Jim Gibbons

Mr. GIBBONS

Mr. GIBBONS. Mr. Speaker, first of all, I would like to thank my good friend and colleague, the gentleman from Arizona (Mr. Hayworth), for yielding me the time on which to speak on this bill. I also would like to thank the gentleman from California (Mr. Pombo), the chairman, and the gentleman from West Virginia (Mr. Rahall), the ranking member, as well as the gentleman from California (Mr. Calvert), the subcommittee chairman, for working with me to bring this important piece of legislation to the floor today. H.R. 2831, Mr. Speaker, as my colleagues have already heard, will require the Secretary of the Interior to convey to the Truckee-Carson Irrigation District, or TCID, as we say in Nevada, all rights, title and interest of the Newlands Reclamation Project located in Fallon, Nevada. On June 9, 2003, a little over a year ago, the Bureau of Reclamation and the TCID reached an agreement and signed a Memorandum of Agreement specifying the details of this transfer. This transfer of approximately 35 acres will allow the irrigation district to make permanent improvements on the property for the continued operation and maintenance of the Newlands Reclamation Project. This transfer is necessary so that financing can be obtained for these improvements. It is important to note that in 1996, the Bureau of Reclamation certified that the TCID had repaid to the United States all of the original construction charges that were designated for repayment to the U.S. Government on this project. This legislation, Mr. Speaker, is of utmost importance to the people of the State of Nevada and especially those in the Second District of Nevada. Consequently, I have received letters of support from the governor of the State of Nevada, Mr. Kenny Guinn; Churchill County Commissioners; the mayor of Fallon; State representatives Grady and Goicoechea; as well as State senator Mike McGinness. Obviously, Mr. Speaker, there is a great deal of support and common- sense agreement on this bill, and so I would urge all Members of this body to vote in favor of H.R. 2831.

Mr. GIBBONS

Mr. GIBBONS. Mr. Chairman, I thank the chairman for yielding me this time. I rise in strong opposition to the amendment of my good friend, the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Reyes), not only for what it says, but for what it does as well. This amendment would withhold funding to the men and women of the intelligence community at the very time when they are engaged in the global war on terror. Let us be clear, Mr. Chairman, about what this amendment really does. They say it fences, but it really cuts, and I will explain that in a minute, it cuts vital intelligence funding. This is not just another innocuous document request. This amendment cuts 25 percent of the funding going to our most critical intelligence program until Congress receives all of the documents relating to detainees in Iraq, Afghanistan, Guantanamo Bay, and elsewhere. The amendment does not name which documents; it just says all of the documents. That is as open-ended a question as any request could be, and I dare say that it would be impossible to ever satisfy that request. What is really happening here is an attempt to play politics with intelligence funding at a time when we are at war. It is stunning to me to see this sort of thing happening. It is not right, and it should not happen. We should not be cutting off the funds for these agencies. This is not the time to play politics or to be withholding intelligence funding. The ranking member says she is for more intelligence funding, and I believe that; yet she and her colleagues supported this measure in committee. It seems to me that if they were serious about the funding of the war on terrorism, they would not be offering this amendment. American intelligence collectors and soldiers are under constant fire in Iraq, Afghanistan, and yes, elsewhere; and American civilians are being kidnapped and beheaded in gruesome videotaped ceremonies, and all the while this is happening, the opposition wants to withhold intelligence funding. Mr. Chairman, the idea that someone is trying to hide documents from Congress or that the administration is stonewalling and is not providing the documents is foolishness. The committee has received excellent cooperation to date from the Defense Department and the CIA. This is just petty politics masquerading, as they say, as a grand gesture. Here are the facts: earlier this month, the committee made an official request to Secretary Rumsfeld for the documents. That request, which was signed by both the HPSCI chairman and ranking member, is being honored. We have received thousands upon thousands of pages of documents, including the Miller report, the Ryder report, the Taguba report, and the Army's official interrogation manual. Just yesterday, we received hundreds of pages of documents that included Presidential memos on al Qaeda and Taliban detainees, and internal DOD memoranda and Justice Department legal documents. We are getting the documents as fast as they can be gathered and forwarded to us. The committee has held five, yes, five full committee meetings thus far on the detainee hearing. Our sixth hearing, the most substantial we have planned for to date, was scheduled for the same day as the Reagan funeral, so we had to reschedule it for July 13, 2004. But that hearing is going forward and will be an all-day affair, with three separate panels and some very senior people to talk to us about the detainee policy and procedures. Mr. Chairman, we are getting the documents we requested. Let me also add that, as I said before, we have had a total of 63 different hearings on this between the Senate and the House on this issue. I think we are getting excellent cooperation. If we ask much more of these people on this issue, they will not be able to fight the war on terrorism; they will have to be here defending their position on this issue day in and day out. This amendment is unnecessary, and it would only hurt the brave men and women who are out there trying to protect us. Mr. Chairman, I ask all Members to oppose this amendment.

Mr. GIBBONS

Mr. GIBBONS. Mr. Speaker, I want to thank the gentlewoman from North Carolina for allowing me this time to speak. I do want to begin by giving my great congratulations to the gentleman from Florida (Mr. Goss) for tremendous service on this committee and for a tremendous bill which does exactly what this country's intelligence services need. It is actually a bill which should have been bipartisan but, for the first time, was not bipartisan in the committee. I think I would like to begin with correcting some of the misstatements that have been made on the floor. First of all, this bill fully funds the base amount for every salary paycheck in the intelligence community. Not one intelligence community employee is going to go without a paycheck at the end of 3 months. It is just plain wrong to assert that, and I wanted to correct that. I also wanted to say that, with regard to the funding of the contingent emergency reserve, this bill sets forth, I believe, the proper oversight for this committee. We have budgeted for one-quarter of the year, authorized for one-quarter of the year in order to give flexibility to the war on terrorism. This is an opportunity for us to exercise our oversight and exercise our oversight by giving smaller slices of the pie so we can control the money, where it is spent and how it is spent in our oversight authority, rather than giving a slush fund out there that can be spent without proper control. We will fully fund the war on terrorism. I am struck by the dichotomy of each of the previous speakers on the Democratic side who voted yesterday in support of the Defense Appropriation bill which funds the war on terrorism to the same numbers that we have in this bill, and each one of my Democratic colleagues voted ``yes,'' with the exception of the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Reyes), who was absent. So to stand here and say that you do not believe we are funding the war on terrorism when you supported the appropriation in the same amount strikes me as one of politics. The last thing we want to do is have the intelligence community as a political wedge in the war on politics. They do not deserve it. This country does not deserve it. I am concerned that by what we are doing, by issuing these proclamations about not funding the war on terrorism, is giving aid and support to those people who are trying to attack this country. More fiscal responsibility is certainly in this bill; more oversight by the Congress and the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence is exactly what this bill will do. As the chairman of the Subcommittee on Human Intelligence, Analysis and Counterintelligence, I wanted to speak briefly about the points that are dealing with the analysis part of this bill because it is so critical and so important. This rule and this bill support the goals that our House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence has expressed for years, and that is the importance of a well-trained, professional, and experienced staff. Like many other components of the intelligence community, analysis is not a capability that can be developed overnight. It takes years of investment in people, technology, and training to create analysts capable of connecting the dots. Today, with this bill, through this rule, we will have more dots to connect than ever before. We can collect all we want, but if there is nobody to synthesize, analyze, and look at this information and deliver the proper and correct message to our Nation's policymakers, then there is little benefit to this country by standing here and politicizing this bill and the intelligence community over what we are doing. That is why I am pleased to stand here and support the rule, support this bill, and congratulate the gentleman from Florida (Mr. Goss) on what I believe to be a very fair and fundamentally correct bill to fund our intelligence community and to support this country's war on terrorism.

Mr. GIBBONS

Mr. GIBBONS. Mr. Chairman, I rise today in very strong support of H.R. 4548, the Intelligence Authorization Act for fiscal year 2005. As the chairman of the Subcommittee on Human Intelligence, Analysis, and Counterintelligence, I can say unequivocally that H.R. 4548 is one of the best, most far-reaching, most constructively critical, and urgently needed authorization bills that I have been involved in. The bill makes urgently needed fixes to the CIA's human intelligence collection capability that even the DCI suggested was 5 years away from being adequate. I do not believe we can or should wait 5 years, and it also authorizes a very sizeable amount beyond the DCI's base request to ensure we keep up the maximum possible operational tempo against the counterterrorism and counterproliferation targets, both inside and outside the theater of war. In the area of analysis, significant new funds will be provided to address a critical concern: the simple lack of analytical depth. The DI analytical cadre is badly in need of bench strength and real expertise. We have been burning up our analysts in wartime conditions and shipping the majority of them to cover pressing counterterrorism requirements since the mid-1990s without being able to adequately backfill positions. Those analysts need to have the right skills, firsthand exposure to countries or issues they cover, cultural appreciation and, if at all possible, the necessary foreign language skills in order to be effective, and H.R. 4548 addresses all of these issues, particularly with regard to language, which has consistently been a high-priority item for the Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence and a pressing need for the whole intelligence community. The bill addresses counterintelligence shortfalls, ensures that the necessary infrastructure for field operations, training, and a host of other important activities are adequately funded, and brings astonishingly new technical tools into play. The bill continues the committee's long-standing efforts to get the CIA's dangerously flawed compensation reform plan back on track; and it demonstrates that we strongly support a more aggressive, risk-taking, innovative intelligence collection posture. Such a posture would finally give us a fighting chance to penetrate terrorist groups. It would also allow us to tackle other hard-target countries, countries that have plans and intentions to do us harm. Overall, H.R. 4548 demonstrates that we are going to back up our spies and our analysts when it counts the most. To my distinguished colleagues on both sides of the aisle, this war we are in is not just about Iraq or about Afghanistan or about where Osama bin Laden may be hiding. It is truly a global war on terrorism with significant global challenges; and these include money laundering, illicit traffic, the preaching of hate, kidnapping, extortion, and even at the national level, as we saw, the Madrid train bombing and the elections that followed. It is a war that is going to take time to win. It is a war that is going to take fortitude to win, and it is a war that is going to take a substantial and continued investment in our intelligence community. I ask my distinguished colleagues to support H.R. 4548 for the sake of our Nation's security. Some of my colleagues across the aisle have decided that it is not important to provide for the intelligence community in the middle of the global war on terrorism, and I say it could not be more important. This bill moves us closer to acquiring the capabilities and directions that are needed not only to win the war on terror but to win the peace in Iraq and to make sure we do not forget about the rest of the world. We must never forget that the actions of others affects U.S. national security interests. We must never retreat in the face of evil. Vote ``yes'' on H.R. 4548 because it is urgently needed. The Nation simply cannot afford to shortchange its men and women out on the frontlines.

Mr. GIBBONS

Mr. GIBBONS. Mr. Speaker, I would like to offer a personal explanation of the reason I missed rollcall votes Nos. 267-271 on June 18, 2004. These votes were on amendments to H.R. 4567 and on final passage of H.R. 4567, Making Appropriations for the Department of Homeland Security for FY 2005. At the time these votes were called, I was in my Congressional District in Reno, Nevada with President Bush for his speaking engagement. I respectfully request that it be entered into the Congressional Record that if present, I would have voted: rollcall Vote No. 267, on the Jackson-Lee Amendment--``No''; rollcall Vote No. 268, on the DeLauro Amendment--``No''; rollcall Vote No. 269, on the Roybal-Allard Amendment--``No''; rollcall Vote No. 270, on the Tancredo Amendment-- ``Yes''; rollcall Vote No. 271, on the Maloney Amendment--``Yes''; rollcall Vote No. 272, on the Sabo Amendment--``No''; rollcall Vote No. 273, on the Markey Amendment--``No''; rollcall Vote No. 274, on the Velazquez Amendment--``No''; rollcall Vote No. 275, on Final Passage of H.R. 4567--``Yes''.

Mr. GIBBONS

Mr. GIBBONS. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 884) to provide for the use and distribution of the funds awarded to the Western Shoshone identifiable group under Indian Claims Commission Docket Numbers 326-A-1, 326-A-3, and 326-K, and for other purposes, as amended.

Mr. GIBBONS. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may have 5 legislative days within which to revise and extend their remarks and include extraneous materials on the bill under consideration.

Mr. GIBBONS. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Today I rise in support of H.R. 884, the Western Shoshone Claims Distribution Act. Mr. Speaker, in the 1970s the Indian Claims Commission awarded the Western Shoshone Tribe over $26 million in compensation for lands and resources throughout much of the western States, including my home State of Nevada. Funds were appropriated by Congress in 1979. And since that time the money has been left untouched. For nearly 3 decades, the men and women of the Shoshone Tribe have waited for access to these funds. H.R. 884 is a much-needed piece of legislation that accomplishes a simple yet vital task. This bill requires the Secretary of Interior to establish a judgment roll consisting of all Western Shoshones, who have at least one quarter degree of Western Shoshone blood, are citizens of the United States, and are living at the date of enactment of this legislation. The Secretary would then distribute and use the funds in two ways. First, the Secretary would distribute over $145 million from Docket 326-K to each person on the judgment roll through a per-capita share. Secondly, nearly $1.5 million awarded under Docket Numbers 326-A-1 and 326-A-3 would be used to establish the ``Western Shoshone Educational Trust Fund'' and an administrative committee to oversee the distribution of accumulated and future interest and income for educational grants. Simply stated, Mr. Speaker, this bill allows the rightful funds of the Shoshones to be properly distributed. My constituents, the Western Shoshone people, have expressed to me an overwhelming majority, their desire to see these funds distributed. In fact, the Western Shoshone have voted not once, but twice, on this issue. In both instances, over 90 percent of the voters favored the distribution reflected in this legislation. The vast majority of the Western Shoshone people have formed a cohesive group which operates under a democratic process to express the will of the tribal members. These numbers account for approximately 65 percent of the eligible Shoshone voters. It is overwhelmingly obvious that the tribe wants these funds distributed. It is important to note that H.R. 884 specifically ensures that the funds distribution is not a waiver of existing treaty rights, nor will it prevent the tribe, band or individual Shoshone Indians from pursuing other rights guaranteed by law. I want to thank Senator Harry Reid and Senator John Ensign of Nevada for introducing this bill in the Senate, and I applaud the Members of the Senate who voted unanimously to pass this measure in October of last year. I urge my colleagues to support the Western Shoshone people in their endeavor to put this issue to rest once and for all by voting in favor of H.R. 884. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. GIBBONS. Mr. Speaker, I would like to thank my friend and colleague, the gentleman from West Virginia (Mr. Rahall) for the courtesies and professionalism he has shown with regard to the consideration of the bill now presently before us, ask all Members to vote in the affirmative on this bill. Mr. Speaker, I have no further requests for time, and I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. GIBBONS

Mr. GIBBONS. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may have 5 legislative days within which to revise and extend their remarks and include extraneous material on H.R. 3846, as amended.

Mr. GIBBONS. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 3846) to authorize the Secretary of Agriculture and the Secretary of the Interior to enter into an agreement or contract with Indian Tribes meeting certain criteria to carry out projects to protect Indian forest land, as amended.

Mr. GIBBONS. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Speaker, H.R. 3846 would authorize the Secretary of Agriculture and the Secretary of the Interior to enter into an agreement or contract with Indian tribes meeting certain criteria to carry out projects to protect Indian forest land. Last summer, reservations were invaded by catastrophic fires from adjacent Federal lands. In southern California, 11 reservations were burned, 2 completely, and a number of lives were tragically lost. After witnessing firsthand the horrible aftermath of these fires, the chairman of the Committee on Resources, the gentleman from California (Mr. Pombo), promised to develop and move legislation that would help tribes protect their Land. To follow through with that pledge, and in the spirit of bipartisan Healthy Forest Restoration Act, Senator Feinstein and the gentleman from California (Chairman Pombo) adopted and introduced the Tribal Forestry Protection Act. This legislation will provide a process whereby tribes can engage in projects on adjacent Forest Service and BLM lands to treat excessive fuels and engage in other restoration activities. By passing this legislation, Congress will be sending a strong and clear message to the agencies that tribes need to be an integral part of the thoughtful management of our Federal lands, for the betterment and safety of all. Mr. Speaker, I urge the adoption of this bill. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. GIBBONS. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. I thank my friend the gentleman from West Virginia, Mr. Rahall, for his support on this legislation and urge all Members to support this measure. Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. GIBBONS

Mr. GIBBONS. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the Senate bill (S. 1848) to amend the Bend Pine Nursery Land Conveyance Act to direct the Secretary of Agriculture to sell the Bend Pine Nursery Administrative Site in the State of Oregon.

Mr. GIBBONS. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may have 5 legislative days within which to revise and extend their remarks and include extraneous material on S. 1848.

Mr. GIBBONS. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Speaker, S. 1848, introduced by Senator Ron Wyden of Oregon, would amend the Bend Pine Nursery Land Conveyance Act to specify the recipients and consideration for conveyance of the Bend Pine Nursery, and for other purposes. This bill will bring closure to an administrative process that has already taken far too long to complete. Specifically, the bill will convey 170 acres of the Bend Pine Nursery site to the Bend metro Parks and Recreation District and would also convey an additional 15 acres to the Bend-LaPine School District to construct an elementary school. The bill also contains a reference to an updated Forest Service map, at the request of the administration. Just last month, the House passed the companion to this bill, H.R. 3505, introduced by the gentleman from Oregon (Mr. Walden). Unfortunately, the House bill has been held back at the desk of the other body for unrelated political collateral. Recognizing the importance and merits of this legislation, regardless of the bill number, the gentleman from Oregon (Mr. Walden) has strongly pushed the movement of the Senate bill. This will end petty partisanship and will instead pass fair-minded legislation benefiting the State of Oregon. I urge adoption of this bill. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. GIBBONS. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Speaker, I also would like to thank my colleague and friend, the gentleman from West Virginia (Mr. Rahall) for his professionalism on this bill. I would urge an aye vote. Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. GIBBONS

Mr. GIBBONS. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 3706) to adjust the boundary of the John Muir National Historic Site, and for other purposes.

Mr. GIBBONS. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may have 5 legislative days within which to revise and extend their remarks and include extraneous material on H.R. 3706.

Mr. GIBBONS. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Speaker, H.R. 3706, introduced by our committee colleague, the gentleman from California (Mr. George Miller), would authorize the Secretary of the Interior to adjust the boundaries of the John Muir National Historic Site. A 1994 National Park Service boundary survey discovered that approximately 9,500 square feet of land donated to the historic site by the city of Martinez, California, was actually not part of the donation, and, in fact, had no clear title holder. Because of this dilemma, the Park Service has been unable to proceed with an important expansion of the parking area. H.R. 3706 would simply allow for the acquisition of the two-tenths- of-an-acre parcel of land so that the parking facility may be built. Mr. Speaker, H.R. 3706 is supported by both the majority and minority of the committee and by this administration. I urge adoption of this bill. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. GIBBONS. Mr. Speaker, I congratulate my colleague and friend, the gentleman from West Virginia (Mr. Rahall), for his courtesies on this bill. We have no further requests for time to speak in favor of this legislation. Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to vote ``aye'' on this bill.

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

Mr. GIBBONS

Mr. GIBBONS. Mr. Speaker, I want to add my thanks to the gentleman from California (Mr. Cox) for granting me the time to speak this afternoon. I rise today to express my most sincere and heartfelt condolences to the family of Ronald Wilson Reagan and to the millions of Americans, Mr. Speaker, who join me and all of us in mourning the passing of this great leader this week. I also rise to voice a great sense of loss and bereavement felt by a multitude of my fellow Nevadans who are now reflecting upon and celebrating the tremendous impact that our Nation's 40th and arguably most influential President has had on all of our lives. Reagan's political accomplishments alone could fill volumes; yet his political goals would have been far more difficult to come by if not for his eternally honorable character and personality. This week, as Americans mourn this great loss together, we will reflect not only on his political legacy, but also upon Reagan's personal contributions to America and to our culture. Ronald Reagan was more than a President or a Commander-in-Chief. President Reagan was a small-town boy who mastered his own destiny to become an inspiration and great motivating force for the principles and policies that many of us continue to fight for every day in the House of Representatives. During my tenure in Congress, it has been one of my most distinguished honors and personal joys to lead my colleagues on multiple measures designed to pay homage to Mr. Reagan. Most notably, in May of 2002, legislation I sponsored to grant Ronald and Nancy Reagan the Congressional Gold Medal became a reality when President Bush presented Nancy Reagan with this award, the highest honor Congress can bestow, in the Capitol rotunda. Ironically, in light of the tremendous impression his life has left upon the American public, even the Congressional Gold Medal seems a tiny token of appreciation that can only be overshadowed by the monumental outpouring of respect, reverence and appreciation flowing from all corners of our great Nation this week. So as we contemplate the magnificent life of President Ronald Reagan and mourn his passing, we are reassured by the fact that this body can and should keep his legacy alive. Congress can best honor President Reagan by continuing progress along a path of conservative policies that Reagan himself would be proud of, and with that, I once again send my warmest regards to the Reagan family.

Mr. GIBBONS

Mr. GIBBONS. Mr. Speaker, I yield such time as he may consume to the gentleman from Oklahoma (Mr. Lucas), who is the author of this bill.

Mr. GIBBONS. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may have 5 legislative days within which to revise and extend their remarks and include extraneous material on H.R. 2912, the bill now under consideration.