Doug Lamborn

Mr. LAMBORN

Mr. LAMBORN. I yield to the gentleman from Texas.

Mr. LAMBORN. I thank the chairman for his words of agreement. Given the advanced stage of the project and the amount of work that has already taken place on the Southern Colorado National VA Cemetery, including land being purchased in southeast Colorado Springs and master planning due to start in mere months, would the chairman also agree that it is vital that we work together to ensure that construction is fully funded in the appropriations process for upcoming fiscal years? I yield to the gentleman.

Mr. LAMBORN

Mr. LAMBORN. Mr. Speaker, last week, we learned something shocking and appalling. The Iranian Government wants to appoint a terrorist as their Ambassador to the United Nations, a man who participated in the 1979 terrorist attack on our Embassy in Tehran. This is unconscionable and unacceptable. Last week, Senator Ted Cruz and I introduced legislation to fix this problem. This bill gives the President the authority he needs to deny this individual a visa. Senator Cruz pushed the bill through the Senate unanimously on Monday. I have been working with House leadership this week to quickly move this bill forward here in the House so that we do not have an Iranian terrorist walking the streets of New York City and having diplomatic immunity. I am proud to report that we just passed this bill unanimously. I thank my colleagues and House leadership for passing the Cruz- Lamborn legislation.

Mr. LAMBORN

Mr. LAMBORN. Mr. Speaker, I want to thank the gentleman from Texas for his leadership in getting this time tonight so that we can talk about this important issue. Mr. Speaker, last week, we learned something shocking and appalling. The Iranian government wants to appoint a terrorist as their Ambassador to the United Nations. A man who assisted in the 1979 terrorist attack on our embassy in Tehran. A man who helped hold American diplomats hostage for 444 days. This is a man that the supposedly moderate new government in Iran wants to represent Iran on American soil in New York City. This is unconscionable and this is unacceptable. It is time for all of us to speak up with one loud and unified voice against this injustice. Amazingly, at this moment, the President of the United States does not have the legal authority to keep this man off of our shores. The President can deny visas to diplomats if they have been caught spying on ourselves or our allies, but he can't keep someone out of our country if they are a terrorist. They can be admitted as a diplomat and get a visa. Last week, Senator Ted Cruz and I introduced legislation to fix this problem. Our bill would give the President the authority he needs to do the right thing and to deny this man a visa. Senator Cruz received strong support from Democrats in the Senate like Senator Chuck Schumer of New York. The bill passed the Senate unanimously last night 100-0. How many issues pass the Senate 100-0? I am working here in the House to quickly move this bill forward so that we don't have an Iranian terrorist walking the streets of Manhattan with diplomatic immunity. It is mind-boggling, but if Osama bin Laden himself had been named an Ambassador to the United Nations by somebody, the President would not have had the legal authority to deny him a visa. We have got to fix it. That is why this legislation is before us. The Cruz-Lamborn legislation would give the President the ability to do the right thing and to deny this Iranian terrorist a visa. Time heals some wounds, but time should not cause amnesia. Letting this man into the country with all the pomp and circumstance of diplomatic immunity would cause pain to those who are hostages. It would jeopardize the safety and security of this Nation. I urge my colleagues to support this legislation and for House leadership to move it quickly to passage as soon as possible. I want to thank the gentleman from Texas once again for taking leadership and bringing this issue to the attention of the American people through this time here on the floor tonight.

Mr. LAMBORN

Mr. LAMBORN. I want to thank the gentleman from Pennsylvania for his leadership on this and many other issues, and I thank him for putting this time together. Whenever anyone says it is a do-nothing Congress, they are only half right. It is actually a do-nothing Senate. In this Congress, the House has passed and sent over to the Senate 311 total bills, and we have talked about the 220 jobs-related bill. There are 311 total bills. In stark contrast, the Senate has sent to the House only 67 bills. The Senate produces just about one-third of what the House does--one- third of the work, Mr. Speaker. I am not saying that passing bills in and of itself is an unalloyed good. The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, or ObamaCare, is a primary example of that, but it is one way to measure how hard you are working. From the House Natural Resources Committee I sit on, we have passed six bills opening up American energy that would create over 1 million new jobs, lower gasoline and electricity prices, reduce our dependence on foreign oil, and help lower our national debt by generating over $1 billion in new revenue. These bills are now stalled in the Senate. The U.S. Senate has turned into a productivity graveyard. President Obama has signed only 24 Senate bills into law during this Congress. In contrast, 91 bills from the House have been signed by the President into law. These are total bills of all different subjects. Senate Democrats' sole concern seems to be protecting themselves from taking recorded votes that might anger their liberal donors or their voters. They do this by closing off debate, eliminating amendments, and writing their bills in secret, shutting out Republican voices and input. This broken and dysfunctional Democrat Senate has produced many disasters for the American people and not just ObamaCare. They also passed the trillion dollar so-called Stimulus Act, refused for 4 years to pass a budget, and allowed the President to balloon the national debt in five short years from $10 trillion to $17 trillion. Don't let the President or Harry Reid fool you with false narratives that those rascally Republicans are holding up the Nation's business. This is just another gimmick to shift the blame away from where it really lies. Our country deserves better. Bills that would grow our economy and put millions of our friends and neighbors back to work should never die in the depths of the Democrat Senate. It is critical for every single American to let Senate Democrats know that they are sick and tired of the do-nothing Senate.

Mr. LAMBORN

Mr. LAMBORN. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to commemorate the 60th Anniversary of the creation of United States Air Force Academy on 1 April 1954, and offer remarks to honor this youngest of our nation's service academies. Birthed in the minds of visionary post Army Air Corps leaders and the Eisenhower Administration, the Air Force Academy has become the most forward looking military institution and premiere Aerospace Military Academy imaginable during the second half of the 20th Century. Residing in the bedrock of the Colorado Rocky Mountains the United States Air Force Academy has fueled the heart, mind, and winning spirit of the U.S. Air Force by providing leaders who flew higher than its inspiring surrounding peaks. Since its inception the U.S. Air Force Academy has produced over forty-six thousand young men and women officers and superior senior leaders across the span of six decades. These leaders provided the backbone of our Aerospace warriors, including the first Air Force ace from the Vietnam War, Captain Steve Ritchie and the first USAFA graduate to be given the Medal of Honor, Captain Lance Sijan. Since that era one hundred and eighty one graduates have given their lives in defense of our Nation. The lifeblood of the USAF leadership has flowed from the Academy over the decades, with contributions of 598 General officers and five Air Force Chiefs of Staff. As the premier academy to explore the final frontier of space the Academy has produced 38 Astronaut Graduates and continues to produce numerous strategic leaders in the military space arena. The Air Force Academy has a longstanding tradition of producing both highly qualified and committed military officers combined with superbly educated college graduates from its halls of academic excellence. Over the years the Academy produced 37 Rhodes Scholars and the institution continues to be highly ranked in national college reviews such as Forbes and US News and World Report over more than three decades. Over the years the institution has scored in the top 100 of American colleges in numerous ranking publications. In college athletics USAFA competes in 17 NCAA sports conferences and continually performs extremely well in its various divisions. The Air Force Academy has won the Commander-in-Chief's Trophy on the gridiron 18 times, far surpassing the other Service Academies and brining national publicity to this Colorado institution. Since its inception the United States Air Force Academy has continually trained, educated, and inspired young men and women to become leaders of character with the motivation to serve as Air Force career officers. It continues into its sixth decade of institutional defense contributions to the Nation by providing a unique blend of academic curriculum, military training, and leadership and physical development. This institution has become a historical wellspring of Air Force military leadership which will continue to develop future generations to defend our precious United States of America. Mr. Speaker, I am very proud to recognize our USAFA landmark as it contributes to the security of our democracy from its position anchored in the foothills of the Colorado Rockies.

Mr. LAMBORN

Mr. LAMBORN. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to honor Colorado Springs artist and businesswoman Marian Busey on the occasion of her 102nd birthday. For a century, since the age of 2, Mrs. Busey has been an artist. As a co-founder of Arati Artists Gallery in Old Colorado City, Mrs. Busey has helped ensure that art in the Fifth Congressional District will live on for centuries to come. It can be argued that Mrs. Busey helped start the vibrant arts scene that now exists in Old Colorado City and the Westside by taking a chance on opening the Arati Gallery back in 1977. Mrs. Busey has been quoted as saying that she enjoys watercolor painting because, ``once you put the brush on the canvas, you're done quickly, you can't complicate the painting.'' I know I speak on behalf of the Fifth Congressional District when I wish Mrs. Busey a very happy birthday and many more years of complication-free painting.

Mr. LAMBORN

Mr. LAMBORN. I thank the chairman. Mr. Chairman, I rise in strong support of H.R. 2824, the Preventing Government Waste and Protecting Coal Mining Jobs in America Act. This critical piece of legislation, which was introduced by Representative Bill Johnson and myself, is designed to save taxpayer dollars and protect American jobs by putting the Office of Surface Mining on a responsible path forward for managing and regulating coal mining in America. So far, the Obama administration has spent nearly 10 million taxpayer dollars rewriting a coal production rule and the 2008 Stream Buffer Zone Rule, but the 2008 rule was never fully implemented. The administration is conducting this rewrite without ever providing justification for the need for a new rule. The $10 million does not include the money spent on attorneys fees and costly litigation or the internal costs borne by the agency. Even more critically, it does not include the costs to the families of the thousands of workers who have been displaced or seen work delayed by the regulatory inaction of the Department. The legislation before us today is very simple. It would cripple the Obama administration's war on coal by ending their unnecessary rewrite and it would require the Office of Surface Mining to implement the 2008 Stream Buffer Zone Rule. This rule was developed over 5 years through an open, public, multimillion-dollar process and requires consultation on endangered species where necessary. Under this legislation, H.R. 2824, once all the plans have been approved, the effects of the new regulations will be analyzed for a period of 5 years. On completion of this analysis, the Office of Surface Mining is required to report back to us on the effectiveness of the rule, impact on energy production, and to identify and justify anything that should be addressed through a new rulemaking process. If the Obama administration had followed this process from the beginning, taxpayers would have 9 million more dollars, thousands of unemployed Americans would likely have jobs, and we would be far along in the process of understanding the impacts and environmental benefits of the 2008 rulemaking. Unfortunately, this administration's first act was to discard the rule and plunge head first into a failed, wasteful, and never-ending rulemaking process. This legislation will stop the massive ongoing waste, saving the taxpayers money. It will stop the administration from continuing with a reckless rulemaking process and imposing a needless regulation that will directly cost thousands of hardworking American jobs and cause significant American economic harm. This bill will also provide regulatory certainty for an important domestic industry--an industry that not only provides great family-wage jobs with good benefits, but also provides affordable energy for the American people and the Nation's manufacturing base. I urge my colleagues to support this critical legislation.

Mr. LAMBORN. I thank the full committee chairman. Mr. Chairman, my colleagues on the other side seem to continue living in the past. This bill isn't about the Bush administration. This bill is about the rampant failure of the Obama administration and its inability to craft a reasonable rule on coal mining. They have spent 5 years and nearly $10 million on this rewrite. And for what? What have they produced? Absolutely nothing. Their waste-ridden, failed effort is apparently nothing more than a sham facade over a real agenda--to kill coal mining. You don't have to take my word for it. This is a direct quote from an inspector general investigator's interview with a current DOI contractor working on the rule, Emily Medine. She said the rule appears to be ``an effort to kill coal mining.'' Also, the Department has continued to insist on falsifying the baseline to reduce the stated impacts of their rulemaking. As you can see from the interview with the current contractor, over here, OSM continues to insist that companies use the more restrictive but never implemented 2008 rule as a baseline in an effort to hide the real economic impacts of whatever rule they want to come up with. Again, don't take my word for it. Right here, OSM's own contractor says that by using the more restrictive 2008 rule, they will show fewer job losses. That is our choice today: a rule fine-tuned over 5 years with a clear process for future rulemaking and certainty for jobs and affordable energy, which we have now, or, if we follow this path, a continued waste of taxpayer dollars to pursue an agenda to kill coal mining. I choose jobs and affordable energy for American families. Please support H.R. 2824.

Mr. LAMBORN

Mr. LAMBORN. I thank the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Gohmert) and also the gentlewoman from Missouri (Mrs. Hartzler) for putting this time together tonight. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of Hobby Lobby Stores and Conestoga Wood Specialties as they take a stand for religious freedom against the unconstitutional coercive ObamaCare HHS mandate. All Americans, including family businessowners, should have the freedom to live and work according to their religious values without fear of the government punishing them for doing so. This issue of religious liberty is not limited to these two employers. Many family-owned small businesses and nonprofits across this country have expressed grave concern about this mandate from the Obama administration. It forces them to violate their deeply-held religious beliefs or face crippling penalties. In my home State of Colorado, Hercules Industries, founded in 1962 by William Newland, a family-owned heating, ventilation, and cooling manufacturer with locations all over Colorado, including Colorado Springs, has been forced into this legal dilemma as well. As devout Catholics, the Newland family has always worked to run their companies in a way that reflects their sincerely-held religious convictions. This is why, when the Obama administration issued this mandate to force them to violate those beliefs and provide coverage of potentially life-terminating drugs and devices, they had to file a lawsuit to protect their religious freedoms. Hercules Industries already provides generous health insurance for their employees through a self-insured group plan. With 265 full-time employees throughout its various locations, Hercules could be facing over $9 million in government fines each year. This comes if they refuse to violate their deeply-held religious convictions and if they don't comply with the Obama mandate to provide drugs to their employees that the Newland family believes can end human life. What an unbearable choice the Obama administration has burdened them with. Not only is the HHS mandate an attack on religious liberty, it also puts into jeopardy jobs and health care of millions of Americans. Mr. Speaker, I support businesses like Hercules Industries, Hobby Lobby. And Conestoga Wood Specialties because of their principled stand against this oppressive mandate. Religious freedom is a foundational component of American greatness. It is of utmost importance that we do everything we can to defend it. I look forward to the Supreme Court's decision, and I hope and I pray that this will be a positive precedent for future religious freedom cases.

Mr. LAMBORN

Mr. LAMBORN. Mr. Speaker, I thank both of the gentlemen for yielding. Mr. Speaker, we just need to adopt H.R. 2824 and the rule supporting it. This is a good piece of legislation. Unfortunately, this administration is waging what appears to many of us to be a war on coal. The stream buffer zone rule that has been proposed by OSM, the Office of Surface Mining Reclamation, is a very troubling rule. It would have adverse effects on all kinds of coal mining way beyond what the stated intention is. The stated intention is to protect the quality of streams in the Appalachian area, but this rule goes way beyond that. This would have the effect of closing down much of the coal mining in that part of the country. So it is overkill. It is way beyond what is necessary. The whole rulemaking process, Mr. Speaker, is flawed. We had a very good rewrite of the rules that was done in the last administration. That went through millions of dollars of effort, many years of rulemaking, taking comments, and the end result was a very satisfactory rewrite of the older rule. Yet, without even letting that fully take effect, this administration is throwing that rule out and wanting to go to an overly stringent and unrealistic rule. Let's go back to the last rule that was done through the proper procedures. So H.R. 2824 is a good piece of legislation. I commend Representative Johnson for carrying this piece of legislation. We have looked at this in detail in our full committee and in the Subcommittee on Energy and Mineral Resources, and this is a much better approach. So I urge the full House to adopt H.R. 2824 and the rule.

Mr. LAMBORN

Mr. LAMBORN. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of H.R. 4152, which provides loan guarantees for Ukraine. I am deeply concerned about the crisis in Ukraine. Vladimir Putin is clearly the aggressor, but the United States and our European allies have not done enough to support freedom, self determination, and human rights in Ukraine. When America does not provide strong and reliable leadership, bad things are more likely to happen. Unfortunately, President Obama's foreign policy of leading from behind is a failure. Even the liberal Washington Post this week said that, ``President Obama's foreign policy is based on fantasy.'' We in Congress must do all we can to restore missing American leadership on foreign policy, and that starts with Ukraine. The people of Ukraine should not be pawns in Vladimir Putin's hands. We must stand with our European and our other allies and do all we can to support freedom, self determination, and human rights in Ukraine. I ask my colleagues to support H.R. 4152.

Mr. LAMBORN

Mr. LAMBORN. Well, I thank my friend and colleague, the gentlelady from Missouri, for her leadership on this issue and for putting this time together. This is an important topic. Mr. Speaker, I hear from Coloradans every day who are struggling just to make ends meet. Unemployment remains high, and Americans are striving to provide necessities for their families. Prices at the pump have doubled since President Obama took office. According to the Energy Information Administration, they are on a trajectory to rise even higher. Sadly, as American families and small businesses continue to suffer from these high energy prices, the Obama administration's response has been to impose job-killing and expensive rules through the Environmental Protection Agency. These expenses are passed on to American consumers. These policies, such as attempting to regulate greenhouse gas emissions in the Clean Air Act, only end up hurting consumers. As the chairman of the Natural Resources Subcommittee on Energy and Mineral Resources and a proponent for business-focused regulations, I have been vocal against many of these harmful regulations. The EPA's continued power grab ends up taking legislative authority out of the hands of those who are sent here in Washington to represent the American people and puts it in the hands of unelected bureaucrats carrying out the agenda and policies of the White House. I have cosponsored numerous bills to repeal many of these regulations piece by piece to ensure Americans that they would have affordable energy. Coloradans and the rest of the country should not have to choose between heating their homes and feeding their families. I remain committed to seeing what I can do to stop this bureaucrat overreach. Just for one example, and my friend and colleague alluded to this, the EPA wants to force American coal-fired power plants to use carbon capture and storage technology that does not even exist. Since it doesn't exist, this is an impossible mandate to obey. The EPA is basing its regulations on wishful thinking, not sound science. They need to be brought under control. The ability of working Americans to pay their bills hangs in the balance. I thank the gentlelady for putting this important time together.

Mr. LAMBORN

Mr. LAMBORN. Mr. Speaker, 41 years ago, the Supreme Court issued its tragic ROE v. WADE decision that legalized abortion on demand in the United States. Since that ruling there have been about 56 million abortions performed. This abhorrent practice remains one of the most common medical procedures in the U.S. It is perpetrated by a perverse logic that a life of an ``unplanned'' child does not possess the same value as that of any other child. As the parents of five children and grandparents of two, my wife, Jeanie, and I understand just how precious each and every child's life is. I believe every life is a gift from God, and I remain wholly committed to protecting the sanctity of human life. Today, I want to recognize the more than 2,300 pregnancy care centers in the United States working to defend the lives of the unborn and providing critical services and support for women who find themselves in unplanned pregnancies. Sadly, many women facing an unplanned pregnancy in the U.S. are told, and believe, abortion is the only way. Pregnancy care centers respect these women and the lives they are carrying throughout their pregnancies. In my Congressional district, we are fortunate to have one of these champions working to defend the sanctity of human life. Life Network has been serving Colorado Springs for over 25 years. Through the support of selfless men and women devoted to a culture of life, Life Network, through the Colorado Springs Pregnancy Center, provides pregnancy tests, counseling, ultrasounds, and material assistance such as diapers, formula, and baby clothing. All of these services are free of charge. Life Network and pregnancy care centers like it across the world have and will continue to reduce abortion rates, save unborn lives, and provide assistance and resources to encourage women faced with unplanned pregnancies so they can choose life. I mourn the lives cut short by abortion. I pray that God continues to give favor to those compassionate individuals who give of their time in pregnancy care centers, and he gives grace and comfort to those touched by this awful practice. I will continue to be among those fighting to stop it. Thank you, Representative Smith, for your leadership on this issue.

Mr. LAMBORN

Mr. LAMBORN. I thank Representative Peter Roskam, a leader on the U.S.-Israel relationship here in Congress. He and I are two of the cochairs of the Republican Israel Caucus. I share with many colleagues on both sides of the aisle deep concern over the interim agreement that this administration has reached with Iran over its nuclear program. We have struck a deal that irreversibly weakens sanctions against a country that is infamous for deception and deceit--a deal that does nothing about the infrastructure of its nuclear program. In the weeks since the accord was announced, we already see the first signs of how these sanctions--which are what brought Iran to the negotiating table in the first place--are being eroded by other countries eager to resume trade with Iran, as many of us predicted. Weakening the sanctions now without demanding that Iran dismantle its nuclear program takes away our leverage. They have not stopped a single one of its 19,000 centrifuges from enriching uranium. They are not dismantling their plutonium plant either, a plant which has absolutely no peaceful civilian purpose. We are witnessing a recurrence of the kind of effort that failed to prevent North Korea from acquiring nuclear weapons, but in an even more volatile and dangerous region of the world. All this is being done with a country that our own State Department has long defined as the chief state sponsor of international terrorism and which is determined to get nuclear weapons. By giving up our leverage in return for a flawed interim agreement, we are only reducing the chances that a productive accord can ever be reached with Iran over its nuclear program where Iran actually renounces its right to enrich uranium.

Mr. LAMBORN

Mr. LAMBORN. Mr. Chairman, I rise in strong support of H.R. 2728, which came through the subcommittee I chair and which I am pleased to cosponsor. This bipartisan legislation requires the Department of the Interior to defer to State regulations regarding hydraulic fracturing on Federal lands within the States. These proposed Federal regulations will lead to more bureaucratic red tape that will further discourage energy producers from developing on Federal land. The time period for approving a simple application for a permit to drill has only increased under President Obama. An energy producer can wait for nearly a year for a permit to be approved on Federal land, while in my home State of Colorado, it is only an average of 27 days. The Federal regulations being proposed by the administration will add an entirely new layer of regulations to the already cumbersome Federal process. This will increase the cost of producing energy and does not help working American families. The proposed Federal regulations also ignore the extensive work done by the States to regulate hydraulic fractures within their borders. Our committee has heard from numerous witnesses from Utah, Wyoming, Colorado, and other States who have testified to the extensive process these States went through to draft their regulations, regulations that are very successful. No one can show where States are dropping the ball. My home State of Colorado has been safely using hydraulic fracturing for over 40 years and has the toughest disclosure rule in the Nation. Even our Democratic Governor, John Hickenlooper, to his credit, believes that it is the State's responsibility to regulate the industry. The States know their own geology and water better than bureaucrats in Washington do. This bill will eliminate Federal regulations that are unnecessary, burdensome, and expensive. Please support H.R. 2728.

Mr. LAMBORN

Mr. LAMBORN. Mr. Speaker, there is a place to talk about reasonable regulation that has to be in place for the drilling process, for the capture of gas, and for how to treat the water that comes back up from a fractured well. Yes, let's look at those things; and let's also look at the State role and not think that the Federal role has to take over completely, as we have some in this administration who would like to do. But the bottom line is we need American jobs. We need a stronger economy. We need lower prices so people keep more of their hard-earned money. That is what these job bills are about this week. It is about the economy and jobs. So we will get into a discussion later today, tomorrow, and Thursday on making sure that the environment is protected, making sure that everyone else has their rights protected; but let's create jobs. That is what these bills are going to do. That is why I am proud to be a sponsor of the bill that comes up later this afternoon that we will be talking more about.

Mr. LAMBORN. I thank the gentleman from Utah. Mr. Speaker, I want to respond to my colleague from Colorado who has raised some concerns about the issue of hydraulic fracturing. And we all agree. There is a place for reasonable regulation; there is a place for the surface rights of homeowners and businesses in the area of a well to have their safety and health protected; and we would all agree with that. In Colorado, we really do have a pretty comprehensive and well- thought-out system of regulations. Some of the objections may really get more into State and local issues that my colleague has raised, the distance of setbacks and things like that, but I hope we will not miss the main point. The main point: these bills are before the House this week. We want to improve the American economy. We want to create more jobs. Energy is one of the bright spots in an otherwise anemic economic recovery. And if you look at where the energy production is really taking off, it is on State and private lands. For my colleague from Colorado, it is a private land scenario that he is dealing with. Federal lands need to catch up. There are billions of acres of Federal lands, including offshore. I know we are going to concentrate on onshore, but we have not kept up with energy production, and yet this has otherwise been a bright spot in our economy. So if we want to create jobs for the American people--and these are some of the best paying jobs--if we want to have an expanded manufacturing base, if we want the cost of energy to consumers to be as low as possible so that they can go out and spend their hard-earned money on everything else that they need for their families and not have as high of a utility bill, then we need to pass these three bills this week.

Mr. LAMBORN

Mr. LAMBORN. Mr. Chairman, I thank the full committee chairman for yielding me this time. I want to applaud and commend my colleague from Colorado for his concern and thoughtfulness to the people impacted in Colorado, many of which were in his and Representative Cory Gardner's district, some even further south in my district where there was, unfortunately, some loss of life also. So we all share that same concern. To put things in perspective, though, when we look at the oil and gas impact of the flooding, there was no hydraulic fracturing going on during the flooding, and the spillage that was later determined to have taken place was relatively minor. There were about 1,000 barrels of oil and gas spilled, with about 400 barrels of production water. That is about 1,500 barrels, which is about 62,000 gallons. To put that in perspective, this was considered a 1 trillion-gallon rainfall in a period of 7 days or so. That would amount to more than that every second. Every single second would have 67,000 barrels of river flow. So 1 second's worth of oil and gas in the entire horrific rainfall, I think, puts things in perspective. So I ask for a ``no'' vote on this amendment. It is a lot broader than just the Federal lands that this legislation talks about, and so it goes beyond the scope of the legislation and I don't think it is really called for.

Mr. LAMBORN. Just to conclude, when you put things in perspective, I think that there were a lot more serious issues with the flooding, some of which continue to today and will continue far into the future. Those are the issues we should really concentrate on. For that reason, I ask for a ``no'' vote on this amendment.

Mr. LAMBORN. Madam Chairman, I thank the chairman of the committee, Doc Hastings. I rise in strong support of H.R. 1965, the Federal Lands Jobs and Energy Security Act, which incorporates four additional bills into my bill. This legislation takes significant steps toward moving our country forward on a path to energy independence by streamlining government regulations and reducing government red tape that hinders onshore energy production. It will create new American jobs, promote energy and economic development, and increase revenues to the State and Federal governments. This legislation also sets firm timelines for Applications for Permit to Drill, or APD, approvals and dedicates funds from APD solar and wind right-of-way fees to the permitting field offices. It will require the Bureau of Land Management to lease at least 25 percent of the nominated acreage not previously made available for lease. It will inject certainty into the leasing process and terms to give energy developers the certainty they need to move forward with production. It also requires the Secretary of the Interior to develop a 4-year plan for onshore energy development, similar to the 5-year plan they are required to develop for offshore development. It opens up the National Petroleum Reserve in Alaska for energy production and allows the BLM to conduct leasing through the Internet. Since taking office, despite the claims to the contrary, President Obama has waged a war on energy development. Under the administration, a simple permit, which in my home State of Colorado on average takes 27 days to approve, takes nearly a year on Federal land. And only minuscule areas of land have been leased for energy development, despite significant interest in many more acres. In fact, the Obama administration has had the 4 lowest years of Federal acres leased for energy production going back to 1988. The Obama administration has even taken the shocking and questionable step of canceling leases that have been legally bought and paid for. Energy companies are practically fleeing from developing energy on Federal lands in favor of the more reliable and efficient State and private permitting processes. Further, the Obama administration has made it harder for oil shale technology to develop so that companies are showing little interest in developing this promising technology. While the President tries to take credit for increased energy production under his administration, the reality is that the vast majority of any increased production occurs on State and private land that the Federal Government has no jurisdiction over. In fact, since 2009, total Federal oil production is down 7.8 percent, and total natural gas production on Federal lands is down 21 percent. My legislation would interject much-needed certainty into nearly every step of the onshore energy production process. It will ensure that permits are approved in a timely fashion, would prohibit the administration from changing lease terms or revoking leases after they have been legally won, would ensure that onshore leasing moves steadily forward, and will allow the Secretary to plan for this Nation's future energy needs. Energy that is available and affordable creates more jobs for Americans here at home rather than overseas. It lowers the price of essential goods that American families buy every day, and it leaves more of the hard-earned money in the pockets of Americans after they pay their gas and utility bills. There is no reasonable objection to this bill. I urge my colleagues to support this critical legislation to create new American jobs and establish an efficient process to produce both renewable and conventional energy on Federal lands. We can do this while meeting the extensive environmental standards that are already in place. Madam Chairwoman, I urge support for this bill.

Mr. LAMBORN

Mr. LAMBORN. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to honor the accomplishments of Columbia Elementary School in Colorado Springs, Colorado, located in my congressional district, for receiving the Department of Education's prestigious National Blue Ribbon Award. Established in 1898 in the heart of the city, Columbia Elementary School is one of Colorado Springs's first elementary schools. Its mission statement defines the core learning objectives of the school: The Columbia Community will collaboratively ensure that learning takes place for ALL by being responsible, setting high standards and accepting no excuses. Our students will be contributing members of society who are respectful, responsible, and capable life-long learners. The National Blue Ribbon Schools Program recognizes public and private elementary, middle, and high schools where students perform at exceptionally high levels or where significant improvements are being made in students' academic achievement. A National Blue Ribbon School's flag overhead has become a mark of excellence in education recognized by everyone from parents to policy-makers in thousands of communities. The program recognizes schools in one of two performance categories. The first category is ``Exemplary High Performing,'' in which schools are recognized among their state's highest performing schools, as measured by state assessments or nationally-normed tests. The second category is ``Exemplary Improving,'' in which schools that have at least 40 percent of their students from disadvantaged backgrounds demonstrate the most progress in improving student achievement levels as measured by state assessments or nationally-normed tests. Columbia Elementary is an ``Exemplary Improving School,'' but it hadn't always been that way, and there is an extraordinary story behind this. Prior to the arrival of the current school Principal, Karen Shaw, five years ago, the Colorado Springs School District had placed the school on ``Technical Assistance'' status, because the statistical data about academic achievement indicated ``low achievement and low growth for a period of several years.'' Teachers were working hard, but it wasn't organized or aligned, and kids weren't succeeding. Ms. Shaw changed all of that. She brought a small handful of teachers with her from her previous school and through ingenuity and hard work implemented new curriculum and interventions, schedules and methodologies, data procedures and trainings to change the entire culture of the school. So, in five years this extraordinary school has been transformed from ``Technical Assistance'' to a ``National Blue Ribbon School.'' This new approach transformed ``Low Achievement and Low Growth'' test scoring to ``High Achievement and High Growth. I am so proud to have a school of this quality in my Congressional District. The strengths of Columbia are its staff, students, families and community. Teachers embrace using data to improve instruction, which ultimately has led to increased student achievement. The staff leads by example by being life-long learners themselves! They take advantage of multiple professional development opportunities including active engagement strategies, differentiated instruction, Positive Behavior Supports and Response to Intervention-- where Columbia is exemplary at both RTI and PBS implementation. The teachers at Columbia work over the summer for credit to learn curriculum and create materials for students. They offer numerous after-school activities for students that range from yoga to math club. The staff and teachers' commitment inspires a strong work ethic and exemplary attitude. Students at Columbia are respectful, responsible, safe and kind. As a result, discipline problems have dramatically declined in the past four years, and now teachers have more time to teach. The Award's effect on schools and communities is powerful. As one principal recalls, ``The National Blue Ribbon begins a process you cannot stop.'' Many National Blue Ribbon Schools find they attract business partners, financial assistance and volunteers. If school choice is an option, as it is at Columbia, student applications to National Blue Ribbon Schools increase. National Blue Ribbon School principals and teacher leaders are called on to give presentations at state, regional, and professional meetings about the practices that have made a difference for their students and faculty. District and state educators visit these model schools to learn about promising leadership and instructional strategies. Mr. Speaker, I am proud to represent such a fine school and want to recognize the accomplishment of Columbia Elementary School, its teachers and staff, and the students who so richly deserve this coveted Blue Ribbon School Award.

Mr. LAMBORN

Mr. LAMBORN. I thank the gentlelady from Missouri. I know that she is a leader on military issues. We serve together on the Armed Services Committee, and she is becoming known as a leader on military issues. Her passion on religious freedom is also evident through her getting this time here today. So I appreciate that. Mr. Speaker, I rise today again in support of religious freedom in our military. I am honored to represent tens of thousands of men and women in uniform who serve at the five military installations in my district in Colorado. Our military is made up of brave and dedicated men and women of all faiths who deserve to practice their respective religion free from harassment and malicious attacks. But there is a growing and troubling pattern of religious discrimination against our men and women in arms. Earlier this year, an Army reserve training brief listed Catholics, Evangelical Christians, Sunni Muslims, and some Jews as ``religious extremists,'' along with groups like al Qaeda, Hamas, and the KKK. In response to this troubling report, I sent a letter, along with 34 of my colleagues, to the Secretary of the Army to express deep concern and to request information about what is being done to prevent this sort of offensive briefing from being given again. In his response, Secretary of the Army John McHugh assured us the that this briefing was an isolated incident. Secretary McHugh also made note of a corrective measure that would require all briefings of this nature to be vetted with the appropriate unit leaders and subject matter experts prior to presentation. Sadly, this past month, reports of additional offensive Army briefings came to light, first, at Camp Shelby in Mississippi, where an Army Reserve training briefing listed the American Family Association, a respected Christian organization, as a domestic hate group alongside groups like the Ku Klux Klan, Neo-Nazis, the Black Panthers, and the Nation of Islam, and also at a Fort Hood briefing that listed Christian Evangelical groups as a ``threat'' to the United States. These disturbing reports have made clear that the offensive briefing given in April was not an isolated incident. This pattern must be addressed. I was encouraged to learn that Secretary McHugh, after learning of the most recent incidents, issued an order to cease all briefings on the subject of extremist organizations and activities. Secretary McHugh rightly described the mislabeling of Christian Evangelical groups as ``inaccurate, objectionable, and otherwise inconsistent with current Army policy.'' I commend Secretary McHugh's recent action and believe it was a step in the right direction. However, these Army briefings are small examples of what I believe is a larger issue, which is a pattern of intolerance toward people of faith in the military. In addition to briefings mislabeling Christians, we have also seen a Christian chaplain ordered to remove a religious column he had written which simply detailed the history of the phrase ``there are no atheists in foxholes.'' Active efforts are underway to remove the phrase ``so help me God'' from the Air Force Academy oath. The President, upon signing the National Defense Authorization Act, actually called religious freedom protections for military chaplains and other servicemembers ``unnecessary and ill-advised.'' I have no idea how he could say this. Mr. Speaker, this religious intolerance is unacceptable. Our Nation was founded on Judeo-Christian principles but has always believed in freedom of self-expression and intolerance. We owe it to our men and women in uniform to defend these basic rights. Religious freedom is an integral component of America's greatness and has been a pillar of our Nation from the very beginning. You can see the picture that Representative Hartzler showed of George Washington. It has also been a strong part of our military heritage. We must remain firmly committed to defending that freedom.

Mr. LAMBORN

Mr. LAMBORN. Mr. Speaker, my office has been flooded with constituents calling to share their Obama horror story. Take Nicole Butler, for instance, a constituent of mine living in Colorado Springs and a mother of three children. Her family's Humana insurance plan was canceled because it was deemed insufficient under ObamaCare. She is currently paying $431 per month for what is, in her words, a great plan. She and her husband are insuring their family of five within a tight budget. The cheapest ObamaCare plan she could find would cost her family $1,003 per month in premiums, more than twice as much. This is the same story for 250,000 other Colorado families who have been canceled. Mr. Speaker, the American people took our President at his word when he said ``If you like your plan, you can keep it.'' I look forward to legislation which will give relief to families in Colorado and all over this country.

Mr. LAMBORN

Mr. LAMBORN. I thank the chairman for his work on the Rules Committee and for bringing H.J. Res. 89, the Federal Worker Pay Fairness Act, and I rise in support of this act. Mr. Speaker, this will ensure that Federal employees who have been deemed essential will have no disruption in their pay. That's an excellent step in the right direction, and I wholeheartedly support that concept. Just on Saturday, the House unanimously--every single Republican and every single Democrat--supported H.R. 3223, and that said that everyone who is a Federal employee will get paid eventually, at the end of this slowdown that we're in right now. So this is a step in the right direction. But I want to urge that we take up a bill that I introduced yesterday, H.R. 3271, which goes a step further and says there is no distinction between the essential and non-essential Federal worker. All Federal workers are to be brought back immediately and given back pay and put on a regular pay schedule. We are going to be reimbursing these people for back pay sooner or later anyway. That's what the bill Saturday accomplished that we all supported here in the House, but this would reassure everyone that they can go to work immediately. There are people who are going to be having a tough time making house and car payments, and these are people with important jobs. In my district, in Colorado Springs, there are a lot of defense civil workers, and they are supporting the warfighters. The Pentagon is supposed to be bringing all of them back, and many of them are coming back, but not every single one. So I want them to have the assurance that they will get paid immediately on being reinstated and that they will come back to work immediately. So I think that it would be in the interest of our Federal workforce to take up the bill that I've introduced, H.R. 3271, and bring all civilian furloughed and Federal workers back immediately, with back pay. But this is a great bill. I do support it, H.J. Res. 89. I thank the Rules Committee for bringing it out. There has been, unfortunately, some gamesmanship we've seen with the National Park Service. I think that that's unfortunate. Shutting down the World War II Memorial when veterans are in their eighties and nineties, coming to Washington, maybe for the last visit that they can, and they're being told they can't enter the memorial. So let's don't have any gamesmanship. Let's bring everyone back to work.