Cynthia Lummis

Mrs. LUMMIS

Mrs. LUMMIS. Madam Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may have 5 legislative days to revise and extend their remarks and include extraneous material on the bill under consideration.

Mrs. LUMMIS. Madam Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 863) to establish the Commission to Study the Potential Creation of a National Women's History Museum, and for other purposes, as amended.

Mrs. LUMMIS

Mrs. LUMMIS. Mr. Speaker, today the U.S. House of Representatives considered legislation important to improving the quality-of-life and opportunities for the millions of people living in sub-Saharan Africa. H.R. 2548, the Electrify Africa Act, would require the United States to develop a comprehensive strategy to improve access to electricity for the nearly 600 million people currently living without it in those countries. Almost 70 percent of the population in sub-Saharan Africa lives in energy poverty, without access to even basic electricity services. The connection between energy poverty and economic poverty cannot be ignored. For those of us in the United States with access to reliable electricity, it is difficult to truly comprehend what life would be like without the services electricity provides: the ability to simply flip a light switch to have light at any hour of the day, or charge your cell phone; refrigeration of foods, medicines, and life-saving vaccines; indoor cooking; use of the Internet; advanced health care technology; clean water and sanitation services. The list goes on and on. But consider how different our lives would be if we did not have access to affordable and reliable electricity--what it would be like if we had to travel miles each day to gather fuel sources to cook our food; had to rely only on daylight to accomplish tasks; had no access to clean water and other sanitation services; and no access to life- saving medical technology readily available in other parts of the world but that require electricity to work. That is the reality for the hundreds of millions of people in sub-Saharan Africa. They struggle each day to provide for their basic needs. Affordable and reliable access to electricity would transform these regions, providing opportunities for economic growth and a better quality-of-life. What I consider especially important about H.R. 2548 is that this bill recognizes that a ``one-size-fits-all'' energy strategy will not benefit these countries and their populations. This legislation calls for an appropriate mix of energy options, non-renewable and renewable, to address the energy poverty endemic to these regions. In its report, the House Foreign Affairs Committee notes that coal, natural gas, and oil are all available potential energy sources to generate electricity in sub-Saharan Africa, as well as solar, hydropower, and geothermal. An all-inclusive energy mix is vital to addressing energy accessibility and reliability in impoverished parts of the world. Regions and countries should responsibly generate power using the energy resources that are most readily available to them and that provide the most affordable and reliable option. If the energy source to generate the electricity is available but so expensive that people cannot afford to use it, then what good does it do? Similarly, an electricity supply too dependent on intermittent sources does not benefit a health care provider trying to perform a procedure using medical equipment reliant on a consistent source of electricity or administer vaccines that must be kept refrigerated. The current Administration has unfortunately sought to dictate what sources of energy can be used in developing nations, promoting some and discriminating against others, namely cheap and abundant coal-fired power. This only does a disservice to the people who need the services and opportunities that electricity provides. H.R. 2548 reminds us of the consequences of not having access to affordable and reliable electricity, something I think many of us take for granted. It further reminds us about the importance of an all-of-the-above energy mix to our country's access to cheap and reliable electricity, economic stability, and quality-of-life. I am pleased that the Electrify Africa Act recognizes these realities, establishing a framework for countries in Sub-Saharan Africa to pursue the energy development that makes the most sense for them.

Mrs. LUMMIS

Mrs. LUMMIS. Mr. Speaker, I contend that, in the interest of protecting the constitutional rights of the hardworking taxpayers of this country from the behavior of the IRS, from Lois Lerner--herself a lawyer--who understands that you can waive your right to remain silent as to matters to which you chose to testify, and that she did that. She said: I have done nothing wrong, I have broken no laws. Subsequently, we find out that she blamed the IRS employees in Cincinnati for wrongdoing that was going on here in Washington, D.C., that she was targeting conservative groups and only conservative groups, thereby violating their First Amendment constitutional rights. The Oversight Committee needs to find the truth, and to that end, we need answers from Lois Lerner. The committee has sought these answers for more than a year. Lerner's refusal to truthfully answer these questions posed by the committee cannot be tolerated. I urge a ``yes'' vote and, following that, swift action by the Justice Department to ensure that Lois Lerner provides answers on exactly what the IRS was up to.

Mrs. LUMMIS

Mrs. LUMMIS. I deeply appreciate it. Madam Speaker, I urge my colleagues to support H.R. 2919.

Mrs. LUMMIS. Madam Speaker, I rise in strong support of H.R. 2919, the Open Book on Equal Access to Justice Act. I want to thank the ranking member, Steve Cohen, for joining me in introducing this legislation. The gentleman from Tennessee was the person from whom I inherited the hallowed halls of Longworth 1004. Our staff shared duties, including each other's phone duties when meetings were being held in our offices. It was a great partnership and a wonderful bipartisan relationship that I have enjoyed ever since coming to Congress. I deeply thank the gentleman from Tennessee for his friendship. He was instrumental in securing bipartisan support for passage of H.R. 2919 through the Judiciary Committee. H.R. 2919 reinstates the tracking and reporting of attorneys fees paid out by the Federal Government under the Equal Access to Justice Act, also known as EAJA. EAJA was first enacted in 1980, with the goal of protecting small businesses and other citizens facing unreasonable government action. It was meant to address the David and Goliath situation that exists when a citizen has to go to court against the Federal Government's vast financial and legal resources. Consistent with this theme, EAJA was amended in 1985 to facilitate its application to Social Security claims. It was again amended in 1992 to include claims before the Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims. EAJA has been subject to numerous reviews and revisions over the years to keep it up to date. Its requirement for agencies to track and report on attorneys' fees helped inform Congress in its past efforts to improve the law. This transparency was also a safeguard for the Federal taxpayers who finance the law. Prior to 1995, EAJA payments trickled out at a rate of about $3 million annually. But since tracking and reporting requirements were eliminated in 1995, EAJA has operated in the dark. As a Government Accountability Office report made clear, most agencies do not track payments--and won't--unless Congress gives them direction to do so. Madam Speaker, that is why we are here today. As the gentleman from Ohio (Mr. Chabot), mentioned, we only have anecdotal evidence as to how much we are spending on attorney fees, which agencies pay out the fees, and for what types of claims. We need transparency to better monitor this law moving forward. H.R. 2919 both reinstates transparency and improves it by requiring the information be posted online in a searchable database. We owe this to the small businesses, veterans, Social Security claimants, and others who rely on EAJA for their once-in-a-lifetime court battles with the Federal Government. And we owe it to the hardworking taxpayers who are financing this law.

Mrs. LUMMIS. Madam Speaker, in great appreciation and deference to the gentleman on the Judiciary Committee, and especially to my cosponsor, Mr. Cohen, I gratefully acknowledge his cosponsorship--he supported this bill--and the hard work of the House Judiciary Committee.

Mrs. LUMMIS

Mrs. LUMMIS. Madam Speaker, I come from the wild West. I come from a place of wide open opportunity. And women in the West want freedom and liberty and the ability to create their own business. Women want to expand the businesses they already have and play a bigger role in the American entrepreneurial dream. But ObamaCare makes it more affordable for women entrepreneurs to keep their employee numbers below 50 and their employee hours below 30. This makes no one's life better--not women entrepreneurs and not for their women employees. In fact, two-thirds of those most at risk of losing work hours because of ObamaCare are women. Let's fix this. Let's save American workers. Let's pass the Save American Workers Act.

Mrs. LUMMIS

Mrs. LUMMIS. Mr. Chairman, the State of Wyoming is exempt from the Antiquities Act. I don't know if you knew there is any State that is exempt from the Antiquities Act. In 1950, when Grand Teton National Park and the Jackson Hole National Monument were combined, lawmakers and President Truman exempted Wyoming from further congressional designations. Now 48 percent of Wyoming is Federal land. We have the first national park, the first national forest, and the first national monument. We have nine total national forests and one national grassland within our State borders. Yet, without having to comply with the Antiquities Act, we created the national migratory bird refuge in Wyoming, which is a massive area that happened with local input. You don't need the Antiquities Act as it exists to continue to create Federal designations. They can be done with local and State input, which is exactly what this bill will allow. If there are additional unique and special designations necessary, they should go through the congressional process and not be usurped by unilateral Presidential powers. This is 2014. We are not back in the era when Presidents needed to designate areas that were at risk of being degraded. The ethic of a nation for conservation has come far beyond that. Let's adapt our laws to the morality and the ethics of the times. Let's pass this bill and give people involvement in decisions that are made in their States.

Mrs. LUMMIS

Mrs. LUMMIS. Madam Chair, when you are still and you are out in a meadow, you can hear the water bubble into the ground, and I swear you can hear the grass grow. It is the most amazing, fulfilling thing, and some of the happiest hours I have spent in my entire life. This is personal with me. Madam Chair, I urge my colleagues to support the Tipton bill.

Mrs. LUMMIS. Madam Chair, this act reinforces our century-long system, working well in our States, where the States pass water law and administer State water law. State law is crucial in the West. For example, take how a ski area permit is supposed to work. The Forest Service issues a permit for the use of the land, but the water is administered in accordance with State water law. The water does not belong to the Federal Government. The headline here should be, ``Keep your mitts off our water.'' If the Federal Government wants water rights, it has to pay for them, or get in line, just like other citizens and businesses. But now, instead of waiting its turn or paying fair value, the Forest Service is demanding water rights as a condition of ski area permits. They are demanding the full value of water rights it had no role in developing. The Forest Service isn't just going after ski areas. It is targeting ranchers with grazing permits as well. The Federal Government claims it needs the water rights because the Federal Government knows best how to manage water for ski recreation and grazing. The reality is the Federal Government doesn't know best at all, and that is why States are in control of water law. Sound water management and conservation is necessary in the arid and semi-arid West, and the real work is done at the State and local level by individuals. These efforts will only be harmed if we let Federal agencies trample on State water law, substituting their judgment for those who live near water and depend on it for their well-being. Madam Chair, I have spent thousands of hours of my life irrigating Wyoming's beautiful meadows.

Mrs. LUMMIS

Mrs. LUMMIS. I thank the gentlelady from Tennessee and New York. The gentlelady from New York mentioned the name of a woman who, at The New York World, was a trailblazer for women journalists. Today, my daughter, a journalist, a graduate of Columbia's Pulitzer School of Journalism, is a journalist at The New York World; and without that kind of leadership on the part of women, we wouldn't have the opportunities for ourselves and our children to lead. That is why we need to memorialize what women have done, so women and young girls can envision themselves in these roles. I was recently in Moscow, and we toured the Museum of the Cosmonauts there, and the efforts the United States has currently with Russia, Russia now leading the international space station, so we can continue those efforts. We met with an American woman astronaut and a Russian male cosmonaut. We were led on this tour, and you could see the little kids flock to them as heros. Well, women and girls need role models. The women in this room are role models. All of us here this evening are at an age when we remember what it was like not to have intermural women's sports in high school, what it was like to have to wear skirts to high school and to junior high and grade school, not even having the opportunity to wear pants. I remember when I applied for my first job, I was told that we are not going to hire a woman to be an agricultural loan officer because men don't like to ask women for money--and it was legal. It was legal for them to say that to me in a job interview, and they hired the man instead of me. Well, it just made me mad, and it made me determined. I know by looking at the ages of my colleagues here this evening that you each had similar experiences somewhere in your careers. Our own daughters can't even imagine being told that. This is recent history. These are the kinds of stories that we need to be able to share, what we even went through. It is a recent history, and it is a long-fought battle. That is why I am so proud, so proud, A, to serve with these wonderful women Members of Congress today who are leading this effort, so proud to be a woman Member of this institution, and, B, so proud that you are going to leave this legacy that will create and memorialize the history of women in the United States in order to provide an exemplary and visionary picture for our own daughters, granddaughters, and Americans long after we are gone. Thank you so much to the gentlelady from Tennessee, to the gentlelady from New York, to the wonderful woman from Ohio with whom I served on the House Appropriations Committee. You are fine leaders, exemplary women. I have great respect for the work you are doing this evening.

Mrs. LUMMIS

Mrs. LUMMIS. I thank the gentlelady from New York and the gentlelady from Tennessee. Along with the gentlelady from Ohio, and someone we will hear from shortly, the gentlelady from Florida, it is an honor to be with you tonight. I represent the State that is officially known as the ``Equality State,'' and that is for this reason: Wyoming is the first government in the world to continuously and fully grant women the right to vote. Most people think that had to have been some State associated with the Eastern intelligentsia, but here is the real story. In the Wyoming Territory, the legislature passed into law on December 10, 1869, a measure stating: That every woman at the age of 21 years, residing in this territory, may, at every election, to be holden under the laws thereof, cast her vote. This Suffrage Act granted women in the Wyoming Territory the right to vote with full civil and judicial equality with men. The first woman to cast her ballot pursuant to those rights was Louisa Swain. She voted in Laramie on September 6, 1870, becoming the Nation's first woman voter under laws guaranteeing absolute political equality with men. Now think about that. That is 1870. That is 50 years before the 19th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. She was a 70-year-old woman. Here is the account of her vote in the Laramie Daily Sentinel: It is comforting to note that our first woman voter was really a lady . . . of the highest social standing in the community, universally beloved and respected. The scene was in the highest degree interesting and impressive. There was just too much good sense in our community for any jeers or neers to be seen on such an occasion. And so it was. Wyoming became the inspiration for the rest of the country. Wyoming didn't become a State until 1890, and that brought upon the codification of this suffrage right through the ratification of the new Wyoming State constitution. The Congress of the United States--the very Congress in which we stand--threatened to withhold statehood from Wyoming because we had granted women the right to vote. The Territory's legislators replied with a telegram stating that Wyoming would remain out of the union a hundred years rather than join without women's suffrage. So President Benjamin Harrison, deferring to the wiser Wyoming territorial legislature, on July 10, 1890, signed into law a bill admitting Wyoming into the union and recognizing it as the Nation's Equality State. Once again, events of the first woman voter happened in Wyoming 50 years before every woman in this country received the same rights. Consequently, Wyoming has an exemplary early history. We have the first woman elected to statewide office in the Nation in 1804. She was Wyoming's superintendent of public instruction, Estelle Reel. Why does that matter? Because she died and her estate and her belongings are currently in a little tiny, neglected museum in a town in the district belonging to the chairman of the House Natural Resources Committee, Doc Hastings, giving our chairman, who is going to hold a hearing later in this Congress, pride and reason to help us support obtaining Estelle Reel's property for this museum. In 1870, Esther Hobart Morris from South Pass, Wyoming, was the first woman to hold judicial office in the world. The first women delegates to both the national Democratic and the national Republican convention came from Wyoming. We had the first woman elected Governor in the United States in 1925. She became the first woman director of the U.S. Mint. By the way, Estelle Reel later became the first woman national superintendent of Indian schools. The list goes on and on. We had the first woman bailiff and the first woman grand juror. Wyoming's history is illustrious. That is why we are called the Equality State. We want very much to share that history with the rest of the country, and thanks to the gentlewomen here tonight who are leading the effort to share women's history in this country, that may become a reality. I want to thank and salute the gentlewomen from New York and Tennessee who are leading this Special Order tonight and are leading this effort to create a national women's history museum. Wyoming looks forward to being a proud contributor. I look forward to being at the ribbon-cutting. I want to send so much history to you and share it with the people of this country. I am so delighted that you are leading this effort.

Mrs. LUMMIS

Mrs. LUMMIS. Mr. Speaker, on March 21, the Neil Simpson coal-fired power plant unit in Gillette, Wyoming, is going to shut down 10 years before its useful life is up. And it is shutting down because the EPA created this rule called Boiler MACT. That stands for ``maximum attainable control technology.'' If it was attainable control technology, the company wouldn't shut it down 10 years before its useful life is up. It is being shut down because it is not attainable. The EPA did not tell the truth when they told people this can be attained. And now that plant will be disassembled, taken to another country and put back up and be burning coal there. This is not wise policy, Mr. Speaker.

Mrs. LUMMIS

Mrs. LUMMIS. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman from California, the Chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee, Mr. Royce, for yielding me time. And I thank the gentlewoman from Florida, Ms. Ros-Lehtinen, for her work on this bill. H.R. 938 recognizes the longstanding relationship between the United States and Israel and bolsters our cooperation in the area of offshore resources. This bipartisan legislation expands the scope of an existing grant program to promote research and development for conventional and unconventional natural gas, water desalination, wastewater treatment and reclamation, and other water treatment technologies. It establishes an Energy Cooperation Working Group with the Israeli government on energy activities. Furthering our dialogue and collaboration on academic innovation and technology advancement will help both our nations leverage energy development. I commend Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman Fred Upton and Ranking Member Henry Waxman for their sponsorship of H.R. 3677, which has been incorporated into this bill, and for their leadership on this measure. Both Republicans and Democrats support the United States' partnership with Israel and expanding our cooperation on energy efficiency and development. H.R. 938 would not only help our efforts to achieve energy independence, but also helps the Israeli people achieve stronger national security. I urge my colleagues to support this bill.

Mrs. LUMMIS

Mrs. LUMMIS. Mr. Speaker, later this month, in the State of Wyoming, a coal-fired power unit is going to shut down production for the very last time. This is going to happen 10 years before its useful life has diminished. This is happening because of Federal regulations. This is inexpensive, abundant, coal-fired power which serves the people of this country being cut down 10 years before the useful life of this plant is spent. This is a travesty of Federal regulation which will cost the American people more than it should for their own power. You are going to be hearing more about this later this month from me, Mr. Speaker. This is not the last word.

Mrs. LUMMIS

Mrs. LUMMIS. Mr. Chairman, I yield myself such time as I may consume. I am offering this amendment with Representative Labrador after discussions with our local agriculture producers and the Public Lands Council on some needed adjustments to the underlying bill. This amendment includes some conforming language to the Senate version of the Grazing Improvement Act that was marked up in the Energy and Natural Resources Committee last November. This includes allowing the Secretary to consolidate environmental reviews of allotments in order to reduce the backlog on permit and lease renewals. The amendment clarifies the definition of current grazing management to the common sense wording of ``the terms and conditions of an existing permit or lease.'' It also clarifies that only those directly affected by the renewal, transfer, or reissuance of a permit or lease may appeal a final grazing decision. Lastly, this amendment addresses some concerns with how the Federal land agencies treat temporary crossings and trailing. While the underlying bill exempts all crossing and trailing of domestic livestock from the National Environmental Policy Act, this amendment clarifies that temporary applications and those where an immediate need exists will receive a timely response from the agency. It also states that these authorizations are not subject to protest or appeal, except by affected parties. Our producers' normal business operations require the ability to cross and trail livestock. It is often necessary to remain in compliance with their grazing permits. Temporary trailing has a de minimis impact on the range, and approval should be an administrative action with a quick turnaround time. Weather, changes in grazing patterns, and even requests by Federal land agencies can all require trailing unexpectedly. For example, a hailstorm could wipe out a stand of grass in an hour. A devastating grasshopper infestation can change the grazing conditions on the ground. Those kinds of things require quick response to get cattle or sheep to a different pasture to keep that grass stand healthy. We need to provide the flexibility for our Federal land agencies to approve temporary requests. Mr. Chairman, I urge my colleagues to support the Lummis-Labrador amendment and the underlying bill. I reserve the balance of my time.

Mrs. LUMMIS. I have an amendment at the desk, Mr. Chairman.

Mrs. LUMMIS. Mr. Chairman, I yield to the gentleman from Washington (Mr. Hastings), the chairman of our Natural Resources Committee.

Mrs. LUMMIS. Mr. Chairman, in closing, I would like to point out something about the difference between State lands and Federal lands. I ran my State's Office of State Lands and Investments for a time, and the rights that are conveyed by States on lands to use their lands are very different than the rights that are conveyed by the Federal Government to users of Federal lands. In the case of State lands, frequently, they have many more rights, including, in some States, the right to exclude others. They have the right to make improvements on the ground. They have the right to acquire water permits. They have no NEPA requirements that are specific to the State land and other opportunities to, in fact, even sublease their lands. And those vary from State to State. States that grant more rights can acquire more revenue because it gives more flexibility to the person who is grazing. In the case of the Federal Government, there are burdensome regulations. There are third-party challenges. There are compliance issues. It is more of a command-and-control structure, so it is just not worth as much financially because of the tremendous paperwork and burden involved. Therefore, there are reasons for those differences. Mr. Chairman, the amendments we are proposing have nothing to do with that but offer commonsense solutions to the very important grazing issues. I yield back the balance of my time.

Mrs. LUMMIS

Mrs. LUMMIS. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 1684) to convey certain property to the State of Wyoming to consolidate the historic Ranch A, and for other purposes.

Mrs. LUMMIS

Mrs. LUMMIS. Mr. Speaker, on that I demand the yeas and nays.

Mrs. LUMMIS. Mr. Speaker, I urge passage of H.R. 3008, and I yield back the balance of my time.

Mrs. LUMMIS. Mr. Speaker, I have no further speakers, if the gentleman is prepared to close. I reserve the balance of my time.

Mrs. LUMMIS. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. H.R. 3008 would authorize the Forest Service to exchange 5 acres of the Los Padres National Forest with the White Lotus Foundation to allow public access to their property. The surrounding topography makes the land in question the only practical access point. With no other options for access, the foundation will be forced to cease operations. I would encourage my colleagues to support this bill, which passed the House of Representatives last Congress by voice vote. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.