Cresent Hardy

Mr. HARDY

Mr. HARDY. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to honor Tim Wong and Arcata Associates, Inc., for receiving the Small Business Subcontractor Excellence Award as part of NASA's 2015 Small Business Industry Awards. Under President and CEO Tim Wong's leadership, Arcata has received a NASA Small Business Industry Award five times since the program began eight years ago. By delivering outstanding support, along with on schedule and on budget results year after year, Arcata has made itself the model for small business success in Las Vegas. Mr. Speaker, I am honored to congratulate Tim and all of the Arcata employees for being awarded the Small Business Subcontractor Excellence Award.

Mr. HARDY

Mr. HARDY. I thank the gentleman from Texas for yielding. Mr. Speaker, this is our first week back in session after spending the holidays in our districts. While we were meeting with our constituents and enjoying the company of loved ones, the Federal bureaucracy was firing on all cylinders, cranking out thousands of pages of regulations. Mr. Speaker, I hold in my hand what our regulators were doing on Christmas Eve. In my other hand I am holding 298 pages of what our Federal regulators were doing on New Year's Eve. This breakneck pace of activity, deep within the bowels of our executive branch, capped off a record year for the Federal Register, the official record of the government's regulatory and other actions. The grand total for 2015 was 82,035 pages of regulations. This leaves the current administration with an annual page count of nearly 80,000 per year and puts it on pace to contribute more pages of regulations to the Federal Register than any other administration in American history. Mr. Speaker, this is a perversion of our Founding Fathers' intent and a disservice to the American people. Article I, section 1, of the Constitution vests all legislative power in a Congress of the United States, not with regulatory agencies. Article I, section 8, of the Constitution vests all the power to make all laws in Congress to the United States, not with regulatory agencies. Article II, section 3, of the Constitution clearly states that the President shall take care that the laws be faithfully executed. That means executive agencies execute the laws as Congress intended, not that they make their own. Mr. Speaker, there is no ambiguity. Federal laws get made right here on this floor and in the other Chamber across the rotunda and nowhere else. But over the past 228 years, the founding principles have been manipulated. With this massive expansion of the Federal Government's role during the New Deal, agencies were awarded rulemaking authority through acts of Congress. This statutory authority was granted to allow our Federal agencies to better implement the law in a growing, complex Nation. But it was not a blank check. Unfortunately, far too many here in Congress have been complicit in delegating our sacred lawmaking authority to legions of unelected bureaucrats. How can this be? We are the first branch of government, the branch that is closest to the people. We are directly accountable to our constituents. It is because of that accountability that we must reclaim that constitutional duty to make all laws. That is why I am a proud original cosponsor of the REINS Act of 2015 and why I voted to pass that important bill last year. The REINS Act takes the important step of requiring congressional approval of all major rules. This is a huge improvement over the current status quo under the Congressional Review Act. The default standard for all major rules should be rejection unless they are congressionally approved, not acceptance until rejection. The Congressional Review Act is a failed attempt to reclaim our exclusive legislating authority. Rejecting one single rule on ergonomic chairs in 20 years is simply unacceptable. We need laws with more teeth. The bills we passed this week, including the SCRUB Act of 2015, will help in this effort. Mr. Speaker, something needs to change. Churning out thousands of final rules on tens of thousands of Federal Register pages each and every year is hamstringing our economy and crushing our businesses. According to a study done by the National Association of Manufacturers, complying with the Federal regulations costs Americans $2.028 trillion in lost economic growth each and every year. That is 12 percent of our GDP down the drain. As a former small-business owner, I can tell you that mom-and-pop shops aren't poring over each and every issue of the Federal Register, and they sure aren't doing it on Christmas Eve. Unlike large corporations that can afford armies of attorneys to navigate the complex Federal bureaucracy, small businesses are left hanging out to dry. As the people's House, we are advocates for the people we represent. We serve them. We are accountable to them. We owe it to the people to go on record and vote on major rules that impact their daily lives. I challenge any President or elected official to say that the American people don't deserve the right to hold their government accountable.

Mr. HARDY

Mr. HARDY. Mr. Speaker, I would like to honor Otto Merida, President, CEO and Founder of the Latin Chamber of Commerce and Victoria Napoles- Earl, Senior Executive Vice President of the Latin Chamber of Commerce for over thirty years of service to the Hispanic business community and Nevada's Hispanic youth. For decades, the Latin Chamber of Commerce has helped hundreds of Nevadans and their families achieve the American Dream thanks to Otto and Victoria's leadership and mentorship. Otto and Victoria have spearheaded incredible programs that promote leadership, entrepreneurship and education. They have also encouraged Latino youth to pursue college and developed a strong scholarship program that continues to help our students complete their studies. I join all Nevadans in saying thank you for your hard work and dedication towards helping small businesses grow and assisting our students with achieving their higher education goals. Mr. Speaker, I commend Otto and Victoria on their outstanding service to Nevada and wish them the best of luck on their future endeavors. I hope the Latin Chamber of Commerce will continue to benefit our communities for many years to come.

Mr. HARDY

Mr. HARDY. Mr. Speaker, we are $18 trillion in the red. Specifically, our Federal debt, which is a combination of debt held by the public and debt held by government accounts, stands at $18.7 trillion. That means every man, woman, and child owes roughly $58,000 right now, and it will no doubt rise day by day. At the beginning of the year 2000, we were $5 trillion underwater. Fast-forward a few years to when President Obama took office, and we were approximately $10 trillion in debt. Today, we are almost double that. I came to Congress to make the difficult decisions to help put our Nation back on the path of growth, because right now I am fearful that my children and my grandchildren will not have the same opportunities. It is for these reasons that I have authored and introduced a balanced budget amendment. In fact, 45 States have some type of balanced budget requirement already in law. It is time the Federal Government follows suit. My amendment will prohibit outlays from exceeding receipts. It will prevent Congress from raising the debt ceiling. It will prevent the President--any President--from instituting an executive order without first presenting Congress a balanced budget. Every business and every family balances their budget. It is time for the Federal Government to do the same.

Mr. HARDY

Mr. HARDY. Mr. Speaker, we need more mining engineers. Approximately 70 percent of the mining industry's technical leaders will reach retirement age over the next 10 to 15 years. In our mining engineering programs, almost all current faculty members will need to be replaced by the coming decade. At our Federal agencies, there is already a dangerous lack of employees with the necessary technical expertise to carry out their essential duties, such as permitting and inspections. Mr. Speaker, this is irresponsible, and it can have catastrophic consequences like we saw with the Gold King Mine disaster. In order to sustain our Nation's mining schools, we need to ensure that vital Federal funding is made available for faculty to conduct more research and to better educate the next generation of mineral scientists and engineers. It can be done by using the existing funding streams under SMCRA. My bill, H.R. 3734, the Mining Schools Enhancement Act, will accomplish this goal.

Mr. HARDY

Mr. HARDY. Mr. Speaker, today I rise to honor Douglas ``Stretch'' Baker of Nye County, Nevada, for his dedicated service to save and preserve the Tonopah Historic Mining Park. The park, a critically acclaimed tourism site, is a crucial part of the mining heritage of Tonopah and the proud history of the State of Nevada. Mr. Speaker, Mr. Baker has given countless hours of his time and use of his equipment to make the site safe and attractive to visitors, to build a unique welcoming sign and gate, and to promote the park through appropriate signage. When it became known that the signature Mizpah shaft was in immediate need of repair, the Tonopah Historic Mining Park Foundation undertook a momentous fundraising effort to save the structure and was able to raise over $100,000. Mr. Baker was invaluable in the effort, even acting as a crane operator and ``adviser in chief.'' Mr. Speaker, Douglas ``Stretch'' Baker is to be commended, along with the Tonopah Historic Mining Park Foundation Board, for bringing the exciting project to a successful conclusion, thereby preserving one of the most important artifacts of Nevada's mining history.

Mr. HARDY

Mr. HARDY. Mr. Speaker, I thank the chairman and ranking member for all their hard work. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to address the long-term nature of this highway bill. After 35-plus extensions, the upper and lower Chambers of Congress are sending the President a 5-year highway bill. I want you to think about that. We haven't had legislation this long that provided certainty and confidence to our States in over 10 years. Before coming to Congress, I was a general engineering contractor. I built those highways, roads, bridges, and dams. I also previously served on the Regional Transportation Commission of Southern Nevada, and I know what it takes to invest in infrastructure. I will be honest. These short-term patches would have been a disservice to our States and our districts. They need long-term certainty to build a master plan for the future. Many may not understand the aspects of what it takes to actually build infrastructure in our Nation. It is not all about just going out and investing a dollar and going and building a highway, a railroad, or other infrastructure. It takes a lot to go through the NEPA process and the engineering processes before you can even get to the point where you can turn a shovel of dirt. So we need to make sure that we find other funding mechanisms for the future. We need to start today and recognize that we need to plan for the future and invest in this country so it has quality infrastructure for our safety and the needs of this country. While the funding mechanisms are not perfect, we are moving in the right direction and putting our Nation back on the path to prosperity. That is why I proudly stand here today as a conferee to support this long-term funding bill.

Mr. HARDY

Mr. HARDY. I would like to thank my colleague from Pennsylvania for his efforts to host us here this evening and for the opportunity to speak. As the events of Paris unfolded over the weekend, I watched in horror with the rest of the world as violent terror once again touched the soil of America's oldest allies. I echo the cares and concerns of the world that terror is growing. And we must stand united against it. Terror does not respect borders or nationalities. Its effects are felt in the smallest village and in the world's most recognizable cities. Nearly 500 innocent people were killed or injured in Paris this weekend, only 10 months after the extremists attacked the Charlie Hebdo offices, murdering 17. Last week, 43 people were killed and 239 were injured by a suicide bomber in Beirut. Mounting evidence shows that terrorists were likely involved in the deaths of 224 people aboard a Russian jet that went down in Egypt last month. In Israel, our friends have been battling this increased violence for weeks, with no predictable end in sight. Each of these events happened in the last 2 months, and there are countless other victims of hate around the world whose loss too often goes unnoticed. Those losses have continuously happened over the past 6 to 7 years, and some of them seem to fall on deaf ears and unseeing eyes. No matter the location, the fact is that too many parents in these nations worry if their children will come home safe at night. It is times like these that defenders of freedom need to remember the common threads that bind us together against the power of evil. France was not the beginning, nor will it be the end. On the heels of this tragedy, ISIS has taken credit and released a video promising that something ``worse is coming.'' Something worse is coming. We should not neglect that threat. Our own CIA Director said earlier today that he ``anticipates this is not the only operation that ISIL has in the pipeline. The Paris attack is not something that was planned in a matter of days.'' The President has stated a shared goal that we want to ``degrade and destroy'' ISIS. While that is the goal of all, in the meantime, we are obligated to the American people to contain and control these crazed attackers. ISIS has expanded to Egypt, Yemen, Afghanistan, and to Pakistan. Teenagers from England and Europe have attempted to, or successfully supported, ISIS on the ground. As sickening as these actions are, it is more terrifying to think that those recruits might bring their new training back home. How long until we see terrorism touching our U.S. soil again? This is not just a threat to the eastern hemisphere. This is a global threat that requires a global response. The U.S. cannot be the only one involved, but we also cannot fail to act. When America fails to lead, there is too often a vacuum that we have seen filled with the nightmares of hateful leaders who disregard innocent lives in their quest for power and control. We must be vigilant for the sake of life in America and across the world. We must continue to fight these extremists and stand as a united front against the rising tide of evil.

Mr. HARDY

Mr. HARDY. Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to join me in supporting this important legislation. I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. HARDY. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of H.R. 3996, which extends the Federal surface transportation programs to December 4, 2015. On November 5, the House overwhelmingly passed a multiyear surface transportation bill, with more than 360 Members voting in support. Since then, the House and Senate have made good progress in resolving the differences between our two proposals. The conference committee still needs time to publicly meet, which we will do on Wednesday, complete our negotiations, and produce a final measure that helps improve America's infrastructure. Today's extension provides a time for that process to occur, while avoiding a shutdown of transportation programs. The bill allows the States to continue to fund transportation projects and prevents 4,100 U.S. Department of Transportation employees from being furloughed. H.R. 3996 funds these programs at the authorized levels for fiscal year 2014. No offsets or transfers of funding to the highway trust fund are necessary for the extension since the trust fund will remain solvent during the period. I urge support of H.R. 3996. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. HARDY. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may have 5 legislative days in which to revise and extend their remarks and include extraneous materials on H.R. 3996.

Mr. HARDY. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 3996) to provide an extension of Federal-aid highway, highway safety, motor carrier safety, transit, and other programs funded out of the Highway Trust Fund, and for other purposes.

Mr. HARDY

Mr. HARDY. Mr. Chairman, I stand to address the importance of long- term funding within the transportation sector of our economy. As a former general contractor who built roads, bridges, and dams, I understand how uncertainty can derail the ability to plan and design. Transportation planning decisions are not made that cover the timeframe of a month, and transportation planning decisions are not made for the timeframe that cover a year. Transportation and infrastructure planning decisions are made to stretch out over years. I am talking about master planning. These are decisions that reach out to 5, 10, and even 15 years. This bill addresses the long-term needs of our country. It speaks to the multiyear planners--the States that are planning years in advance for major infrastructure projects. We can't operate on short-term fixes. We can't continue to kick these important decisions down the road. We can't operate on short-term patches. Jobs are not created through interim and stopgap bills. Our country needs this certainty. Our citizens deserve this certainty. This bill does just that: it plans for the future, and it provides for certainty. It contains many great provisions: from the crucial extension of Interstate 11 from the city of Las Vegas north to I-80 in northern Nevada, to returning flexibility to all States. This bill demonstrates the bipartisan nature of this body in Congress. This committee worked across the aisle to form solid language on issues that are, in nature, bipartisan. I hope we can continue this momentum well beyond the debate and bring certainty to this House, to our States, and to our country.

Mr. HARDY

Mr. HARDY. Mr. Speaker, today I stand to recognize an important step that took place this week. Yesterday the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, a committee I have the privilege to serve on, marked up and passed a long-term highway bill. Included in that multiyear bill that authorizes the transportation needs of our Nation is a vital designation for the State of Nevada. With my assistance, this highway bill contained the designation of Interstate 11, which will run from the city of Las Vegas north along the I-95 corridor up to I-80. This designation is the next step in advancing the Intermountain West corridor, which is crucial for my State, all western States, and this country. As the vice chairman of the Highways and Transit Subcommittee, I am proud to have worked with my colleagues to help make sure that the people in Nevada gain this instrumental project. The future of I-11 is growing. Jobs are on the horizon.

Mr. HARDY

Mr. HARDY. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to recognize high school principal of the year for 2015, Grant Hanevold of Sunrise Mountain High School in Las Vegas. I have always believed that providing the Nation's youth with a quality education is one of the best investments that we can make to ensure that this century is yet another American century. Principal Hanevold represents the spirit of service that is often missed at too many of our Nation's schools. He understands that educators must invest time and effort in their communities which they serve. By incorporating teachers, parents, and community members into the decisionmaking process, Principal Hanevold was able to get everyone to buy in on his vision and take pride in what they were accomplishing together. This established a culture of success at Sunrise Mountain that ultimately led to a remarkable 13 percent increase in graduation rates. Congratulations to Nevada's principal of the year, Grant Hanevold.

Mr. HARDY

Mr. HARDY. Mr. Speaker, last week marked the beginning of Hispanic Heritage Month, a time when all of us can take a moment and recognize the tremendous contributions of Hispanic Americans who have made our communities a great country. Mr. Speaker, I have the privilege of representing one of the most diverse congressional districts in the country. Our diversity has always been our strength, and Hispanic Americans are sewn into the very fabric of what makes our slice of Nevada special. To honor the history, culture, and contributions of Latinos to the United States, I am pleased to join my colleague from California, Congressman Tony Cardenas, as the original cosponsor of his resolution recognizing Hispanic Heritage Month. So, whether it is the innovative entrepreneurs who are starting businesses and creating jobs, the ambitious students studying to become tomorrow's leaders, or the brave men and women who serve our country in uniform, the story of Hispanic Americans is the story of all Americans.

Mr. HARDY

Mr. HARDY. Mr. Chairman, before I had the privilege of being elected to the 114th Congress, I spent more than four decades in the construction industry. After growing up as a fifth-generation son of a farmer and rancher, I set out to learn the trades and acquire the skills that would one day allow me to support myself and my family. Over the course of those four decades in construction, I learned what it takes to start and run a successful business and how to create quality, good-paying jobs. I also learned the satisfaction of seeing the fruits of our labor in the roads, bridges, and dams we built and how they define the communities we serve. Mr. Chairman, small construction businesses like the one I used to own are struggling all across America from Federal bureaucracy that is rife with delays, duplication, and uncertainty. I can speak from firsthand experience about construction projects that have ground to a halt as resources are redirected to navigate the onerous NEPA process. On projects like the ones I used to manage, NEPA delays meant idled equipment, mass layoffs, and millions of dollars going towards compliance. These are sunk costs on the macro level and will continue to hold our economy back. We need to get smart about environment protection and to ensure that we do it in ways that allow businesses to thrive. H.R. 348, the RAPID Act, will go a long way toward achieving that goal. Mr. Chairman, at a time when our Nation's infrastructure is crumbling and far too many are in search of quality employment, we have the responsibility to give manufacturers, construction workers, and other engines of economic growth the certainty they desperately need to create high-paying jobs. I urge my colleagues to vote ``yes'' on the RAPID Act.

Mr. HARDY

Mr. HARDY. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in order to express my deep concern and disapproval of how the Obama administration has continued their assault on Federal and private contractors. Since taking office, the President has signed a total of 13 executive orders that directly focus on Federal contracting, all of which establish new labor requirements and impose additional financial burdens on contractors. When you also include the 16 new regulations that have been created from these orders, a large portion of contractors who were once able to compete for Federal contracts are now being forced out due to these new hurdles. In fact, the number of small contractors who submit bids for Federal contracts have declined by more than 100,000 since 2013. This is unacceptable. While these mandates range from forcing contractors to provide additional employee benefits to being required to report additional information during the bidding process, the one thing that each of these new directives has in common is that it will make it more difficult for small contractors to compete for Federal contracts. A prime example is the executive order known as the Fair Pay and Safe Workplaces, which the President signed in July 2014. While intended to award Federal contracts only to responsible contractors who have not committed recent labor violations, the actual outcome will lead to additional reporting requirements, increased administrative costs, and the potential for a contractor to be blacklisted from bidding on Federal contracts while they prove that they are innocent from the accused infraction. Mr. Speaker, by using executive orders to bypass congressional authority, this is nothing more than an attempt by this administration to implement their agenda without regard for the negative impact it will have on businesses and industries. But, unfortunately, this agenda extends beyond Federal contractors. The recent National Labor Relations Board ruling in the Browning-Ferris Industries case, which is more widely known as the joint employer decision, will have a massive impact on the business relationships between contractors and their subcontractors, franchisors and franchisees, and other contract labor relations. In one politically motivated decision, the NLRB completely redefined the definition of ``joint employer'' when they determined that a company could be held liable for a labor violation committed by a subcontractor or a staffing agency that they hired, even if this company doesn't have direct supervision over those workers. This sharing of responsibility is nothing more than an attempt to force both parties into collective bargaining, but the result will be much worse. Franchisors may decide that it is in their best interest to assert more authority over their franchisees to make sure that labor violations are less likely to occur, but then other franchisors may decide it is more cost effective to end their relationship as a way to avoid potential issues. Essentially, the same results could occur with companies who hire staffing agencies or independent contractors to provide them with temporary employees or contractors who hire subcontractors to perform skilled labor. As a small business contractor for more than two decades, I understand the unique relationship between a contractor and a subcontractor. In the end, the joint employer decision will disrupt this relationship and potentially discourage future contract arrangements. Mr. Speaker, I ask for my colleagues to join with me in demanding this administration to stop continually adding burdens to our Federal and private contractors.

Mr. HARDY

Mr. HARDY. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in order to address a concern that anyone who has ever owned or has run a business truly understands--the negative effects of unchecked government regulations on our American economy. No matter how large or small, Federal regulations are being added each day into law by the hundreds--and even sometimes by the thousands--most of which are not directly approved by Congress. By allowing Washington bureaucrats to continue to stuff the overwhelming number of regulations into congressionally passed legislation, we are essentially handing over authority to the Federal agencies for them to legislate as they please. It is our job in Congress to oversee these regulations as they are being generated in order to provide that our constituents are not left behind. During this Congress, we have made great strides in reforming the regulations process in order to help the economy grow. A great example of that occurred yesterday with the passage of the REINS Act. There should be no question that any regulation that makes an annual impact of $100 million on the economy should require congressional approval before it can become law. As my colleagues are aware, a copy of the day's Federal Register is delivered to each of our offices daily. This book provides a hard copy of every new regulation that ranges from environmental protection to labor standards, to health guidelines, to restrictions on financial institutions. Last year, the Federal Register contained over 77,000 pages, with 3,554 new regulations. Even though this large number of pages is absurd, it was only the sixth highest page count in the Federal Register's history. As of this morning, the 2015 Federal Register sits at over 45,000 pages. It is unthinkable to me that the most important document--the Constitution--can fit on 39 pages, in this little book. In comparison, this is the July 13 edition of the Federal Register. It is 627 pages, and it is only one of three editions from that day alone. Mr. Speaker, when is enough enough, and when does it become too much? The continual expansion of our government through a vast number of regulations causes our economy to become as shaky and unstable as the Federal Registers that are stacked up in my office from this year, which is unacceptable and very concerning. An even larger issue comes from how the general public is made aware of these proposed rules and the opportunity to voice one's concerns on the rules. While we are provided with a daily index of rules and new regulations through the Federal Register, the American taxpayers, for whom we work, are left in the dark. Since these regulations do not take into account the economic impact that is placed on American businesses and families, each new regulation can lead to lower wages, job losses, and higher prices for goods. In 2014, Federal regulations cost American families an estimated $1.88 trillion in financial burden, representing, roughly, $15,000 per household. This cost is also larger than Canada's economy, is larger than Mexico's economy, and is larger than the economies of Australia, Russia, Spain, and South Korea, just to name a few. In fact, the economies of only nine nations in the world are larger than the cost of our regulations. Although all sized businesses and industries feel the effects of government regulations, it is the small businesses that face greater adversity from regulations due to costs attributed to comply. In addition to compliance costs, limited comment periods, and a lack of information pertaining to how they make their opinions heard, business owners are usually those who end up being left out in the cold. I ask my colleagues to join me in demanding more transparency in the regulatory and rulemaking process because it is our duty to our constituents.

Mr. HARDY

Mr. HARDY. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to discuss the unfortunate Dodd- Frank Wall Street Act. This week marks the fifth anniversary of the signing of the law that was the Democratic answer to the recession that impacted our Nation. My State, the State of Nevada, was devastated by the meltdown which started with the weakening of the credit standards, and it erupted into foreclosures that brought our fiscal system to the edge of the cliff. At the peak of the recession, Nevada had an unemployment rate of 13.7 percent. Nevadans all over the State were losing their jobs, their homes, and their businesses. The Democratically controlled Congress and the Democratically controlled White House responded with regulation after regulation on the false pretense that the crash was caused by the lack of rules. Five years in and what do we have today? We have for the first time in over three decades more small businesses failing than being started. Think about that. We have more small business deaths than we have small business births. The life blood of our Nation lies with small businesses. According to the 2012 data from the Small Business Administration, 64 percent of all private-sector jobs were created by small businesses. Half of all people employed in this country work for small businesses. I am going to repeat we now have more small business deaths than we have small businesses being started. They are being suffocated by 400 new Federal regulations. One-size-fits-all rules have impacted small bankers, so much that we have less community banks now than we had before Dodd-Frank. These small community banks serve my constituents. They serve the neighbors of my district. They serve the neighborhoods of our country. These community banks were not the banks making the risky loans. They were building strong relationships with their customers, but now, because of Dodd-Frank, there are fewer of them. How did Dodd-Frank address Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac? It didn't. It didn't reform Fannie or Freddie. Dodd-Frank, in essence, is top-down governance from Washington bureaucrats. Instead of ending too-big-to-fail, regulators inserted it into law. We now have SIFIs, systemically important financial institutions. If a bank is defined as a SIFI, it will surely be the first to be bailed out because they are systemically too important. This presents a problem of moral hazard. Dodd-Frank put it in law that they will be bailed out by Americans and their hard-earned money. Dodd-Frank was supposed to end this practice and it was supposed to protect the consumer. After 5 years, we now have SIFIs. We now have fewer community banks. Simply put, our businesses are facing higher borrowing costs and the inability to create jobs. Nevada today has an unemployment rate of 6.9 percent. Nevadans don't want more regulations, they want more jobs. Like all Americans, they want more opportunities. They want access to capital to start their new companies and businesses. Mr. Speaker, unfortunately, the burdensome Dodd-Frank law is still churning out final rules. Americans will continue to face the red tape during this slog of a recovery.

Mr. HARDY

Mr. HARDY. Mr. Speaker, last Friday, the President signed away more than 700,000 acres of Lincoln and Nye Counties, as the Basin and Range National Monument in my district, locking these lands up from economic development the region depends on. This is unacceptable. Mr. Speaker, I stand here today to give a voice to what Nevada's argument is and what Nevada's argument is not. Some on the other side of the aisle wish to paint those who oppose the designation as enemies of our public lands, when nothing could be further from the truth. Southeastern rural Nevada is in my blood. As a fifth-generation son of farmers and ranchers from Mesquite, Nevada, I am directly descended from the very same mountain men and the settlers whose bravery and resolve blazed the trail for the founding of our great State and who are mentioned in the President's proclamation. I grew up to explore the rugged landscapes of Lincoln and Nye Counties, hunting, hiking, and camping in these one-of-a-kind surroundings. I love Nevada as much as the next Nevadan, and we refuse to be lectured by those who feel that they are first among equals in matters that concern our future. Our argument is not about whether or not to preserve our national treasures contained on our public lands. I wholeheartedly agree that we have a responsibility; we must protect what needs to be protected. It comes down to this: The Antiquities Act is antiquated. The law is rooted in the last century, and it has been manipulated over the years to exceed its original intent. It has become a tool of political patronage, burnishing the legacies of those privileged enough to hold our Nation's highest elected offices. It also furthers the insidious notion that Washington knows best. The primary orchestrator of this monument maneuver even went so far as to say to the concerned people of Lincoln and Nye Counties: Don't worry. This is going to be great for you. Despite the Orwellian refrain, the people in Nevada demanded the right to think for themselves, and they strongly disagree. According to the letter I received from Nye County, the entire county board of commissioners opposes the Basin and Range National Monument designation, stating the dire concerns about the absence of any consultation with the Federal Government and the harmful economic constraints. With 98 percent of Nye County already under Federal control, it can ill afford to lose additional economic opportunities. As for Lincoln County, the commissioners have expressed grave concerns about having such a large swath of the county administered ``for a singular, specific, preferred use, rather than for a multiple- use management resource plan.'' Despite what the White House asserts, this outcome would particularly be harmful for a county that is already 97 percent federally controlled. Mr. Speaker, at the end of the day, there is no doubt in my mind the Antiquities Act is a holdover of a bygone era. We continue to see Presidents pay lip service to the requirement that the boundaries of national monuments should be ``confined to the smallest area compatible''--700,000 acres, really? What I would like to encourage my colleagues and those in the administration to remember is that rural Nevada's culture, the will and resolve of its people, are not things that can be locked away in an outdoor museum. They live on in today's generations who continue to carry on the traditions of those who came before them and respect the land they call home. With proper consultation across all levels of government and the local buy-in, I am confident that Democrats and Republicans can work together to protect America's natural heritage, while also preserving its people's way of life. This photograph is a great example of the possibilities. The Tule Springs Fossil Beds National Monument is a case study of a successful effort to preserve Nevada's national heritage that was given due consideration and that had a widespread community backing. That is why Congress passed legislation to create the Tule Springs Fossil Bed National Monument in Nevada last year. If I can pose for a picture, smiling wide and holding a sign with the words ``national monument'' on it, there must be a right way to go about protecting our public lands. Mr. Speaker, we need local input; we need votes in Congress, and we need to fix the antiquated Antiquities Act.

Mr. HARDY

Mr. HARDY. Mr. Speaker, I would like to thank the gentleman from Washington for yielding me time to speak on the rule of this vital piece of legislation, H.R. 2898, the Western Water and American Food Security Act. Coming from Nevada, the Nation's most arid State, we continue to battle a drought in all 17 counties. At no time in recent memory has the significance and proactivity of managing our water resources across the West been more important. I can sympathize with my colleagues from across the neighboring State of California, who are also facing the fourth consecutive year of drought. We obviously cannot afford to keep this status quo. As the only Member of Nevada's House delegation on the Committee on Natural Resources, I take a great deal of pride in speaking up for my constituents and the people of my State on important issues facing our communities. Those communities are affected by the droughts currently affecting California's Central Valley, the source of so much of our Nation's food. For those in my district and around the country who are still battling to get this economic recovery, they can ill afford to pay more of their hard-earned income at the supermarket to feed their families. As the son of farmer-ranchers from southeastern Nevada, I feel for the hard-working farmers whose suffering is being made worse by burdensome environmental laws and the failure of our elected leaders to provide adequate water infrastructure to meet the ever-growing demands of the 21st century. Though long overdue, we have a real opportunity to provide some commonsense solutions to this very dire situation. Again, I would like to thank the gentleman from Washington for yielding me some time. I strongly urge a ``yes'' vote on the rule and a ``yes'' on the underlying bill.

Mr. HARDY

Mr. HARDY. Madam Speaker, what were you doing last night at midnight? If you were like me and most Americans, you were probably asleep. But last night, while America was sleeping, the White House was busy. The White House was busy notifying the public, literally in the dark of the night, about the President's intentions to designate more than 700,000 acres of Lincoln and Nye Counties as the Basin and Range National Monument. Madam Speaker, at 2 p.m. this afternoon, you won't see a debate on the floor of the House, the people's House, on the Basin and Range Monument. There will be no vote for Nevada's elected representatives, but there will be a photo op to capture the exchange of political favor for one Nevadan. It will be a scene demonstrating that having friends in high places is more important than popular will of the people. But legacy building in the twilight of one's career shouldn't be the driver for our Nation's public lands. According to press reports, it is said when asked about the heartfelt concerns of Nevadans who oppose the monument, the President responded: ``I don't care. I want this done.'' Madam Speaker, I do care.

Mr. HARDY

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

Mr. HARDY. Mr. Chairman, I rise today to offer an amendment with my good friends from Arizona, California, Colorado, New Mexico, Oregon, and Utah to prohibit public land management agencies in this bill from making declarations under the Antiquities Act in counties where there is significant local opposition. Mr. Chairman, I would like to begin by stating my strong support for our Nation's public lands. As an active hunter and an outdoorsman, I marvel at the beauty of our landscapes, our unique flora, and the abundant animal species that roam our terrain. With that being said, I also come from Nevada, a State where roughly 85 percent of the land is controlled by the Federal Government. Addressing this concentration of land use decisionmaking power in the hands of Washington bureaucrats has been one of the strong motivating factors during my time in this body, as I am sure that it has been for many of my colleagues in the Western States. While this concentration is certainly a topic that should be addressed by the authorizing committees, I believe that we can and should take an important step here today. A recent prominent example demonstrating the need for this amendment is the administration's draft proclamation to establish the Basin and Range National Monument on more than 700,000 acres of land in Lincoln and Nye Counties in my district. Not only is the sheer size of the proposed monument staggering, being nearly as large as many of the Eastern States, it also poses some significant risks, both local and national in scope. Nevada's economy was one of the hardest hit by the Great Recession, and far too many in our State are still struggling to get by. Nevada's rural county economies are particularly sensitive, and any decision that restricts ranching, recreation, and types of land use activities should have much of the local input as possible. Earlier this year I spoke on the floor of the House about the national security implications of designating the Basin and Range, given that most of the acreage in the proposed monument falls directly under the airspace of the Nevada Test and Training Range, one of the most heavily used military operating areas, or MOAs, in the United States. Establishing this monument could drastically impair vital ground-based training activities tied to the NTTR. Mr. Chairman, I yield 1 minute to my colleague from Arizona (Mr. Gosar).