Paul Gosar

Mr. GOSAR

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

Mr. GOSAR. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 6146) to authorize, direct, expedite, and facilitate a land exchange in Yavapai County, Arizona, and for other purposes, as amended.

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

Mr. GOSAR

Mr. GOSAR. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and concur in the Senate amendment to the bill (H.R. 2615) to authorize the exchange of certain land located in Gulf Islands National Seashore, Jackson County, Mississippi, between the National Park Service and the Veterans of Foreign Wars, and for other purposes.

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

Mr. GOSAR

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

Mr. GOSAR

Mr. GOSAR. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman from Montana for organizing this tonight. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to bring this Chamber's attention to the multitude of wildfires that have devastated the Western United States. Now, Mr. Speaker, the West is on fire and has been on fire since April of this year. This has undoubtedly been one of the worst wildfire seasons in recent memory. Last month, more than 100 active fires scorched nearly 2 million acres, killed at least 12 people, and caused hundreds of millions of dollars in property damage. As of today, more than 75 wildfires continue to burn throughout the United States. Wildfires are getting worse, in fact, in the United States just as they are getting better in more similarly advanced nations. A study published in Science last year found that the amount of acreage burning globally has declined by 25 percent over the past 18 years, irrespective of climate and temperature variability. The study's findings point to day-to-day human factors, especially land management, as the most consequential determinants of wildfire acreage burned. Substantial research and common sense continue to suggest that an imprudent combination of prematurely extinguished spontaneous small burns preventing controlled burns and limiting brush, hazardous fuel, and timber thinning to near-negligible amounts is producing tinderbox- like conditions in our forests, conditions that overdetermine the eventual outcome of catastrophic wildfire. Our misguided land management assumptions, practices, and policies have ended up as a highly significant factor in ensuring our country's experience with wildfires is worse than that of similarly situated peers. The sad truth is that mismanagement has left our forests vulnerable to insects and disease ripe for catastrophic wildfires. That is why the Western Caucus led efforts to pass a strong forestry title in the farm bill. The House base bill includes 10 categorical exclusions that allow for active management of our Nation's forests and critical response. On September 13, a letter spearheaded by the Western Caucus from 40 bipartisan Members of the House was sent to the farm bill conferrees urging conferrees and leadership to include active forest management provisions in the final version of the farm bill. The base bill also reauthorizes the Landscape Scale Restoration Program. The first meaningful step that can be made to ensure that we can mitigate the frequency and intensity of wildfires next year is for the farm bill conference committee to include these forestry provisions within the final conference report. Otherwise, next year's wildfires, sadly, may be larger than this year's and will be the result of this Congress.

Mr. GOSAR

Mr. GOSAR. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman from Montana for yielding me the time. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in strong support of H.R. 660, the Bureau of Reclamation Transparency Act. This bicameral, bipartisan legislation increases transparency, consolidates multiple reports, and requires the Bureau of Reclamation, the BOR, to do a thorough inventory of its assets, as well as prioritize major repairs necessary at the agency's facilities. This bill has a strong history of bipartisan support. It was approved unanimously by the Senate in the 113th Congress, with Senators Barrasso and Schatz ushering passage. The previous administration testified in strong support of the bill last Congress. This Congress, the Trump administration testified in strong support of the Senate bill, which is identical to the House bill. The bill has five Democratic cosponsors and 15 Republican cosponsors. The bill passed the House Committee on Natural Resources by unanimous consent. Senator Barrasso and Senator Schatz are again spearheading the Senate companion, and the Senate bill has passed the Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources. For more than a century, the Bureau of Reclamation has transformed the West into a powerhouse that feeds the Nation and the world while also providing renewable, emissions-free energy for millions of Americans. BOR provides essential services that benefit water and power users, as well as our Nation's farmers. The agency delivers water to more than 30 million people and provides one in five Western farmers with water to irrigate their crops. The BOR's assets include more than 476 dams and dikes, and the agency is also responsible for the operations of 53 different hydroelectric power plants. This legislation is timely and necessary. The Bureau of Reclamation was established in 1902, and much of the agency's now-aging infrastructure was built more than 50 years ago. Many of the facilities operated by the BOR are in desperate need of repairs, to the tune of several billion dollars. This bill requires the Federal Government make public the estimated cost of repairs for reclamation facilities. For years, Congress and water users throughout the country have asked for such information, only to be rebuffed time and again. Taxpayers deserve accountability from their government and oversight on how it spends their money. Sunshine on expenditures and increased transparency is good for any Federal bureaucracy or agency. The Bureau of Reclamation Transparency Act requires a cost estimate and a detailed list of major repairs for BOR facilities. Such actions will allow for meaningful steps to be taken to address the maintenance backlog, as well as to ensure an abundant supply of clean water and power for future generations. Mr. Speaker, I appreciate the committee's time and work on this bill, and I urge my colleagues to vote in favor of H.R. 660.

Mr. GOSAR

Mr. GOSAR. Madam Chair, I rise in strong support of H.R. 4606, the Ensuring Small Scale LNG Certainty and Access Act, bipartisan legislation introduced by my good friend and colleague, Representative Bill Johnson. I applaud the gentleman from Ohio for his strong leadership in bringing forward this important bill. This commonsense legislation will further increase American energy dominance by expediting the permitting process for the small-scale liquefied natural gas, or LNG, market. Such action will create thousands of jobs, increase regulatory certainty, and help reduce global emissions. Thanks to American ingenuity and the efforts of private companies, the United States is now the world's leading producer of oil and natural gas. Despite this remarkable achievement, businesses still face a plethora of bureaucratic hurdles that are unable to export small quantities of LNG expeditiously. Removing unnecessary roadblocks that are shackling LNG job creators will foster economic growth and increase global influence. As DOE Secretary Rick Perry likes to say, we are not just exporting energy, we are exporting freedom. I saw that firsthand in Lithuania last year. Further, the U.S. has the highest regulatory standards for producing and exporting oil and gas in the world. Put quite simply, if we aren't making it in America, someone else will, and they will most likely do it in a way that is worse for the environment. I urge adoption of this excellent legislation introduced by the gentleman from Ohio.

Mr. GOSAR

Mr. GOSAR. Mr. Speaker, it is my pleasure to stand today to recognize the distinguished career of a remarkable constituent of mine, Rear Admiral Pamela A. Schweitzer. Rear Admiral Schweitzer is retiring after proudly serving her country for nearly 30 years. After receiving her Bachelor's degree in biology in Biological Sciences from California State University Fullerton, Rear Admiral Schweitzer went on to earn a Doctor of Pharmacy from University of California San Francisco and an Ambulatory Care/Administrative Residency at University of California Irvine Medical Center. She is a Board Certified Ambulatory Care Pharmacist, and currently serves as Executive Master of Health Administration Program at the University of Southern California Sol Price School of Public Policy. On August 7, 2014 Rear Admiral Schweitzer was appointed to be the first female Chief Professional Officer of Pharmacy for the United States Public Health Service. As Chief Pharmacy Officer, Rear Admiral Schweitzer was responsible for providing leadership and coordination of USPHS pharmacy programs and professional affairs for the Office of the Surgeon General and the Department of Health & Human Services. While serving her country, Rear Admiral Schweitzer worked in a variety of roles including, progressing in leadership responsibilities in the Indian Health Service, the Veterans Administration, as well as the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. She made an indelible mark within each of these organizations, which is a testament to her strong dedication to public service. Rear Admiral Schweitzer has been recognized for her leadership contributions many times. These recognitions include receiving the National Council for Prescription Drug Programs Champion Award in 2017, American Society of Health-System Pharmacists William Zelmer Lecture Award in 2016, the University of California San Francisco Alumni Award in 2015, American Pharmacists Association Distinguished Federal Pharmacist Award in 2014, IHS Senior Pharmacist of the Year Award in 2013 and the USPHS Mary Louise Anderson Leadership Award in 2012. Rear Admiral Schweitzer will always be remembered as someone who put her country and the well-being of others above all else. She will be greatly missed and I wish her the best in her retirement on behalf of a grateful nation.

Mr. GOSAR

Mr. GOSAR. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of my bipartisan bill, H.R. 2630, the La Paz County Land Conveyance Act. La Paz County, Arizona, is a county in western Arizona defined by the Colorado River, the vast Arizona desert, and a massive Federal footprint. This bipartisan bill helps facilitate a land transfer from the Bureau of Land Management to the county. Specifically, H.R. 2630 directs the Secretary of the Interior to convey 8,800 acres of Federal land to La Paz County for the purpose of economic development opportunities and facilitating renewable electrical generation. The bill allows the county to take advantage of one of the best assets they have--sunshine--and pursue utility-scale solar energy production. This legislation requires the county to pay fair-market value for the land involved in this transfer. H.R. 2630 also requires the county to pay for all costs related to the conveyance, including all surveys, appraisals, and all other administrative costs. I would like to provide a little more background about La Paz County to help explain why this bill is so important. By population, La Paz is Arizona's second smallest county, with just under 21,000 permanent residents. More than a third of those people are over the age of 65. The unemployment rate in the county is stubbornly high, with La Paz County consistently ranking in the top 5 counties in Arizona, out of 15, in terms of highest unemployment rate. Currently, only 6 percent of the land in La Paz County is in private ownership. Federal, State, or Tribal governments own almost 95 percent of the land within the county, nearly two-thirds of which is owned by the BLM. Because of the immense Federal footprint in the county, a land conveyance is necessary to allow for new opportunities for economic development. H.R. 2630, will help create new, good-paying jobs for La Paz County residents and generate new revenues to fund important county services like education, transportation, and law enforcement. The plot of land the county has identified, with the assistance of the BLM, is ideally situated on the edge of the La Paz-Maricopa County line, adjacent to existing and proposed fiber optic, electric, and natural gas transmission lines. Further, the transferred parcels are conveniently located next to the Ten West Link, a 114-mile transmission line that will further interconnect Arizona and California. Initial review shows that the land does not contain any endangered species, cultural resources, and already has a significant level of surface disturbance. The legislation was drafted at the request of the county in collaboration with the Tribes and other stakeholders. The Congressional Budget Office estimates the bill will generate $6 million for the Federal Government. Solar energy development on land conveyed by the bill will provide good-paying local jobs and help empower the county to determine its own economic future. Finally, the renewable energy generated as a result of this bill will assist with ensuring a balanced portfolio and provide clean, renewable power to help meet the electricity demands of the West. I am pleased to have had La Paz County Supervisor D.L. Wilson out to testify in favor of the bill, and I appreciate all the county's hard work on behalf of this effort. I am also pleased to have received a letter of support for the bill from the Colorado River Indian Tribes, which started, in part: ``While we acknowledge that this legislation only addresses a small portion of the county, it is our hope that we can use this cooperative model to ensure that future developments on other lands are also conducted in a culturally sensitive way.'' This is good public policy. I urge my colleagues to vote ``yes'' in favor of this bipartisan jobs bill that embraces a true all-of-the- above energy strategy.

Mr. GOSAR

Mr. GOSAR. Mr. Chairman, look at how this monument is connected and concocted. I think every which way. You couldn't make a worse definition for a monument. What it basically does is it goes to the far side to catch these two minerals over here. Down here in the middle, it goes to the far edge. This is called gerrymandering for minerals. This is a political bias based upon takings from the people of Arizona. Remember, I responded by saying: Listen, one-third of this designation was private and State lands. These are part of the dedication to the citizens of Arizona. So when you look at this, this is the worst concocted. This is the vanity of, actually, atrocities of monuments gone haywire. Now, I am happy to work with the gentleman from southern Arizona to rightsize this monument. I would be happy to do that. But this concoction is a blatant exercise in overjurisdiction of the Federal Government and misutilizing the Antiquities Act. Mr. Chairman, I ask everybody to vote for my amendment.

Mr. GOSAR. Mr. Chairman, I rise to offer an amendment that supports recreational shooting, K-12 education, and responsible energy development by prohibiting funds for the Ironwood Forest National Monument that was unilaterally designated under the Antiquities Act. By looking at the map here, it is very clear that this monument was a political land grab meant to prevent responsible energy and mineral production, as well as multiple use on Federal lands. You couldn't construct something even worse than that. As you can see, the monument boundary starts in the right corner here in the yellow and includes a large mineral deposit that includes molybdenum, manganese, gold, and peripheral lead-zinc-silver. The boundary then works its way up and also encircles the purple, which is a significant copper deposit. Continuing to move up to the green, the monument encompasses significant amounts of lead, zinc, and silver veins. Moving further up the map to the next yellow, the monument encircles the entire Silver Bell Mine and operations, as well as other claims, and also encompasses massive mineral deposits that contain molybdenum, manganese, gold, and peripheral lead-zinc-silver. Moving to the blue and to the top left of the monument, the boundary almost entirely encircles two large veins that contain barium, lead, and silver. Essentially, all the colored areas on the map are off limits to new energy and mineral exploration and development as a result of the monument land grab. Proponents claim the 188,619-acre monument is necessary to protect a stand of ironwood trees covering 640 acres. Let me repeat that. Proponents claim the 188,619-acre monument is necessary to protect a stand of ironwood trees covering 640 acres. Wow. If this unilateral monument designation was not political, it would have had a significantly different boundary and been much smaller. There is nothing glamorous about this monument, and it was an unconstitutional taking by then-Secretary Babbitt and the Clinton administration, pointblank. The Arizona Mining Association, Arizona Rock Products Association, Arizona Mining Industry Gets Our Support, and the Southern Arizona Business Coalition recently asked for this monument to be modified significantly, stating: ``One-third of the area encompassed in the Ironwood Monument is either State trust lands or privately owned. These lands have effectively lost all economic potential as a result of the national monument designation. . . . At the time of the designation, the State government estimated that it would lose $100 million in mineral rights. This does not include financial losses to private companies or the lost employment potential for the mines.'' Asarco and Liberty Star Uranium and Metals Corporation of Tucson have also asked for this monument to be significantly altered. Further, the Ironwood Forest National Monument has caused harm to the common schools beneficiary, K-12 education, by locking up these lands, preventing multiple use, and stopping important revenues from flowing to the educational coffers. The Ironwood Forest National Monument enacted a complete ban on recreational shooting. No utility corridors are allowed in the monument. One-quarter of the monument can be closed to human entry for over one-third of the year due to the presence of sheep, and nearly 10,000 acres of this monument are completely locked up at all times. Further, the monument constitutes an attack on ranchers by negatively impacting grazing. This monument designation was an unconstitutional taking. Asarco invested $72 million prior to the monument designation in hopes of expanding the mine. They will likely invest several hundred million more, create new jobs, and grow the economy if the mine is no longer within the monument boundary. The Arizona Game and Fish Department has not been able to fully implement vital management activities within the monument boundaries, including fencing to protect wildlife, predator control, law enforcement wildlife investigations, and responses to illegal wildlife activities. In November, 24 Members of Congress sent President Trump a letter recommending a recession of this monument amongst other monument recommendations. That letter was endorsed by the American Farm Bureau Federation, Americans for Responsible Recreation Access, the National Cattlemen's Beef Association, and the Public Lands Council. This amendment is endorsed by the American Exploration and Mining Association, American Encore, AMIGOS, Asarco Mining, the Competitive Enterprise Institute, Free Market America, the Arizona Farm Bureau, Arizona Liberty, the Arizona Pork Council, Concerned Citizens for America, Eagle Motorcycles, Rim Country Custom Rods, the Southern Arizona Business Coalition, and Yavapai County Supervisor Jack R. Smith, amongst others. Mr. Chairman, I thank the chairman and ranking member for their time and for their good work on this bill. I urge a ``yes'' vote on this amendment, and I reserve the balance of my time.

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

Mr. GOSAR. Mr. Chairman, the gentleman brings up exactly the point I am trying to make. We are trying to relitigate a previously settled issue. It was actually found that these ranchers' rights were violated by the Department of Justice. We started looking--the Hammonds were brought up. When we were actually looking at this case where they actually tried to look at the fire danger on their land, and it got beyond their lands and on to public land, they were fined exclusively and hardlined. Where is the same type of justice given to the Forest Service or the BLM when their prescribed burn fires go out of hand and take private holdings? It is not the same. This isn't about freeloading. This is about a case where we need to look at how we take care of our public lands. Mr. Chair, I ask everybody to vote against this amendment, and I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. GOSAR. Mr. Chair, this amendment previously failed by recorded vote in July of 2016. The amendment taxed ranchers and attempts to relitigate the Bundy matter. DOJ was found to have withheld evidence and to have violated these ranchers' rights. There is no reason to relitigate this matter at this juncture. The regulations are already in place. This is an unnecessary political amendment. I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. GOSAR. Mr. Chairman, I rise in opposition to this amendment.

Mr. GOSAR

Mr. GOSAR. Mr. Chair, the President's budget request for fiscal year 2018 proposed eliminating the Environmental Justice Program. Also, the RSE budget supports Representative Sam Johnson's H.R. 958, the Wasteful EPA Programs Elimination Act of 2017, which, among other things, would eliminate the Environmental Justice Program. Mr. Chair, I ask for a ``no'' against this amendment.

Mr. GOSAR. Mr. Chair, originally, this legislation was intended to help 1,000 families. We have helped more than 3,600 Navajo families and 27 Hopi families. When we talk about the comprehensive plan, maybe we ought to get everybody in order to make sure that plan is acceptable by everybody before we keep throwing money at the problem. Mr. Chair, once again, I am in opposition. Once again, it is four decades past its time. We don't get resolution on this aspect without putting some force behind it. There has to be finality to this. This cannot keep going on. Without putting some finality to the finances, we will see this continue over and over again. Mr. Chair, I oppose this amendment, and I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. GOSAR. Mr. Chairman, I claim time in opposition to this amendment for several reasons. The Navajo-Hopi Settlement Act of 1974 was intended to last 5 years. After that, the plan was to go ineffective. This program has lingered on for nearly four decades longer than it should have. The Office of the Navajo-Hopi Relocation has indicated its intent to close by September 2018. Accordingly, we should not be reducing or even paying more money in fiscal year 2019 when they want to close the office in fiscal year 2018. Mr. Chair, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. GOSAR. Mr. Chairman, I rise in opposition to the amendment.

Mr. GOSAR. Mr. Chairman, I oppose the amendment, and I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. GOSAR. Mr. Chairman, although I am a big fan of the Inspector General's Office, the current budget is funded at the budget request, and therefore I do not see us raising $2.5 million by raiding the Secretary of the Interior's operating account. I think it goes way too far. I am glad to know that the gentleman from Arizona actually listened to our talking points on that. But I think at this point in time I would like to keep it exactly where it is. Mr. Chairman, I yield to the gentleman from California (Mr. Calvert).

Mr. GOSAR. Mr. Chairman, I rise in opposition to the amendment.

Mr. GOSAR

Mr. GOSAR. Mr. Speaker, I join my colleagues today in insisting that the Department of Justice fully comply with Congress and provide the requested documents, including subpoenas related to the potential FISA abuse. The Department of Justice has done nothing but divert and block Congress from documents that are well within our rights to receive. They have repeatedly insisted that they have complied with the document request when they clearly have not. The Department of Justice Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein has been the major player in stonewalling Congress. The longer they stall this process, the more the American people lose faith in our justice system. That is a threat to our country's future. I stand here today calling for transparency, answers, and accountability so that we can get to the truth. The American people deserve the accountability. The time to act is now. If the DOJ fails to comply, then we will be forced to take it to the next level, to hold Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein in contempt, as my previous speaker has spoken, or even to impeach, which would be my preferred course of action right now. It is very simple. Comply with the law, do your job, or get out. I support this resolution.