 79), in 2011. Rear Admiral McMahon provided capable leadership for in-service aircraft carrier programs at PEO Aircraft Carriers. He organized the Naval Sea System Command's support for the time-critical fire restoration of USS George Washington (CVN 73). His leadership was key in driving successful delivery of CVN 73 back to the Fleet to support critical Forward Deployed Naval Forces missions. He also oversaw the successful commissioning and delivery of USS George H.W. Bush (CVN 77) the last Nimitz class aircraft carrier, which transitioned from delivery to deployment in only 24 months. During his tenure the Refueling and Complex Overhaul (RCOH) of USS Carl Vinson (CVN 70) was completed under budget and the RCOH of USS Theordore Roosevelt was begun. He also oversaw the last drydocking of the Nation's oldest aircraft carrier USS Enterprise (CVN 65) and worked to begin the planning for the first nuclear powered aircraft carrier inactivation. Rear Admiral McMahon's decorations include the Legion of Merit, the Meritorious Service Medal (three awards), Navy Commendation Medal (two awards), Navy Achievement Medal, Liberation of Kuwait Medals (Kuwait and Saudi Arabia), Southwest Asia Service Medal, Navy Expeditionary Medal, Armed Forces Expeditionary Medal, Navy Unit Commendation, Meritorious Unit Commendation, National Defense Medal, and Sea Service Deployment Ribbon. For his many years of service to our Nation, I join my colleagues in extending our best wishes upon his retirement and wish him ongoing success in all future endeavors.

Mr. DICKS

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

Mr. DICKS. Are you suggesting that this provision says that he shouldn't follow the law?

Mr. DICKS. I yield to the distinguished chairman.

Mr. DICKS. Secretary Norton did it. I yield to the gentleman from California.

Mr. DICKS. Let's vote on the amendment. I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. DICKS. Will the gentleman yield?

Mr. DICKS. Will the gentleman yield?

Mr. DICKS. Again, relating to waters located within Yukon Charlie National Preserve, including waters subject to the jurisdiction of the United States.

Mr. DICKS. If the Park Service doesn't have jurisdiction, how does the Coast Guard have jurisdiction? That's another Federal agency. The gentleman changed his story and told me it was the State that had authority. I wonder who in the hell has authority.

Mr. DICKS. Again, what I worry about here is we're talking about safety. We're talking about inspecting boats that may be unsafe. I think that is an important issue that we should not deal with in an across-the-board way here in this bill. I think the gentleman from Alaska has made his point. I think he should support our amendment to strike this in order to make sure that the people of Alaska are protected. I know he cares about them.

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

Mr. DICKS. I rise in support of my amendment. This would strike section 118, which amends administrative appeals procedures for grazing decisions on public lands to require parties to exhaust all administrative appeals before they may file suit in Federal court. This is a back-door attempt to curtail the use of court injunctions to stop grazing decisions made by the BLM. Without the ability to seek injunctive relief, opponents of a grazing decision are handicapped because irreparable damage to a resource may occur while the administrative appeals process is being exhausted. I yield to the gentleman from Virginia (Mr. Moran), the ranking member, to further discuss this amendment.

Mr. DICKS. I just hope that we can have reports not only about the ones that are turned down. As you say, it may be that the other ones are part of the public record, but I think the report should come back with both of these if it's going to come to the Congress. You know how this place works. Not everybody sees these public records. If these reports are going to be used by the committee, we ought to have both sides of the equation.

Mr. DICKS. I have an amendment at the desk.

Mr. DICKS. Section 116 would prohibit the National Park Service from carrying out boat inspection or safety checks on the Yukon River within the Yukon-Charley National Preserve in Alaska. This provision was put in at the request of Mr. Young from Alaska who is upset with the National Park Service law enforcement at the preserve. Last summer, two park rangers arrested a 70-year-old following an altercation during a boat safety inspection. This case is still before the courts, but it has stirred considerable local anger, especially when it was learned that the rangers had handcuffed but later released another local resident who refused to speak to rangers when approached. Mr. Young of Alaska is a long-time friend of mine, and I am very hesitant to offer this amendment to strike his provision, but I think he has already won the case. The people there, the two rangers, have been reassigned to another duty, and the Park Service does have jurisdiction. I have discussed this with Chairman Young, and the Park Service always has jurisdiction within the national park. Now, the gentleman from Alaska suggested that the Coast Guard had jurisdiction or the State had jurisdiction, but we have checked this carefully. The Park Service has jurisdiction within the national preserve to look at safety on the river. I think it is wrong to prohibit a safety inspection for people whose lives are at risk up there. I have been to Alaska many times. These rivers can be very dangerous, and to make sure that the people who are being conveyed--this is a commercial endeavor--the people who are being moved around in these boats are safe, the people who own the boats are safe, whether it is commercial or not. So I would like to yield to the ranking member and discuss this amendment and the importance of it.

Mr. DICKS. Reclaiming my time, the thing is this has happened before. I can remember one of our colleagues putting in a provision in one of these bills, I think it was the Merchant Marine and Fisheries bill years ago, about one of the boats that was going up to Alaska to fish in these very dangerous waters. This wasn't in the river; it was in the ocean. And that boat went down, and there were many questions raised about why that Member had prohibited boat and safety inspections of that boat. Now, I think the gentleman is completely right. This is a bad precedent. The gentleman from Alaska has already won. He has already gotten his view across with the Park Service. They have taken these rangers away. It's time to leave this. We're doing this amendment in the best interests of Mr. Young. And if Mr. Young would like to get up and explain this, I would like to hear his explanation. I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. DICKS. Will the gentleman yield?