Jared Huffman

Mr. HUFFMAN

Mr. HUFFMAN. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of this legislation by my colleague from northern California, Representative Josh Harder. This bill would reauthorize the Nutria Eradication and Control Act through 2030. This will benefit Maryland, Louisiana, and California, enabling them to manage and eradicate this destructive, invasive species. The chairman described a little bit about the nutria and how it came to the United States. The reason it is such a problem is it breeds very rapidly, has destructive tendencies towards native wetland vegetation, which has led to erosion and displacement of native species. It can lead to levee breaches and the introduction of diseases and parasites that threaten humans, livestock, and pets. These effects pose severe threats to our national wetlands which are essential habitats for waterfowl and other wildlife and which act as buffers from extreme weather events. To give you an example, according to estimates, had measures not been adopted to control and eradicate the species in Maryland's Chesapeake Bay, nutria could have destroyed 17 percent of the bay's marshes in just 50 years. In 2003, the Nutria Eradication and Control Act authorized the Secretary of the Interior to provide financial assistance to Maryland and Louisiana for a program to eradicate or control nutria and restore marshland that they had damaged. In 2020, my friend, Representative Josh Harder, passed a bill through Congress that amended that legislation to include California. That was a very timely law because California faced a rapidly expanding breeding population of nutria in the San Joaquin Valley and adjacent areas. The Nutria Eradication and Control Act has significantly reduced nutria populations in all three States. In Maryland, they were entirely eradicated from the Chesapeake Bay in 2022. In California, nutria captures peeked in 2020 and have been steadily declining, but they are not yet fully eradicated. That is why this bill is needed. It would ensure the critical work of eradicating this destructive, invasive species can continue through fiscal year 2030. Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to support the bill, and I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. HUFFMAN. Mr. Speaker, when the last nutria in the United States is eradicated, it will not be missed, but the gentleman from Louisiana will be missed. It has been a pleasure serving with him. He is colorful, both in his rhetoric and in his fashion. We appreciate him and wish him well. Mr. Speaker, I yield such time as he may consume to the gentleman from northern California (Mr. Harder).

Mr. HUFFMAN. Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to vote ``yes'' on this very important bill, and I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. HUFFMAN

Mr. HUFFMAN. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of this Fire Department Repayment Act introduced by my colleague from California, Representative Josh Harder. The bill would require the Secretaries of Agriculture, Interior, Homeland Security, and Defense to establish standard operating procedures for fire suppression cost-share agreements under the Reciprocal Fire Protection Act. With the increasing threat of climate change and with wildfires becoming more rampant, it is critical that our local and State fire organizations are supported and continue to receive the resources that they need to fight wildfires. That is why this bill would enable local and State fire departments to maintain their readiness and effectiveness by establishing standard operating procedures to expedite the process for reviewing and modifying existing fire suppression cost agreements to align with cooperative fire protection agreements. Furthermore, the bill would require the Secretaries to complete second-level reviews of a fire suppression cost-share agreement following containment of a wildfire in consultation with State and local fire suppression organizations. The establishment of standard operating procedures is a necessary step toward ensuring quicker and more efficient reviews so that local and State fire departments receive Federal reimbursements in a more timely manner. As fire seasons continue to increase in frequency and severity, Congress needs to do everything we can to support our local and State fire departments and their firefighters. Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to vote ``yes'' on this legislation, and I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. HUFFMAN. Mr. Speaker, I yield such time as he may consume to the gentleman from California (Mr. Harder), who is the author of this important bill.

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

Mr. HUFFMAN

Mr. HUFFMAN. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Speaker, I support this bill. The America the Beautiful National Parks and Federal Recreational Lands Pass covers entrance fees and day- use fees at national parks, national wildlife refuges, national forests, and other Federal recreational lands. Of these, the military lifetime pass, or Gold Star pass, is a free lifetime pass available to our veterans and certain Gold Star families who have lost a family member during military service, the ultimate sacrifice, as the chairman mentioned. However, the Gold Star pass currently includes certain limitations regarding who qualifies. This bill would expand eligibility for the lifetime Gold Star pass to include next-of-kin family members of fallen servicemembers who are not currently eligible. Specifically, this legislation would expand access to families of servicemembers who died in Inactive- or Active-Duty training or in travel to or from training or duty stations. Mr. Speaker, this bill would ensure that all those who have lost a family member in connection to their military service have access to our national parks and lands. Those who have sacrificed so much for our Nation deserve this access to appreciate the wonders of our parks, historic sites, and natural beauty across the country. It is imperative that we ensure this benefit is not limited based on how a servicemember died during their service. Mr. Speaker, I support the passage of this bill, and I urge my colleagues to do the same. I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. HUFFMAN

Mr. HUFFMAN. Mr. Speaker, I rise today along with my colleague Congressman Mike Thompson to honor Terry Lindley in celebration of his retirement after thirty years of service on the Sonoma County Junior College District Board of Trustees. We commend his outstanding service to the students and faculty of the Santa Rosa Junior College (SRJC). Raised on a family ranch in Humboldt County, Mr. Lindley developed an appreciation for farming at an early age. While attending Ferndale High School, Mr. Lindley met Steve Olson, his then agriculture teacher who went on to become a lifelong friend and mentor. His counsel and guidance steered Mr. Lindley to embark on a distinguished career focusing on community leadership and agriculture. After graduating high school in 1976, Mr. Lindley began studying agribusiness at SRJC. After earning his degree, Mr. Lindley was hired as a loan officer and appraiser at American AgCredit. Over the course of forty years with the company, Mr. Lindley's knowledge of agribusiness helped him achieve increasingly prominent roles, including senior vice president and chief marketing officer. Mr. Lindley's aptitude for hard work, deep understanding of agriculture and business acumen made him a remarkable pioneer in the agribusiness industry. Through his leadership, American AgCredit established the first marketing department in all of the Farm Credit System. In addition to his professional accomplishments, Mr. Lindley has made many enduring and positive impacts on the community during his decades of public service. For thirty years. Mr. Lindley has been a trustee of Sonoma County Junior College District, which oversees SRJC, during which he has demonstrated his incredible commitment to providing high- quality education to generations of students throughout our community in the North Bay. While he will be greatly missed in his retirement, Mr. Lindley's enduring legacy will be remembered through the newly opened Lindley Center for STEM Education at SRJC. This new lecture and lab hall provides state-of-the-art facilities for hands-on learning in the science, technology, engineering, and mathematics disciplines. Mr. Lindley's leadership in agriculture and agribusiness education has not gone unnoticed by our community leaders. He has been awarded numerous accolades in recognition of his service including the SRJC's President's Medallion, the 4-H Foundation's Shining Star Award, the Spirit of Sonoma County Award, and Sonoma County's North Bay Rancher of the Year award. Mr. Speaker, it is evident that Mr. Lindley has been an excellent steward of Santa Rosa Junior College and a dedicated community member of Sonoma County's agricultural community. Therefore, it is fitting and proper that we honor him here today.

Mr. HUFFMAN

Mr. HUFFMAN. Mr. Speaker, I rise today with my colleague Congressman Mike Thompson to honor Omar Gallardo who passed away on October 23, 2024. Omar was a lifelong community activist, organizer, and leader in outdoor education in Sonoma County. Born in 1975 in Michoacan, Mexico, Omar's early years were spent in Sonoma County, California and Mexico. He attended Geyserville High School, where bilingual staff and educators encouraged his interest in his Chicano culture, including his participation in Ballet Folklorico. From a young age, Omar was an active community organizer. He offered translation services with the United Farmworkers Union and led a trip to Delando, California in 1993 for a widely attended memorial march honoring leader Cesar Chavez. In 1994, hp organized student marches protesting California's Proposition 187, an initiative to prohibit undocumented immigrants from accessing important benefits. Omar also participated in high school programs offered by Santa Rosa Junior College and Sonoma State University designed to mentor Latino students. He later attended both institutions and earned a bachelor's degree in history. Following college, Omar joined California Mini-Corps as a teacher and spent eight years working with immigrant students in outdoor education. He then spent four years working as a student counselor in Santa Cruz County before returning to Sonoma County to be a site coordinator for the Graton Day Labor Center. In 2012, he was recruited to LandPaths: a Sonoma-based environmental education and conservation organization. Omar became an integral pillar of the LandPaths leadership team, guiding the organization's approach to community outreach and engagement. He helped predominantly Spanish-speaking youth access Sonoma open spaces and inspired the next generation of environmental stewards through outdoor programs. Omar's efforts were also critical in the development of Santa Rosa's Bayer Farm, a six acre urban farm that is the product of collaboration between LandPaths and the city. He was known for his gentle heart, treating others with dignity, and credited for expanding LandPaths' reach and impact. In 2015, Omar was aptly honored by the Sonoma County Economic Development Board with a Spirit of Sonoma Award. Omar was also a dedicated Aztec dancer and established his own group, Danza Azteca Xantotl de Santa Rosa, which performed at local events. Mr. Speaker, Omar Gallardo was a tireless community advocate and champion of environmental stewardship whose life ended too soon. He is survived by his wife Norma Lazaro Hernandez; his two young sons Tandee, age 13, and Erandi, age eight; his mother Maria Luisa Gallardo; and his sisters Marilu Gallardo, Olga Gallardo, Blanca Gallardo, and Merlinda Gallardo. His enduring legacy in Sonoma County and with future generations cannot be understated. We respectfully ask that you join with us and his many friends and family in expressing our deep appreciation for his decades of leadership and community service.

Mr. HUFFMAN

Mr. HUFFMAN. Mr. Speaker, I rise today with Congressman Mike Thompson to recognize the enduring work of Terry Lindley on the occasion of his retirement from Santa Rosa Junior College (SRJC) Board of Trustees after thirty years of supporting higher education. Raised on a family ranch in Humboldt County, Terry developed an early appreciation for agriculture and respect for the community who farms it. While attending Ferndale High School, Terry met the agriculture instructor, Steve Olson, who became a trusted friend and mentor throughout his life. After graduating high school, Terry studied agricultural business at Santa Rosa Junior College while living with Steve and his wife in 1976. Steve, who eventually became Chairman of the Agriculture Department and the Dean of the College, provided counsel and guidance as Terry embarked on a distinguished career focusing on community leadership and agriculture. After earning his degree, Terry was hired as a loan officer and appraiser at American AgCredit. Terry's excellence in agricultural business promoted him to many executive positions throughout his forty- year career, including senior vice president and chief marketing officer. Terry's aptitude for hard work, deep understanding of agriculture, and business acumen made him a remarkable pioneer in the agricultural business industry, establishing the first marketing department in the Farm Credit System. In addition to his professional accomplishments, Terry has made many enduring and positive impacts on the community during his decades of public service. For 30 years, Terry has been a trustee of Santa Rosa Junior College where he has demonstrated an outstanding commitment to providing high-quality education to the next generations of leaders in the North Bay. While he will be greatly missed in his retirement, Terry's enduring legacy will be remembered by the Lindley Center for STEM Education, a new facility to provide hands-on learning activities to support students in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics. Terry has demonstrated a lifelong dedication to supporting agriculture and future agricultural leaders. He has been awarded numerous accolades in recognition of his service, including the SRJC's President's Medallion, 4-H Foundation's Shining Star Award, the Spirit of Sonoma County Award, and Sonoma County's North Bay Rancher of the Year award. Mr. Speaker, it is clear that Terry Lindley has been an excellent steward of the Santa Rosa Junior College and a dedicated community member of Sonoma County. Therefore, it is fitting and proper that we honor him here today.

Mr. HUFFMAN

Mr. HUFFMAN. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to mark Building Safety Month 2024 and to recognize the more than 60,000 members of the International Code Council (ICC)--including the more than 8,300 in California--who have dedicated their livelihoods to ensuring public safety throughout the built environment. Building Safety Month is sponsored each and every May by the International Code Council and its partners, with a shared goal of reminding the public about why buildings are safe, resilient, efficient, and livable. The Code Council--celebrating its thirtieth anniversary this year-- brings together local, state, and federal government stakeholders, as well as those from the private sector every three years to develop model codes and standards that protect the occupants of the buildings in which we live, work, and play. Those codes and standards are then adopted, implemented, and enforced year-round at varying levels of government across the nation. Building safety officials, the fire service, architects, engineers, builders, and other skilled tradespeople all use these codes and standards to ensure the safe construction and maintenance of buildings. This is particularly important in California, a state that faces numerous natural hazards: atmospheric rivers, wildfires, riverine floods, mudslides, record snowfalls, extreme heat, and earthquakes. Often, depending on the time of year, the buildings in which we spend our time are at risk from multiple natural threats. Mr. Speaker, please join me in thanking International Code Council Board for their enduring commitment to safe construction, and in particular, ICC Board President Stuart Tom; ICC Chief Executive Officer Dominic Sims; the Code Council's elected leadership; and its more 60,000 Members and staff as they commemorate Building Safety Month 2024 and work to raise public awareness to the importance of building safety across our Nation.

Mr. HUFFMAN

Mr. HUFFMAN. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentlewoman from New York and thank my colleagues for understanding the importance of the Fish and Wildlife Service's Coastal Program and for supporting this legislation to, for the first time, authorize it in statute. Coastal conservation is not just about protecting our environment. It is about supporting a thriving economy. However, we do face serious threats--climate change, pollution, unsustainable development, and other threats--to our coastal habitats, causing rapid deterioration of these critical resources. I want to be very clear: This is not a local issue. Over 53 percent of the United States population lives near coastal watersheds. These areas are home to 45 percent of federally listed threatened and endangered species. Over 60 million American jobs depend on the health of our coasts. These coastal habitats are complex, dynamic, and they don't always fit neatly within the boundaries that often guide our conservation work. The Service's Coastal Program recognizes this, and it allows for management flexibility by providing technical and financial assistance for coastal land acquisitions. This helps the Service strategically conserve coastal habitat beyond the confines of the National Wildlife Refuge System. The Coastal Program has a great record of success. Since its inception in Chesapeake Bay in 1985, the program has expanded to 23 other priority coastal areas along the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans and in the Gulf of Mexico, Great Lakes, and the Caribbean, including wetlands, estuaries, beaches, and mangrove forests. Within these areas, the Service facilitates a voluntary, partnership- based relationship with coastal communities to conserve and restore coastal ecosystems and benefit fish, wildlife, and people alike. While the Coastal Program is designed to help conserve and recover priority habitat in coastal areas, it can only be effective with adequate resources. That is why the Coastal Habitat Conservation Act of 2023 provides statutory authority to the program by authorizing $16.9 million annually over the next 5 fiscal years. I am pleased that we are here supporting efforts to bring together people and private partners to voluntarily protect and improve coastal habitats. This is an approach that helps strike a balance between working landscapes and habitat conservation in our coastal communities. With this bipartisan bill, we can ensure that this great program will continue to drive locally led conservation projects across coastal States and territories, preserving the health and resilience of coastal habitats to benefit the wildlife communities and economies that depend on them for generations to come.

Mr. HUFFMAN

Mr. HUFFMAN. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentlewoman very much. I now yield to the gentleman from Illinois (Mr. Jackson), a man who you might say has civil rights and social justice in his blood. I am sure he has some things to say about Trump's Project 2025.

Mr. HUFFMAN. Mr. Speaker, the gentleman is exactly right about what Project 2025 calls for with respect to the VA, but it is more than just the VA. If you read this 922-page manifesto, this theme of privatizing and monetizing runs throughout their authoritarian scheme. It applies to our public schools, our public lands, the National Weather Service, and so many other things. The American people don't want this exploitation, this privatization, enrichment, and monetization obsession that the architects of Project 2025 have.

Mr. HUFFMAN. Mr. Speaker, I yield to the gentleman from California for the purpose of a colloquy.

Mr. HUFFMAN. Mr. Speaker, I now am proud to yield to the gentlewoman from Pennsylvania, Mary Gay Scanlon.

Mr. HUFFMAN. Mr. Speaker, maybe a nonpolitical civil service is actually a good idea, just like Teddy Roosevelt concluded that it was a century ago.

Mr. HUFFMAN. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may have 5 legislative days in which to revise and extend their remarks and submit extraneous material into the Record.

Mr. HUFFMAN. Mr. Speaker, earlier this year I founded the Congressional Task Force to Stop Project 2025. Some people might be curious as to why I did that. I have served in Congress for almost 12 years, and throughout that period, I have seen a lot of wild and extreme antics from across the aisle. I have seen some of my colleagues try to chip away at our civil rights and roll back decades of progress. I have seen the chaos and the division that Donald Trump has infused into our politics, including violent rhetoric and extreme policies that are completely beyond the pale of anything that has ever tried to pass for conservatism. However, in this entire time, I have never seen anything that compares to the threat to our democracy, to our individual rights, and to the well-being of most Americans, the threat that is posed by Trump's Project 2025. I encourage people to look it up and to read it because anyone who familiarizes themself with Trump's Project 2025 can see for themselves what an unprecedented takeover plan this is, to gut critical checks and balances that hold our democracy together, to roll back fundamental rights, to erode church-state separation, impose draconian policies that are deeply unpopular with most Americans, all so that MAGA politicians can take unprecedented governmental control over the lives of every person who calls America home. Most Americans want nothing to do with this dystopic authoritarian scheme, but our House Republican colleagues are so excited about it that the majority is not even waiting for a potential second Trump Presidency. My colleagues on the other side of the aisle are moving ahead right now to implement many parts of his Project 2025. Everywhere we turn in this Congress, extreme MAGA Republicans are working straight out of the Project 2025 playbook. We are seeing it in committees, in press conferences, and every single day right here on the House floor. Climate action, protections for the middle class, social safety nets, and abortion rights, these have all been on the chopping block in this Republican majority. It is like the majority lifted their legislative agenda right out of the pages of Project 2025. Mr. Speaker, we believe sunlight is the best disinfectant, and that is one of the most important parts of our task force's work. Our Stop Project 2025 Task Force and many other Members of the House Democratic Caucus, as well, have been focused on doing something very simple but very important: showing people what Project 2025 actually says, bringing it out of the shadows, making sure every American knows the truth about what Trump and his allies here in Congress are planning and, in many cases, already trying to do. It is important to think about how a potential second Trump Presidency would be very different. He now has absolute immunity, thanks to his extreme radical Supreme Court. We know that he will not have adults in the room next time around. His administration would not have any institutionalists pushing back against his dangerous agenda or his authoritarian impulses. Unlike the chaos and lack of planning that marked his first Presidency, he now has Project 2025, a detailed, strategic blueprint for not only advancing extreme policies, but for clearing away all checks and balances and guardrails that might stand in his way. Mr. Speaker, as disturbing as all of this is, it is important to remember we have only seen the tip of the Project 2025 iceberg because, on top of the 922 pages that they have actually published, which everyone can look up on the internet, they also have an extensive personnel program, including a resume database chock full of MAGA loyalists, a training academy to indoctrinate their self-described army of political operatives. These are the people that they hope to repopulate the Federal workforce with after they have purged tens of thousands of civil servants. These things are happening right now. Perhaps the most concerning part is the secret fourth pillar of Project 2025 that acknowledged its existence. Members of The Heritage Foundation have described it as being too controversial to actually share it with the public, so they haven't published it. It is the unreleased playbook outlining the steps that Trump would take in his first 180 days in office. Congresswoman Ayanna Pressley and I have reached out to Heritage in recent weeks demanding that they come before Congress to discuss this secret part of their plan and release it so that the American people can actually read it. To no one's surprise, the architects of Project 2025 have ignored our request. We think the public deserves to know what executive orders, emergency declarations, and other Presidential directives have been secretly prepared for Trump to make good on with respect to his vow to be a dictator on day one. Today, our Stop Project 2025 Task Force has launched a tip line to gather any and all information we can about the hidden fourth pillar of Project 2025. Given the extremism we have already seen in the published parts of this plan and the evasiveness of Heritage and its coalition, we think it is important to turn to the public to get more information on this. Anyone who may have seen or authored or come across any part of the secret fourth pillar of Project 2025 is encouraged to share what information that they may have access to through our dedicated tip line. We are going to keep doing everything that we can to uncover their full agenda and to stop this government takeover scheme on behalf of the majority of Americans who want nothing to do with this dystopic plan. I yield to my colleague, the assistant Democratic leader, the gentleman from Colorado (Mr. Neguse).

Mr. HUFFMAN. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman from Colorado (Mr. Neguse) and agree with him. Many of our Republican colleagues have been trying to disown Project 2025. Certainly their nominee, Donald Trump, has been trying to do that in ways that are quite implausible, but it seems to me that anyone who wants to show that they do not support this radical authoritarian scheme, Project 2025, we are giving them a chance to do that with this resolution. We invite them to join us. At this point, I yield to the gentlewoman from the Virgin Islands (Ms. Plaskett).

Mr. HUFFMAN. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentlewoman from the Virgin Islands (Ms. Plaskett) for her support. As I prepare to yield to the gentlewoman from Vermont (Ms. Balint), I will just observe that my colleague's comments caused me to think about the fact that we are gathered here on what our Republican friends have dubbed Anti-Woke Week. Nothing is more Project 2025 than demagoguing and using wokeness as a pretext to try to roll back individual freedoms and civil rights and take away decades of progress. Our Republican colleagues can't seem to figure out how to fund the government and do the basics of governing, but they sure are good at finding time to demagogue on wokeness. Mr. Speaker, I yield to the gentlewoman from Vermont (Ms. Balint).

Mr. HUFFMAN. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentlewoman for her remarks. I am mindful of the fact that many are saying that the American people this year are facing a choice of going forward or backward. Nothing speaks more to that than the fact that Trump's Project 2025 would dust off the old morality codes of the 1870s and impose them against the popular will on all Americans. It just tells us everything. Mr. Speaker, I yield to the gentleman from southern California (Mr. Takano), my colleague who has been a great champion for civil rights and many other core values.

Mr. HUFFMAN. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentlewoman very much, and I am glad she spoke to the so-called civil service reform element of Project 2025. They call it Schedule F. It is an innocuous-sounding thing, but again, like so many parts of Project 2025, when you understand what it actually calls for, it is far more extreme than anything we have ever seen in this country. It calls for going through the entire Federal workforce to root out anyone who has been associated with a DEI program in our Federal Government. Climate scientists and others are going to be purged, anyone who somewhere in their life maybe donated to a Democrat. It is a complete scorched earth political purge that they described as involving more than 50,000 people in the Federal workforce and then to repopulate the government. If their problem is political people in government, they are going to repopulate with even more political people from these training academies. As the gentlewoman concludes, I just want to ask her if she thinks that this is something that the people of Pennsylvania want to see?

Mr. HUFFMAN. Mr. Speaker, food inspectors, air traffic controllers.

Mr. HUFFMAN. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman from Illinois for speaking to the extremism and cruelty of Trump's Project 2025 so eloquently, and he is exactly right. Healthcare is in the crosshairs. One of the many ways in which Project 2025 would take us backward on healthcare is by mandating that the default for Medicare would be Medicare Advantage. They like that because they can monetize it, make a lot of money on it, right, but it absolutely is expensive. It is accelerating the demise of the Medicare trust fund. They want to repeal the prescription drug reforms that we have been able to pass, the first time we have been able to stand up to Big Pharma in decades. We are saving Medicare billions and billions of dollars. We are saving consumers so much money already, and those savings are going to grow and grow in the years ahead. All of that goes away under Project 2025. It is bad for the pocketbooks of the American people, bad for healthcare, and bad for the Medicare trust fund and Medicare itself. The gentleman is exactly right.