Jeff Denham

Mr. DENHAM

Mr. DENHAM. Mr. Chair, I have an amendment at the desk.

Mr. DENHAM. Mr. Chairman, let me just say, Mr. DeFazio has said this is very broad. It is very, very succinct. Title 49, section 31502 is the law. The regulation is 40 CFR 395. This is very, very tight compared to 1994, when the Democrats had control of the House, the Senate, and the Presidency. Mr. DeFazio, thankfully, supported it back then as a very broad measure dealing with all of these different issues. Now we are just dealing with meal and rest breaks only. Mr. Chairman, I yield the balance of my time to the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Cuellar) on this very bipartisan measure.

Mr. DENHAM. Mr. Chairman, real quickly, let me just explain what the F4A Denham amendment does. This clarifies the intent of the 1994 FAA bill; thus, how it got its name, the F4A. It created one Federal regulatory standard for meal and rest breaks or hours of service for interstate freight and passenger motor carriers. This was originally in the FAA bill of 1994. It also included piece rate. Now, we have passed this issue several times from the House over to the Senate--a very good bipartisan bill--but while we have had great bipartisanship in the past, to get greater bipartisanship, and to work with labor, we actually took out the piece rate issue. Now, this bill only deals with meal and rest--the same as that piece of it that was in 1994 where Congress, where this body actually reported out saying: ``State economic regulation of motor carrier operations causes significant inefficiencies, increased costs, reduction of competition, inhibition of innovation and technology, and curtails the expansion of markets.'' This is about interstate commerce, making sure that you can drive a truck transporting goods from one State to another without having challenges going from a patchwork of States across the entire country. We want these professional drivers to be safe, meaning if you get tired, take a break. What we don't want to do is say, at 2 hours, you need to pull over immediately--on the bridge, on the highway, wherever you are at, creating an unsafe condition. Stop at the rest stop. Stop at the truck stop. Stop when it is convenient, when it is safe, and when you are tired. We want to give these professional drivers flexibility in interstate commerce. That was in 1994. That was the law of the land until the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit reconvened and changed some of these motor carrier laws. The amendment and the Federal Standard only apply to interstate. What you do in your own State is up to your State. But interstate, going across State lines, which the Constitution enumerated to the Federal Government in Article I, section 8, clause 3 of the Commerce Clause. Interstate hours of service regulations would continue to be regulated by the States. But this has already been proven by the U.S. Department of Transportation who wrote the rule that this is the safest way for interstate commerce. Mr. Chair, I yield 1\1/2\ minutes to the gentleman from California (Mr. Costa).

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

Mr. DENHAM

Mr. DENHAM. Mr. Speaker, I thank Chairman Reichert of the Subcommittee on Trade for yielding and for his work on this important issue. Protecting Americans' personally identifiable information has been hotly debated in the Halls of Congress this month. Last week, we debated appropriate limitations on private companies' access, use, and distribution of private data. This week in the House, we are moving a package of bills to improve the Federal Government's use of Americans' data to ensure that the government is doing everything to keep its citizens safe. Private companies should not be selling personal information without consent, but unequivocally, the Federal Government should not be selling the personal information of its citizens and armed services members. I introduced H.R. 4403, the Moving Americans Privacy Protection Act, to ensure that Federal agencies are taking the necessary extra step of removing Social Security numbers, passport numbers, and ID numbers from shipping information. Currently, the Customs and Border Protection agency is not taking this step. In absence of this action, when Americans move internationally, their information may be erroneously made public online. Representatives from the Department of Defense, Department of State, the DEA, and FBI, and others have heard from their employees on numerous occasions that their information has been found for sale on the internet through the manifest disclosure process. Annual Department of Defense moves alone are enormous in scope, with roughly 600,000 servicemembers and their families moving every year, of which 200,000 of those are going international. In 2014 and 2015, the Army's Surface Deployment and Distribution Command issued separate advisories alerting servicemembers to this issue. We must do a better job of protecting our armed servicemembers who are making a sacrifice to wear the cloth of this great Nation. I want to be clear that there is merit to shipping and cargo statistics. We need to make them available for economic trend analysis, but that does not mean that we put our citizens and Armed Forces at risk in the process. The manifest disclosure process should not be repealed. The CBP should be required to remove the sensitive data. Chairman Brady and Chairman Reichert have identified this issue and unanimously reported the bill out of the committee last week. It is good governance and bipartisan legislation. Mr. Speaker, I want to thank my colead, Congressman Pascrell, for his work on this bill, and I urge its passage.

Mr. DENHAM

Mr. DENHAM. Mr. Speaker, our previous Tax Code was ineffective and outdated. For too long, Americans' history of entrepreneurs and aspiring job creators has been in jeopardy. The United States now ranks 12th worldwide in business openings. For the first time in 35 years, American business closures outnumbered business openings--the first time in 35 years. That means jobs were vanishing faster than they were being created. For decades, our country's families have been burdened by countless hours of paperwork just putting taxes together, confusing tax rules that you needed an accountant or a lawyer to look at, and unsustainable rates that cut into everyday hardworking paychecks. The Code also did little to encourage U.S. companies to invest right here. Instead, it was only successful in creating new loopholes, exemptions, and disincentives that pushed more profits and jobs overseas. The Tax Code just wasn't working. That is why I was proud to have supported and coauthored H.R. 1, the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, which tackled each of these separate issues in ways to support American families and U.S. job growth. In the midst of all the rhetoric around here, the partisanship, the Washington spin outside of this building, it is important that we don't lose sight of who actually won in this. It is the people in my district. People in places all across the country. It is Americans who won by changing the Tax Code. This bill will allow businesses to grow, to continue to give bonuses and raises. Small businesses will now have the flexibility to make new hires and investments, thanks to the new 20 percent deduction for qualified pass-through companies. It is a deduction to make sure we are hiring new people. They will also be able to immediately write off the full cost of purchases of new and used equipment, making their goals to expand operations a reality. This gives them the opportunity to take the money that they are making, the profits that they are making to go out and buy new equipment, buy new supplies, and be able to hire more people and bring them into their company. The bill is also good for agriculture. That is my district's biggest economic driver. It repealed the harmful estate tax and includes supportive export provisions that help our local farmers compete and sell their crops on the national market. The bill is good for our communities. It creates a new pathway for investments to flow directly into lower income areas. These newly designated opportunity zones will receive the necessary capital infusion to jump-start their economies and support our local residents. Most importantly, the bill is good for individuals and families. It cuts rates across the board and doubles the standard deduction. It also bolsters the value of the child tax credit. Now, a lot of people have asked me: What is the standard deduction? Most people just take all of their information for the year and they give to it their accountant or they put it into the system and try to understand the old Tax Code. The standard deduction was something that most people in my district did before, but by doubling it, 94 percent of the people in my district will now utilize the standard deduction. This affects everybody. Other commonsense provisions, like the earned income tax credit, adoption tax credit, charitable deductions, and retirement savings options are all preserved under the bill. That ensures that families can keep more of their own money. Now, since this bill passed, being home in the district, I have been to the bank and talked to people. In the grocery store, people have come up to me and told me what a difference this has made in their paycheck--$50 a week, $100 a paycheck, $200 a month. It is real money adding up to the people in my district. Mr. Speaker, I am proud to have supported this bill for the expansion it is going to enable in our businesses, for the new jobs it is going to create, and for the people who are going to see it in their paychecks every paycheck. I recently did a roundtable. We called in businesses and tax accountants and experts on the Tax Code, all together, not only to look at what this new bill has done, but specifically how we would see job growth in our community. Time and time again, I heard from businesses independently owned that talked about the expansion that they are going to see. We will see a great expansion in growth across this country: seeing money that was invested overseas coming back and reinvested here, markets that we have lost that will now be coming back. Manufacturing, building things again, that is what this bill is all about, supporting American families and the pursuit of the American Dream. Mr. Speaker, I am proud to have supported the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act.

Mr. DENHAM

Mr. DENHAM. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Culberson) be removed as a cosponsor of H. Res. 774.

Mr. DENHAM

Mr. DENHAM. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that when the House adjourns today, it adjourn to meet on Monday, March 19, 2018, when it shall convene at noon for morning-hour debate and 2 p.m. for legislative business.

Mr. DENHAM

Mr. DENHAM. Mr. Speaker, I missed votes on February 13th and the first vote Series on February 14th because of an engagement in the Central Valley of CA. Had I been present, I would have voted YEA on Roll Call No. 70--H.R. 4533; YEA on Roll Call No. 71--H.R. 4979; YEA on Roll Call No. 72--H. Res. 736 Previous Question; YEA on Roll Call No. 73--H. Res. 736; YEA on Roll Call No. 74--H.R. 3542; and YEA on Roll Call No. 75--H. Res. 129.

Mr. DENHAM

Mr. DENHAM. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to congratulate and honor the Congregation of Beth Shalom on the momentous occasion of their 100th year anniversary. The Congregation, originally recognized as the First Hebrew Congregation, was established on February 14, 1918 in the heart of the Central Valley, Modesto, CA. In 1963, the congregation moved to its existing location on Sherwood Avenue and was renamed Congregation Beth Shalom, meaning ``house of peace.'' It became affiliated with the United Synagogue of Conservative Judaism. Congregation Beth Shalom is the single Jewish congregation in Stanislaus County and the greater area. Congregation Beth Shalom has been served by the inspiring leadership of many rabbis, and is currently served by Rabbi Shalom Bochner. The Congregation provides a plethora of cultural, educational, holiday, and social programs for the diverse Jewish population and the local community. Congregation Beth Shalom's contributions have enriched the culture and diversity of the Central Valley. Mr. Speaker, please join me in honoring and congratulating Congregation Beth Shalom on their first 100 years, and wish them many more successful years to come.

Mr. DENHAM

Mr. DENHAM. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to congratulate and honor the City of Ceres, located in the California Central Valley, on a tremendous milestone--the completion of its first centennial. As the City of Ceres enters into its 100th year, they wish to honor and mark its history of a community working together to bring a cityhood of achievement into existence. The name ``Ceres'' was selected by Elma J. Carter in 1871 to honor the warehouses and granary of her grandfather; the name meaning health, beauty, fruitfulness, and wholesomeness. Daniel Whitmore is accredited with building the City's first house in 1870 and served as the first cartographer of the land on February 20, 1875. Ceres emerged as a township in January of 1910, consequent to the formation of the Ceres Judicial District. Simultaneously, the citizens of Ceres worked to assimilate as a city in California. It was not until February 25, 1918 that the inhabitants decided to incorporate as a general law city of the State of California. Mr. Speaker, please join me in commemorating and congratulating the City of Ceres on the completion of its first centennial, and wish them a myriad to come.

Mr. DENHAM

Mr. DENHAM. Mr. Chair, I rise to offer my amendment to H.R. 620.

Mr. DENHAM. Mr. Chairman, my amendment would ensure that the Department of Justice takes appropriate actions to provide ADA compliance materials for businessowners whose primary language is not English. As a Representative from California's Central Valley, my district is far too familiar with the kinds of abusive lawsuits H.R. 620 aims to curb. For years, small businesses--some that make less than $30,000 a year--have been targeted by ``drive-by'' lawsuits from people who are driving by--many of whom are from outside of our State and, certainly, outside of our community. They have been slapped with demands for thousands, even tens of thousands, of dollars for minor infractions, like faded parking signs or outdated signage or stripes in the parking lot. More often than not, the lawyer or plaintiff didn't even enter the business in the first place. In too many cases, these lawsuits did not lead to compliance. They led to shakedowns and shutdowns. Throughout California and, certainly, throughout California's Central Valley, we have seen a number of minority businesses and businesses as a whole, small businesses, that have been shut down by many of these shakedown lawsuits where the attorney will call back and say: I understand that you can't pay us today, but we will put you on a monthly plan. That doesn't solve any problems for those with disabilities. It certainly doesn't solve any problems for the businesses. All it does is line the pockets of some abusers that are coming into our area that will target dozens of businesses in a day's or week's time, only to leave our community without even going into these businesses. In my district alone, Barnwood Restaurant in Ripon was sued and shut down. Main Street Inn in Ripon was sued. Country Ford Trucks in Ceres was sued. The city hall in Escalon was sued. In Turlock, my hometown, seven businesses less than a mile apart on the same road were sued by the same plaintiff. Forty-three businesses in the city of Modesto were all sued by the same plaintiff. California has been ground zero for this lawsuit abuse. Even the State legislature in a State that is not considered conservative by any means has had a number of ADA lawsuit measures aimed at trying to curb those. The Federal Government has a job to fix this, and that is one of the reasons that I am a coauthor and support the ADA Education and Reform Act. I especially support its provisions to increase businessowner education on ADA compliance, which I believe my amendment can help to strengthen. In California, 75 percent of the businesses targeted by these types of lawsuits are immigrant- or minority-owned businesses. These demographics are more unlikely to be familiar with ADA standards as well as their own legal rights. That is the reason for the shakedown of these minority-owned businesses. One obstacle for these types of businesspeople is that the vast majority of the DOJ's compliance resources aren't readily available in other languages that they may need to be made available. For example, key sections of a Spanish-translated web page haven't been updated for 3 years and doesn't include close to the number of materials available in English. With a district like mine that is over 40 percent Hispanic, this is a real problem. If you want businesses to comply with the law, you have to give these businesses the opportunity to comply. Give them the ability to read from their own website what new laws are going into effect every single year. Because if only the lawyers know, then the shakedowns will continue to occur and businesses will continue to lose more of their profits and be unable to provide raises and bonuses to their employees. But worse than that, you will continue to see small businesses shut down. Let me finish on one final note. A few years ago I received a phone call in my office. We had been focused on ADA lawsuit abuse for quite some time. I talked to the lady about her concerns. She explained how she had received a notice in the mail and then a follow-up notice. No attorney had ever come into her restaurant--a small-business owner. She was just trying to make ends meet. In fact, she was not only the proprietor of this restaurant, but she worked the kitchen. In fact, she started the business and worked the front end and the back end. She was the first to come and the last to leave. We have heard a lot of these stories about small businesses and the regulatory impacts that they face. But in this case, I was amazed to find out when I visited that she was more than happy to fix any ADA compliance issue. As she wheeled around in her wheelchair from her kitchen to the cash register, and her Spanish language being the first language that she knew, she wanted to fix things for her customers and fix things for those who are coming in with disabilities. We need to give her the opportunity to do that. Mr. Chair, I ask for support of this bill, and I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. DENHAM. Will the gentleman yield?

Mr. DENHAM. Mr. Chair, I look forward to working with the gentleman.

Mr. DENHAM

Mr. DENHAM. Mr. Speaker, on January 30, 2018, I unintentionally missed a roll call vote on H.R. 4292, the Financial Instituition Living Will Improvement Act. Had I been present, I would have voted YEA on Roll Call No. 50.

Mr. DENHAM

Mr. DENHAM. Mr. Speaker, today, I rise to honor a true friend and advocate of agriculture. For the past 8 years, Paul Wenger has led the California Farm Bureau with passion and dedication, ensuring that one of our State's most vital industries remains at the forefront worldwide. As a longtime native of California's Tenth District and the city of Modesto, Paul has consistently been engaged in making our community a better place. As a third-generation farmer, Paul grows almonds and walnuts on the family farm, which includes property purchased by his grandfather in 1910. His farming operation also includes a marketing component for processed almonds and walnuts through his Wood Colony Nut Company. Paul attended Modesto Junior College, or MJC, before transferring to Cal Poly San Luis Obispo, where he earned a degree in animal science. From 1990 to 1994, he served as president of the Stanislaus County Farm Bureau. Three years later, Paul became a statewide officer, when he was elected second vice president. He was then elected first vice president in 2005. He also served as a member of the Bureau's board of directors and chaired its water advisory committee and water development task force. Since 2009, Paul has served as president of the statewide California Farm Bureau. He has been on the front lines fighting for water rights and supplies, less government overreach, immigration reform, and sustainable working lands that are essential to keeping farming and ranching alive. In 2014, he received the Stanislaus Farm Bureau's Distinguished Service Award and has been long praised for his effective messaging, engagement, passion, and unwavering principles. Paul has successfully given California a strong voice at the national table by serving on the board of directors for the American Farm Bureau. Alongside his work to advocate for our region at the State and national level, Paul has dedicated countless hours to our local community as well. He served on the Salida Volunteer Fire Department, the Hart-Ransom School Board of Trustees, the Central Valley Farmland Trust Trustee Council, and the Stanislaus Land Trust and Agricultural Pavilion boards, just to name a few. He has been very active. Paul's tenure as president ends this year, but I am confident he will continue to play a vital role in the advocacy and evolution of our agriculture industry. I thank Paul for his hard work and continued friendship. I thank his wife, Deborah, his three sons, and their grandchildren for graciously sharing Paul with the farmers, ranchers, and our community, who have relied on his leadership. Mr. Speaker, please join me in honoring and recognizing my good friend for his unwavering leadership, accomplishments, and contributions on behalf of the agriculture industry.

Mr. DENHAM

Mr. DENHAM. Mr. Chair, I rise in support of H.R. 3043, the Hydropower Modernization Act of 2017. In my area of California's Central Valley, we have the Turlock and Modesto Irrigation Districts. They have been fighting for over 8 years to relicense the Don Pedro hydropower facility. This is on the Tuolumne River. This is where we get our drinking water for the families in our communities; this is where we get our water for irrigation for our farms; yet our ratepayers have been spending money, for over 8 years, just on the relicensing process. They have had engineers and scientists who have done 35 studies. They have done the modeling for FERC to show all the different impacts that will be had here. In the process, they have spent $30 million already. They planned to spend over $50 million. We are not going to have one drop of extra water storage. This is not going to improve the quality of the water that the people in my district are going to drink. No new water, no better quality--it is still going to see the same conditions for our fish, the same conditions for our streambeds. After $50 million and over 8 years, all we will have done is completed over 35 studies to continue to look, continue to go through red tape, and the people in my district will still have a water shortage. We can do things much better. Close to me, we also have the Merced Irrigation District, as well. They have been working over a decade in relicensing the Exchequer Hydroelectric project. Over $20 million has been spent. Again, the same type of scenario: for farmers and families, no new improved water quality, no new water storage, just a decade and $20 million for many, many studies that are not improving our process.

Mr. DENHAM. Mr. Chair, this legislation is not going to solve all of our problems for California's Central Valley, but it will help us with the challenges we are facing with relicensing. We can do things better, we can do them more efficiently, and we can actually bring water delivery to the people who need it most. It starts with FERC relicensing and changing the process to a much more transparent and efficient process. This bill deserves a ``yes'' vote, which will help us through that process.

Mr. DENHAM

Mr. DENHAM. Mr. Speaker, this week, we will see on the floor the Championing Healthy Kids Act. It will include a number of different reforms, which will include the Children's Health Insurance Program, the CHAMPION Act, and my bill, the CARE Act. We must increase access throughout our communities across the country. By expanding our residency program, we will see new doctors, especially in these underserved areas. Expanding our residency program will allow our medical schools to have people in our communities practicing medicine, and, ultimately, filling this doctor shortage that we have today. I look forward to the passing of the Championing Healthy Kids Act, which will, again, help our children with their health insurance coverage and expand our residency program at a much-needed time.

Mr. DENHAM

Mr. DENHAM. Mr. Chairman, I rise today in support of H.R. 2936, the Resilient Federal Forests Act. When we fail to actively manage our forests and Federal lands, we put ourselves and our neighbors at risk. It is time to better manage our fire-prone forests and fix how we pay for wildfire suppression. California just experienced the deadliest wildfire in our history, and 2017 is on track to be the worst fire season on record. We can't wait until next season. We have got to put the right policies in place now. The Resilient Federal Forests Act gives us the tools to immediately reduce the threat of catastrophic wildfires. It allows us to expedite the removal of dead trees and rapidly mitigate disease-infested areas. It enables us to responsibly manage our forests and improve ecosystems, and it permanently solves the fire borrowing problem. No longer will we deplete forest restoration and management accounts to pay for wildfire suppression. This will give our firefighters the resources they need without hindering prevention efforts. As California recovers from this year's fires, this bill will help us mitigate future wildfires. I urge my colleagues to pass this bill and help improve the health and resiliency of our Federal forests. Mr. Chairman, I include in the Record a letter from the Association of California Water Agencies in support of H.R. 2936. Association of California Water Agencies, October 31, 2017. ACWA Support for H.R. 2936--Resilient Federal Forests Act of 2017 The Association of California Water Agencies (ACWA) respectfully requests your support for H.R. 2936, The Resilient Federal Forests Act of 2017. ACWA's 430 public water agency members supply over 90 percent of the water delivered in California for residential, agricultural, and industrial uses. Recent severe drought and one of the most destructive wildfire seasons on record have focused renewed attention on the health of California's headwaters. That attention is well placed because the forests, meadows and source waters that play a critical role in our water supply and water management system are threatened by factors ranging from climate change to incomplete management to a lack of planning and coordination. H.R. 2936 addresses many of these factors. It incentivizes and rewards collaboration with local governments and stakeholders by expediting environmental review for collaborative projects up to 30,000 acres in size. It also includes important provisions that will increase the yield and protect the quality of our headwaters. Additionally, H.R. 2936 solves the perennial ``fire borrowing'' problem, in which federal land management agencies must raid non-fire suppression accounts in order to pay for suppression activities. H.R. 2936 ends this practice by allowing FEMA to transfer funds to the Forest Service/BLM when all fire suppression accounts have been exhausted. As stated in ACWA's headwaters framework, ACWA believes with more effective management ``healthy headwaters'' could provide multiple benefits to California's water management system and the environment. These benefits include: Increased Water Supply Reliability; Improved Water Quality; Reduced Impacts from Catastrophic Wildfires; Increased Renewable Energy Supplies; Improved Response to Climate Change; and Enhanced Habitat. ACWA encourages you to vote for H.R. 2936. If you have any questions please contact David Reynold.

Mr. DENHAM

Mr. DENHAM. Mr. Speaker, I rise this morning because the House must continue its work to reform and reauthorize the FAA. We have got to pass H.R. 2997, the 21st Century AIRR Act. Thirty years ago--30 years ago--the FAA identified the need to modernize or upgrade the Nation's antiquated World War II era air traffic control system. This is a system, at the time, that used radar technology and paper strips for communications between controllers. They literally would take these paper slips and hand them from one controller to the next controller to the next controller as aircraft not only moved through the airwaves, but were moving through the airport systems. Now, over the last 30 years, Canada, Australia, and many in the EU have changed to this GPS system. We have got countries all across the globe going to GPS, or decades ago have already switched. It is when they go through our airspace, we still use this old radar technology. Now, during this time, we have upgraded GPS systems. We all carry around handheld devices that use GPS: the Wave app, Google app. There are many different mapping platforms that allow you to get through cities, towns, the countryside. If there is an accident, there is a delay, it allows you to get around it and move through so that we can actually have greater efficiencies on the road. But 30 years have gone by, and today, after spending $7 billion, the FAA still uses this outdated radar technology, moving from beacon to beacon, getting passed along as you travel across the United States. And, yes, our air traffic control system still passes these little pieces of paper from one to the next to the next. Oftentimes, if you travel around, you will go through areas where you are not captured by the radar at all, while other countries continue with this GPS system. This outdated air traffic control system negatively impacts the entire flying public. An outdated ATC means route inefficiencies, which means higher costs, which yields more congestion in our skies and sitting on our tarmacs. I would like to see a system where you don't leave the gate to go sit on the runway until you know that you actually have a slot and are moving into the air and have a direct flight to your point. But today, you will see many airlines that will sit you out on the tarmac waiting for a slot. More congestion is a direct factor of flight delays and canceled flights. The reforms in this bill will provide more on-time departures and arrivals and less canceled flights. This bill is for the average flier. It doesn't matter which airline you take, we ought to have an air traffic control system that serves them all with a GPS system that allows you to get from point A to point B without the time delays. This also has the Air Improvement Program fully funded, which actually increases the Airport Improvement Program from $3.3 billion to $4 billion. It has the ability to upgrade our airports. Mr. Speaker, I also served my country in the Air Force for 16 years. As a veteran, I know that national security comes first. The 21st Century AIRR Act does not jeopardize the interaction between the Department of Defense and air traffic control; in fact, it strengthens it. The Federal Government retains exclusive sovereignty and control of the airspace, and the President maintains critical authority to assume control of the airspace during emergencies in times of war. The time to bring up the bill, H.R. 3997, the 21st Century AIRR Act, is now. The public has waited way too long. We have been bypassed by other countries. If we can identify it 30 years ago that we had World War II technology, we ought to recognize it today and stop passing these little pieces of paper back and forth through our air traffic control systems. Let's upgrade our systems, let's create efficiencies, and let's get people moving across this country in an efficient manner where they are not sitting on tarmacs waiting for flight delays.

Mr. DENHAM

Mr. DENHAM. Mr. Speaker, I, along with my colleague Representative Jimmy Panetta, rise today to congratulate and honor Mr. David Gill, who was selected by Western Growers to receive the 2017 Award of Honor for his numerous contributions and esteemed leadership in the agriculture industry. Mr. Gill, a third generation California grower, began his agricultural career at age six by helping his father and grandfather install pipes on their farm. He continued working on his father's ranch while attending California Polytechnic State University. In 1979, he and his brother, Steve, founded Rio Farms in Ventura City. Then, in 1983, they formed Gills Onions and pioneered the first system to deliver peeled, sliced, and diced onions in the food processing industry. It is now the largest onion processor in the United States. David has routinely advocated to Congress and the state legislature about the agriculture industry's most significant issues regarding labor, water, and regulatory compliance laws. Gills Onions has also focused on reducing their carbon footprint by developing a system that uses the waste from onion processing to generate electricity and eliminate disposal costs. As Gill Onions and Rio Farms continued to grow, David played an integral role in some of California's largest fresh vegetable companies, including Taylor Farms California Inc., Earthbound Farms, and Church Bros. LLC. In 1987, David and seven farmers formed Growers Express, one of the nation's largest suppliers of fresh vegetables. In addition to involvement in various business operations, David values a strong emphasis on community involvement and industry organizations. He has generously donated his time in leadership roles with Western Growers, Hartnell College Ag Steering, Grower Shipper Association of Central California, California Farm Bureau Federation, and Produce Marketing Association. Mr. Speaker, please join us in honoring and recognizing our friend for receiving Western Growers' 2017 Award of Honor. David Gill has provided innovative technology to the agricultural community and he continues to be a leading voice for change in the agriculture industry. God bless him always.

Mr. DENHAM

Mr. DENHAM. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to honor the lives of the victims of the California wildfires. We have seen some devastating fires throughout California, specifically huge fires in northern California, that have already burned over 142,000 acres. It is one of the deadliest weeks in California wildfire history, already seeing 23 lives perish in those fires. Today, we will see disaster relief funding here on the floor. It is important that, while we have already passed one funding bill, we pass another to address all natural emergencies across the entire country. We must also have funding available for Hurricanes Harvey, Irma, and Maria in devastated areas like Puerto Rico, Texas, and Florida. We have had big challenges in this country, and it is time to make sure that we pass a second relief funding bill that will address many of those concerns in the disasters that we have seen across the country. Shortly hereafter, we are going to see another funding bill come forward that will address some reforms. While some of our States have building codes and are addressing the impacts so that we don't see this devastation in the future, we need to make sure that these reforms are passed in the coming bill as well. We have three major bills. We will pass one today. Another one is soon to follow. We have to address the country's national emergencies.

Mr. DENHAM

Mr. DENHAM. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to acknowledge and honor the long-time service of my Chief of Staff, Jason Larrabee. During his time on my team, he has been instrumental in managing our offices and providing direction for implementing policy in the Central Valley, and has been an even better friend. Jason graduated in 1997 from California State University, Chico, with a degree in Geography and Planning. He quickly made the move to DC in 2001 to join former Congressman Doug Ose as a Legislative Assistant, helping advocate for California water rights. He then joined former Congressman John Doolittle's office as their Legislative Director, where he served for six years. In 2007, he left the Hill to start his own firm, Jason Larrabee Ventures, in Sacramento. There, he implemented government strategies for environmental policies in California, while simultaneously earning his Master of Business Administration from Drexel University. Yearning to serve his country once again, Jason returned to Capitol Hill in 2010 to join me as my Chief of Staff. He ensured the continued success of both my DC and district offices through his keen oversight and dedication. He provided direction for an agenda that secured the passage of five bills into law. Jason's strong commitment to the quality of his work, as well as to the country, is greatly appreciated and will be sorely missed. In addition to his contributions here on the Hill, Jason serves on the Board of Directors for the California State Society and as a managing partner for his family's farm in Butte City, California. He also spent 11 years as a Volunteer Fireman with the Glenn County Fire Department. Throughout Jason's countless years of accomplishments and experiences, he has had the loving support of his wife Jill, daughter Tatum, and dog Fritzy. Mr. Speaker, please join me in honoring and commending Jason Larrabee for his many years of service, devotion, and outstanding contributions to his community. We wish him continued success in his future endeavors.