Doug Lamborn

Mr. LAMBORN

Mr. LAMBORN. Madam Speaker, this bill we are considering under suspension simply codifies President Obama's offshore drilling plan for the next 5 years. It's a simple bill and a simple vote: What do you choose for America's future? The Congressional Replacement Plan we debated yesterday will harness America's vast offshore resources in both existing and new areas in a responsible way. Our plan is the right plan to keep the United States competitive and to develop the resources that American families and American businesses need. It will generate more revenue for the taxpayers, more energy, and more jobs. What does the Obama plan under this suspension vote have to offer? No new areas for energy development and the lowest number of lease sales in the history of the 5-year program, according to Congressional Research Service. Is that really the plan you think is best to move our Nation forward and generate high-paying jobs? Look at this bar graph. This shows what was going on under President Jimmy Carter 30 years ago. This 5-year plan program has been going for more than 30 years, and the 15 lease sales you see at the end of the graph is the lowest in the history of the 5-year program. If you remember, during Jimmy Carter's administration, we had gasoline shortages. You could go to the gas station and buy gas if your license plate ended in an odd or even number, depending on the day of the week. We should not have the lowest number of lease sales in the history of our country. The Obama 5-year plan is the you-cannot-build-it plan; you cannot build new infrastructure for energy. It tells the people of Virginia that they cannot build new rigs and explore new areas of the Outer Continental Shelf regardless of the bipartisan support of the Governor, Senators, and Representatives of Virginia. The President's plan says you cannot build anything new, essentially reinstating a moratorium on the Pacific and Atlantic Outer Continental Shelf. The President's plan locks up 85 percent of our Nation's nearly 2 billion acres of Outer Continental Shelf resources. Production on Federal lands, according to the Energy Information Administration, is down under the Obama administration. I heard something earlier about natural gas production is up. That's on private lands primarily because of fracking. We need to get Federal lands producing again, and the Obama 5-year plan is not the plan to do that. The Congressional Replacement Plan is. We should vote for more American energy and vote for more American jobs. So vote against this suspension bill and vote in favor of the Congressional Replacement Plan.

Mr. LAMBORN

Mr. LAMBORN. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to recognize the rededication of the 302nd Airlift Wing's SUMIT 38 memorial. On Saturday, May 13, 1995 a C-130 with call sign SUMIT 38 assigned to the Air Force Reserve Command's 302nd Airlift Wing based at Peterson Air Force Base, Colorado, crashed near Bliss, Idaho. SUMIT 38 had flown 15 support personnel to Boise, Idaho for firefighting training and crashed during its return flight to Colorado. Six Air Force Reservists lost their lives that day. Lieutenant Colonel Robert R. Buckhout, 1st Lieutenant Lance Dougherty, Captain Geoff Boyd, Chief Master Sergeant Jimmie D. Vail, Master Sergeant Jay Kemp and Staff Sergeant Michael L. Scheideman perished in the crash. The men and women of the 302nd Airlift Wing, their families and the community will continue to mourn the loss. Let us always remember the crew of SUMIT 38, and never forget the sacrifice they made in the service of our Nation. On Saturday, August 4, 2012, the 302nd Airlift Wing will rededicate the memorial to the fallen crew at Peterson Air Force Base in its new location. The memorial will become the centerpiece of the new Total Force Integration C-130 squadron operations facility. I ask the Members of Congress to join me in remembering and honoring the crew of SUMIT 38.

Mr. LAMBORN

Mr. LAMBORN. Mr. Chairman, the bill we are considering today is very simple. Republicans are taking a proactive step to secure a more stable energy future for our country. Just last week, the nonpartisan Congressional Research Service published a report confirming what you can see on this chart, that President Obama's plan for offshore drilling offers the lowest number of lease sales in the history of our Outer Continental Shelf program. There, on the left, my left, ``15'' is the number you see in red. Going back to 1980, when President Jimmy Carter was in office, he had 36 lease sales in his proposed 5-year plan. And you can see intervening 5-year plans since 1980 until today. This is the fewest ever. Even this number is generous, because we're operating under the assumption that the administration will actually follow through on doing all of these 15 lease sales. This is not a sure bet, when you consider that since the President was elected, he has cancelled more lease sales than he has held. Let me repeat that. This President, in 3\1/2\ years, has cancelled more lease sales than have been held. Now, the administration proposes a new leasing plan that offers for sale the fewest leasing sales ever and locks away 85 percent of our Outer Continental Shelf from any development. Why would the President propose the fewest number of lease sales ever? Is it because we've solved our dependency on foreign oil? No. We import 5 million barrels a day. Is it because we've developed all of our domestic resources so there's nothing left to develop? No. The President's plan leaves tens of billions of barrels of oil off limits and trillions of cubic feet of natural gas untapped, unused, and unavailable for the American consumer. The President says over and over that he supports U.S. energy development, then we see that, at every opportunity, he makes the choice to prevent efficient energy development from happening. We must do more for the American people in generating more energy for lower prices and lessen our dependence on foreign oil. This bill does exactly that. I ask my colleagues to join me in voting for this bill. Vote for American energy and American jobs. Let's replace the President's do nothing plan with a plan that moves America forward.

Mr. LAMBORN

Mr. LAMBORN. I thank the chairman. Madam Chairman, I am pleased to speak in support of H.R. 4402, the National Strategic and Critical Minerals Production Act of 2012, introduced by my colleague, Representative Amodei, of which I am a cosponsor. This bill was heard in our Energy and Mineral Resources Subcommittee on April 26. Although Americans hear a lot about our dependence on foreign oil, they may not know about our dependence on foreign countries for minerals critical to our manufacturing, national defense, communications, and medical care needs. Over the years, we have allowed frivolous lawsuits and unnecessary regulations to stifle our domestic production of these vital minerals. Today, the United States is nearly 100 percent reliant on countries such as China for rare Earth elements that are essential to our economy. We should all be troubled by China's recent policies restricting exports of these critical minerals. But rather than complain about that to the World Trade Organization, as the Obama administration is doing, we should simply support our efforts to allow production of and access to our own vast domestic supplies. This bill is a bipartisan plan that cuts red tape by streamlining the permitting process for mineral development which will create jobs and help grow the economy. Under current laws and regulations, it could take a developer up to 10 years to get all the government permits in place. This bill would shorten that time down to just over 2 years. These minerals are essential components of technologies in everyday items ranging from cell phones, computers, medical equipment, renewable energy products, high-tech military equipment, and building supplies. They are vital to our country's manufacturing sector and our ability to create jobs. Every job in metals mining creates an estimated 2.3 additional job. It's time for America to get serious about rare Earth and strategic minerals. We can start by opening up our $6 trillion worth of untapped mineral resources. I urge my colleagues to support this bill.

Mr. LAMBORN

Mr. LAMBORN. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to support freedom and prosperity. ObamaCare--call it a tax or a mandate--is a threat to personal liberty. My constituents in Colorado want to work directly with their doctors with regard to their health care without going through a Federal bureaucrat. ObamaCare burdens small businesses and families by imposing more than $800 billion in new taxes that will make it impossible for them to grow and thrive. The independent Congressional Budget Office estimates that employers will create 800,000 fewer jobs by 2021 as a result of ObamaCare. In fact, we are already seeing how this is hurting jobs today. The National Retail Federation found that 48 percent of businessowners cite the potential cost of health care as a reason they are not hiring additional workers. We can fix what is wrong with health care through patient-centered reforms that are targeted and affordable, but first we must protect our freedoms and the economy by repealing ObamaCare.

Mr. LAMBORN

Mr. LAMBORN. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to thank the heroic men and women who are battling the Waldo Canyon Fire. 1,200 firefighters from all over Colorado's 5th District and the nation have been fighting this fire around the clock since Saturday. They have been assisted by numerous law enforcement agencies who have managed an orderly and injury-free evacuation of 32,500 citizens. The cooperation between all levels and branches of government has been seamless, coordinated, cooperative, and effective. One example is the use of military assets, such as C-130 MAFFS firefighting aircraft. These planes have dropped over 73,000 gallons of slurry on this fire in coordination with the highly skilled firefighting teams on the ground. Additionally, Fort Carson, Peterson Air Force Base, and Cheyenne Mountain Air Force Station have contributed firefighters, support personnel, and air and ground equipment to assist in fighting and containing the fire along Highway 24 and on the Air Force Academy grounds. The community response has been equally impressive. Shelters, food banks, and other charitable organizations have been overwhelmed by the generous donations of food and manpower. The Care and Share Food Bank has received hundreds of thousands of pounds of food and the Red Cross is doing extraordinary work at the shelters they are running throughout the District. Many homes have been lost and much work remains, but I know that we have the people and the resources we need to win this fight.

Mr. LAMBORN

Mr. LAMBORN. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in honor of Master Sergeant Joseph J. Duffy's induction to the Air Force Communications and Information Hall of Fame. His service to this country spanned over 42 years from 1955 to 1997. He started as a Crypto Operator and trained over 75 personnel in Crypto Operations. While stationed at Tan Son Nhut in Vietnam, he was responsible for the second largest COMSEC account. During his second tour in Vietnam, he was tasked with terminating all communications activities within 90 days; this was completed in less than 80 days. Due to this exemplary performance, he was assigned to RAF Bruggen, Germany as Site Commander; he was the only Tech Sergeant to achieve this distinction. His final Air Force assignment was at HQ SAC where he attained the rank of Master Sergeant and was the COMSEC Manager for 12 AF Special Security Offices. Thanks to his unique experience and skill set, MSgt. Duffy was appointed as the Foreign Service Communications Officer for the State Department. His first three assignments were high value hardship postings to Moscow, Beijing and Berlin. He followed that up with a tour in Sydney, Australia. His outstanding performance resulted in him being assigned to State Department HQ as the COMSEC Manager for over 70 overseas significant activities. MSgt. Duffy has earned numerous decorations including the Bronze Star, the Air Force Commendation Medal with 3 Oak Leaf Clusters, the Outstanding Unit Award with 2 Oak Leaf Clusters with the ``V'' device, the Vietnam Gallantry Cross with Palms, and State Department Superior and Meritorious Honor Awards. MSGT Duffy's service to the nation has continued into his retirement. He has spent his retirement volunteering with the Warrior Games. The Warrior Games was created in 2010 as an introduction to Paralympics for injured service members and veterans and has since developed into a premier military program under the United States Olympic Committee. I applaud MSgt. Duffy for his tireless service to our country and I offer my sincere congratulations for his induction to the Air Force Communications and Information Hall of Fame.

Mr. LAMBORN

Mr. LAMBORN. Mr. Chairman, I yield 2 minutes to my friend and colleague, Representative Gardner from Colorado.

Mr. LAMBORN. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may have 5 legislative days in which to revise and extend their remarks and include extraneous material on H.R. 4480.

Mr. LAMBORN. Mr. Chairman, I would urge opposition once again to this amendment, as we have done before in the House, and I would urge a ``no'' vote. I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. LAMBORN. Mr. Chairman, I rise to claim time in opposition to this amendment.

Mr. LAMBORN. Well, I respect the relationship that I have with my friend and colleague from New Jersey. I appreciate the fact that Mr. Holt is the ranking member of the Subcommittee on Energy and Mineral Resources. I appreciate the fact that he came to Denver recently for a field hearing that the subcommittee had on hydraulic fracking. So I do appreciate the work he does on the subcommittee, but I have to disagree with him on this amendment. And I would urge opposition to this amendment. It's identical to one that failed on this House floor by a bipartisan vote earlier this year in February. And I have to remind my friend and colleague that this issue has been repeatedly settled in the Nation's courts of law with the courts determining that rewriting the terms of these leases to include price thresholds, which the Clinton administration apparently forgot to include in the leases, would be a direct violation of contract law. Specifically, the U.S. Supreme Court found that the Department of the Interior did not have the authority to rewrite these contracts that were issued during the Clinton administration under the 1995 law. And I will also remind the gentleman that the Department of the Interior has lost this issue in the district court, appellate court, and the Supreme Court. If this amendment passed, the issue would most certainly be challenged once again in court, where the Department would use taxpayer dollars to lose again. Ultimately, this amendment seeks to force U.S. companies to break a contract negotiated under then-current government law or else be denied the opportunity to do business in the United States. The amendment aims to back companies into a corner and attempts to force them to break a legally binding contract. Again, this amendment has failed on the House floor before, and I would urge continued opposition and a ``no'' vote. I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. LAMBORN. Mr. Chairman, I would like to point out to my colleague, Representative Markey, that this administration has not yet seen the completion of a single wind tower off the shore of the United States in over 3 years. Not a single one. This is a sincere and genuine attempt to cut through some of the red tape that's causing this kind of delay. How in the world can you have less red tape being bad for the construction of wind towers? This is truly a good solution. I applaud this legislation. Representative Wittman has offered a bill that embodies the same concept that passed the committee by a bipartisan vote earlier this year. This is a good bill, a good amendment from that bill, and I would urge its adoption.

Mr. LAMBORN. Mr. Chairman, I ask unanimous consent to claim time in opposition to the amendment, although I am not opposed.

Mr. LAMBORN. Mr. Chairman, we are prepared to accept this amendment. Native Hawaiian homelands are not managed as tribal lands by the Federal Government, which is why they were not included in the underlying legislation. However, Hawaiian homelands can provide another great source for domestic energy development; therefore, we are prepared to accept this amendment. I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. LAMBORN. Mr. Chairman, I rise to claim time in opposition to the amendment.

Mr. LAMBORN. Mr. Chairman, I do oppose this amendment. The legislation we're looking at today, H.R. 4480, aims to reduce bureaucracy and ensure much needed certainty to allow energy production and job creation to move forward. It will give permit applicants assurance that their permits will be processed by the government in a timely fashion and ensure that needless bureaucratic delays are not hampering energy production as they are sometimes today. The Department of the Interior is plagued with delays in permitting energy projects on Federal lands. These delays result in developers abandoning Federal lands to develop energy only on private land. This hinders the creation of thousands of American jobs. This legislation simply requires that a decision on a drilling permit be made. It does not require an approval, but simply a decision. The government must answer ``yes'' or ``no.'' It's not acceptable for the government to stall, drag its feet, or even not respond. These are decisions that State agencies are making in days, while the BLM is taking months. This amendment, however, would delete this deadline for the government to provide an answer. Under this amendment, the Federal Government could literally take forever to respond. A deadline is absolutely necessary to give energy producers the confidence they need to seek out Federal land for development rather than seeking to exclusively develop on private land. An identical amendment to the one offered by the gentlewoman from California failed during the Natural Resources Committee markup, and it failed on a bipartisan vote. So I would ask for the same response here, that we vote this amendment down. I urge its opposition. With that, Mr. Chairman, I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. LAMBORN. I rise to oppose this amendment, reluctantly. I understand the gentlewoman's intentions of this amendment, and portions of this idea have strong merit. Let there be no doubt that the Department of the Interior can do a better job of both hiring and contracting in these areas, but this debate today isn't the most appropriate place for us to consider these particular reforms. Every provision in this legislation has been carefully vetted through the legislative process. The House Natural Resources and Energy and Commerce Committees have both held oversight and legislative hearings and committee markups on the underlying legislation. This subject, while it is something definitely worth considering, has not had this level of review under the legislative process and would insert a major programmatic and bureaucratic change in a simple bill that is geared toward expanding American energy production and jobs. Also, as currently drafted, the proposal is over 12 pages long and would add significant new Federal bureaucracy. If the gentlewoman is willing to withdraw her amendment, I will commit the Natural Resources Committee to work with her to address this subject, and if she will not withdraw, then I must reluctantly oppose this amendment. I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. LAMBORN. Mr. Chairman, I rise to claim the time in opposition to the amendment.

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

Mr. LAMBORN. Mr. Chair, I move that the Committee do now rise.

Mr. LAMBORN

Mr. LAMBORN. Mr. Chairman, I rise in support of the Domestic Energy and Jobs Act. This energy package will unlock some of the vast resources this country has been blessed with, create stable jobs to put Americans back to work, and ensure America's energy security for the future. While President Obama believes that the private sector is doing fine with an unemployment rate of over 8 percent and 23 million Americans looking for work, more Americans on food stamps than ever before, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics tells us far too many Americans are not doing fine. And while private sector oil and gas are booming, our Federal lands are left behind. Rather than encouraging and implementing policies that will create jobs for Americans, the Democrats and the Obama administration unfortunately support antienergy, job-destroying policies and have refused to act on or have reversed policies that would have created jobs for Americans and allowed for the development of American-made energy. The Strategic Energy Production Act of 2012 takes the steps necessary to increase production of American-made energy and creates stable jobs for Americans. The plan, lease, permit provisions from the Natural Resources Committee in this legislation requires the administration to create a definitive, all-of-the-above, 4-year production plan to ensure American production of conventional--and, yes, renewable--energy to meet our energy needs. While the administration has been unwilling to make land available for energy production, this legislation requires that they annually lease land for onshore development to ensure that the energy production process moves forward. It also streamlines the permitting process to ensure the expeditious and timely permitting of approvals. The legislation also ensures that understaffed and underfunded BLM field offices receive the funding they need to keep up with their workloads. In addition to these reforms, this legislation opens one of our most promising areas for energy production: the National Petroleum Reserve- Alaska, which would expand American energy production and support current energy jobs for Alaska. Finally, this legislation brings oil and natural gas leasing into the 21st century by allowing the BLM the authority to conduct Internet lease sales. This legislation will take huge strides in securing our Nation's energy future. It will lessen our dependence on foreign sources of oil and create good-paying jobs for Americans across the country. Mr. Chairman, I urge my colleagues to support the Domestic Energy and Jobs Act.

Mr. LAMBORN

Mr. LAMBORN. I thank the gentleman from Texas. I do have the honor of representing Colorado Springs in my congressional district, which has the Missile Defense Agency and some of these other important assets for our Nation's defense, and I totally oppose this amendment of my colleague's from northern Colorado. We do have ground-based interceptors on the west coast. We have ground-based interceptors in Alaska. We need them also on the east coast. We need to start planning for that. The money that would be slashed by this amendment would go to starting the planning process, and it doesn't happen overnight. It's a multiyear process. We need to start the planning now so we can defend the heavy population centers on the east coast from intercontinental ballistic missile threats. There are rogue nations in this world that mean us harm. There is the possibility of an accidental launch by a number of countries. We have to have that type of defense. The Institute for Defense Analyses did a study that Congress called for. It said we need an east coast site. Should this amendment pass, that money will not be there to begin that process. Unfortunately, Barack Obama has been slashing missile defense for 3 years now. This bad amendment would continue that same trend. The CE I interceptor has worked three out of three times. That's a 100 percent record. I also disagree with the gentleman from New Jersey, who just spoke, who said fix it first and then fund it. It's the other way around. You fund it so you can fix it. They have it backwards, I'm afraid. A vote for this amendment is really nothing more than a vote against a strong missile defense for the United States. I urge a ``no'' vote.

Mr. LAMBORN

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

Mr. LAMBORN. Mr. Chairman, I yield myself such time as I may consume. My amendment bans cooperative threat reduction funds going to Russia unless the Secretary of Defense, with the Secretary of State, first, can certify that the Russians are no longer supporting the Syrian regime, and, secondly, are not providing Syria, North Korea, or Iran equipment or technology to develop weapons of mass destruction. This amendment sends a clear message condemning Russian support to Syria and the Assad regime. Since the anti-regime protests in Syria began in March of last year, Syrian security forces have killed well over 10,000 people. Some people say 12,000 people. They have wrongfully imprisoned tens of thousands more. Russia, unfortunately, has proven repeatedly that they are willing to send technology and weapons to all buyers, including to regimes like Syria that are brutalizing their citizens. We need to send a clear and consistent message to the Russians and to the rest of the world that the United States will not tolerate or support the oppression that the Syrian Government is inflicting on its people. How can we continue to send military aid to Russia while they knowingly and deliberately turn around and support the brutal and corrupt Syrian regime? The U.S. will not tolerate either direct or indirect military assistance to the Assad regime in Syria. We will not support the Russian transfer of weapons of mass destruction or ballistic missile equipment and technology to countries like Syria, Iran, or North Korea. This amendment begins to put some teeth behind the words of the President and others in Congress on both sides of the aisle who have called for action. This amendment begins to support the seriousness behind our words. We must do everything we can to end the Assad regime's escalating use of indiscriminate violence against its people. Join me in supporting this important amendment. I reserve the balance of my time.