Paul Gosar

Mr. GOSAR

Mr. GOSAR. Mr. Chairman, I rise in support of the amendment offered by my good friend and colleague, Mr. Westerman. The United States is about to embark on yet another year of ravaging catastrophic wildfire. I say ``embark'' because this is ultimately a choice. While some amount of summer wildfire is to be expected during the heat of summer, the devastation we have seen in recent years is unprecedented. 2017 was one of the worst wildfire seasons on record. More than 58,000 fires burned more than 9.2 million acres. The Forest Service spent more than $2.5 billion on suppression costs this fiscal year alone, a new record. These expenditures and destruction coincide perfectly with Congress' dereliction of its duty to ensure our land management agencies are equipped with the tools and authorities to properly manage our forests. Congress has provided some legislative fixes this year, but I think every Member understands full well we shouldn't pat ourselves on the back just yet. As the coming months will demonstrate, we and, by extension, the American taxpayer are still on the hook here. We are susceptible to years more of supermassive fire blanketing the country unless we build on our progress. Mr. Westerman's amendment here does just that. It will require the government to holistically evaluate the impacts of its forestry decisions on overall forest health. By requiring the costs of inaction to be weighed, the Forest Service will have to demonstrate its decisions are ultimately in a forest's interest. Mr. Chair, I applaud Mr. Westerman for his strong leadership and tireless efforts to improve a failing system that we have inherited. Mr. Chair, I urge the adoption of the commonsense amendment

Mr. GOSAR. Mr. Chair, I thank the gentleman for his comments. Mr. Chair, I yield as much time as he may consume to the gentleman from Pennsylvania (Mr. Thompson).

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

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

Mr. GOSAR. Mr. Chairman, I rise today to offer a commonsense amendment that will empower local communities by allowing counties to be included in Good Neighbor Authority cooperative agreements and contracts in order to improve forest health and bolster watershed restoration. The base farm bill reauthorizes Good Neighbor Authority through fiscal year 2023 and contains a provision that allows tribal governments to be eligible to enter into Good Neighbor Authority cooperative agreements and contracts. Our amendment simply builds on that commonsense provision by also authorizing counties to be eligible for Good Neighbor Authority. Good Neighbor Authority projects have been remarkably successful. From 2002 to 2013, 63 projects treated more than 4,100 acres in Colorado and Utah. These worthwhile treatments mitigated the threat of catastrophic wildfire, reduced flooding, enhanced forest health, and improved water quality. Counties on both sides of the aisle requested this amendment and new authority. The problem in Coconino County, a liberal county represented by my colleague Mr. O'Halleran, is that the wood is low-value timber, so they can't attract private industry to thin their forest for pending work they need completed. Counties want to do this type of work themselves or find a contractor if the Federal Government won't treat their forests. All that is missing is the authorization from Congress. The Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources is already entering into cooperative agreements with counties to partner in the management of Wisconsin County Forests, and it is working for them as well. Some counties have actual foresters or other land management professionals on staff. These are not limited specifically to large counties either. For example, Adams County, Idaho, population of 4,000, has a natural resources committee that is chaired by a retired Forest Service employee who also serves on the local forest collaborative. Coconino County has a forest restoration director who would be in charge of these county Good Neighbor Authority agreements. This is a director-level executive position that reports directly to the deputy county manager. While some counties will likely contract with outside entities to perform the work, county contracts will be overseen by someone such as an auditor or a clerk. The National Association of Counties supports this amendment, stating, ``NACo stands ready to work with you to promote locally supported, consensus-driven solutions to address forest management challenges and reduce the risk of catastrophic wildfire. NACo encourages the United States House of Representatives to adopt your amendment to H.R. 2 and give counties the opportunity to assist our Federal partners to make our national forests healthy again.'' In addition to NACo, I am also honored to have the support of the National Water Resources Association, the Arizona Association of Conservation Districts, the Salt River Project, the Colorado Pork Producers Council, and more than 20 other local and national organizations and elected officials. I urge all of my colleagues in the House to support this commonsense amendment that will empower bipartisan communities throughout the country, improve forest health, and bolster watershed restoration. Again, this is an authorization, not a requirement. It puts more power into the hands of local communities who need the work done but have nowhere to turn under the status quo. Mr. Chairman, I yield 30 seconds to the gentleman from Montana (Mr. Gianforte), my good friend and colleague, who is a cosponsor of this amendment.

Mr. GOSAR

Mr. GOSAR. Mr. Speaker, I would like to commend the work of Embry- Riddle Aeronautical University, and include in the Record an article by P. Barry Butler on its program. Joseph Scanlan left for Marine boot camp the day after his 18th birthday. At 23, he was ending his service as a platoon sergeant. Unlike many veterans, he knew where he was going next: Microsoft. Although the veteran unemployment rate hit its lowest point in more than a decade in December 2017, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics experts say the data do not reflect underemployment. Many are trapped in minimum-wage jobs that only add to the pressure of transitioning to civilian life. Today, Scanlan is a Microsoft Premier Field Engineer based in Boulder, Colo. He entered the skilled workforce through the Microsoft Software & Systems Academy (MSSA) program, available through Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University. He is now pursuing a degree in Technical Management from Embry- Riddle and hopes to work on artificial intelligence or cloud computing. Microsoft launched the MSSA program in November 2013 at Joint Base-Lewis McChord. The reskilling program is now accessible to military personnel across the country. Enrollment is open to transitioning service members within six months of separation and honorably discharged veterans who recently transitioned from the military. The two-term, 18-week program available through Embry- Riddle prepares graduates to launch careers as server and cloud administrators, cloud applications developers and cybersecurity administrators. Graduates are guaranteed an interview for a full-time job at one of the more than 280 industry hiring companies. They enjoy a 92 percent placement rate in the IT industry at an average starting salary of more than $70,000. For the 80 percent who enter the program without a degree, this triples their earning potential. By 2020, Microsoft estimates they will graduate approximately 1,000 students annually from the MSSA program. ``Along the way, we've learned valuable lessons about the importance of mentorship, communication, interpersonal training, and dedicated one-on-one career support--and I believe this model is ripe for expansion,'' said USMC Maj. Gen. (Ret.) Chris Cortez, Vice President of Microsoft Military Affairs. Scanlan is part of that one-on-one equation. After his graduation, he mentored the first MSSA cohort at Fort Carson, Colo. He had no IT background going into MSSA, so he can speak directly to the anxieties of veterans with minimal technical skills as they tackle a challenging mix of theory, practice, virtual labs and certification testing. He cites his work ethic and willingness to learn as qualities that now make him successful at Microsoft. Corporations and universities have a strong incentive to reach out to veterans like Scanlan. Bringing them into technology fields such as IT fills a science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) skills gap and promotes diversity in the workforce. The United States invests in military personnel and entrusts them with the highest level of responsibility. We can benefit from this investment by welcoming veterans as skilled employees with demonstrated potential as leaders and mentors. We cannot afford to squander talents just because a person's active service has ended. A job allows them to survive. A career--with the opportunity to mentor others-- gives them back a future.

Mr. GOSAR

Mr. GOSAR. Mr. Speaker, Debbie Lesko has dedicated years of her life to public service, starting back in 2009, when she took the oath as a State legislator from Arizona, and then serving as a member of the Arizona Senate from 2015 to earlier this year. Her commitment and dedication to the people of Arizona will continue as she joins the House of Representatives and upholds her constitutional oath. The oath is a reminder to all of us standing here today that our duty is to support and defend the Constitution of the United States. I look forward to working together with our newest colleague to find commonsense solutions to the problems our Nation faces. Mr. Speaker, I yield to the gentlewoman from Arizona (Mrs. Lesko).

Mr. GOSAR

Mr. GOSAR. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that the gentlewoman from Arizona, the Honorable Debbie Lesko, be permitted to take the oath of office today. Her certificate of election has not arrived, but there is no contest and no question has been raised with regard to her election.

Mr. GOSAR

Mr. GOSAR. Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of the bill offered by Congresswoman McMorris Rodgers. This is a great piece of legislation that supports smart hydroelectric operation, a stable and integrated energy grid, and above all, reinforces that the United States Congress has a vested interest in ensuring it, Congress, rather than the judiciary, promulgates Federal policy. H.R. 3144 keeps in place the operational plan, developed by consensus through multiple agency processes and based in the best available science, for four dams in Washington State which have wrongfully come under siege recently due to an arbitrary court order by a judge in Oregon. In general, continuing to lean on hydropower as a long-term component of our Nation's electrical grid is an absolute no-brainer. Hydropower is a clean source of energy, and its reliability and cost effectiveness are just a few of the reasons it enjoys the stature it has today. It needs to maintain that stature, including the requirement of careful science-based policy crafting when changes to hydroelectric policy are in question if we are to guarantee a reliable energy future for our country. But if overzealous special interest groups have their way, we would immediately begin deconstructing and destroying all our dams across the country. To their mindset, dams are not natural parts of the landscape and, therefore, represent a most serious threat to the planet. To them, changes to the natural landscape are anathema, despite the fact that the only real constant on our planet and in the environment is change itself. The judges's order in this case in question is, unfortunately, in keeping with this very same mindset. This is not a stretch to say because he, in fact, fails to rely on the only available and complete science that informed past decisions concerning the Federal Columbia River Power System. These past decisions, keep in mind, included the Obama administration's green-lighting of the current operation plan in 2014 that the judge seeks to overturn with his spill order. What the judge did in this case was to take it upon himself to depart from agency consensus based on sound science and ordered changes to the operation plan of the power system just because he wanted to. He ordered this major policy change first, which will cost electricity customers in the region $40 million annually, by the way, and pegged future changes to the outcome of a NEPA review which is just getting underway. But the only grounds for so radical a policy change would be if the NEPA review in question called for those changes when it is finally finished. The judge doesn't know what the outcome of the NEPA review will be, obviously, because it is still being conducted. He made his decision without basis, and now the country is supposed to pay for it. Some of my colleagues on the other side of the aisle constantly rail about how they oppose bills and proposals and prevent the National Environmental Policy Act review process from being carried out. H.R. 3144 also allows continuation of a court-ordered national NEPA review process. If my colleagues practice what they preach, then they would support this bill as it allows the NEPA review process to be carried out. Congress has an obligation to remind everyone involved that we are the constitutionally authorized policymakers and that we choose to make policy and require agency decisionmaking on the basis of sound science. This bill will keep the current operation plan in place until 2022, unless the NEPA process review finishes first, at which point the NEPA- supported plan would commence. This bill abides by the proper statutory NEPA process, even though the judge's order fails to do that. As stated by the Public Power Council, H.R. 3144 allows a court- ordered NEPA process to continue without avoiding a costly and potentially harmful spill experiment. The fear is that without this legislation, a spill regime will be put in place that increases regional power costs while providing no apparent benefit to the fish it purports to help. What is perhaps most crucial to keep in mind during this whole debate is the broader significance of this bill to any Member who has a major public works infrastructure operating in their district. Without this bill, it is possible that this judge's terrible precedent could stand. At that point, nothing stands in the way of an activist judge across the country waking up one day and deciding to put a halt to a whole slew of public works infrastructures which makes this country tick. H.R. 3144 is absolutely necessary to establish congressional intent. Sound process must win the day over the capriciousness of any given activist judge or his political leanings. Mr. Speaker, I include in the Record letters of support from the local public utility districts on behalf of H.R. 3144. Pend Oreille County Public Utility District, Newport, WA, April 24, 2018. Hon. Cathy McMorris-Rodgers, Hon. Dan Newhouse, House of Representatives, Washington, DC. Dear Representatives McMorris-Rodgers and Newhouse: On behalf of the Public Utility District No. 1 of Pend Oreille County we greatly appreciate the support you have shown for hydropower and, more specifically, the Federal Columbia River Power System (FCRPS) with the recent introduction of H.R. 3144. This bill supports the hydro system and the many benefits it brings to the region through renewable, reliable and affordable power. Despite the success of the current FCRPS Biological Opinion (BiOp), the plan has been rejected with a ruling that all options need to be reviewed including breaching or removing one or more of the four Snake River dams. Your bill provides relief to the endless litigation of federal hydro system operations by directing the federal agencies to implement the current BiOp as adopted in 2014. The current BiOp is based on the best available science, has been vetted by stakeholders and was formally approved by the Obama administration. Implementation of the BiOp has successfully increased salmon runs due to operational requirements within, and the installation of new fish passage technologies. The Bonneville Power Administration has spent over $15 billion on infrastructure and fish mitigation projects since 1978. These improvements and mitigation measures are paid for by our customers through their electric bills. Their bills are already higher by at least 15 percent for fish mitigation programs. The ``spill test'' ordered by the judge will be an additional cost that will result in higher electric bills for Northwest families and businesses and likely to be more detrimental to the fish runs than helpful. Your legislation will bring an end to the wasteful activities. This is particularly important for Pend Oreille PUD as our largest industrial customer Ponderay Newsprint is a large consumer of BPA power for its operations. The unnecessary spending and additional mitigation costs continue to put jobs at stake in our rural communities. We appreciate your leadership on this issue with the introduction of H.R. 3144 and urge other legislators to follow your lead. Sincerely, F. Colin Willenbrock, General Manager.

Mr. GOSAR

Mr. GOSAR. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to honor Mr. Adolfo ``Harpo'' Celaya, who passed away on April 12th, at the age of 90. Harpo Celaya enlisted in the Navy at the age of 16 to serve his country in World War II. He was only 17 when the ship he was stationed aboard, the USS Indianapolis, was torpedoed by a Japanese submarine. The ship sank in 12 minutes plunging Celaya and hundreds of his fellow sailors into the sea where they clung to sparse life vests or rafts, battling dehydration, exposure, and shark infested waters for more than four days awaiting rescue. Of the nearly 1,200 sailors that had been stationed aboard the USS Indianapolis, only 317 survived and were pulled from the sea. Mr. Celaya was awarded the Purple Heart and upon recovery returned to Arizona and continued a lifetime of service in his community. He is well known throughout Arizona for sharing his experiences with high school students as part of the Veterans Heritage Project in an effort to keep history alive. In 2016, I was pleased that President Obama signed into law my bill, H.R. 6304, which renamed that post office at 501 North Main Street in Florence, Arizona in Mr. Celaya's honor. Adolfo Celaya's incredible story will now be officially and permanently commemorated in his hometown of Florence, Arizona. This legislation ensures that future generations will learn about the incredible sacrifice that Mr. Celaya and the 317 survivors of the USS Indianapolis made for our country. Despite living through one of the darkest moments of WWII, Mr. Celaya has continued to inspire countless Arizonans through his eternal patriotism and commitment to serving all Americans. I would like to commend the Town of Florence for their leadership in making this tribute possible and recognize Mr. Celaya for his dedicated sacrifice to our nation and commitment to his local community.

Mr. GOSAR

Mr. GOSAR. Mr. Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to the gentleman from Maine (Mr. Poliquin).

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

Mr. GOSAR. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 2504) to ensure fair treatment in licensing requirements for the export of certain echinoderms.

Mr. GOSAR. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. I, too, want to compliment the two Representatives from Maine. They gave us a hands-on and a palate-trying type of opportunity in our hearing. It doesn't get better than that, and I want to compliment them for both. I ask all of my colleagues to vote for the underlying bill, and I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. GOSAR

Mr. GOSAR. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (S. 1438) to redesignate the Jefferson National Expansion Memorial in the State of Missouri as the ``Gateway Arch National Park''.

Mr. GOSAR. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may have 5 legislative days to revise and extend their remarks.

Mr. GOSAR. Mr. Speaker, I object to the vote on the ground that a quorum is not present and make the point of order that a quorum is not present.

Mr. GOSAR. Mr. Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to the gentlewoman from Missouri (Mrs. Wagner).

Mr. GOSAR

Mr. GOSAR. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Speaker, H.R. 2888, the Ste. Genevieve National Historical Park Establishment Act, sponsored by Representative Jason Smith from Missouri, would establish the Ste. Genevieve National Historical Park in the city of Ste. Genevieve, Missouri. It would also authorize the Secretary of the Interior to acquire land for the park by donation, purchase, or exchange. Founded around 1750 by French Canadian settlers, Ste. Genevieve was Missouri's first settlement. Settlers from present-day Illinois crossed the Mississippi River attracted to the rich soil in the area. After severe floods in 1785, the town was moved 3 miles inland, where it still exists today, retaining many of its historic buildings, landscapes, and community characteristics. Ste. Genevieve is one of the oldest National Historic Landmark districts in the country, with a portion of the landmark designated in 1960. It is famous for the use of French vertical log architecture. In 2009, Congress authorized a National Park Service study of the area, which concluded that the Ste. Genevieve historic district is nationally significant and suitable for direct National Park Service management. There is widespread local support for the establishment of a historical park, including the city, county commission, and Chamber of Commerce. Ste. Genevieve is an important part of our Nation's expansion and agricultural history and merits becoming a unit of the National Park System. Mr. Speaker, I urge adoption of the measure, and I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. GOSAR. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 2888) to establish the Ste. Genevieve National Historic Site in the State of Missouri, 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 to include extraneous material on the bill under consideration.

Mr. GOSAR. Mr. Speaker, it is obvious that Ste. Genevieve is an important part of our Nation's expansion and agriculture history and merits becoming a unit of the National Park. Mr. Speaker, I recommend that all vote for it, and I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. GOSAR. Mr. Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to the gentleman from Missouri (Mr. Smith), the original sponsor of this bill.

Mr. GOSAR

Mr. GOSAR. Mr. Speaker, I object to the vote on the ground that a quorum is not present and make the point of order that a quorum is not present.

Mr. GOSAR. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 2371) to require the Administrator of the Western Area Power Administration to establish a pilot project to provide increased transparency for customers, and for other purposes.