Paul Gosar

Mr. GOSAR

Mr. GOSAR. Mr. Chairman, I rise to offer one final amendment to the Department of the Interior, Environment, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act. The amendment is simple. It prohibits the EPA from providing funding to the United Nations Environment Programme. The United Nations Environment Programme, or UNEP--I would call it inept--has a history of taking unusual and extreme policy positions, including advocating for population control. The United Nations is typically funded in the State Department's budget under contributions to international organizations, or CIL. The funds appropriated by this act are meant to be used domestically, not as a slush fund to give to programs at the United Nations. I will quickly highlight some of the names of the UNEP initiatives that the EPA spent millions of dollars on. One is to promote environmental sound management worldwide. Another one is UNEP Regional Program, Climate Benefits, Asia Pacific. There is even one called Russian Federation Support to the National Program of Action for the Protection of the Arctic. This last one is money that goes specifically to the Russian cause. I will read from the EPA's own Web site the description of this program: This project centers on protection of the Arctic environment in Russia. This work will cover three broad areas: Number one, implementation of Russia's national plan of action for protection of the Arctic marine environment from anthropogenic pollution; Number two, hazardous chemical management; And, three, climate change mitigation adaptation and awareness. So let me get this straight. In addition to the billions we contribute to the United Nations through the CIO account, the EPA is funneling millions of tax dollars to this United Nations program, which then gives the money to Russia, who then uses it to implement a Russian national plan and for climate change mitigation, adaptation, and awareness. U.S. taxpayers, do I need to say anything further why we need to stop this? Let's keep the United States Environmental Protection Agency focused on issues within the United States. Our favorite out-of-control agency need not be concerned with the Asia-Pacific region or with Russia. I urge my colleagues to adopt this commonsense amendment that is endorsed by the Americans for Limited Government, the Eagle Forum, the Taxpayers Protection Alliance, the Council for Citizens Against Government Waste, and the Yavapai County Board of Supervisors. I thank the chairman and ranking member for their tireless efforts in producing this bill. I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. GOSAR. Mr. Chairman, the Sonoran desert tortoise is part of a growing problem involving large settlements with the environmental groups who sue the Fish and Wildlife Service's regulatory protections with regard to a large number of different wildlife and plant species. These multi-district litigation settlements, commonly known as ``sue and settle tactics,'' force the Fish and Wildlife Service to make listing decisions on several hundred species, often with little or no scientific data supporting these listings and without public input to this process. This possible listing is a result of a lawsuit filed by a few special interest groups aimed at stifling development and has nothing to do with the tortoise. 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 to offer a commonsense amendment to the Interior, Environment, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act. My amendment will protect education, grazing, agriculture, energy, housing interests, as well as assist with preventing dangerous wildfires by blocking the Fish and Wildlife Service from listing the Sonoran desert tortoise as an endangered or threatened species. A listing decision for the Sonoran desert tortoise is expected this fiscal year. Of the potential 26.8 million acres that will likely be designated for critical habitat due to such a listing, 15 million acres are located in the United States, and nearly 4.5 million acres are State trust land. State trust land revenues, which are currently enjoyed by 13 beneficiaries, of which K-12 education is the largest proportional share of those moneys, will be severely impacted. If the Sonoran desert tortoise is listed, these acres of trust land will become less valuable for investment as they are burdened with a federal regulatory nexus. Without this amendment, schools that have already undergone significant budget cuts will see even less money flowing into their educational coffers. The Sonoran desert tortoise is also of substantial concern to many different types of industry, as its habitat falls within urban development corridors as well as on rural and agricultural landscapes. Listing the species as threatened or endangered will negatively impact commercial, housing and energy developers as well as the agriculture and grazing industries. Specifically, a listing would be detrimental for 273 different grazing allotments and would jeopardize nearly 6 million acres used for livestock grazing. Mining will also suffer, as the BLM listed 9,675 new mining claims from 1990 to 2002, 36 percent of which fall within the Sonoran desert tortoise's habitat. Any ground and vegetation-disturbing activities, including fire suppression activities and restorative treatments, would also be negatively impacted by a listing decision for the species. Solar energy would also likely be harmed, as large solar projects on desert floors are considered a potential threat to the Sonoran desert tortoise. My amendment will also encourage significant voluntary efforts and financial contributions for the Sonoran desert tortoise to continue, many of which are already underway at the local level. Important local conservation efforts began for the species in 2010, and a Candidate Conservation Agreement was recently signed by 15 different agencies in February. Should the Sonoran desert tortoise become listed, these voluntary efforts and moneys will dissipate as local property owners, ranchers, and developers will no longer have any incentive to work with the Federal and State wildlife management agencies on conservation efforts for the species. My amendment is supported by the Public Lands Council, the National Cattlemen's Beef Association, Americans for Limited Government, the Arizona Cattlemen's Association, the Arizona Farm Bureau, the Arizona Mining Association, the Home Builders Association of Central Arizona, and numerous other organizations that are strongly opposed to this listing. I thank the chair and the ranking member for their tireless efforts to produce this bill. Mr. Chairman, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. GOSAR. Madam Chair, I strongly oppose the gentlewoman's amendment as it seeks to strip a commonsense provision included in the base bill that will protect the American people from the EPA's new waters of the U.S. regulation, commonly referred to as WOTUS. WOTUS is a terrible Agency proposal that will have disastrous effects and economic consequences for agriculture, small business, property owners, municipalities, and other water users throughout the country. This job-killing, overreaching water grab being imposed by Washington bureaucrats is a dream killer for future generations and local economies. The EPA claims this new regulation was shaped by public input; yet we recently learned that the EPA used taxpayer dollars to unleash a propaganda campaign in an attempt to rally comments and support for this WOTUS regulation, despite the Anti- Lobbying Act which bans such actions. Furthermore, States and local governments that have traditionally managed these waterways and activities were not included in drafting the WOTUS regulation. The Agency failed to comply with the Regulatory Flexibility Act as required by Federal law and consider the new impact that the WOTUS regulations would have on small businesses. The EPA claims this rule is grounded in law; yet this overreaching regulation contradicts prior Supreme Court decisions by expanding Agency control over 60 percent of our country's streams and millions of acres of wetlands that were previously nonjurisdictional. Despite claiming the WOTUS rule reduces Agency jurisdiction, the final regulation imposes new regulations for navigable waters and their tributaries, potholes, ditches, bays, and even waters that are next to rivers and lakes. The new WOTUS regulation has been built on a foundation of pseudoscience, deception, and lawlessness. This overreach is so extreme that 24 Members of the President's own party joined Members in the House in passing legislation in May calling for the formal withdrawal of the new WOTUS regulation. For these reasons and more, I strongly oppose the gentlewoman's amendment and urge its defeat.

Mr. GOSAR. Let's set the record straight. CRS, hardly a partisan effort, since 2003 reports they spent over $6 million in foreign agencies in this very fund. Imagine that. The facts are only convenient when they help us on our side. If we are going to have a discussion about this, let's put it in the State Department budget and let's talk about it, but let's not hide it in the EPA. Let's keep the EPA's budget and dealings right here in the United States where they belong. They hardly have a track record of success here in the States. I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. GOSAR. Mr. Chair, with an over $18 trillion debt, when is enough enough? If we are going to talk about foreign expenditures of dollars, let's put it in the State Department budget and make sure we have an open and honest conversation, but it does not belong here. We have to start concentrating on what is important to the United States, not Russia. I guess that is Putin's kind of game is that we clean up his messes for him. I ask everybody to adopt this legislation. I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. GOSAR

Mr. GOSAR. Mr. Chairman, in my home State of Arizona, a few special interest groups have been pushing the President to unilaterally designate a massive new 1.7-million-acre national monument in the Grand Canyon watershed. Twenty-six Members of Congress have joined me in opposing this misguided effort, and there is significant local opposition. Here is a sample of those resolutions, and I would like to share a few of their comments here: ``The creation of a national monument by Presidential declaration does not allow for input from local communities . . . and could result in negative impacts for . . . grazing, hunting, water development and forest restoration . . . which would result in negative economic and public health impacts to the City of Williams. ``The Arizona Game and Fish Commission is concerned that the potential monument . . . 'will impede proactive and effective management of wildlife populations and habitats . . . and may result in reduced hunter opportunities and loss of revenues that directly support conservation and local communities.' '' I could provide several more examples but will stop there. I urge the adoption of the amendment.

Mr. GOSAR

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

Mr. GOSAR. Mr. Chair, I thank the gentleman from California and the ranking member for their help. I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from Indiana (Mr. Rokita), my friend.

Mr. GOSAR. Mr. Chairman, I rise today to offer a straightforward amendment to ensure local schools within the Bureau of Indian Education have the resources necessary to provide gainful education in quality facilities at a level on par with their peers in other non-Bureau funded schools. This amendment is also offered and supported by a bipartisan group of my colleagues, including Representatives Cramer, Rokita, Noem, Kirkpatrick, and Sinema. Our amendment redirects funds from administrative accounts within the EPA to the Operation of Indian Programs account with the intent of those funds going to the BIE and evenly allocated between the education construction, replacement facilities construction account and the elementary and secondary programs, facilities operations account. Currently, more than one-third of Bureau-funded facilities are in substandard or poor condition. A sizable volume of research, including investigations by the Government Accountability Office, have established a direct correlation between facility conditions and poor student outcomes within the BIE. The United States Government has trust responsibilities to Indian tribes and Indian education. This amendment supports the trust responsibility by helping to provide high-quality education in an environment that is safe, healthy, and conducive for learning. I urge my colleagues to adopt this amendment. I thank the supporters of the amendment, and I thank the chairman and ranking member for their great work on this bill. I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. GOSAR. I thank the chairman and the ranking member for their support and my colleague from Indiana for speaking on behalf of this. I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. GOSAR

Mr. GOSAR. Mr. Chairman, I rise today to offer a cost-saving amendment to the Department of Defense Appropriations Act for fiscal year 2016. Last year, it was brought to my attention by numerous sources in my district that in 2009, the Department of Army fully phased out the CWU- 27/P Army aviation flight uniform and moved to the Army aircrew combat uniform, also known as the A2CU. Those constituents of mine--many of whom are Active Duty, retired, or are friends and family of military personnel--have expressed a desire for the Army to go back to the CWU-27/P model uniform. There are multiple reasons to switch back to the CWU model uniform. The most important reasons to switch back to the CWU model are safety and efficiency. To sweeten the deal when making the pitch to me, my constituents explained that moving back to the CWU model would also save the Department millions of dollars a year in procurement costs. All these factors led me to offer this same commonsense amendment last Congress, and it passed this body by a voice vote. The CWU model has a proven track record of safety and practicality. The CWU model is still authorized for Army special operation aviators, all of the aviators in the other service branches of the U.S. military, and most air forces and navies around the world. Yes, these points are a testament to the safety and efficiency of the CWU model, and the safety aspects are of paramount importance to our Army aviators because the chances of a fire in an aviation crash are very high. The CWU model flight suits have an antistatic fiber woven into them to prevent sparks which, for obvious reasons, are not that desirable when operating an aircraft with thousands of pounds of highly volatile jet fuel on board. The one-piece design of the CWU model is also extremely important as it does not, in the event of fire, leave any opportunities for exposed skin. Speaking to the cost savings, the A2CU model costs an average of 56 percent more than the CWU model, and the A2CU was proven to wear out faster than the CWU. Further, every time the Army decides to change the camouflage pattern of the duty uniform, they have to spend millions more purchasing the new flight uniform. The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office stated that this amendment does not score as it is written, but, being that the intent is to move back to the CWU model, the effects of the policy should actually net some cost savings. Conservative estimates show that the Army could save around $5 million a year in procurement costs if it were to move back to the CWU model. Further, it should not cost anything to reintroduce the CWU model back into the supply system, as the rest of the service branches still use them. In other words, there is no need to reboot the supply chain. The cost savings are tantalizing for someone like me, who was sent to this town to rein in spending, but more importantly, I listen to these Army aviators and flight operators. They tell me it is safer. Being that they are the ones doing the training and flying, I am going to have to take them at their word. Given the safety and practicality applications and given that the United States is not exactly running a budget surplus right now, saving a few millions here and a few millions there in the name of safety and practicality is something we should all strive to achieve. I urge my colleagues to once again support this commonsense amendment which cuts costs and improves safety. With that, I reserve the balance of my time.

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

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

Mr. GOSAR. Mr. Chairman, the idea that the East Coast may be absorbed may be one thing; but accordingly, from what I have heard down in Yuma, there is no viable option or contractor that has been and will be found for Yuma. I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. GOSAR. Mr. Chairman, I rise to offer an amendment which would preserve a very important component of the Marine Corps: its search and rescue units. According to the most recent Marine aviation plan, the Corps had these units slated for a divestiture by the end of the calendar year. I was glad to see that, after some public backlash on that plan, the Corps decided to temporarily postpone those divestiture plans. But just as easily as the Marines postpone their decision, they could also recommence. I still believe such actions would be a bad decision, and I am not alone. That is why I am offering this bipartisan amendment with my colleagues, Representatives Jones, Sinema, and Butterfield. After many years, there were only two remaining search and rescue units left: one at Marine Corps Air Station Yuma, Arizona, and one at MCAS Cherry Point, North Carolina. Marine Corps Air Station Yuma search and rescue unit performed 72 rescue missions to aid surrounding communities from 2010 to 2014. Last October, the Yuma unit facilitated the rescue of 28 Boy Scouts and four chaperones who were lost during a canoe trip. MCAS Cherry Point's search and rescue unit, known as VMR-1, performs roughly 50 missions annually to help retrieve lost paddlers and hikers. Just this past March, VMR-1 rescued a man who was reported missing during a kayaking trip near Cedar Island, North Carolina. This was not only a nighttime mission, but there was a heavy fog as well, so much so that the first rescue helicopter, known affectionately as Pedro, had to abort its first landing at a hospital in Morehead and ultimately travel 75 miles to Greenville, where the man was finally admitted for treatment. But none of us have yet heard a viable alternative to sustain the mission of these search and rescue units. Law enforcement and first responders do not have these capabilities, and, apparently, no contractor does either. This proposed divestiture would literally cost lives. I ask: What would have happened to these Boy Scouts if these marines didn't come to help? I ask my colleagues to support this amendment which was meant to save lives. I thank the chair and ranking member. With that, I reserve the balance of my time.

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

Mr. GOSAR. I yield to the gentleman from New Jersey.

Mr. GOSAR. Mr. Chairman, I rise to offer one final amendment to the DOD Appropriations Act for the fiscal year 2016. Let me express again my sincerest thanks to Chairman Frelinghuysen and Ranking Member Visclosky for their dedication.

Mr. GOSAR

Mr. GOSAR. Mr. Chairman, I too am offering an amendment to bolster suicide prevention programs. I rise to offer an amendment which would provide additional resources for mental health programs for our Nation's servicemembers. Traumatic brain injuries and post-traumatic stress disorder have been consistently contributing to behavioral issues with our veterans, and all too often these ongoing mental health issues result in suicide. With an average of 18 to 20 veteran suicides per day, more resources are desperately needed. The DOD is already an expansive bureaucracy, and I appreciate the work of the committee to prioritize resources and to provide appropriation levels for the defensewide operations and maintenance that are actually lower than those in fiscal year 2015. My amendment takes a relatively small amount from that account--$1.5 million out of a $30.2 billion budget. The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office says the amendment would have no impact on budget authority or outlays. Too many of our men and women in uniform are struggling with traumatic brain injuries and post-traumatic stress disorder as a result of serving in combat. If you support improved mental health for our servicemembers, you should support this amendment. Let's prevent future suicides amongst our troops and ensure they are getting the help they need. I ask my colleagues to support this amendment. I thank the chairman and the ranking member for their time. Point of Order

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

Mr. GOSAR. I thank the chairman for accepting my amendment. I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. GOSAR. In fact, since 1981, Congress has authorized military support to civilian law enforcement agencies, and those narrow authorizations are prescribed in title 10, chapter 18 of the United States Code. In sum, they act to support law enforcement efforts, but they do not direct them. Finally, I will remind my colleagues that a similar amendment was offered last year by the gentleman from Colorado (Mr. Lamborn), and the amendment was accepted by voice vote. This amendment today seeks to achieve the same goal. The amendment is offset by a reduction to the defensewide operations and maintenance account, $30.2 billion account. Arizona, California, New Mexico, and Texas are all struggling. We are in desperate need of expertise and support at our southwestern border. If you support efforts to secure the border and interdict illegal trafficking in guns, money, drugs, and humans, including sex slaves, then you should support this amendment. I thank the chairman and the ranking member for their tireless efforts to prioritize resources in this bill. Mr. Chair, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. GOSAR

Mr. GOSAR. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to honor one of my constituents, Larnell Sawyer, of Chino Valley, Arizona. Larnell Sawyer recently received the Teacher of the Year award for outstanding work as a teacher at Lincoln Elementary. Lincoln is recognized as a haven for academic achievement and growth. Ms. Sawyer has played a crucial role in creating this reputation. Larnell Sawyer has deep ties to Chino Valley. She grew up and attended school there from kindergarten through high school. She then moved to Tucson and attended the University of Arizona, where she received her Bachelor's Degree in Elementary Education. After teaching 1st grade for a year in Tucson, she got married to her high school sweetheart and moved back to Prescott. After her own initial academic successes, Larnell was hired in Chino Valley to teach an English Language Development kindergarten class, which she taught for two years. Realizing that she wanted to expand her knowledge, Larnell started her Master's program at Northern Arizona University and received her advanced degree in Early Childhood Education. Afterwards, she continued to teach in Chino Valley for another two years and was ultimately hired at Lincoln Elementary in 2012, where she continues to roar with pride as a Lincoln Lion kindergarten teacher. When the dedicated Ms. Sawyer is not shaping the minds of her students, she is spending quality time with her husband and two daughters. Ms. Sawyer is a prime example of a great educator, and the positive influence that she has on her students will resonate for years to come.