Cory Gardner

Mr. GARDNER

Mr. GARDNER. Thank you, Madam President. I come to the floor today to talk about a very important conservation program--the Land and Water Conservation Fund. This is one of the crown jewels of our Nation's conservation effort. The preservation, protection, and conservation of our public lands is something we take great pride in in the western part of our country and, in fact, all four corners of our State, and this great country takes great pride in the Land and Water Conservation Fund and the efforts that it pursues to maintain our public lands, to show our public lands, to allow the exploration and use of our public lands for generations to come. The Land and Water Conservation Fund has had over 40,000 projects in its existence, billions of dollars in consumer spending driven by the outdoors--$2 billion in State and local tax revenue driven by our love of the outdoors. Hiking, hunting, fishing, skiing in the winter, rafting in the spring are all tied to the incredible conservation work we do in these incredible programs through the Land and Water Conservation Fund. Colorado's outdoor recreation activities have made it the destination, not just part of the year but all of the year, for people looking for adventure opportunities in our great outdoors. As I mentioned, we generate $28 billion in consumer spending just in the State of Colorado for our outdoors economy. The Land and Water Conservation Fund isn't just about preserving land because we want to conserve the land; it is about our economy--our recreation economy--and those $2 billion in State and local tax revenues generated by that. It employs over 200,000 people in an outdoors economy. The Land and Water Conservation Fund is a critical part of that. We have this economy because of our public lands--the extensive efforts we have undertaken to conserve them in a condition that the next generation will also get to enjoy. One of those tools, the Land and Water Conservation Fund has lapsed. It has been 60 days since the Land and Water Conservation Fund expired. Those who would permanently reauthorize the Land and Water Conservation Fund cleared the committees of jurisdiction in both the House and the Senate. The Land and Water Conservation Fund authorization of full funding has bipartisan support--Democrat and Republican support, House and Senate support. It is a program to sustain access to land that would otherwise be cut off--public land held and owned by the American people that we don't have access to. We can't get to that land, even though we own the land--the American people own that land--because it is closed off. The Land and Water Conservation Fund allows us to get to that land, to recreate on that land, and to hunt on that land. In the days leading up to the Land and Water Conservation Fund expiration, a report was published by the Theodore Roosevelt Conservation Partnership. It published some figures on public land acreage that talked about the inaccessible number of acres in the American public land system. It identified over 9.5 million acres in the United States that was inaccessible to the public because of surrounding private land. In Colorado alone, there are over 250,000 acres of public lands that are closed off to the public. That translates to just shy of 400 square miles of public land in Colorado. There are 400 square miles of public land in Colorado--almost the size of Rocky Mountain National Park--that can't be used to hike, hunt, and fish because we can't access it. We can't access it to explore, to hope, to think, to dream--all of those things our public lands represent. The Land and Water Conservation Fund can be used to help access that land, to find ways to utilize that land. The 400 square miles of property that the public owns can be utilized by the public through programs like the Land and Water Conservation Fund. I want to talk about this picture right here. This is the Superintendent of the Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park. The Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park had a Land and Water Conservation Fund-purchased acquisition. You can see it here on the rim of the canyon. This was at risk of being sold to a developer. The park is right here. This is the park. Imagine if this rim of the canyon had been developed what that would have meant. It would have prevented this national park from meeting the ideals and aspirations of what we believe it should be and what it means to be a national park. Imagine the 2,500 acres on the rim of this canyon inside the boundary of the national park being sold and what it could have done to this public land that surrounds it. The land acquired provides access to Gold Medal fly fishing on the Gunnison River, creates potential opportunities for the National Park Service to provide more family-friendly hiking near the visitor center, and serves as a potential source of water to the South Rim, which will reduce the operational costs of hauling water like they do now to meet visitor and staff needs. It is a win for all involved. You can see right there what it means. In the next picture, we have the Great Sand Dunes National Park. Near it is a 12,000-acre ranch, the Medano Zapata Ranch, which borders the Sand Dunes on three sides. It has been 60 days since the Land and Water Conservation Fund has expired, but this program, this chunk of land, this 12,000 acres was bought by the Nature Conservancy, one of our great conservation partners, and is going through the process to be incorporated into the park using LWCF dollars. This is an important purchase for our access to existing public lands--12,000 acres to our existing public lands. You can see the Great Sand Dunes in the background there. This preserves access to these public lands and keeps beautiful lands conserved for healthy wildlife habitat. Inholding purchases are not the only way the Land and Water Conservation Fund benefits the outdoors, however. The National Park Service, through the LWCF State and Local Assistance Program, provides matching grants for State and local park projects that aren't just inside national park boundaries. Just last week, three State parks in Colorado were awarded funding through the LWCF. Funds awarded to Crawford State Park will be used to complete a trail between the east and west sides of the park, including the construction of two prefabricated pedestrian bridges. Road improvements will be funded at Chatfield State Park, one of the most heavily used State parks in Colorado, to include resurfacing damaged asphalt, adding asphalt surface to a gravel access road, and adding bicycle lanes. Finally, funding awarded through the LWCF to Cherry Creek State Park will allow them to resurface one-third of a mile on the Parker Trail. The Land and Water Conservation Fund isn't just about the West. It is about the East as well. It is not just about our national forests or BLM land or national parks, local parks, bike trails, and playgrounds. It is about those little slices of heaven among the concrete and chaos of our urban corridors, as well. I urge my colleagues to come together to find ways to permanently authorize and fully fund the Land and Water Conservation Fund. Think about what our public lands mean to this country, and go back to the words of Enos Mills, who was one of the founding fathers of Rocky Mountain National Park, who said this: ``Within National Parks is room--glorious room--room in which to find ourselves, in which to think and hope, to dream and plan, to rest and resolve. These are our public lands. We have a chance to act before this Congress closes to reauthorize and to fully fund the Land and Water Conservation Fund. I am going to fight tooth and nail to make sure that we get that job done. I yield the floor.

Mr. GARDNER

Mr. GARDNER. Mr. President, today, I want to remember Bill Coors, who passed away on October 13, 2018, at the age of 102 years old. I want to recognize Bill's dedication to the State of Colorado and the Coors Brewing Company, which he helped build. Bill was born on August 11, 1916, and started his work at Coors after finishing a graduate degree at Princeton University; by 1959, he had become chairman of the company. During his tenure, he was known for innovation and creativity. As if pioneering the aluminum can weren't enough, Bill then strengthened similar recycling efforts through buyback programs for returned cans. ``Barley is to beer as grapes are to wine.'' These are words that Bill uttered often and emphasized his understanding that only the best ingredients can make the best beer. He was committed to relationships with barley growers in the San Luis Valley of Colorado, some of whom have been growing for Coors since 1949. For Bill's 100th birthday in 2016, barley growers honored his commitment to them by naming a barley strain after him, known as the Bill Coors 100. Bill believed in family values, and his employees were a part of his family. He placed great emphasis on working together, saying, ``We don't believe in a `you' and a `we'. We believe in `us'.'' With this commitment to driving progress as a whole, Bill was able to transform Coors from a once regional brewery to one of the most recognized names in beer across the country. The values and morals that Bill instilled in the Coors Brewery Company are the same that we hold dear in Colorado. Bill will be remembered for his dedication to Coors and for the work he did to advance the prosperity of our great State.

Mr. GARDNER

Mr. GARDNER. I ask for the yeas and nays.

Mr. GARDNER

Mr. GARDNER. Mr. President, I stand here today to honor the distinguished veterans of the Northern Colorado Honor Flight who have made their 21st and final flight to Washington, DC. The Colonel Stan Cass Memorial Flight, in honor of Northern Colorado Honor Flight's founder, consisted of over 120 distinguished veterans. Military service is an exceptional duty to the country. Though these memorials honor our veterans' service, no statue or monument can truly express the level of gratitude we feel for the veterans who risked their lives for our rights to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. When the United States has been threatened, our veterans have stepped up and answered our country's call without reservation or fear. Twice a year, veterans are able to travel to our Nation's Capital, where we are able to recognize them for their selflessness, fortitude, and bravery. Thirteen years after the founding of the Honor Flight Program, it spans across our country and recognizes veterans from every generation and every branch. In the past decade, Honor Flight Northern Colorado alone was able to take almost 3,000 veterans to Washington, DC. Please join me in honoring the veterans of the 21st Honor Flight: Robert Hauser, Donald Reisner, Kenneth Sweeney, Philip Bell, Wilbur Doeksen, Edmund Giese, Jr., Orville Markham, Roy Nichols, Lawrence Powers, Wesley Te Winkle, Gloria Atteberry, Walter Babcock, Terrill Bashline, Roger Bates, James Beemer, Anthony Benavidez, Michael Bernard, Gary Blomenkamp, Roger Boltz, Donald Bonenberger, Jimmy Bracking, Richard Bryson, Gerard Bucknall, Bruce Cameron, Cecily Cass, Larry Chartier, Archie Cloud, Jr., William Corbett, Steven Crall, Gregory Cranston, Gary Crego, Gary Cyr Sr., Thomas Danton, Raymond Davis, David DeCamp, Raymond Delgado, Salvatore Delprete, Ronald Dickerhoff, Brian Donahue, Alvin Dorsey, Eugene Eddy, Richard Fischer, Norman Fulton, Gary Garrison, James Gerk, William Gill III, Gregory Goettsch, Larry Goettsch, Allan Gott, Dallas Greenfield, Dennis Hammonds, Rodney Hansen, Gerald Henderson, James Hernandez, Edwin Hollingsworth, Donald Holt, Michael Hughes, Kenneth Iliff, Foy Jolley Jr., Gary Jones, Thomas Keen, James Kennedy, Stephen Kennedy, James Kepler, David Kinion, Mark Kintzley, Galen Konken, Nicholas Kricken, Donald Lambertson, Alec Leavitt, Roland Lei, Samuel Leighton, Robert Magnuson, Joseph Markham, Michael McCormick, Arthur Meek, Wayne Moeller, Juan Montoya, Marino Montoya, Charles Morgan, Richard Myron, Edward Nelson, Clayton Obland, John Ochoa, Dean Olson, Harleigh Peppler, Charles Powers, Albert Pribble, Rodger Price, Roger Ramsey, Paul Richmann, Kenneth Ricker, Robert Riggs, Philip Rouse, John Rowland, Robert Rowton, Steven Rylant, Rodolfo Sanchez, John Sanger, Martin Sattler, William Schenk, John Schroetlin, Kenneth Schroetlin, Donald Shaffer, Bert Smith, Gerald Smith, Robert Starck, William Starck, Duane Steinbrecher, Billy Thornton, Robert Tomlinson, Larry Torrez, Garlin Trower, Jr, Ernest Tyler, John Vaughn, Eugene Vigil, Antonio Villarreal, John Ward, Howard Willich, William Woods, Steve Zivicky, William Zoller, and Brian Ivers.

Mr. GARDNER

Mr. GARDNER. Mr. President, thank you for the opportunity to be here to talk with my colleagues about the importance of the Land and Water Conservation Fund. I am pleased to be here. Over the past several months, the press conference Senator Burr referred to marking 100 days until the expiration of Land and Water Conservation Fund--we have since come to the floor offering unanimous consent agreements. We have introduced legislation. We fought for amendments to make sure we extend not just temporarily, not just for a year or two but to make sure we fight for the permanent reauthorization of the Land and Water Conservation Fund. I was struck by the words Senator Burr said, in particular, about the suffering in his home State of North Carolina and the aftermath of Hurricane Florence. I was reminded of a quote that Enos Mills, one of the Founding Fathers of Rocky Mountain National Park, said about our national places and spaces. I think you can apply this to public lands everywhere, the public parks, national parks, forests, you name it. He said: ``Within national parks is room--glorious room--room in which to find ourselves, in which to think and hope, to dream and plan, to rest and resolve.'' That is the importance of our public lands across the West, across the East, and everywhere in this country--from corner to corner--as we fight to preserve our most sacred places. Senator Daines, there have been valiant efforts in Montana to preserve our public lands in both of our States--public land States. In Colorado, if you add in the State and Federal public lands, you are looking at nearly half the State of Colorado and of course the numbers you laid out earlier. These are important management issues, important issues to resolve. Then, once in a while, there is an opportunity ahead of us to preserve a parcel of land, a portion of forests for a recreational opportunity for future generations. We use the Land and Water Conservation Fund to do just that. Teddy Roosevelt said: ``There is a delight in the hardy life of the open.'' He went on to say: ``The nation behaves well if it treats the natural resources as assets which it must turn over to the next generation increased; and not impaired in value.'' That is what the Land and Water Conservation Fund allowed us to do. I want to show you a picture of an incredible, glorious space in Colorado I visited a few weeks back. This is the Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park. It is pretty impressive. I can tell you, if you are able to go down next to the Gunnison River and enjoy that opportunity to be alone, to be in that space, you indeed will live up to Enos Mills' quote, where you will be able to find that time to think and hope, to dream and plan, to rest, and to resolve. If you look at this canyon, you will notice some of the uplands, the flats, the rim of the canyon. You would assume that would have been a part of the national park. When they created the Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park, there was a private holding, and you can see part of it right here. Imagine the risk to this great national park, this great public place that could be posed by somebody who decided they wanted to develop that space, and all of a sudden that great natural wonder, the great open space this presents to not just the people of Colorado but truly people around the world would be gone, would be blemished, would be impaired. We worked with the Land and Water Conservation Fund. In bipartisan fashion, Senator Bennet, myself, and Congressman Tipton have had great bipartisan support from within the Colorado congressional delegation-- Congressman Lamborn, Congressman Tipton, Congressman Coffman. They all strongly support the Land and Water Conservation Fund. In this case-- the Western Slope of Colorado--Congressman Tipton, Senator Bennet, and I worked with the agencies in Colorado, which do so much great work, to make a purchase of this private land using Land and Water Conservation Fund dollars. In this case, it was the conservation fund out of Boulder, CO. If we go to the next chart, you can see where that land was. This is Bruce Noble, the superintendent of the Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park, and he is pointing--that river is just right down here, and this is the land the Land and Water Conservation Fund helped to purchase so that this asset will be preserved for future generations. Not just for 5 years or 10 years, but for as long as this great and hallowed Nation exists, you will be able to come to the Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park and be at one with your thoughts, your self, and you will have the opportunity to think, to resolve, to plan, to hope. That is the respite that this brings to all of us, because we are better people knowing that some of our most wild and natural places exist in truly wild and natural spaces. To the leadership of the Conservation Fund, Christine Quinlan, and the other folks who have worked with the Land and Water Conservation Fund, thank you for making this possible. This is just one of many examples in Colorado. In fact, over $268 million has been appropriated to Colorado through the Land and Water Conservation Fund to make purchases such as this in a recreation economy in Colorado that is responsible for over 230,000 jobs in the State of Colorado alone and an outdoor economy that is nearly $10 billion in wages and salaries and $2 billion in State and local tax revenues--a nearly $30 billion outdoor economy overall in Colorado. That is what the Land and Water Conservation Fund is able to be a part of. So this isn't just about protecting our open spaces. It is not just about protecting these great, sacred lands that we have. It is also about a thriving economy in Colorado, in Montana, and in North Carolina, and the opportunities we have to drive those outdoor economies with hundreds of thousands of jobs and billions of dollars in revenue. This Congress, in a bipartisan fashion, passed legislation to promote that outdoor economy, but it is all related back to this crown jewel of our conservation programs, the Land and Water Conservation Fund. We are just days away from seeing the clock tick 1 day beyond what it should and what we should allow. And I think one of the reasons we are here is that we have heard the frustration of our voters back in Colorado, North Carolina, and Montana who get frustrated with Washington and are probably wondering why something that everybody agrees with can take so long to get done. Washington seems to be the only place where the more people agree with it, the longer it takes to happen. So let's fix that. I truly am grateful to Senator Burr for the times he has come to the floor with Democrats and Republicans alike to champion this. I thank Senator Daines for his leadership. We have days left. We have hours remaining. We should work with every moment to make sure we get this reauthorization--permanent reauthorization, full funding--across the finish line. It is an honor to be with my colleagues to fight for this great program.

Mr. GARDNER

Mr. GARDNER. Mr. President, I rise today to speak about the Defense appropriations bill that we are now debating. I congratulate Senator Shelby and Senator Leahy, and other Senators for working together in a cooperative manner to fashion and advance this important legislation. For my home State of Colorado, this legislation means critical funding for our men and women in uniform at installations such as Peterson, Buckley, and Schriever Air Force Bases, the Air Force Academy, and Fort Carson in Colorado Springs, and beyond. This bill provides the first significant pay raise--the first significant pay raise--for soldiers, sailors, airmen, and marines for close to 10 years, and it is well deserved and long overdue. As the chair of the Senate Foreign Relations Subcommittee on East Asia, the Pacific, and International Cybersecurity Policy, I want to highlight several provisions related to these areas. The bill provides $356 million in additional funding to expand and accelerate cyber research across the Department of Defense, including $117 million for Army cyber security research efforts and $116 million in Missile Defense Agency cyber security enhancements. This legislation will support critical cyber security programs, including CyberWorx at the Air Force Academy, DIUx in Silicon Valley, and the Army Futures Command in Austin, TX. The bill focuses on our ability to modernize not only what we might use in conflict but also to understand how conflict might be waged through technology. Through a fully funded and equipped Cyber Command, we will be armed not only with new funded capability and technology but with new titles and authorities to be able to downgrade, disrupt, and destroy cyber attacks on our infrastructure and economy. As our force evolves and changes, the Cyber Command will continue to be a vital stakeholder in our defense communities. I am also pleased that the legislation supports the administration's concept of a ``free and open Indo-Pacific'' by fully funding our military activities in the Indo-Pacific region, including U.S. Pacific Command theater cooperation activities with partner nations. I am also pleased that the bill specifically includes funds to support activity with the Pacific Island nations, including Palau. These nations are at risk of falling under more and more Chinese influence, and it is important for the United States to exert an active leadership role to keep these allies engaged. Countering China's rise represents a grave challenge for U.S. national security, but it is a challenge that we must absolutely rise to meet. According to the ``National Security Strategy,'' released in December of just last year, ``for decades, U.S. policy was rooted in the belief that support for China's rise and for its integration into the post-war international order would liberalize China. Contrary to our hopes, China expanded its power at the expense of the sovereignty of others.'' According to the 2018 ``National Defense Strategy,'' ``it is increasingly clear that China and Russia want to shape a world consistent with their authoritarian model--gaining veto authority over other nations' economic, diplomatic, and security decisions.'' According to the annual ``Department of Defense Report on Chinese Military Power,'' released just last week, ``China's military modernization targets capabilities with the potential to degrade core U.S. operational and technological advantages. To support this modernization, China uses a variety of methods to acquire foreign military and dual-use technologies, including targeted foreign direct investment, cyber theft, and exploitation of private China nationals' access to these technologies.'' I am pleased that both the administration and Congress are now recognizing this reality and taking steps to rebuild our military to stand up to China. I am leading a bipartisan effort in the Senate called the Asia Reassurance Initiative Act, or ARIA, which will set a generational policy toward the Indo-Pacific. I expect that the Senate Foreign Relations Committee will mark up ARIA in September, and I urge my colleagues to cosponsor this very important effort. We know that China will continue to bully its neighbors and to test U.S. resolve, and we must respond accordingly. On Monday, we heard the disturbing news that the nation of El Salvador, under Chinese pressure, has decided to sever diplomatic ties with Taiwan in favor of Beijing. This is an outrageous and unwarranted move for El Salvador, which has enjoyed official relations with the Republic of China since 1933. In response, I have introduced an amendment with Senator Rubio to this legislation that will restrict U.S. funds to the government of El Salvador. It is our sincere hope that this amendment will send a direct message to Taiwan's allies that the United States will use every tool to support Taiwan's standing on the international stage and will stand up to China's bullying tactics across the world. Thank you, Mr. President. I yield the floor.

Mr. GARDNER

Mr. GARDNER. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that my fellow, John Price, be granted floor privileges for the remainder of the year.

Mr. GARDNER

Mr. GARDNER. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate proceed to executive session for the en bloc consideration of the following nominations: Executive Calendar Nos. 630, 631, 632, 730, 732, 767.

Mr. GARDNER. I ask unanimous consent that the Senate vote on the nominations en bloc with no intervening action or debate; that if confirmed, the motions to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table en bloc; that the President be immediately notified of the Senate's action; that no further motions be in order; and that any statements related to the nominations be printed in the Record.

Mr. GARDNER

Mr. GARDNER. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order for the quorum call be rescinded.

Mr. GARDNER

Mr. GARDNER. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate proceed to the immediate consideration of Calendar No. 519, S. 2497.

Mr. GARDNER. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Rubio amendment at the desk be agreed to, the committee-reported amendment, as amended, be agreed to, and the bill, as amended, be considered read a third time.

Mr. GARDNER. Mr. President, I know of no further debate on the bill.

Mr. GARDNER. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the motion to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table.

Mr. GARDNER

Mr. GARDNER. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate proceed to the consideration of the following nomination: Executive Calendar No. 697.

Mr. GARDNER. I ask unanimous consent that the Senate vote on the nomination with no intervening action or debate; that if confirmed, the motion to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table; that the President be immediately notified of the Senate's action; that no further motions be in order; and that any statements related to the nomination be printed in the Record.

Mr. GARDNER

Mr. GARDNER. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate proceed to legislative session and be in a period of morning business, with Senators permitted to speak therein for up to 10 minutes each.

Mr. GARDNER

Mr. GARDNER. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that when the Senate completes its business today, it adjourn to then convene for pro forma sessions only, with no business being conducted, on the following dates and times and that following each pro forma session, the Senate adjourn until the next pro forma session: Friday, August 3, at 10:30 a.m.; Tuesday, August 7, at 10 a.m.; Friday, August 10, at 10:30 a.m.; Tuesday, August 14, at 1 p.m. I further ask that when the Senate adjourns on Tuesday, August 14, it next convene at 12 noon on Wednesday, August 15, and that following the prayer and pledge, the morning hour be deemed expired, the Journal of proceedings be approved to date, the time for the two leaders be reserved for their use later in the day, and morning business be closed; further, that following leader remarks, the Senate proceed to executive session and resume consideration of the Quattlebaum nomination; further, that notwithstanding the provisions of rule XXII, the cloture motions filed during today's session ripen at 5:30 p.m., Wednesday, August 15; finally, that the Senate recess, following the resumption of the Quattlebaum nomination, until 2:15 p.m. to allow for the weekly caucus meetings.

Mr. GARDNER

Mr. GARDNER. Mr. President, if there is no further business to come before the Senate, I ask unanimous consent that it stand adjourned under the previous order.

Mr. GARDNER

Mr. GARDNER. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order for the quorum call be rescinded.

Mr. GARDNER. Mr. President, the Land and Water Conservation Fund is one of the Nation's premier conservation programs. In fact, I believe it is the crown jewel of our conservation programs. The Land and Water Conservation Fund has been an incredible program across the country, saving land for future generations to enjoy, saving land that otherwise might be lost and neglected for future generations--parts of our park systems, our trail systems, parts of our communities. The Land and Water Conservation Fund has been around for many years. Yet it is set to expire on September 30. The challenge we have in this Chamber is that it never seems to be the right time to debate permanent authorization of the Land and Water Conservation Fund. Again, it is a program that has incredible bipartisan support. The Land and Water Conservation Fund expires September 30. We need to not only reauthorize the program but to permanently authorize the Land and Water Conservation Fund. Yet it is still not the right time to debate it. It is not the right issue, not the right bill, not the right moment. I hope we can find a way to do exactly what we need to for our great outdoors, for our economy, and for our environment to continue the incredible work of this crown jewel of conservation programs. That is why I have authored a bill with a number of my colleagues around the country, including Senator Burr, who has been a longtime champion of the Land and Water Conservation Fund--permanent authorization, full funding for the Land and Water Conservation Fund. That is why we put together an amendment to do exactly what the American people want us to do, and that is permanent authorization of the Land and Water Conservation Fund. I would ask unanimous consent to set aside the pending amendment and call up my amendment No. 3424. I further ask that there be up to 1 hour of debate equally divided in the usual form on the amendment and that following the use or yielding back of that time, the Senate vote on the amendment with no intervening action or debate. Before I enter that request formally, I would like to yield to Senator Burr for a few comments.

Mr. GARDNER. Mr. President, I thank my colleague from North Carolina, who has been a true champion of the Land and Water Conservation Fund for years. You can hear his passion, and you can sense the passion, and you absolutely have an idea of his commitment. I am right along with him in this effort to make sure that we do our job here and let the American people's voices be heard for their support of this program and through our action, which is moving forward with the permanent authorization of the Land and Water Conservation Fund. Every corner of this country has benefited from the Land and Water Conservation Fund. There were 330 million park visits in 2017. Every State and many countries around the world have benefited from this conservation program--from what this means to our country, what this means to our economy, and what this means to conservation and to the protection of our environment. I look forward to fighting alongside Senator Burr as we move this most important piece of conservation programs forward in the permanent authorization and funding of the Land and Water Conservation Fund. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent to set aside the pending amendment and call up my amendment No. 3424. I further ask that on the amendment there be up to 1 hour of debate, equally divided in the usual form, and that following the use or yielding back of that time the Senate vote on the amendment with no intervening action or debate.

Mr. GARDNER

Mr. GARDNER. Mr. President, this weekend, Colorado will be celebrating the opening of our new Rocky Mountain Regional VA Medical Center in Aurora. I am incredibly proud that we will be reaching this milestone this weekend after more than a decade of work and some significant hurdles, trials, and tribulations along the way. I commend my colleagues for the work they did funding this project. The Rocky Mountain Regional VA Medical Center will be the crown jewel of the VA system. It wasn't easy to get here. A lot of people had to do a lot of work to make it happen, including the veterans, the leadership organizations in Colorado, our colleagues across the aisle, Congressman Coffman, Congressman Perlmutter, Senator Bennet--in fact, the entire congressional delegation for a number of years--Senator Salazar, Senator Udall, Senator Allard. They have all done incredible work to make this weekend a possibility. Hundreds of millions of tax dollars were used for this facility. It did run over budget. It certainly ran over time. But we have learned a lot as a result of this facility, and the Army Corps of Engineers will now be taking over major construction projects like this. As a result of this facility, we have made changes on how designs are being made. It was a learning experience and unfortunately a costly one at that, but it doesn't change the fact that this will be a crown jewel in the VA system. This is not the end of a project, it is the beginning of a promise to be fulfilled--a promise to our veterans on the care they will receive, a place where they will find healing, where they will find support, and where they will find a return to good health. To our men and women in uniform who currently serve, know that you have a place in Colorado where you will find incredible care. To those who have served our country, who live in Colorado, know that with great pride, we open this facility this weekend. But we have more work to do. We have work to do to make sure that it is easier to hire doctors and fill the positions at the hospital that have remained open for months around the VA system. It takes too long to onboard medical professionals. We should cut down that time, figure out how to cut through the redtape and the bureaucracy. If you are qualified to practice medicine at Swedish Hospital in Denver, or any of our other great facilities, why can't you just go to work at the VA hospital as well? So these are things that we can do to do a better job. On Monday, I met with the Secretary nominee, Robert Wilkie, President Trump's nominee to be the new VA Secretary, and I talked to him about the work we have to continue to do to make sure that veterans receive the best care possible. This Congress has passed legislation, such as the Choice Act. We have made great reforms over the last several months to reduce wait times and wait lists and to eliminate them and make sure that we can provide that promise of care. This weekend in Colorado there will be a great celebration as we open this facility. So many people put in tireless years upon years of work, from the leadership of the State to the leadership of Congress. I am grateful that this weekend we celebrate as we open a facility that begins to fulfill the promise made a decade ago for veterans in the region. I yield the floor.

Mr. GARDNER

Mr. GARDNER. Mr. President, I stand here today to honor the distinguished veterans of the Northern Colorado Honor Flight who have made the 21st trip to Washington, DC. Over 120 distinguished veterans from World War II, the Korean war, and the Vietname war made the trip to visit our national memorials that were built in their honor. Military service is an exceptional duty to country. Few words can describe the sacrifice that these men and woman have made for our country. They have helped to preserve our rights to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. Without reservation or fear, when our country has been threatened, our veterans have stepped up and have answered our country's call. Twice a year, veterans are able to travel to our Nation's Capital, where we get to recognize their selflessness, fortitude, and bravery. In 2005 the Honor Flight Program was formed to honor veterans that served in World War II. Now, 13 years later, the program spans across our country and recognizes veterans from every generation, who are able to travel to Washington, DC, free of charge. Please join me in honoring William Behrns, Leila Morrison, Gail Wares, Melvin Cook, Eldred Cooley, Eugene Curry, Bead Dennison, James Dewey, Tito Garcia Jr., Karl Gruber, Manuel Jimenez, Donald Johnson, Myron Kapperman, Roger Lindgren, Bobby Lewis, John Mansfield, Thomas Mathias Jr., Dale Mikkelson, Mary Miller, Robert Murphy, Howard Nornes, James Onorato, Wilbur Smith, Sigvard Stenlund, Bruce Abel, Gary Allen, Russell Ayer, Roger Baker, John Ballenski, Phillip Ballenski, Robert Beckman, Delmar Benkendorf, Joseph Bicek, Ivan Birdsall, Roger Booker, James Boyle, Ronnie Brown, Robert Buchanan, Ronald Byers, Wesley Carter, Timothy Casseday, Everett Collins, David Cordova, John Cordova, Keith Cross, Terry Curry, Terry Dack, Scott Dallman, James Ehrlich, Rodney Enriques, Gary Evans, Brian Finkle, Lewis Finch, Rudolph Gallegos, Pete Gomez, Clayton Goss, Stanley Graffis, John Haddick, Michael Hadwick, William Hamlin, Arthur Harris, Michelle Herdengen, Charles Hill, Richard Hill, William Hilgenberg, Ronald Hoagland, Robert Johnson, Ronald Klug, Terry Kramer, Lonnie Kruise, Darrel Kyger, Bertram Langeberg, Gerald Lauer, Jay Lee, James Lichty, Anthony Lucas, Thomas Mannix, Juan Martinez, Modesto Martinez, James McDaniel, Kenneth McDonald, Ronald McDuff, Phyllis Minch, Alfred Montoya, Thomas Moreno, Donald Morris, Stephen Morris, Dennis Moss, Joseph Muzy, Emery Patrick, Joseph Plummer, Steven Prater, Benjamin Prieb, Ronald Rains, Donald Ratliff, Richard Regan, Fredrick Reiter, Thomas Robb, Bonnie Rohn, Fernando Romero Jr., Charles Rossi, Janice Schilling, Dennis Seitz, William Sladek, Michael Smith, Stephen Smith, Edward Snider Jr., John Tallman, Bruce Tibboel, Gary Todd, Gary Trippel, Billy Trobee, David Valdez, Wesley Van Pelt, Louis Velasquez, Stuart Veltkamp, Paul Wallace, Bryan Warwick, Tom Wasmer, Robert Watters, Steven Wilson, John Yost, and William Young.

Mr. GARDNER

Mr. GARDNER. Madam President, I come to the floor today to talk about fires that Colorado faces right now--some of the most devastating fires in Colorado history. As of the writing of our comments this morning, there were 40 fires so far in 2018. This is one of them. I think this is the 416 fire, which I had the opportunity to visit just a couple of weeks ago. This past week I was in Colorado, where we were able to see the Sugarloaf fire. I drove by the Weston Pass fire. This is some distance away from the Lake Christine fire, and obviously, the Spring Creek fire in Colorado. As a result of these fires, over 355,000 acres in Colorado have burned. That is simply devastating right now. Congress has not been inattentive to the needs of our forests. Over the past several months, we passed legislation that would fix the fire borrowing crisis that had gripped the Forest Service. That was something that was forcing them to cannibalize dollars that could be used to reduce the next year's forest fires on this year's forest fires. We fixed that. We put fixes in place for that. We also passed legislation to give our land managers more tools to help address dead trees and insect- and disease-ridden forests so we could have healthier forests. I hope the work we do on healthy forest policies, which we have already made progress on, will continue in this Congress. These fires are certainly devastating. These communities remain open. No matter where you are in the country, if you have a summer vacation in Colorado, I hope you will still come. These communities need you now more than ever. They need your dollars. They need your resources. They want you to come and visit. In the meantime, we have to make sure that we provide our firefighters--the great men and women on the frontlines of these fires--the tools they need to protect our communities and the tools our land managers need to make sure they can prevent these fires from happening. In this Congress we have also considered policies addressing categorical exclusions. That is a fancy way of saying that it gives line managers tools to reduce the fire risks in certain areas. We have helped to provide tools in fire regimes I, II, and III. There are five fire regimes: fire regimes I, II, III, IV, and V. They are defined by how likely they are to burn and how frequently they are to burn in certain conditions. Much of the West, though, is what is called fire regimes IV and V. You can see the colors of fire regimes IV and V, the orange and reddish color, and the purple color. The green, the light green, the yellowish colors are I, II, III. We have been able to provide new tools for fire regimes I, II, and III, but we haven't provided as many tools in fire regimes IV and V. That happens to be a significant portion of the West. That is where most of the beetle and other insect kill has occurred in Colorado. When a tree is killed by an insect, it creates a significant fire hazard. We have also been able to provide the amendments that we filed in the farm bill. Unfortunately, they didn't succeed. I hope we can get them through to provide help in these high-risk areas of disease and insect- ridden forests. Past management practices have created conditions where we may have monoculture forests, where you a forest with the same age of trees. You have the same conditions that allow them to be susceptible to the same insects and the same diseases, and you end up with thousands of acres that are susceptible to catastrophic wildfire. Where a lot of Colorado's beetle kill and insect kill can be found is also where the headwaters of some of our Nation's most significant water sources are. Colorado is the only State in the country where all water flows out of and no water flows into. I know the Presiding Officer is a beneficiary of Colorado water as well--probably not enough of it, she would say. But it is important to Nebraska that we protect Colorado forests because the headwaters of the Platte River are in Colorado--the North Platte and the South Platte. There is work we have to be doing to make sure that we protect these watersheds, because what happens when a forest burns is that you end up with hydrophobic soil conditions and that runoff from a rainstorm goes directly into the water. It destroys the watershed. If you have a forest that has four or five times the undergrowth that it should, then that takes more water out of what would naturally go to the waterway and the watershed, meaning there is less water available for other uses downstream. I want to talk more about forest management. We had another fire in Colorado called the Buffalo fire in Summit, CO. If you have ever driven up I-70 through the Eisenhower Tunnel, toward Breckenridge, you go by a town called Silverthorne. You can see in Summit County that the Buffalo fire threatened 1,400 homes. So 1,400 homes were evacuated as a result of this fire. The fire was 91 acres. It is about 95 percent containment, but this risk it posed was significant because there was a very densely populated area of the mountains, a community of homeowners. There were 1,400 homeowners who had to evacuate. They had a lot of high-risk fuels, but what this community had done was something we should brag about all over the West. They actually had collaborative efforts with State and local governments in this area. They developed fuel treatments to help moderate fire activity. This was a challenging fire. We have extreme fire behavior in Colorado this year, but because of the collaborative work they had done, that helped to reduce the risk, to thin forests, to reduce the fuel, and to create the fire breaks. They were able to keep this fire from reaching those homes. The fire treatment worked. This is an example of a process we ought to be spreading and looking at to help reduce hazardous fuels around the West to make sure we don't lose our communities when we have these devastating fires. This was just west of Silverthorne. These fuel reduction projects helped to create fire breaks, and they prescribed burns which contain a fire with extreme behavior that could have been devastating. This wasn't too far away from the Dillon Reservoir, a key source of water for Colorado. I also want to talk about some of the language we have in the farm bill. We have language in the farm bill that addresses vegetation management. This picture shows what happened after a forest fire. This is a power line, obviously. You can see the power lines going through it. We have risks to our forests, our communities, our homes, and risks to our watersheds. We also have risks to our power supply systems. You can see that this pole has been simply disintegrated as a result of the fire. This has cost at least one utility over $10 million in the Basalt area, as a result of the fire. We are working on language dealing with vegetation management. Senator Bennet and I sponsored language that would allow utilities to do work on their own dime outside of the rights of way to prevent this fire from impacting our electricity and energy system. The Lake Christine fire, which is near Basalt, put a lot of different types of electric infrastructure out of commission. This utility, as I mentioned, is estimating that it will be millions of dollars for them to repair. It makes sense for us to give tools to these utilities on their own dime to prevent this kind of damage, because they would be creating fire breaks. They would be creating more resilient systems that would allow our communities a little bit more security, I guess, in knowing that their electricity systems would be protected and safe. These kinds of bills that we have been able to produce have had and will have great impact on how we can prevent and how we respond to catastrophic wildfires. Certainly, a $10 million cost from one fire, as well as other costs, will increase rates. It has the potential to increase rates dramatically if we can't get a handle on the right kinds of policies. Finally, I want to turn to another disturbing aspect of what we have seen in Colorado with these forest fires. We have seen an uptick of drones flying over active forest fires and firefighting areas. If you fly a drone and do that without interfering with the firefighter-- following all the rules--then I don't think anybody has a problem with it. If you are flying a drone and violating the rules and you are flying it over an active fire, stop it. I talked to far too many incident commanders who had to call off air tankers because there was a drone in the area. There is a video on YouTube where you can see footage from the drone taking a picture of the forest, while you see the shadow of a tanker on the ground because the tanker went right over it. The pilots of that tanker were asked: Did you see the drone? They said: No. What would have happened if that drone had hit that plane, perhaps causing an accident, perhaps costing lives, perhaps starting a new fire because the plane could have crashed as a result? If you call off an air tanker already in the air, that tanker can't land with the slurry that it has onboard already. So the air tanker gets called off. It then has to dump the slurry somewhere else. That could be $10,000 worth of slurry at a time wasted because they got called off because somebody decided they would rather fly their drone and get videos that they can post on YouTube, instead of allowing firefighters to do their job. This is what the Forest Service put out: ``If you fly, we can't.'' You have a 110,000-acre fire in the Spring Creek fire right now. Over 200 homes are lost. An hour a day without supertankers--without air tankers--is a big problem for those communities and the men and women putting their lives at risk trying to defend and protect our forests and our communities. I hope people will use a little bit of common sense and not fly their drones over an active firefighting. I introduced legislation with Senator Bennet and Congressman Tipton to make it a felony to interfere with a firefighter operation over a forest fire if you are flying a drone illegally. We met with individuals from Oregon and from all over the West when I visited the fire at the incident command center in Southern Colorado when we visited the Spring Creek fire. We talked to fire men and women who spent their Fourth of July not watching fireworks or picnicking with their family but defending and protecting our communities in Colorado. We thank them for their work. We thank them for their tireless efforts and sacrifice. It is dangerous. In fact, just last week, as we were at the fire on Friday, we commemorated and recognized the anniversary of the Storm King Mountain fire and the 14 persons who were killed near Glenwood Springs about 24 years before. This is a very serious fire season. Thankfully, we have serious policies in place that are addressing it. There is more work we can do. I thank my colleagues.