Raúl Grijalva

Mr. GRIJALVA

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

Mr. GRIJALVA

Mr. GRIJALVA. Mr. Chairman, I yield 1 minute to the gentlewoman from Nevada (Ms. Titus).

Mr. GRIJALVA. Mr. Chairman, I yield 1 minute to the gentlewoman from Maine (Ms. Pingree).

Mr. GRIJALVA. Mr. Chairman, in closing, let me say, since the item came up of the Grand Canyon, the Grand Canyon is an icon to this whole Nation and is supported overwhelmingly by public opinion to create a monument that protects it from degradation from uranium mining, that protects the watershed that feeds water to 23 million people across the West, Nevada, California, Arizona. To say that this is merely a grabbing and a taking is to misrepresent history, misrepresent the reality of that resource; and, in the long term, understand that this icon, the Grand Canyon, is there to be preserved and protected by this Congress, not to be turned over for exploitation. I urge support of the amendment to protect the prerogatives of not only a President, but the prerogatives of our natural resources to be protected in perpetuity for generations and generations to come. Mr. Chairman, I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. GRIJALVA. Mr. Chairman, I demand a recorded vote.

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

Mr. GRIJALVA. Mr. Chairman, I yield myself such time as I may consume. I rise to speak on behalf of the amendment that I have offered to protect farmworkers throughout this Nation. Every day, farmworkers work long hours under the scorching sun in one of the most dangerous industries in this country, and they suffer the highest rates of chemical injuries and skin disorders due to pesticide exposure. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency estimates that up to 3,000 farmworkers suffer acute pesticide poisoning every year through their work-related exposure. Every year, an estimated 1.1 billion pounds of pesticides are applied to agricultural crops in the United States. According to the EPA, 10,000 to 20,000 farmworkers suffer pesticide poisoning annually. Exposure to pesticides increases the risk of chronic health problems amongst adult and child farmworkers, such as cancer, infertility, neurological disorders, and respiratory conditions. There are approximately half a million child farmworkers in the U.S., and farmworker children face increased risks of cancer and birth defects. It should be noted that this workplace, in the farms and working crops, is the only area in this country where child labor laws do not apply. Should we then increase the children's risk and exposure because they are not covered by a law that covers the rest of the children in this country? Research also shows that both farmworkers and their children may suffer decreased intellectual functioning from even low levels of exposure to insecticides, which are widely used in agriculture. After more than 20 years, the Environmental Protection Agency finally made the long overdue updates to the worker protection standards for farmworkers. The standards provide basic workplace protections to farmworkers to reduce harmful exposures and result in fewer pesticide- related injuries, illnesses, birth defects, and deaths among farmworkers and their family members. Farmworkers play a critical role in our economy, ensuring that our constituents have nutritious, quality food on their tables. The 2017 Department of the Interior, Environment, and Related Agencies Appropriation Act contains a harmful provision, section 437, that will remove farmworkers' rights to a designated representative. A designated representative in this process is a critical part of improving access to pesticide information for workers in various situations. There are times when a worker may need the help of a spouse, family member, or coworker to obtain information. For instance, if a worker is injured or hurt and cannot be there in person, the information could be requested by the treating medical personnel. This standard is in practice in other sectors where workers are exposed to toxic substances and is consistent with the access to exposure records that those workers now have. To protect the health of those who harvest the food for our constituents and put it on our tables, it is critical to have a uniform Federal standard that applies to all workers, and that is the right to have a designated representative. In the amendment that I offer, I would simply strike section 437 in order to protect farmworkers' rights and also provide health protections. I urge my colleagues to support the Grijalva-Sanchez amendment to strike section 437. This amendment is important to the health and safety of farmworkers and their families. We must ensure that farmworkers can appropriately access information on pesticides so they can protect themselves and their families while doing their jobs that are so vital to our Nation and to our economy. I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. GRIJALVA. Mr. Chairman, I offer an amendment to strike section 453 from the underlying bill. Section 453 restricts funds from being used to establish a national monument pursuant to the Antiquities Act in several Western counties, including Maricopa County in Arizona, a portion of which I represent in Congress. I understand the Member who inserted this language into the bill during committee consideration is generally opposed, if not totally opposed, to the use of the Antiquities Act. This section restricts the use of the Antiquities Act on over 160 million acres of public land, nearly one-quarter of all Federal land in the lower 48. I know that many of the Members of Congress who represent these areas do not support this blanket restriction on the use the Antiquities Act. So that we are absolutely clear, these monuments can be established only on land already owned by the Federal Government. This is how Federal lands should be preserved. It is not about adding more land to the Federal estate. Since Theodore Roosevelt's designation of the first national monument, Devils Tower in Wyoming, 16 Presidents from both parties have used the Antiquities Act to protect more than 160 of America's best known and most loved landscapes; only 3 Presidents have not. America's public places are becoming more and more inclusive, more representative of all Americans, and as President Obama has demonstrated with the use of the Antiquities Act, more representative of the real reality, history, culture, and special places of this Nation that represent all people. That is why, presently, I am working with the region's Native American communities and, in earnest, I have asked the President to designate the Greater Grand Canyon Heritage National Monument on public land surrounding the Grand Canyon. Section 435 of this bill will jeopardize not only that effort, but other efforts around the country to honor, recognize, and protect our most cherished cultural, historic, and natural resources, and it should be removed from the bill. I urge my colleagues to stand up in defense of the Antiquities Act and support my amendment to strike Section 435 from this bill. Mr. Chairman, I reserve the balance of my time.

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

Mr. GRIJALVA. Mr. Chairman, at the urging of many organizations, and at the urging of being consistent and uniform with the protections extended to workers who work with toxic substances throughout this country, which includes the provision that a representative may represent the interests, seek information, and provide transparency for that worker in order for them to pursue their health and their safety. I think this section, the worker protection section, if we strike this section, all we are doing is making the process uniform for every industry. To deny farmworkers, and more particularly children, as I mentioned, that is the only workplace sector in which the child labor laws do not apply, to provide them, their families, and children with the simple ability to be treated like every other worker, in every other industry, that deals with toxic substances, I think, is just merely playing a fair game, treating all workers equally, and in this instance, this amendment would be consistent with what is going on in the rest of the Nation and the protections extended to all workers. Mr. Chairman, I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. GRIJALVA. Mr. Chairman, I demand a recorded vote.

Mr. GRIJALVA

Mr. GRIJALVA. Mr. Chair, I rise in opposition to this amendment.

Mr. GRIJALVA. Mr. Chairman, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from Puerto Rico (Mr. Pierluisi), the commissioner from Puerto Rico.

Mr. GRIJALVA. Mr. Chair, I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from New York (Mr. Serrano).

Mr. GRIJALVA. Mr. Chairman, I yield 1 minute to the gentlewoman from California (Ms. Pelosi). Her time and commitment to the people of Puerto Rico and to working on a compromise in a bipartisan bill have been the primary drivers to this point on the bill that we have before us.

Mr. GRIJALVA. I yield myself the balance of my time, and thank Leader Pelosi and my colleague, Chairman Bishop, his staff, and certainly staff on our side of the aisle for their hard work. It is a bill that is indeed a compromise, and we shouldn't be ashamed of that. It is a compromise that I wish was more tilted on our side and the things that we wanted. But, Mr. Chairman, those are not the dynamics or the numbers in this House. The reality is that the urgency of Puerto Rico, the humanitarian demands and needs of the island make us look at this bill not with an eye towards perfection, but with an eye toward what is doable and what can provide some immediate relief and begin the process of stability for the island and for its people, and begin the process of an economic renewal for the island itself. I want to also acknowledge my colleagues, Mr. Pierluisi, Ms. Velazquez, and Mr. Serrano. I know how difficult this vote was and how difficult it is to vote on a compromise that does not fully empower and fully acknowledge the self-governance of the Puerto Rican people. I know that. But your endorsement of this bill is very meaningful in that it ties us to a heritage of representation by the Puerto Rican people in this body and to insisting and demanding that the needs of the people of Puerto Rico be recognized fully by this Congress. We recognize them today, as Mr. Serrano said, but there is much, much more to do. This vote, by the way, as I close, is not about heritage. More importantly, it is not about selling out one's heritage. It is about future generations and the opportunities they will have on the island. It is about stability for children, families, and the elderly with a fiscally stable economy and an accountable fiscal system within the island. While I can understand the political expediency of voting ``no,'' I think the demands and the urgency to deal with this question compel me--and I hope all my colleagues in this body--to vote ``yes.'' Mr. Chairman, I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. GRIJALVA. Mr. Chairman, I ask unanimous consent to claim the time in opposition to this amendment, although I am not opposed to the amendment.

Mr. GRIJALVA. Mr. Chairman, I yield 2 minutes to the gentlewoman from New York (Mrs. Carolyn B. Maloney). (Mrs. CAROLYN B. MALONEY of New York asked and was given permission to revise and extend her remarks.)

Mr. GRIJALVA. Mr. Chair, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. GRIJALVA. Mr. Chairman, I yield 3 minutes to the gentleman from Illinois (Mr. Gutierrez).

Mr. GRIJALVA. Mr. Chair, in closing, let me thank and commend the gentleman from Florida for this very good amendment. I think it dovetails with the rest of the legislation very well as the gentleman addresses some of the indices in Puerto Rico that require attention-- the challenges around poverty that the Puerto Rican people are facing. It is not often in this Chamber that we talk about poverty. The gentleman is to be commended, and I support the amendment. Mr. Chair, I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. GRIJALVA. Mr. Chair, this amendment requires the GAO to submit reports every 2 years to the Congress about the public debt and about the ability to pay that debt of all U.S. territories. While the debt crisis in Puerto Rico is, indeed, serious and real, there is no indication that any other territory faces a similar crisis. The base bill already includes reporting requirements. Requiring more reporting to cover the territories is unwarranted as well as being a waste of the GAO's limited time to provide more important reports to Congress. A number of States and localities on the mainland face much more precarious budget situations than do the other territories. We don't need any more focus on U.S. territories when there is no reason to believe such onerous reporting is really required or justified. Mr. Chair, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. GRIJALVA. Mr. Chairman, I yield 5 minutes to the gentleman from Puerto Rico (Mr. Pierluisi), who, at great risk politically, continued to push for this compromised bill we have before us; and for that, we are grateful.

Mr. GRIJALVA. Mr. Chairman, I yield 3 minutes to the gentleman from New York (Mr. Serrano).

Mr. GRIJALVA. Mr. Chair, I reserve the balance of my time.