Kevin Kiley

Mr. KILEY of California

Mr. KILEY of California. Mr. Speaker, I would like to congratulate Blue Origin on successfully reaching orbit in the first flight of its New Glenn rocket. New Glenn is a 320-foot rocket that is taller than the Statute of Liberty. It has 7 engines, and it can carry 45 metric tons to low Earth orbit. According to a report from Blue Origin, in the flight that left at, I believe, 2:03 a.m. this morning, the first stage burned for more than 3 minutes before the second stage separated at an altitude of 70 kilometers. Then the report states the upper stage's two engines appeared to perform flawlessly, pushing what is called the Blue Ring Pathfinder payload toward orbit. This is an apparatus that is going to allow for the adjustment of other payloads that are in orbit and bring them into different orbits, adjusted orbits, from using that device. Apparently, it is now working properly and is registering data. So far so good is the report. It goes on to state that the engines burned for nearly 10 minutes before shutting down, having reached an orbital velocity of 28,800 kilometers per hour. As a spokesperson for Blue Origin states: ``The vehicle underpins our efforts to establish sustained human presence on the Moon, harness in- space resources, provide multi-mission, multi-orbit mobility through Blue Ring, and establish destinations in low Earth orbit. Future New Glenn missions will carry the Blue Moon Mark 1 cargo lander and the Mark 2 crewed lander to the Moon as part of NASA's Artemis program.'' We also have another launch scheduled in just a few hours. I believe this is flight seven for SpaceX's Starship which is the largest rocket ever built, the largest space vehicle ever built. I happened to have the chance to watch launch six which was truly an awe-inspiring experience. I wish them the best of luck today for flight seven. Both of these developments serve to underscore that we are living in a very exciting time where for decades we didn't see much progress when it came to space exploration. We now have a commercial space industry which has picked up the baton and pushed us towards new frontiers. In order to enable that, I have introduced the New Space Age Act which is designed to encourage and catalyze the growing commercial space industry by streamlining the process for getting launch approvals and getting the FAA out of the picture because they have tried to unnecessarily hold back progress. I think this will be a great piece of legislation to enhance America's competitive advantage. We are far outpacing the rest of the world right now when it comes to space and will facilitate many, many more flights in the future which have the capacity to not only enhance our national security and bring about further innovations but also to capture the imagination of Americans as well. Honoring the Life of Don Brewster

Mr. KILEY of California. Mr. Speaker, today I honor the life and legacy of Don Brewster, the cofounder of Agape International Missions, who sadly is no longer with us. As we reflect on the life that Don led, we also celebrate the inspiring 20-year legacy he built. After many years of service as an executive pastor at Adventure Christian Church in Roseville, California, Don and his wife, Bridget, visited Cambodia on a mission trip. When they returned home, they learned about the horrors of child sex trafficking in the country they had just visited. This led Don and Bridget Brewster to establish Agape International Missions, also known as AIM, to combat child sex trafficking. Don's heart wasn't just for girls to be rescued but to help them find true healing and to live in freedom. During Don's 20 years of leadership, AIM developed a holistic model to rescue, heal, and empower survivors of sex trafficking in Cambodia and beyond. With the help of dedicated partners and their mission, Don began a SWAT team to partner with local authorities in shutting down brothels and prosecuting traffickers. Beyond rescue, survivors received refuge and trauma-informed counseling at AIM's restorative homes, as well as access to education and vocational training through their employment center in Cambodia. Seeing the need to target the issue at the source, Don went on to establish prevention programs that have transformed communities and continue to protect future generations from ever knowing the horrors of sex trafficking. Don Brewster worked tirelessly to spread love and compassion wherever he went. We thank Don for the legacy he built and his devotion to the global fight against sex trafficking. As AIM moves into its 20-year anniversary, Agape International Missions will continue to spread Don's legacy and his transformative work. He had a heart for service that seemed to fill the world. Don Brewster will be deeply missed. Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. KILEY of California

Mr. KILEY of California. Mr. Speaker, I rise to stress the importance of providing prompt relief to the victims of the ongoing disaster and nightmare in Los Angeles. The relief measure should include direct support for rebuilding and recovery along with safeguards to assure that that support gets to victims as quickly and as efficaciously as possible. Mr. Speaker, there will also need to be a thoroughgoing Federal inquiry into the causes of this catastrophe and into political failures that enabled this catastrophe. We will need to use every tool that we have to inject some common sense into how California manages its forests and water supply, but that should not stand in the way of getting immediate relief to the victims. These folks have already paid an extraordinarily high price for the failures of their government, and they should not be punished again.

Mr. KILEY

Mr. KILEY. Mr. Speaker, I wish to commemorate the life of Anthony Pescetti, of Granite Bay, who passed away unexpectedly in early December. Anthony Pescetti lived a life of service. He was an elected member of the Sacramento Municipal Utility District, serving 7 years, from 1987 to 1994. Later, he served two terms in the California State Assembly, from 1998 to 2002. During his time in public service, Assembly Member Pescetti was well- regarded for the level of communication that he brought to the office and was considered fair and easy to approach. He took pride in listening and keeping in touch with his constituents, holding monthly breakfasts for the public in each community of his district. Assembly Member Pescetti was also an advocate for his district and secured various victories, such as for public safety and recreation, during his tenure. Assembly Member Pescetti followed his internal compass. He decided not to run for reelection in 2002, and after 4 years of training, he was ordained deacon with the Sacramento Catholic Diocese. He went on to serve at St. Mel Parish, St. Ignatius Loyola Parish, and later at Presentation Parish in Sacramento. Anthony loved people, and people loved him. He put a tremendous amount of work and effort toward his community to improve their quality of life. He also enjoyed his family life with his wife, Kathy, and their son and daughter, Anthony and Sarina. The world was a richer place with Anthony Pescetti, and we will sincerely miss him. Recognizing Chief Rick Bartee

Mr. KILEY. Mr. Speaker, I wish to recognize retiring Roseville Fire Department Chief Rick Bartee for his years of service in the Roseville area. Rick Bartee's devoted career of service to the Roseville community and his country has spanned over four decades, including the last 9 years as chief of the Roseville Fire Department. Chief Bartee's longstanding commitment to public safety goes back to the age of 18 when he first joined the fire service. He built a strong educational foundation, earning his bachelor's of applied science degree, studying public safety and emergency management at Grand Canyon University. Before embarking on his service to the city of Roseville, Chief Bartee had a decorated career in several capacities, including his over three decades of service for the Phoenix Fire Department. Over the course of his tenure, Chief Bartee conducted the duties of engineer, captain, battalion chief, shift commander, managing the Homeland Defense Bureau, deputy chief, and many others. Chief Bartee's dedication to public safety also went beyond his department and region. Throughout his time in the fire service, he also served on FEMA's urban search and rescue team. Chief Bartee was onsite at some of the most destructive disasters our country has seen, providing much-needed response and relief. He sifted through the rubble at Ground Zero after 9/11, responded to the Space Shuttle Columbia disaster, aided along the Gulf Coast after Hurricane Katrina, and responded to many other catastrophes during his service to the task force. He has demonstrated selflessness in his deployments, locating and extricating disaster victims. Chief Bartee's experience and scope of duties over his accomplished career, in conjunction with his devotion to service, enabled him to be an exemplary leader as chief of the Roseville Fire Department. Over the last 9 years, Chief Bartee has been steadfast in his leadership in overseeing 130 firefighters in the department. During his tenure as fire chief, Rick also performed the duties of Incident Support Team Leader of the FEMA Urban Search and Rescue Task Force. Chief Bartee's expertise in specialized training and disaster relief has truly brought invaluable knowledge and experience to the region. Chief Bartee's lifetime dedication to service and public safety will leave a longstanding legacy, as his selfless leadership will benefit the Roseville area for many, many years to come. The unwavering commitment to the public and leadership by example of people like Chief Rick Bartee ensures the Roseville area will remain a wonderful and safe place to live. Therefore, on behalf of the United States House of Representatives, it is a great honor and privilege to recognize Roseville Fire Chief Rick Bartee for his career in public service. I join the Roseville community in wishing him the very best in retirement. Optimism for California

Mr. KILEY of California

Mr. KILEY of California. Mr. Speaker, near the beginning of last year, I rose on the floor of this House to say a few words about my home State of California and how it was on potentially a path back to sanity, and how that opportunity lay ahead of us. The reason for that optimism was that there were two potential policy changes then being considered that could set our State on an entirely new course when it comes to the key issues of public safety and homelessness. California voters were about to consider Proposition 36, an initiative to make crime illegal again in California by largely reversing the disastrous proposition known as Prop 47. Then there was a case before the United States Supreme Court, which I wrote an amicus brief for, called the Grants Pass case that would potentially liberate our communities from a Ninth Circuit decision that made it virtually impossible for them to clear out homeless encampments. These two opportunities together presented a path back to law and order, sanity and livability in California, especially in our major cities. Of course, we were victorious on both counts. With respect to Prop 36, despite the Governor, the supermajority doing everything they possibly could to stop it from passing, California voters gave it a smashing victory, almost 70 percent of the vote, passing it in each and every one of California's 58 counties. The U.S. Supreme Court in the Grants Pass case overturned the Ninth Circuit's existing Boise decision and said that our communities once again have the ability to regulate encampments and to stop homeless from camping in our parks, on our sidewalks, around schools, and in our public spaces. I am very pleased at this point to be able to say that the prediction as to the potentially transformative nature of these changes that I made back then is turning out to be true. I want to cite just a few examples today of how the passage of Prop 36 and the decision in Grants Pass are already serving to turn California around. Here are just a few recent headlines. From KRON San Francisco: Fremont police credit Prop 36 for nine shoplifting arrests. CBS San Francisco: Petaluma theft suspects arrested, one with prior convictions subject to Prop 36 charges. KTLA-TV in Los Angeles: Man charged with drug possession now facing consequences of recently passed Prop 36. From the San Francisco Examiner: Shoplifter at Brawley Walmart faces jail because Prop 36 passed. KTLA-TV in Los Angeles: Southern California woman facing enhanced charges with Prop 36 now in effect. Victorville Daily Press: San Bernardino County theft suspects face potential increased penalties under Prop 36. KXTV Sacramento: Folsom police arrest 30 people in retail theft sting, including two with possible Prop 36. KRON, San Francisco: San Francisco DA files charges in city's first Prop 36 case. KXTV Sacramento: Crackdown on retail theft continues after passage of Prop 36. KCRA Sacramento: Yuba City police say man caught stealing packages will face felony charges, citing Prop 36. The list goes on and on. One sting operation resulted in 110 arrests of people who will now finally face consequences because crime is once again illegal in California. Keep in mind, the law has only been in effect now for a few weeks. There was even an example where there was dash cam footage of a suspect who had been arrested and then was surprised to learn that stealing was once again a felony in California and expressed dismay about these new laws. Let this serve as a public service announcement to potential thieves in California that crime is illegal once again in our State, and there will be consequences for criminal activity. On top of that, in the wake of the Grants Pass decision on homelessness, we have seen a number of communities actually start to clean up encampments and to reclaim their public spaces. For example, in Stockton, homeless under an overpass were given 72 hours' notice of a clearing and were notified they would be arrested if they refused to leave. In San Francisco, multiple clearings are now occurring every day. Much of the debris being removed, by the way, is either drugs or human waste. In San Jose, around 100 people were removed from the airport. In Santa Ana, homeless were cleared from private railroads, and five were arrested. It turns out the arrestees had prior convictions for drugs and murder. In L.A., 50 to 60 people were removed from a beach and healthcare workers arrived with police to assist with any medical issues the homeless were having. The benefits of this are twofold. Number one, it is restoring a sense of order to our public spaces so that people feel safe going there again, so they don't serve to spawn further criminal activity; and, number two, it is giving us an opportunity to get homeless individuals into shelters, get a roof over their heads, and get them the help that they need. With these two developments, with crime now being illegal again in California and with our communities reclaiming our public spaces, I am more optimistic about our State's future than I have been in a very long time. I can tell that the people of California are truly ready to move our State in a new direction. California Legislature Special Session

Mr. KILEY of California. Mr. Speaker, as we speak, the California legislature has gaveled in a special emergency session of its legislature. You might say, well, of course they have, L.A. is burning to the ground right now. However, it turns out that is not actually what this special session is about. No, no. The legislature has gaveled into a special session called by Gavin Newsom to provide millions of dollars in funding for filing lawsuits against the incoming Trump administration. That is what their priority is at this very moment. Mr. Speaker, there could not be a starker illustration of the abject political failure that has gotten our State to this point and that has served to bring about the horrifying scenes that the whole country is seeing on their television sets right now and that folks in Los Angeles are suffering through. I want to go over a few of the failures that have gotten us to this point, but I do want to say first that my prayers are with the people in L.A., the victims of this horrifying apocalyptic set of fires, with over 100,000 people under evacuation orders, with at least five--sadly, probably more--people who have lost their lives and their families, and with our firefighters and first responders who are working around the clock doing everything they possibly can to get this blaze under control. I am truly grateful for all of the communities in California and across the entire country that have come together to try to help the L.A. area in this hour of dire need. It is appreciated beyond measure, and I thank them. After we do manage to get the fire under control, there are going to be a lot of questions that need answering. Indeed, even though we don't know the specific cause of each fire, we can already identify the failures that we know have contributed to these conflagrations, these catastrophic events that have hit our communities time and time again. Our politicians have obsessed over things like banning lawnmowers, banning leaf blowers, all the while neglecting our forests and leaving our communities vulnerable. In fact, when it comes to the forests, it is worse than neglect. The State and, frankly, the Federal Government have put up unnecessary hurdles to doing proper forest management, to clearing vegetation, to doing prescribed burns, which has turned many of our forests and areas adjoining residential areas in many cases into tinderboxes and caused fires that have in many cases become truly catastrophic, community-destroying events, and we have seen it happen, sadly, time and time again. The perversity of it all is that these restrictions on being able to manage our forests--which have decimated the timber industry, by the way--are imposed in the name of the environment, but nothing could be worse for the environment than a catastrophic wildfire. Indeed, when you look at all of the emissions that are saved by every single emissions reduction program that California has, all of that gets wiped out many times over when you have a catastrophic wildfire, so there simply could not be a more backwards policy. In fact, last year, in the fall, a decision was made to halt prescribed burns. Now, we don't yet know if that would have made a difference here, but we do know that the lack of doing prescribed burns in a systematic, efficient, and timely way has contributed to this problem. To make matters worse, Governor Newsom, when he came into office, started claiming that he was doing forest management, but he wasn't telling the truth. An investigation by Capital Public Radio, the local NPR affiliate, found that Newsom had exaggerated the amount of forest management work that had been done, the number of acres treated, he had exaggerated that number by a staggering 690 percent. Our political leaders in California have allowed millions of acres to become overgrown and thereby left our communities in a vulnerable condition. Not only that their mismanagement of our water supply has, among other things, diminished our capacity to respond to wildfires. First of all, it has been decades since California has built significant new water storage, not since the State water project. Secondly, even the water that we do have, when it comes down, much of it gets diverted intentionally into the ocean, again, supposedly for environmental reasons. I can tell you that in 2023, when we had record storms in California, I visited the site of the Folsom Dam, and you had water cascading out of the dam, 10,000 cubic feet per second, almost all of it going eventually into the ocean. At that time, by the way, we had a flood emergency declared, of course. Yet, somehow we were also still under a drought emergency. Californians were told, you are not allowed to water your lawn. The legislature was passing draconian restrictions on indoor water use to 25, 30 gallons a day. Businesses were banned from having lawns in front of their property. In some parts of the State, you had to have a low-flow device for your shower head, and then they would punish you if you used too much water when you took a shower, if you didn't take a 5-minute shower. All the while, we are sending staggering amounts of water into the ocean, and we are failing to build the storage that would actually catch the water and preserve it for when we need it. Another example, relevant to the situation in L.A., the California Coastal Commission actually rejected the building of a desalination plant just a couple of years ago. California, over the course of many years, has, in a political way, chosen to allow its forests to become overgrown and to impose artificial scarcity on its water supply. At the same time, our State, and many of our municipalities, such as Los Angeles, have had completely backward priorities and have demonstrated a total failure of just basic competence when it comes to government performance and the provision of services. That was highlighted very clearly in this case. When you had the Los Angeles Fire Department telling the city, do not deprive us of our funding. Yet, the city decided to do it anyway. The fire department said that the reduction in funding would severely limit the department's capacity to prepare for, train for, and respond to large- scale emergencies. As the city council, the mayor, were deciding not to fully fund the fire department, they had plenty of time for things like passing a resolution reaffirming Los Angeles as a sanctuary city. It was already a sanctuary city. It is already a sanctuary State, but they decided that was their priority, not to prepare for the risk of wildfire, not to fully fund the fire department, but to pass another resolution making itself a sanctuary city, yet again. We will be learning more, I expect, about how it possibly could be that we have fire hydrants that are not working, that water isn't coming out of them, and how we didn't have the necessary personnel on hand despite the high wind conditions. It serves to underline on the one hand the misguided priorities, and on the other, the lack of basic competence. Additionally, Los Angeles and California, more generally, have continued to lead the Nation in homelessness. California has roughly half the unsheltered homeless in the United States. There is a whole host of reasons that this is not a good thing, but one of them is that encampments tend to lead to a lot of fires. In fact, in just one year, in 2023 alone, there were almost 14,000 fires related to homelessness. Again, we don't yet know exactly what caused the set of fires that are still ongoing, but we do know that this city has been as bad as any in terms of letting homelessness proliferate, allowing encampments to go unchecked, and, thereby, creating more dangerous conditions for its residents because of the risk of fire. Finally, Mr. Speaker, I will point out that California has an insurance crisis that has been growing and growing and growing, year after year after year, and our State's political leaders have simply allowed it to happen. They have done not nearly enough to mitigate the risk of fire that is the underlying cause of the increased rates. They have done essentially nothing until recently to stabilize the situation, to stabilize the markets. As a result, you have insurers that have now pulled out of the State entirely, and millions of people are losing coverage. In my district, we have whole communities where everyone has lost coverage, and they are kicked to the California FAIR Plan, forced to pay three times as much, four times as much, five times as much as they were paying before. The FAIR Plan is now on the verge of collapse, accounting for the absolutely catastrophic losses that we are seeing in Los Angeles. Mr. Speaker, what is happening and is still ongoing, sadly, in Los Angeles is a truly unimaginable tragedy in terms of the images that we are seeing, in terms of the dislocation that it is causing. I expect that we will learn that, at least to an extent, it was an avoidable one. This should serve as a major wake-up call that our State needs to start doing things differently, that we need to get back to basics. We need to get back to basics in California: Build our roads; manage our forests; store our water; maintain our grid; fund our police and our fire departments; do the things government is supposed to do, do them well, and do nothing else. If we can get back to basics as a State, then we can stop catastrophes like this from happening in the future. Perhaps someday, in the not too distant future, we can start leading the Nation in the right ways again. Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. KILEY

Mr. KILEY. Mr. Speaker, I move that the House do now adjourn.

Mr. KILEY

Mr. KILEY. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of the Never Again Education Reauthorization Act of 2023, a bill of which I am a cosponsor. For years now at college campuses, we have seen an alarming rise in anti-Semitism that in far too many cases was allowed by university faculty administration, sometimes even encouraged. Even though this trend has been years in the making, nothing could have prepared us for the horrifying scenes that we have seen over the last year, ever since the attack of October 7 where these tendencies and this rise in anti-Semitism came out into the open. We saw scenes unlike anything we ever thought we would see in this country. You had students setting up checkpoints on campuses and saying that if you are a Jewish student, you are not allowed to pass. You had encampments set up for the specific purpose of harassing Jewish students and extracting anti-Semitic concessions from faculty that in some cases were, in fact, agreed to. Our committee, the Education and the Workforce Committee, began an investigation into these incidents. We brought in university presidents, some of whom are now former university presidents. We heard from students who lived through this horror and who no longer feel safe on their own campuses. This culminated in a report that laid out exactly what has been going on at campuses across this country. This alarming normalization of anti-Semitism in higher education must not continue. It demands swift, decisive action, and the Never Again Education Act responds to this crisis. The bill reauthorizes funding for the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum to develop and distribute educational resources on the Holocaust, how it happened, and why it must never happen again. These tools equip educators to combat prejudice, apathy, and complicity. It empowers students to recognize anti-Semitism, reject its resurgence, and to see an echo of our most painful history when it occurs. By passing this legislation, we will assure that ignorance does not prevail, and I encourage a strong bipartisan vote to assure that it is passed into law.

Mr. KILEY

Mr. KILEY. Mr. Speaker, I am truly grateful that today the House is taking up my legislation to honor a truly extraordinary constituent of mine whom we lost earlier this year. My bill would rename the Auburn VA facility after Grass Valley resident and World War II veteran Lieutenant Commander Lou Conter. It is notable that in order to advance this legislation, we actually had to get the signatures of each and every member of the California congressional House delegation. That is 52 people who came together and all signed on to this bill. I think it speaks to what a true American hero Lou Conter was. He was, in fact, the last survivor of the attack on the USS Arizona during Pearl Harbor. On that fateful day in 1941, Commander Conter heroically evacuated shipmates who were blinded, wounded, or burned, even restraining some of his fellow shipmates from jumping overboard into the burning sea. Then, on the day after the attack, he helped in recovering bodies and putting out fires. Lou Conter's heroic actions saved the lives of many of his shipmates. Not only that, but he also continued to serve our country for decades following Pearl Harbor. He flew over 200 combat missions. On one of those missions, Commander Conter would be awarded with the Distinguished Flying Cross for actively taking part in the rescue of 219 Australians trapped by Japanese troops in New Guinea. He later served in the Korean war and retired from the Navy in 1967 after 23 years as a lieutenant commander. He resided in Grass Valley, California, until his death earlier this year at the age of 102. Lieutenant Commander Conter dedicated his life to the service of others and sacrifice for our country. His courage, along with that of so many from the Greatest Generation, has left an indelible mark on our country and defined our national character in so many ways. Following his passing this last April, there really could be no better way to honor Lieutenant Commander Conter and his enduring legacy than naming a veterans healthcare facility in his honor. Mr. Speaker, I thank Chairman Bost for his work on this legislation as well, and I look forward to seeing it pass with unanimous bipartisan support.

Mr. KILEY

Mr. KILEY. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to congratulate California State officials, as tomorrow is the big day when the State's election results will be certified--tomorrow, December 13. Of course, I say this in jest. There is absolutely no congratulations in order for finalizing election results 5 weeks after the election. Because of California's glacial pace of counting votes, several races for Congress and the State legislature remain unresolved weeks following the November 5 election, not to mention countless local races--city council, school board, board of supervisors. Candidates had to wait in torturous suspense, unable to effectively begin a transition if they were on their way in or make plans for another job if they were on their way out. Just to give you a sense of what folks who are waiting on election results had to go through, they would have to wait for these batches of votes to be unveiled maybe once a week, maybe twice a week, maybe three times a week, depending on the county, maybe hundreds of votes at a time. Then you had to ask: What kinds of votes is it that are being counted right now? Is it the late absentee votes? Is it the voting center votes? Is it the drop box votes? Is it the provisional ballots? Is it conditional ballots? Is it cured ballots? What do I mean by cured ballots? Well, you are familiar with precinct walking where you go out and knock on doors to try to convince people to vote for you. In California, that actually happens after the election, as well, because if signatures are deemed not to match the voter file, then there is an added amount of time to submit a new signature to cure your ballot. People actually go door to door saying that we need to get you to sign again to cure this ballot. California also allows for votes that arrive at elections offices to be counted up to a week after the election. Folks who are on the ballot and their families and their supporters and everyone else are watching this process with tabs left open on their computer for different counties, having to wait to find out whether they have won or lost their race. The implications go much further than those who are on the ballot because for a time, the entire balance of power here in Washington was left in doubt with control of the House of Representatives in doubt because of California's extremely slow vote counting. Imagine if California were a swing State. The Presidential election could remain undecided for a month after election day. We could relive the 2000 recount experience every single election. Adding to the absurdity, the California State Legislature actually began its new session, swearing in new Members on December 2. These are both in State law. We are going to swear in our new Members on December 2, but we are going to finish counting votes on December 13. This farce has made California a national laughingstock. It is one thing to fail at basic governance tasks like building roads, storing water, or keeping the lights on. We should at least be able to expect our government to conduct the elementary arithmetic of tallying ballots on which democracy depends. As this process dragged on over the last several weeks, you had elections experts and people on all parts of the political spectrum calling for reform in California. For example, one left-leaning election analyst said this. He said: I always vote straight ticket Democrat, but I will actually vote for any Secretary of State candidate, red or blue, who promises to streamline the election process in California and facilitates getting our ballots counted and reported faster. I am so done, he said, adding that the tabulation process is a joke. I am working with Congressman Jay Obernolte to set clear deadlines for counting votes. For example, 90 percent have to be counted within 3 days of the election. This will force State officials to make the necessary changes to meet those deadlines in a way that every other State, by the way, has already done. All 49 other States, red or blue, managed to count their votes much faster and more confidently than California. This is a necessary change to restore trust in our election process, and I look forward to getting this legislation passed and signed into law in time for the 2026 election. Ending Federal Funding for California's High-Speed Rail Project

Mr. KILEY. Mr. Speaker, this week I announced legislation to end all Federal funding for California's high-speed rail project. This bill will make the project ineligible to receive any Federal funding going forward. Simply put, it is time to stop throwing good money after bad. Currently, there remains a $100 billion funding shortfall for the train. This is in the estimation of the High-Speed Rail Authority's own officials. There is no viable plan for making up this gap other than continuing to demand it from taxpayers. There is simply no way to justify further expense to State or Federal taxpayers when even The New York Times reports that the project isn't on track to be completed this century. Not on track to be completed this century. The billions in Federal funding that have gone to the nonexistent train is all the worse, considering the condition of California's roads and other transportation infrastructure which rank among the very worst in the country. Once we have high-speed rail off the table, we will be able to focus on our real transportation needs when it comes to Federal funds. We can also abandon the pretense that this is somehow a high-tech, inspirational, visionary enterprise. The reality is that even if the train were to magically spring into existence at this very moment, it would fail to impress. As we speak, Waymo is providing thousands upon thousands of driverless rides every week in Los Angeles and San Francisco. Tesla has autopilot and self-driving software deployed on millions of vehicles. When it comes to trains, China is working on one that they expect to be completed this decade that will go 1,000 kilometers per hour. That is three times longer than California's high-speed rail is supposed to go. We need to stop pretending that the technology of 1990s is somehow futuristic, but we need to plan for the future that truly awaits us. In the meantime, we need to spend tax dollars on things that will actually benefit taxpayers, like drivable roads. That is why I am introducing this legislation to end California's high-speed rail disaster once and for all. Honoring the Life and Years of Service of Colonel Joseph Peterburs

Mr. KILEY. Mr. Speaker, I wish to honor and congratulate Colonel Joseph Peterburs, a decorated veteran in Placer County, on his 100th birthday. The great American Founding Father, Benjamin Franklin, wrote: ``Freedom is not a gift bestowed upon us by other men but is a right that belongs to us by the laws of God and nature.'' The life and actions of Colonel Peterburs not only illustrates the longing for freedom but the dedication of service and sacrifice required to maintain it. Colonel Peterburs began his service to the defense of the United States as a pilot in World War II. During his deployment in Europe, he was tasked with escorting B-17 bombers and protecting them against enemy aircraft. During World War II, he flew an astounding 49 missions with 269 combat hours. On April 10, 1945, Colonel Peterburs had to bail out of his aircraft at 300 feet during an air battle. He was burned and injured, then captured and placed in a Nazi prisoner of war camp. Overcoming unimaginable adversity, Colonel Peterburs escaped as the camp was being evacuated by the Germans. He and other escapees temporarily joined a Russian tank unit before being reunited with American Forces. After World War II, he continued his service to the United States by contributing to the country's defense during the Cold War. Throughout this period, Colonel Peterburs served in Korea, Vietnam, and Europe. Highly decorated, Colonel Peterburs was awarded the Legion of Merit, the Distinguished Flying Cross, the POW Medal, the Purple Heart, and many other medals and decorations. He is highly respected by his family and members in the community for his courage, resilience, and selflessness. It is a true honor to represent heroes like Colonel Peterburs in Congress. He is a living testament to the American spirit, patriotism, and embodies the sacrifices made by those who have served our country. Therefore, on behalf of the United States House of Representatives, I am honored to celebrate Colonel Joe Peterburs not only for his centennial birthday but also for the life he has led in years of service to the United States of America and its citizens. Honoring Outgoing Roseville City Councilmember Scott Alvord

Mr. KILEY. Mr. Speaker, I wish to recognize outgoing Roseville City Councilmember Scott Alvord for his years of devoted service to the Roseville area community. Councilmember Alvord has been a leader in the local business community for nearly four decades and has served the Roosevelt City Council for the last 8 years. Councilmember Alvord earned his bachelor's degree in computer science at Pacific Union College and went on to earn a master's degree in business administration from California State University, Sacramento. While an undergraduate, he founded Advanced Development Concepts, LLC, a business consulting company which is headquartered in Roseville. Prior to his service on the Roseville City Council, Scott represented the local business community by serving as president of the Downtown Roseville Merchants for nearly a decade. Councilmember Alvord's business expertise and devotion to service proved essential in his advocacy for the revitalization of downtown Roseville, as his leadership prompted integrating infrastructure into the area, allowing for economic and recreational growth and prosperity. This experience, alongside his time as a city councilmember, helped Scott Alvord impart his knowledge to the next generation of business students as an adjunct business professor at Jessup University. In his tenure as city councilmember, Scott Alvord was steadfast in his commitment to public safety. His efforts to support full staffing of both Roseville's Police and Fire Departments were accomplished in conjunction with his vital work in the development of Roseville Fire Station 8 and expanding the Roosevelt Police beat. Additionally, Scott promoted regional recreation and well-being. He facilitated the introduction of 25 new parks, enabling greater health, recreation, and leisure for the community. During the COVID-19 pandemic, Councilmember Alvord established the Roosevelt Volunteer Force where he assembled and mobilized over 2,000 volunteers who selflessly heeded the call of hundreds of service requests from those in need. It is because of the leadership and example of people like Scott Alvord that Roosevelt remains such a great place to live, work, raise a family, and retire. Scott Alvord's commitment to service in Roosevelt leaves a well- established legacy as his influence provides enduring support to the region. Therefore, on behalf of the United States House of Representatives, it is an honor and privilege to acknowledge Roseville City Councilmember Scott Alvord for his career in public service, and I join the people of Roseville in wishing Scott the very best in his next chapter. Recognizing Nevada County Supervisor Ed Scofield

Mr. KILEY. Mr. Speaker, I wish to recognize the retiring Nevada County Supervisor for District 2, Ed Scofield, for his lifelong commitment to service to Nevada County. Ed was born and raised in Grass Valley, graduating from Nevada Union High School and Sierra College, and has been devoted to serving the region for the past five decades. In 1975, Ed began his career in public service in the city of Grass Valley when he was elected to the city council. In 1982, he began his tenure as CEO of Nevada County Fairgrounds, a position he held for 26 years. Ed's leadership was felt in the region as he helped the fairgrounds to become visible as one of the top ten outstanding rural fairs in the United States. He served as president of the Western Fairs Association in 1996 and was later inducted into Western Fair's Hall of Fame in 2004 and the Nevada County Fair's Hall of Fame in 2009. Ed served as a community leader in several other significant roles, building teamwork and promoting positive recreation of the youth in the region as president of the Grass Valley Little League, engaging with the business community as a former president of the Grass Valley/Nevada Chamber of Commerce, and putting service above self as a president and leader of the Rotary Club of Grass Valley South. Ed was elected to the Nevada County Board of Supervisors in 2008, further exemplifying his dedication to public service. Supervisor Scofield consistently exhibited thorough fiscal responsibility in his supervisorial duties of financial reporting and budget allocation for the entire county. Ed was an advocate for the housing and business industry within the region and also focused on transportation by supporting improvements for the Highway 49 corridor and for his entire district. Moreover, throughout Supervisor Scofield's tenure on the board, he served on the California State Association of Counties as Nevada County's representative, taking on a role of fiscal leadership by serving as the treasurer on its executive committee. The lifelong commitment to service and leadership of inspirational individuals like Supervisor Ed Scofield ensures that Nevada County is an amazing place to live, to work, to raise a family, and to retire. The impressive legacy Ed built in his career will be felt for years and will continue to benefit Nevada County. Therefore, on behalf of the United States House of Representatives, it is an honor to recognize Supervisor Ed Scofield for his life of service to the people of Nevada County, and it is a privilege to join the Grass Valley area in sending him my best wishes for a happy retirement. Congratulating Google Quantum AI

Mr. KILEY. Mr. Speaker, I wish to congratulate Google Quantum AI on an astonishing accomplishment in the field of quantum computing. Its new Willow chip performed a computation that is truly mind-boggling, that is otherworldly, literally otherworldly, according to some. On the performance benchmark known as random circuit sampling, it performed a computation in under 5 minutes that would take one of today's fastest supercomputers 10 to-the-25th years. That is 10 septillion years. You can see the number here, 10, followed by 25 zeros, years. By the way, that is way longer than the age of the universe. That is how long it would take one of today's fastest supercomputers to perform the calculation that the Willow chip did in 5 minutes. The chip was built in California in Santa Barbara as part of Google Quantum AI's goal of: Building a useful, large-scale quantum computer that can harness quantum mechanics--the operating system of nature--to benefit society by scientific discovery, developing helpful applications, and tackling some of society's greatest changes. How do they do it? The key breakthrough here was something known as exponential quantum error correction. One of the major challenges to making a viable quantum computer has been the issue of errors, which occur when the units of computation, known as qubits, exchange information with their environments and that contaminates the information that is actually needed for a computation. The problem with building a quantum computer is that when you add more qubits, you get more errors and you lose the special quantum quality that can be so powerful if properly harnessed. What is truly amazing about the Willow system is that the opposite has occurred. The more qubits that are used, the fewer errors there are. Indeed, as the grid of qubits scaled up in tests, there was actually an exponential decline in errors. This breakthrough has brought practical applications of quantum computing within sight. It has been recognized for some time now that probably the two most world-changing technologies in development right now are AI and quantum computing, but they have sort of been proceeding at a different pace, at a different level of visibility. AI is already transforming the world around us. We have hundreds of millions of people around the world using LLM, chatbots, and other systems. We have AI-powered driverless cars and countless other applications. We have new releases from the leading labs every day. Indeed, Google released several new offerings just in the last few days when it comes to AI and Gemini, which is its LLM. ChatGPT, or OpenAI, is in the middle of a 12 days of Christmas, where they do a new release every day. People can see the progress that is happening with AI before our eyes. Whereas the work in quantum computing has been done in labs in Santa Barbara, what they call the coldest place in the world because of the conditions they have to have there to try to make advances and to perform tests. We haven't yet reached the stage of practical application, but that could be changing soon. Indeed, you could start to see where these two fields, quantum computing and AI, intersect in truly spectacular ways. I was intrigued by the words of Hartmut Neven, who is the founder of Google Quantum AI and actually worked in AI before. He was asked why it is that he changed fields. He said this: My answer is that both will prove to be the most transformational technologies of our time, but advanced AI will significantly benefit from access to quantum computing, noting that quantum algorithms have fundamental scaling laws on their side and this allows for the modeling of systems where quantum effects are important. Some of the applications that he cites are helping us to discover new medicines, designing more efficient batteries, and accelerating progress in fusion and new energy alternatives. I think that this is important, for those of us who are here in Congress making policy, to be mindful of extraordinary developments like this because we need to be attending not just to the needs of the present but also thinking about the future. Based on exciting developments like the one Google Quantum AI has just announced, there is every reason to expect that the future may look very different in many ways than it does right now. It behooves all of us to start thinking about how we start to prepare for it. Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. KILEY

Mr. KILEY. Mr. Speaker, I am very happy to report that the newly formed Department of Government Efficiency has homed in on perhaps the single-greatest example of government waste in United States history, and that is California's high-speed rail boondoggle. Here are the facts that the DOGE X handle cited, all of which are true. The high-speed rail project was originally projected in 2008 to cost $33 billion. It is now projected to cost up to $127.9 billion. Its estimated completion date was 2020. Of course, we are past 2020 now. As of 2024, zero passengers have been transported. Indeed, the majority of the system has not even been fully designed, yet it has received $6.8 billion in Federal funds, and they are requesting an additional $8 billion in Federal funds. In short, the cost has quadrupled, and nothing has been built. Actually, I am being a little bit unfair. There was an announcement earlier this year in May where the High-Speed Rail Authority, which really has to strain to come up with milestones to advertise to the public--there was a lot of hoopla surrounding the unveiling of an $11 billion bridge to nowhere that took 9 years to build, which is about the only thing that the High-Speed Rail Authority has to show for its efforts over the last 16 years. A few years ago, The New York Times did an expose, reporting that at the current pace, the high-speed rail project will not be completed this century. I actually asked Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg whether he agreed with The New York Times' assessment. He said that, yes, it will be completed this century, although I gave him several opportunities to give his own estimation of when it will be completed and he declined to do so. To give you a sense of how bad things are, in the early days of the project, the lead operator abandoned the project to go build a rail system in North Africa because they said that it was less politically dysfunctional there than in California. That operator, by the way, brought a high-speed train online in Morocco in 2018. High-speed trains are not impossible to build. Californians and Americans travel abroad, and they ride them. They ask why we can't have them here. It is just impossible in California because of stratospheric levels of political incompetence. Indeed, the head of the California High-Speed Rail Authority testified last year that the project is $100 billion short in funding. In spite of all the billions that have been poured in by California taxpayers and through Federal support, there is still a funding gap of $100 billion. This was the former head of the California High-Speed Rail Authority because they have since gotten a new one, and they are now up to five CEOs throughout the life of the project. The number of CEOs outnumber the number of passengers five to zero. What are some of the things that some of these past leaders of the high-speed rail project have had to say about it? Well, you can ask Michael Tennenbaum, who was the first chairman of the California High- Speed Rail Authority. He said, ``I realized the system didn't work. . . . I don't know how they can build it now.'' There is also Dan Richard, the longest serving chairman of the California High-Speed Rail Authority, who said, ``I don't think it is an existing project. It is a loser.'' Rich Tolmach, the head of the California Rail Foundation, said, ``It will never be operable.'' Former Governor of California Jerry Brown, perhaps the biggest supporter of the project, has derided opponents of the train as small- minded people, but this is an incredibly small-minded project. In fact, it is a nonexistent project at this point in time. Even if built, even if the high-speed train magically materializes by the end of the decade, it will still be yesterday's technology. China, right now, is working on a train that they are planning to complete by the end of the decade that will go up to a 1,000 kilometers per hour. At this point, it is past time to stop throwing good money after bad. We should end all Federal support for the high-speed rail project because that Federal support is keeping the project on life support, and is then forcing California taxpayers to continue to pay billions and billions of dollars more. Meanwhile, our roads are among the very worst in the country despite us paying the highest taxes in the country. That is the very definition, by the way, of inefficiency, when you pay the most and get the least in return. The high-speed rail, in short, is a staggering waste of taxpayer dollars that fails to meet the transportation needs of either today or tomorrow. I look forward to working with the new DOGE commission and my colleagues here in the House to see that we bring this boondoggle to an end once and for all. Protecting California's Values

Mr. KILEY. Mr. Speaker, this last week, California Governor Gavin Newsom called a special emergency session of the legislature for the purpose of Trump proofing California or protecting California values. There is a question of whether this session is even legal given that the State constitution allows for a special session to be called under extraordinary circumstances, and you might wonder whether the result of a dually conducted Presidential election could truly constitute extraordinary circumstance. More than that, it is clearly a farce despite the Governor's claims that this is an emergency situation. It was such an emergency that they gaveled in for about an hour and then went home for a month without passing any legislation. We should just examine the Governor's claim that we need to protect California values, protect the status quo in California against any forces of reform that may be coming from Washington, D.C. What exactly is the Governor aiming to protect? Is it California's national lead when it comes to homelessness, the fact we have half the unsheltered homeless in the entire country? Is that what Governor Newsom is aiming to protect? Is it our poverty rate that is the highest in the Nation? Is he looking to protect our lead when it comes to poverty? When it comes to retail crime, does he want to maintain the number one record for the worst retail crime in the country? Does he want to maintain the number one spot when it comes to antibusiness regulations, or when it comes to frivolous lawsuits, or when it comes to unemployment. Actually, we are now only the second worst in the country when it comes to unemployment, so perhaps his protective measures are aiming to get us back in the lead. Is he looking to protect our standing as the worst State in the country when it comes to an increase in wages--wages have stagnated in California more than any State in the country--or when it comes to restrictions on workers and the right to earn a living? Is he looking to make sure that California maintains its lead in gas prices, well above the price of gas in any of the other 49 States? Well, we know he is looking to do that because his own car board just passed regulations that are going to raise gas prices about 60 cents a gallon more. Is he looking to protect our standing as number two in the country in housing costs; number two in the country in water bills; number three in the country in energy and electricity costs; number three in the country in inequality; number one in the country when it comes to income taxes? He certainly wants to protect California's lead in that respect. Does he want to protect our budget deficit which was reported last year as number one in the country; or our standing third in the country in road disrepair; or maybe it is the fact that California has the highest illiteracy rate in the entire country? Perhaps that is the value that Governor Newsom is aiming to protect. Or relatedly, the fact that we are second out of the 50 States when it comes to educational inequity. If we were still in the COVID days, he would certainly be looking to protect our national lead when it came to school shutdowns, business shutdowns, and COVID mandates. We know that he is looking to protect our national lead when it comes to illegal border crossings for the first time since the nineties. Over the last year, the highest level of illegal border crossings have been in the San Diego border sector because he stood by California's standing as a sanctuary State. When it comes to funding for illegal immigrants, surely he is looking to protect our lead there as California is the only State in the country that is offering free Medicaid to those who are here unlawfully. Most certainly we know the Governor is looking to extend California's four-peat in leading the Nation in one-way U-Haul rentals and is looking through his protective special session, I am sure, to make that a five-peat. No, Mr. Speaker, California values, as Governor Newsom envisions them, do not need protecting, and I would argue they are not actually the values of Californians. What we are seeing happen in our State is that Californians themselves are looking to Newsom-proof California. That has been happening in my district for quite some time where we have developed a different model; where we support law enforcement, where we support small businesses, and where we believe in respecting the personal decisions of folks in our community. As a result, we are one of the few areas of the State that people are actually moving to. By all of these metrics that I just mentioned, we are doing much better than the State as a whole. However, we are seeing Newsom-proofing measures taking hold, not just in my district, but across California. For evidence of this, look at the overwhelming passage of Prop 36 on the ballot this November. This was a measure to make crime illegal again in California. It largely rolled back the notorious Proposition 47. Gavin Newsom, and I might add the leaders of the supermajority in the legislature, fought it every step of the way. He concocted several schemes to un-Democratically remove it from the ballot even after it qualified through a citizen petition process. Then he led the ``no'' on Prop 36 campaign. Yet, at the end of the day, it passed in an overwhelming victory, nearly 70 percent of the vote, an overwhelming majority: Democrats, Republicans, and Independents. It passed in all 58 counties, wasn't close anywhere, even passed in Newsom's hometown of San Francisco. Mr. Speaker, California is now on a path back to sanity, and I have great hope for the future of our State. Frankly, I think that the Governor's attempts to get himself in the headlines and whatever theatrics may be coming are not going to stand in our way of getting our State moving in the right direction. Recognizing Michael Lee

Mr. KILEY. Mr. Speaker, I wish to recognize retiring Placer County Water Agency Board Member Michael R. Lee for his more than 40 years of dedicated public service. Mr. Lee began his career in government in 1972 at just 27 years of age. He served as a Placer County board supervisor for 16 years before moving into his role as director of the Placer County Water Agency where he served for 27 years. Not only did Mr. Lee work as a government official, but he also owned and operated his own businesses, including the Villa Market and the Loomis Travel Agency. He demonstrated his unwavering commitment to the community by serving in a variety of local, regional, and national organizations, boards, and commissions, including the Loomis Chamber of Commerce, South Placer Heritage Foundation, Sierra Planning Council, and the National Association of Counties to name a few. Throughout his career, he played a pivotal role in improving transportation, law enforcement, fire protection, water resources, and community welfare programs in the region. Mr. Lee achieved a wide diversity of accomplishments to improve the quality of life and experiences for the residents, businesses, and visitors of Placer County. One particularly noteworthy accomplishment was his leadership in the development of the Twelve Bridges project and expansion of the corresponding PCWA canal system for this new community. His efforts with this project significantly contributed to the vibrancy and transformation of the city of Lincoln. It is because of the devoted efforts of people like Mike Lee that Placer County is such a great place to live, work, and to raise a family. As a pillar in our communities, he is known by others as one who exhibits diligence, honor, integrity, thoughtfulness, and wisdom in his work, and an unwavering commitment to the people of Placer County. I am confident that Mr. Lee's exceptional contributions to the community, local business, and local government, and the legacy he built within those spheres will continue to benefit the county for many years to come. Therefore, on behalf of the United States House of Representatives, I am honored to recognize Mr. Michael Lee for his four decades of dedicated leadership, and I join the Placer community in wishing him the very best in his retirement. Roseville Boy Scout Troop 11 100-Year Anniversary

Mr. KILEY. Mr. Speaker, I wish to mark and celebrate the 100-year anniversary of Boy Scout Troop 11, located in Roseville, California. Troop 11 was first chartered in 1924 by American Legion Post 169, and it is the oldest continuing Boy Scout troop in Roseville. It is a scout-run, leader-mentored, and parent-supported troop that focuses on personal growth, leadership development, and community outreach. One core tenet of Troop 11 is the ``good turn'' concept, which helps Scouts grow as they participate in community service projects and provide acts of good and kindness toward others. Troop 11 is involved in a variety of local projects, including giving aid during times of emergency, hosting community events such as pancake breakfasts and the crab and spaghetti feeds, as well as retiring worn U.S. flags to name a few. Groups like Boy Scout Troop 11 play an integral role in developing self-reliance and community building, preparing the youth who participate to become the leaders of tomorrow. Their commitment to excellence of character and tenacity to build a better world is inspiring to all those around them. Therefore, on behalf of the United States House of Representatives, I am honored to recognize Roseville Boy Scout Troop 11 for reaching this significant milestone, their centennial celebration. Recognizing Elaine Andersen

Mr. KILEY. Mr. Speaker, I wish to recognize retiring Folsom City Manager Elaine Andersen for her years of dedication to serving the Folsom community. Elaine's career to public service to the people of Folsom, the Sacramento area, and the State of California spans over three decades, while serving as Folsom city manager for the last 6 years. Prior to her service to the city of Folsom, Elaine Andersen enjoyed an eminent career in numerous roles working for the city of Sacramento and the State of California, as well as in public affairs, specializing in legislative projects for the private sector. She began her nearly 20 years of service in the city of Folsom as a special projects manager and would go on to dutifully serve in a wide array of roles as acting director for various departments, deputy city manager, and assistant city manager, all of which contributed to the prosperity of the Folsom community. Elaine's commitment to public service was fostered in her studies as she received her bachelor of arts degree in political science from the University of California, Berkeley. Elaine's experience and knowledge combined with her love for the city of Folsom enabled her to excel in her tenure as Folsom city manager. She demonstrated exceptional leadership managing a staff of over 400 workers across multiple departments and an annual budget exceeding $250 million. She successfully helped facilitate the development and construction of Fire Station 34, improving the public safety of the region, as well as the beautiful Prospector Park to promote public recreation and well- being. Elaine's ability to collaborate with multiple facets of the community, including local businesses, city council, and the hundreds of staff she leads ensured that Folsom remains a great place to live, raise a family, and conduct business. Elaine has also been successful in securing Folsom City Council's adoption of the first strategic plan in many years. This plan established guidelines for the city to ensure a continued commitment to financial stability and sustainability, public safety and infrastructure, economic and community development, and organizational effectiveness to best prepare for the future while seizing current opportunities. Elaine Andersen has truly embodied what it means to be a public servant. I am certain her life's work of service to her community will leave a longstanding legacy as her impact will benefit the region for years to come. Therefore, on behalf of the United States House of Representatives, it is an honor and a privilege to acknowledge Folsom City Manager Elaine Andersen for her career of exemplary leadership and public service. I join the Folsom community in wishing her the very best in her retirement. Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. KILEY

Mr. KILEY. Madam Speaker, today, I am announcing new legislation that is of great importance to the future of space exploration. My bill will elevate the Office of Commercial Space Transportation as an independent entity within the Department of Transportation. It will remove it from the jurisdiction and the auspices of the FAA, the Federal Aviation Administration. This is actually the way the office was originally set up when it was created in 1984, but in the mid-nineties, it was folded into the FAA. That was never a good fit. It was never really what the FAA was designed to do, and the commercial space industry is a dramatically different enterprise today than it was in the mid-nineties, than it even was just a few years ago. This is a commonsense reform that, in fact, has been endorsed by the FAA's own Commercial Space Transportation Advisory Committee, which unanimously recommended removing the Office of Commercial Space Transportation from the FAA and making it its own independent entity that reports directly to the Secretary of the Department of Transportation. This will remove a layer of bureaucracy that has proven to be very problematic when it comes to innovation in space. It was underscored very dramatically just last month when the world witnessed the extraordinary scene captured in this photograph, when the launch of flight 5 for SpaceX's Starship, which is the most powerful rocket ever built, resulted in the booster being returned to the launch site and being caught in this tower without the use of landing legs or anything like that, using the Mechazilla chopstick arms. This booster, by the way, has 33 of what are called Raptor engines. Each one of those 33 engines has twice as much thrust as the engines of a Boeing 747. It is truly an awe-inspiring amount of force, and the scale and power of this space vehicle is truly unprecedented. The feat that was accomplished in flight 5 was something that folks didn't even think was possible. By the way, I had the chance to go to flight 6 earlier this week, which was another very successful test for SpaceX and truly something that was remarkable to witness in person. However, this amazing scene almost didn't happen, or at least wouldn't have happened when it did, because the FAA had tried to hold back the launch. The FAA had come out and said that it was going to depart from the previously announced timeline and was going to delay the launch by months for no good reason at all. I cross-examined the FAA Administrator about this myself, and he could provide no good reason, certainly no public safety reason, for delaying the launch. He, in fact, came up with bogus reasons that were quickly debunked as false. Thankfully, the FAA did finally come around and allowed the launch to move forward, but if those initial delays had been allowed to stick, then both flight 5 and flight 6 wouldn't have happened by now. This all just goes to underscore that the FAA really should not be involved in these matters. With my legislation, we will get them out of the picture. The Office of Commercial Space Transportation would be housed as an independent entity within the Department of Transportation. The fact is it should not be more difficult to get the paperwork approved for a launch than it is to actually build and launch the rocket. This is worth putting in perspective because, in spite of the fact that we have had a redundant and, at times, hostile regulatory regime, we have seen incredible progress in the commercial space industry, in particular by SpaceX, which has given the United States a position of dominance when it comes to space. In fact, SpaceX, this one company, accounts for well over 90 percent of the mass that is launched into orbit around the world. In fact, just in the last 48 hours, SpaceX has had four different launches from not just Texas, where Starship was launched, but from Florida and California as well. That is unprecedented, four launches in 48 hours. As a point of comparison, the entire continent of Europe has had fewer launches this entire year. It is truly extraordinary what is being accomplished in spite of regulations and bureaucracies that are attempting to hold us back. Just imagine, Madam Speaker, what we could accomplish if we actually had our laws and regulations and agencies be on the side of innovation. Just imagine what might be possible. The dominance that the United States currently has in space is a tremendous national asset, and it is of vital importance in a number of ways when it comes to national security, of course, as well as when it comes to connectivity, bringing the internet to all corners of the globe. I have constituents in Death Valley, which I represent, who use SpaceX's Starlink system. It has also been used by our fire agencies when connectivity is disrupted with wildfires. They have managed to accomplish all of this in spite of adverse regulations. If we manage to change that paradigm, if we manage to actually have regulations that are designed to encourage those who are innovating to make these seemingly impossible feats be brought somewhat closer or more readily within the bounds of possibility, then it will not only enhance U.S. dominance in space and it will not only further all of those advantages I just mentioned, but I think it will continue to bring folks together around something that is truly inspiring around this common purpose. It will be something that is larger than any of us. I think that when we witnessed this epic catch of the Starship booster last month, it was really a singular moment, more than any other moment perhaps in decades. It has heralded a new era of space exploration with literally infinite possibilities. I am truly excited about this. I think it is something that everyone in our country and all across the world can be excited by. I am excited about the new possibilities that will open up when we get this bill passed and signed into law. Crime Once Again Illegal in California

Mr. KILEY. Madam Speaker, I rise to present some good news from California, which is that crime is, once again, illegal in my home State. California voters have overwhelmingly passed, with almost 70 percent of the vote, Proposition 36, an initiative to make crime illegal again. It passed with a higher percentage of the vote than any other initiative on the ballot in California. It passed in each and every one of California's 58 counties, and it wasn't close anywhere. It passed in San Francisco. It passed in L.A. It passed everywhere across the State, and this was despite the fact that the leaders of the supermajority legislature were against it. It is despite the fact that Governor Gavin Newsom fought the initiative tooth and nail each and every step of the way. Newsom concocted schemes to try to remove the initiative from the ballot. When that failed, he led the campaign against the initiative. Yet, at the end of the day, California voters overwhelmingly passed it, and Governor Newsom, for his part, decided to insult the voters. He said that the initiative was a very lazy response to the State's crime problem. He even said that he doesn't recognize the State that he is living in. That is probably a good thing because the State that we have been living in is one where crime has effectively been legalized. Madam Speaker, if you walk into a store in many parts of California, first of all, on your way into the store, you might have to walk through an open-air drug market or a place where drugs are being openly exchanged and used. You might have to step around needles that are on the ground. This might happen on your way to school, or in a park, or in many other public places. Then, you go into a store. Let's say it is a CVS, and you just need to get some shampoo or a stick of deodorant. You can't just take it off the shelf and pay, Madam Speaker. It is going to be under lock and key, and you are going to need to press a button or summon an attendant to unlock the cabinet so you can get your stick of deodorant or your bottle of shampoo. The reason, of course, they are doing that is because the legal system cannot be relied upon to deter crime, so retailers have had to take matters into their own hands. If there is a theft incident, which does actually dramatically reduce the margins of retailers and is driving many out of business in California, there is nothing they can do about it. They just have to watch the person walk out the door with stolen merchandise. Usually, they won't even bother to report it to the authorities because they know nothing is going to happen because the laws on the books are not strong enough to make a prosecution worth going through in most places. That is why I say that this initiative was designed to make crime illegal again, because currently in the State, there is no consequence for criminal activity, so crime effectively is legal. Proposition 36, which has been overwhelmingly approved by voters, changes that. First of all, what it does is it restores penalties for those who repeatedly steal merchandise from our stores. Number two is that it restores rehabilitation, mandatory treatment, for those who are repeatedly arrested for drug use. Number three is it toughens penalties for fentanyl dealers, with fentanyl poisoning and overdoses continuing to result in such tragic losses in every community throughout California. Our State, Madam Speaker, I am happy to report, is on a path back to sanity. For folks around the country who love California, who have considered it the Golden State and are dismayed by what has happened in recent years, this is cause for hope. Not only that but a decision of the U.S. Supreme Court, which I wrote an amicus brief for, has restored the ability of our communities to actually remove homeless encampments from public places, which a previous Ninth Circuit decision blocked them from doing. We are already seeing some of our streets getting cleaned up. Not only that but we just had a couple of the most reckless district attorneys in the country, including George Gascon in Los Angeles, removed from office, so we truly are on a path back to sanity. I believe it is a new day for California, and I am very excited about the progress that we are going to continue to make in the months and years ahead. Honoring the Memory of John Hidahl

Mr. KILEY. Madam Speaker, I wish to recognize and honor the memory of a good friend of mine, John Hidahl, the El Dorado County supervisor for District 1, who passed away this month on November 2. Supervisor Hidahl was an outstanding public servant who served in the El Dorado Hills area for over 40 years, most recently two terms on the board of supervisors. John was raised in Ceres, California, on the Hidahl family ranch, where he performed farm work as well as driving for his family trucking business. John's family had been ranching for generations, and beyond his work for the family growing up, he continued the family farming legacy by serving as the chairman of the board of Hidahl Ranch. During his years at Ceres High School, John earned his Eagle Scout rank at the age of 16. I actually used to see him at every Eagle Scout ceremony I went to in the area. He was always there, a proud Eagle himself, and so proud to recognize and honor the young Eagles as they reached that milestone. Also in high school, he met his wife of 52 years, Eileen, who is a retired public school teacher. John studied mechanical engineering at California Polytechnic State University-San Luis Obispo, which launched his career in the aerospace industry. During these years, he conducted impressive work at Aerojet and Northrop Grumman and excelled at multiple roles, including rocket test engineer, rocket design engineer, director of engineering, and chief systems engineer. John was propelled by his personal motto of ``Service before self'' to serve his community, guiding his transition to public service. He led his community in various roles. He served on the El Dorado Hills Water District for 33 years, the El Dorado Hills Area Planning Advisory Committee for 36 years, the El Dorado Hills Community Council for 23 years, and the list goes on. The thorough dedication and leadership shown by John is one of the things that has allowed our region to remain an amazing place to live, learn, work, and raise a family. It has been a true privilege to know John, and I am certain that the impact of his lifelong ``Service before self'' slogan will be felt by the county for many, many years and for generations to come. During my time in both the State assembly and in Congress, it has been an honor to work alongside Supervisor Hidahl. He truly exemplified what it means to be in public service, and he worked tirelessly to improve the quality of life for all of his constituents. Therefore, on behalf of California's Third Congressional District and the United States House of Representatives, I extend my heartfelt condolences to John's wife, Eileen; their five daughters, Kathryn, Maureen, Christine, Rachel, and Brittani; and to the many others whose lives John touched in El Dorado County and the neighboring region. John will be greatly missed, and his legacy will be felt for a long, long time to come. Celebrating Lake Tahoe Community College's 50th Anniversary

Mr. KILEY. Madam Speaker, I wish to mark and celebrate the 50-year anniversary of Lake Tahoe Community College. In 1974, the formation of the college was approved, with the official opening of their doors taking place on September 18 of the following year. Now, 50 years later, the Lake Tahoe Community College is a true pillar in the community. Ranked among the top 20 best community colleges in the country in 2023, Lake Tahoe Community College is an evolving, dynamic academic institution located in the heart of South Lake Tahoe, California. It is northern California's highest elevation college, and it is a microcosm of the natural beauty of the nearby national treasure, Lake Tahoe. The college currently serves 7,500 students annually from the local community, neighboring jurisdictions, other States, and even from across the globe. Their academic programs help students earn terminal degrees, prepare them for transfer to 4-year institutions, and ready them for exciting and fulfilling careers. Of particular note is the college's career and technical education program, which provides certifications and training with an avenue directly into employment in a variety of important local career paths, such as firefighting with CAL FIRE and forestry protection with the U.S. Forest Service. In fact, they have had students who have gotten their certifications and have gone right out immediately to help fight against wildfires, providing an incredibly and very much needed service. The college's dedication to promoting educational opportunities and access to higher learning contributes to a diverse and enthusiastic college environment that inspires scholars through hard work and determination to thrive in their academic and career goals. The professors, administrators, staff, and board of the college are to be highly regarded for their remarkable leadership, contributions to the Tahoe community, and the instrumental support they provide toward the success of their students. I am proud to represent exemplary colleges like Lake Tahoe Community College in Congress. Madam Speaker, on behalf of the United States House of Representatives, I am honored to recognize Lake Tahoe Community College for more than five decades of dedication to academic achievement, empowering individuals, and enriching our community. Death Valley '49ers