Doug LaMalfa

Mr. LaMALFA

Mr. LaMALFA. Mr. Speaker, I rise this morning to recognize my good friend Kim Chamberlain for her service to Shasta County. Kim was born and raised in a pear orchard just out of Seoul, South Korea, during the Korean war. She is a refugee and a survivor of the war. Kim eventually married a U.S. Army medic, Paul Chamberlain, and came to the United States in 1971. As a new resident, Kim's goals in America were to learn English, drive an automobile, and get a job. After working as a strawberry trimmer at Lassen Canyon Nursery for several years, Kim went to school and earned her cosmetology license in 1978. In 1981, Kim opened a beauty salon, a shop she owned until 2012. I wish it were still open right now. In 2012, Kim was diagnosed with breast cancer, but she is a fighter and a survivor in getting through it--very admirable. After entering remission, Kim became a local cancer awareness activist, helping others and meeting with other breast cancer survivors for encouragement and support. As the wife of a veteran and a war survivor, you won't find a bigger champion for veterans' issues than Kim Chamberlain. I don't know of anybody who works harder to advance the causes for our veterans and be sure they are properly honored on Veterans Day and Memorial Day. She is one of the fiercest advocates for bringing a veterans clinic, a veterans cemetery, and a veterans home to northern California in Shasta County. She helped raise funds for an endowment that actually pays for landscaping at the Northern California Cemetery and served on a nonprofit board that built a memorial chapel there. A 29-year member of both the VFW Auxiliary and Northern California Korean War Veterans chapter, Kim hosts an annual luncheon to honor and thank Korean war veterans in the area. They come from far and wide to be part of this. I have taken part in several of those. 2020 marks the seventieth anniversary of the beginning of the Korean war, and this year would have been the 30th annual luncheon Kim would have hosted to show appreciation for the Korean war veterans. Unfortunately, this is yet another event that has been wiped out by the coronavirus pandemic. Kim's work on behalf of veterans has been recognized by the city of Anderson, the Anderson Chamber of Commerce, Shasta County, and even the Prime Minister of South Korea. Kim's story embodies the American Dream. She has worked hard and is always working to help her community many, manyfold over. More than her contribution to local veterans or support of local cancer survivors, Kim is a wonderful friend to me, to many, all who come in contact with her. She, indeed, is a blessing to us who know her and those who have come in contact with her and have been helped by her. I wish her all the best, and God's blessing upon Kim in everything she does as a neighbor in northern California.

Mr. LaMALFA

Mr. LaMALFA. Mr. Speaker, needle exchange and distribution programs are doing nothing to get people off drugs, and our neighborhoods are suffering as a result. There is a facility in my district in Chico that distributes needles at local parks where families with children normally congregate. Now, on top of that, as a result of coronavirus, they have also started to deliver them directly to addicts' homes. We deserve better than a government that indiscriminately panders to addicts, so today I introduced the MEND Our Neighborhoods Act, a bill that would reinstate the Federal funding prohibition on needle distribution programs. Law-abiding citizens should not have to deal with the fact that they may be exposed to a used dirty needle in our parks, on our sidewalks, or virtually anywhere that an addict can sit down and shoot up. Enabling drug users should not take precedent over the health and safety of our areas and our parks, so that families can enjoy normal outdoor activities in our public places and in our parks.

Mr. LaMALFA

Mr. LaMALFA. Madam Speaker, I appreciate my colleague from Arizona (Mr. Biggs) for leading this tonight and for what he has been standing up for. I just have to say that I am really grieved by the strife we have in this country, especially trying to exit out of this Wuhan virus situation and the horrific things we saw happening in Minneapolis. That was the moment when we saw George Floyd being abused and ultimately killed by that. There was unity among 99.9 percent of the population of the people in this country saying that is wrong. We had a moment to learn from that, to build upon that. Indeed, it seemed to be a short moment. Peaceful protests immediately followed. We agree with those. And then that has been co-opted by these forces coming out of the ground that have been looking for an opportunity to divide us, divide our Nation, whether it is antifa or other groups that are forming and now seeking political power with this. It is now beyond racism. It is something completely different. The violence that we are seeing, the mayhem, the destruction, the vandalism has nothing to do with the good conversation we should have been having in that spirit of unity that I think most Americans felt in that window of time right after the George Floyd killing. How are we going to come out of this? How are we going to have a good conversation about how we can improve things with law enforcement but not impugn law enforcement for what they are doing? They are out there every day trying to find the balance between how to defend the public, how to defend their own life when they knock on a door or walk up to a car--they don't know what is going on inside there--and also being a good ambassador for somebody who they just need to talk to. How are we going to find this balance again amidst all of this mayhem, amidst all of this violence? Well, certainly, the signal needs to be sent that we are not going to tolerate the violence, the mayhem, the destruction, the vandalism. Severe penalties need to be coming down upon those who we already have on camera or other ways to identify in anything going forward. I just came from Lincoln Park about 10 blocks east of here, and they have to put fencing and have guards out there for the statue of Abraham Lincoln, who is shown there putting a hand up for a slave depicted in that statue, an emancipated slave. He is still wearing the chains. He is looking up at Mr. Lincoln, who is lifting him and going to take him to a better place. Yet, that is being misinterpreted in 2020 as something that is hateful. That same statue was paid for by emancipated slaves back then who were inspired by what Mr. Lincoln had done. They even have a fence around Mary McLeod Bethune right next-door because they are afraid that might get vandalized because there is indiscriminate vandalism happening to any statue, to any memorial, to any monument just because it is a mayhem out there. That doesn't even make sense. It is not even logical that you would tear down the ones, General Grant or whoever, who were actually in the fight to end slavery. We are not going to have a very good conversation about racism when frauds like this go on. Even something so simple or silly as a garage at a raceway here a while back where somebody said it was a noose in the garage, and the media ran with it immediately without taking at least 12 hours to check out and find out that it was a pull handle for shutting a garage door. In no way does it meet the specifications for a noose. Unfortunately, the driver doubled down on that and continued in interviews saying definitely a noose. That doesn't do anything to bring the harmony we should be having, especially when that driver was shown an incredible amount of harmony by his colleagues there when first that incident was reported. Where are we going with all of this? I grieve for our country, the one that had imperfect roots but always has strived to build upon itself to do better, to improve. Slavery came in with the country, but the Founders knew it wasn't right. There were compromises made to at least form this country to be something better than the monarchy that England had, compromises but still building until finally in the 1860s when Mr. Lincoln came and said enough. You had more than half the country that was already ready to do that. We don't get a lot of talk about that because you think the whole country was racist. Most of the country was not. It was eradicated. Then we had the 13th, 14th, and 15th Amendments to grant rights to those who originally did not have them. The Civil Rights Act of the 1960s continued on that path, the Voting Rights Act. Yet, all we hear around here is, Republicans are against all that, when you find out that, actually, Republicans were leading in greater numbers on all of those things all the way back at that time. Now, Democrats are trying to co-opt that and turn it into something else completely. Indeed, the first 20 Members of Congress who were Black were also Republican because they saw who was really trying to lead them toward freedom. What we have going on right now is not going to keep this great country in a place that is free. We have lost a lot of freedom already by the virus, first--something we have to handle--but also the freedom to actually assemble downtown in a large city or to go visit a statue or do anything. Our freedoms are being eroded. Our freedoms are being eroded by roving bands of people who--mayors in large cities, Democrat mayors, and some Democrat Governors that govern States aren't doing anything about it. What are we supposed to do? Stand and watch what is going on here? No, we are not going to watch this anymore. We are not going to put up with it. Severe penalties need to be had for these people inflicting this mayhem upon their own Nation, upon their own neighbors, upon neighborhoods. It needs to be harsh. Then, once we can get the violence stopped, maybe we can get back to the table and have a real conversation about how we are going to improve the situations with race. It grieves me that young Black males feel like they are going to be victimized by the term ``driving while Black.'' That is an awful feeling for them and for us, I think, to see that happen. Our great colleague over on the other side, Senator Tim Scott, when he brought forth a bill he has been working on very hard for a long time, looking for bipartisan efforts, his JUSTICE Act, and then someone tells him it is a token effort. What the heck does that mean? That really struck him deeply, that people would say that about that and not even give him the opportunity to have that bill developed further in the Senate. What a shameful moment that was. Yet, now we have legislation here that is trying to eviscerate the ability of cops to operate how they need to, to have a little bit of immunity because a cop doesn't know what he is walking into or what she is walking into. They need a little latitude, not the latitude we saw in Minneapolis, but one to simply operate. Doctors need latitude in order to work on patients and not be sued to death. Yet, we have this legislation that is going to be, basically, sue a cop. That is not going to help anything. What is that going to do for morale for keeping cops on the force, for recruiting new ones? Do we want this mayhem we keep seeing happening right here in D.C., Minneapolis, L.A., any other large city, and we don't have some kind of law enforcement there? Social workers do have their place in certain situations, and they can be helpful. But we don't take money away. We don't defund the cops who are already shorthanded in rural areas like mine, sheriffs, police, in order to try and change the whole game. We have a lot of listening to do to each other on both sides. Not everybody with light-colored skin is a racist, and I think a lot of people around this country are really feeling, after the unity we had, after the George Floyd ugly incident in Minneapolis, this is a time to get together and listen to each other. If this is allowed to continue to happen, it is going to make it awful hard for people to listen to each other because they are feeling under fire themselves for something they never did, never stood for. Instead, they have always stood for the greatness of that flag right up there. In God we trust. I appreciate the time.

Mr. LaMALFA

Mr. LaMALFA. Madam Speaker, you would have to be living in a hole somewhere to not have noticed that across the Nation, the desecration happening to our national monuments, statues, memorials, and even the vandalization of some of our large cities has been running rampant. It is time for that to end. In many cases, these acts of vandalism are targeted towards longtime institutions of those that tirelessly fought for our freedoms. This desecration must end. And there must be severe penalties for doing these felonious acts. We have seen George Washington statues, the Father of our country, who valued freedom above all else, knocked down. Ulysses S. Grant, the Commanding General of the Union Army, who helped stop the slavery effort of the South, who signed the Civil Rights Act of 1875 and the ratification of the 15th Amendment, was toppled in San Francisco. Abraham Lincoln, who freed so many from slavery. Even down the street from here, they are having to guard the Mary McLeod Bethune statues down there at Lincoln Park, along with Mr. Lincoln. And she was a key element of FDR's original Federal Council of Negro Affairs, otherwise known as the ``Black Cabinet.'' There is not even any logic or sense to the vandalism and chaos that is going on here when they are tearing down statues on all sides of the issue. It needs to be stopped, and there needs to be harsh penalties for those doing this.

Mr. LaMALFA

Mr. LaMALFA. Mr. Speaker, I rise in sadness today, acknowledging the news I received late last night of the loss of our former colleague from Texas, Mr. Sam Johnson, a great American. I had the pleasure of knowing him personally. His story is amazing of his life serving our country. Of course, he is known as being a Vietnam POW, held 7 years in what is known as the Hanoi Hilton. He wrote a book about his exploits, including that part, called ``Captive Warriors: A Vietnam POW's Story.'' I would highly recommend everybody get that and then pass it along. My sweetest memory of him is Leader McCarthy invited a group of about 10 of us Members to go have dinner with him one night and just sit and listen to this man talk about his life, not only the negative of being a POW, but what we always saw here in his positive, upbeat spirit all the time. This guy was a true cool guy. He was a Thunderbird aerobatic team member and also later directed the Air Force Fighter Weapons School, which is known as the Top Gun version of the Air Force. This was an all-around great American. We will miss him badly.

Mr. LaMALFA

Mr. LaMALFA. Mr. Speaker, in that we do have other things going on in this country besides the virus, we do have a crisis up in the Klamath Basin on the border of California and Oregon right now. The Klamath farmers up there are the owners of the Klamath Project water. It was created approximately 100 years ago to allow the ability to farm crops to returning World War I and World War II veterans at that point. Those growers owned the right to approximately 350,000 acre-feet from the Upper Klamath Lake, water created by the project which would not exist without the creation of the project. This year, after many years of having their water pirated away from them, their allocation during a lesser water rainfall and snowfall season was 140,000 acre-feet, they were told on April 1, the second- worst allocation they have ever had, rivaled only by 2001 when they got zero acre-feet allocated to them. 140,000 acre-feet, they were told. So as farmers do--I am a farmer; I get it--we go out and start the process of planting; tilling the ground; ordering up your fertilizer and your seed; applying the fertilizer; and then, finally, seeding the ground. Well, lo and behold, a few weeks later, it was decided to release 50,000 acre-feet from that lake in order to help suppress a virus farther down the Klamath River called the C. shasta, which is supposed to be harmful to the coho salmon, a fish that is deemed endangered on the Klamath, yet not endangered in other areas of the country. Right on the heels of the end of that 50,000 acre-foot release for C. shasta virus for coho salmon, it was decided that there is now not enough water in the lake. The incoming water supply was misestimated. They were told they were going to have to cut back from the original 140,000 acre-feet. They were going to cut back approximately 60,000 acre-feet of that, leaving them with about 80,000 acre-feet for the entire season. This is crops already spent, the cost already incurred to be put in the ground. The water supply is estimated to last until approximately June 15. From June 16 to September, they are going to be in a very dire way. They are going to be out of water, with the investment in the ground. As devastating as 2001 was, this will break many farms up in the Klamath Basin. Unique crops they grow up there--mint, radishes, potatoes, many others--as well as the refuge that sits at the far end of that system that needs the water to flow through those irrigation districts so we will have a duck population, so we will have other wildlife that is extremely important not only for the area but for the entire State of California and the West Coast. This duck population is going to be devastated. Just recently, when they had good water, they had a huge number of ducks hatch, and we had a good population. That is going to be devastated. Farming is the only major economic industry, really, in the region, other than some tourism. There are about 12,000 farms in that Klamath Basin. Approximately $75 million has been spent putting those crops in. It is thought, as it is being estimated right now, the total effect on the region, if this water is taken away and not restored by somewhere around June 15, $200 to $300 million more is coming out of that area. We have created a crisis up there. This water, by law, belongs to the irrigators, not to the Endangered Species Act, not to a Federal agency. The irrigators themselves spend $30 million a year to maintain and operate, if it is actually operating, the project. They still have to pay that bill. But the Endangered Species Act is being interpreted to require water that doesn't belong to the government to be taken and given either to keep the lake fuller for the sucker fish or run downstream in order to allegedly help the coho salmon. There are science and arguments out there that this doesn't help those two species, yet we continue down this blind path, doing it year after year after year, for least 20 years. At this point, with the uncertainty of our Nation's food supply, from the farm gate to the markets, this is what we have going on with farmers up there, having their property rights taken. We must do better. We must take immediate action.

Mr. LaMALFA

Mr. LaMALFA. Madam Speaker, I rise today to recognize the life and legacy of a good friend and great leader from south Sutter County, Robert Gallagher. Born and raised in Rio Oso, California, Bob spent his life dedicated to family, farming, and service to his country. After serving in the Army Air Corps during World War II, Bob returned home to the family farm, which has been owned and operated by the Gallagher family for the last seven generations. There, he and his wife of 53 years, Marian, raised their seven children. Indeed, they have a very large, proud Irish family. When he was not with his family, Bob served as a Sutter County supervisor, and was chairman of the board. And this is a legacy that has been passed down to his grandson, James, who also served as a Sutter County supervisor, and indeed has gone on to serve in the California legislature. Now, Bob was always a fun guy, and a guy I enjoyed meeting up with every time I had a chance to be in Sutter County. He would be known for a quip like--really helpful to politicians--``Don't put your mouth in gear before you put your brain in gear,'' which is something that can be very helpful in a lot of venues. He had a passion for family, for baseball, and treating people well. That is his legacy. We will miss him. What a dear man and a dear friend. God bless him and his family.

Mr. LaMALFA

Mr. LaMALFA. Mr. Speaker, this bill is a grab bag of Democrat priorities that have nothing to do with abating this virus. One of the most misplaced ones, however, is the addition of the SAFE Banking Act, which, if enacted, would financially green light the marijuana industry. Think about that. Marijuana is still an illegal drug under the Federal Schedule I, yet this bill attempts to legitimize this criminal enterprise. What is next? Shall we have safe banking for whale oil or shark fin sales? Again, what does this have to do with the supposed disaster relief legislation? As well, this bill contains H.R. 1 wish list items, including ballot harvesting, a shady practice where campaign operatives go door to door asking, or even coercing, people's private ballots. How is this door-to-door practice supposed to mitigate spreading the virus, the whole premise of this bill, supposedly, being included in a $3 trillion emergency package? Vote ``no'' on this. These are items that have nothing to do with what we should be prioritizing in this time of crisis.

Mr. LaMALFA

Mr. LaMALFA. Mr. Speaker, I thank my colleague from Oklahoma for yielding. Mr. Speaker, our Founders used to ride days on horseback, on wagons, and through unkind conditions to get to D.C. to do their jobs for all of us at the time. We only have to brave TSA lines and occasionally delayed flights. The Constitution here did not catch the virus. Why are we voting on a measure here to basically suspend it? These rules have been in place since basically 1789. Mr. Speaker, our constituents elected us to come to Congress and do our job and be their voice in Washington, D.C. This would only mute their voice. Just as ballot harvesting in my State has led to some shady and even fraudulent outcomes, Members of Congress should not have to be here to be possibly coerced by certain other Members to how their votes should be shaped. We need to be able to show up. It is not that hard, really, at the end of the day. We have a higher calling to come here and do our job and be present to have these interactions, to have these conversations, especially when we are talking about possibly $3 trillion of new spending that is going to be debt for the grandkids that we are still trying to be helpful to in our future generations. I urge a ``no'' vote on this and we need to stop and think of what we are doing here.

Mr. LaMALFA

Mr. LaMALFA. Madam Speaker, I thank the gentleman for yielding. April 1, Secretary Mnuchin warned us that the PPP has high demand and will likely need more funding. April 4, President Trump tweeted out a statement supporting more funding a day after the program opened up. April 7, Secretary Mnuchin requests more funding for the program, warning that we will run out. April 9, Senate Democrats block replenishing this funding, winning praise from fellow Democrats. Members, colleagues, we had ample warning of the funding running out on numerous occasions during this month of April that we have been away. How many small restaurants, hairdressers, bookstores, et cetera, in your districts have suffered and closed because the majority is too busy looking at the election in November to see today's crisis in April? Yet, so after all this time and the travel it took us all to get here wearing masks, what is the first thing we bring up? A duplicative, partisan select subcommittee to make a political spectacle of the virus. I sit as a member on the Transportation Committee. We can oversee the oversight of FEMA just fine. Our Commerce Committee can have oversight of HHS. We don't need extra, duplicative committees. We are 22 days behind. We need to get back to work and put the people back to work and get this done.

Mr. LaMALFA

Mr. LaMALFA. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman for yielding. Mr. Speaker, this bill is indeed historic, the largest disaster relief package in American history. I am disappointed, as many of my constituents are, that much of this bill is not directly targeted at emergency relief, but that is the cost of doing business in a divided government in such divided times. Indeed, much that was on the last-minute ideological wish list has been removed and focus returned to the virus and its economic effect. A colleague said earlier, this is much like a 9/11 moment. It is up to us today. Highlights include: help for our revered veterans, nearly $20 billion for their medical care, homeless vets, and modernizing VA telehealth; expansion of telehealth into rural America, like my own district, to bridge that gap in rural services technology; $350 billion in guaranteed SBA loans, cushioning the blow and providing much stability for small businesses so that their employees will have jobs waiting when the all clear signal finally sounds. Mr. Speaker, it is my hope and prayer that this act hits the targets and brings the certainty that I hope most of us in this room desire and, importantly, meets the needs of the very concerned American people. Mr. Speaker, I thank President Trump and his team for leading our country back to stability.

Mr. LaMALFA

Mr. LaMALFA. Madam Speaker, the prevailing thought has been ``things will get worse before it gets better,'' and recently, it appears the ``worse'' part is here. Necessary measures are being taken as we have learned more about this virus. We now have a new term: ``social distancing.'' Small businesses, though, are suffering, and tourism, the economy in general. This outbreak is causing a lot of hurt. Now more than ever, it is important to support our local small businesses. They are the backbone of our economy and are experiencing a decline that we haven't seen in a long time from the recent coronavirus outbreak in their towns. Their failure will result in a much larger problem for a country that has proven to be quite resilient. The SBA is offering disaster assistance loans to small businesses impacted by the virus. The issue is to ease and cushion our economy so that, in a few weeks, we can start our bounce back. And, indeed, we will bounce back. Last week's measure will help our health providers. Hopefully, this week's economic package is not chock-full of socialist wish lists by the Democrats but is something that will actually be helpful to save lives and the economy and is affordable at the same time. I hope we can accomplish good work this week.

Mr. LaMALFA

Mr. LaMALFA. Madam Speaker, from the Oval Office, the President's address to the Nation last night stressed how important decisive action is today and in the future to prevent the spread of the virus tomorrow. I commend the President for his latest measures to keep the country safe and to provide for its continued prosperity. The travel ban from China proved to be a lifesaving choice for Americans, and I expect the European travel ban will provide a similar result and ability to hold off even worse results. Should the House vote on a coronavirus package today, I would like to remind my colleagues that our local governments are the best chance we have of attacking this virus head-on. The President has worked diligently to provide local public health officials the resources they need to mitigate the virus, including the rapid release of the funds from the emergency supplemental we passed last week. Our cities and towns know the risks that their citizens face the best, and Congress should be doing all it can to take proper action in aiding them and, most importantly, our American citizens.

Mr. LaMALFA

Mr. LaMALFA. Madam Speaker, China considers the United States their biggest threat in their search for global dominance. However, the truth is that China's recent rise is being enabled by institutional and individual investors in the United States, including Federal, State, and public pension funds like the TSP and CalPERS in California. A number of Chinese entities, which are receiving American investments, are engaged in activities that violate U.S. law and hurt our national security interests, especially our military, like China Telecom's social credit score system and their repression of the Uighurs, which the House voted to condemn earlier this year. Our public pensions should not be allowed to become a new funding vehicle for Communist China, which serves as a threat to current and retired Federal and State employees who are unknowingly enabling their aggression against U.S. interests.

Mr. LaMALFA

Mr. LaMALFA. Madam Speaker, I rise today to recognize Jillian Larrabee from Durham High School in northern California for winning the giant slalom race during the California-Nevada Interscholastic Ski and Snowboard Federation championships. As a resident of Durham, Jillian lived on her family's farm during the week and drove to Lake Tahoe on the weekends to train and pursue her dream of professional skiing. Her high school never had a ski and snowboard team, so Jillian petitioned the Durham Unified School Board in hopes of bringing a team to her school. Earlier this year, the board approved her request for the 2020 season. Jillian was the lone competitor to make the championship from Durham High during their inaugural year. She finished her first run in 1 minute and 13 seconds and then narrowed that time by clocking a run of 1 minute and 9.6 seconds, which finished a full second faster than the second-place skier in the giant slalom. As a result of her outstanding performance, Jillian was named to the all-State team, the only member from the Butte County area. From hard work and persistence comes great success for her and her school. Congratulations, Jillian.

Mr. LaMALFA

Mr. LaMALFA. Madam Speaker, I thank Mr. Budd for yielding and for working on this issue even though he is not from a State that has as much of it as California. Indeed, I have seen so much happen to my population at home that many are giving up for a host of reasons, but this is one right near the top of the list for leaving our State, to go to others that don't have sanctuary cities or sanctuary State policies. If you go back in time, what really was at the front of this issue that put it on a lot of people's radar around the country was the Kate Steinle tragedy that happened in San Francisco. An illegal immigrant was here, having been deported many times over, and still had this opportunity for whatever the circumstances that took the life of Kate Steinle. Time and time again, in my home State, people are fed up. I had a chance to sit down with some members of ICE here the other day. They are just trying to do their job. They are just trying to uphold the law. Indeed, what some of my colleagues have talked about here this evening is that we have people actually causing the law to be broken that are elected officials--people that swore an oath to the Constitution, to the laws of this country, and to my home State--now causing one of the worst things: an increase of crime you can see in California. The exodus from California comes from the root cause of things like not only the high cost of doing business but the crime wave that is hitting California, and that is rooted in this sanctuary city, illegal immigration, and the things that they cause to make our communities less safe. So, at this point, I am proud to be able to join in this bill that Mr. Budd is bringing. We need to have sanctions against States and cities and, as Mr. Steube talked about, hold accountable the public officials that are causing their own cities, their own jurisdictions, to be defying the law. How are we supposed to teach our kids or anybody that the law has value when we have people making it a contest to see how much they can defy the Trump administration and the law itself? Madam Speaker, I appreciate this time tonight and Mr. Budd's effort on this.

Mr. LaMALFA

Mr. LaMALFA. Mr. Speaker, I rise tonight to recognize a local farmer and agribusiness owner, Jim Paiva from west Chico. A true Butte County native born in Chico, California, Jim grew up on his father's dairy farm and eventually pursued a career in construction for a time. However, he eventually left the industry and went back to the farm. He began planting orchards in the Chico area, eventually planting thousands of acres of trees. He soon saved up enough money to buy a piece of land next door to his family's old dairy farm, where he purchased an almond huller. He has since diversified into walnuts, prunes, and even farm equipment sales. Jim is proof of how hard work can lead to good outcomes, and his forward thinking for that 7-days-a-week work has really led to his recent recognition as a leader in his field. The ``Cec'' Nielsen award he was just awarded this last weekend shows the forward thinking he has for sustainability, for having his farm and the people at his farm thinking about how to do things long term. His commitment to local agriculture is unmatched. He serves as a great example of entrepreneurial success in Butte County. Congratulations, Jim Paiva.

Mr. LaMALFA

Mr. LaMALFA. Mr. Speaker, this past Saturday, the West Valley girls basketball team had a come-from-behind win to win the Northern Section Division IV championship in northern California. After going 23-8 in the regular season, West Valley shut out their opponent in the fourth quarter to pull out a 29-26 victory. After trailing 24-17 in the third quarter, Hannah Wayne scored seven of the next eight points for the Eagles, creating a momentum that allowed the Eagles to keep the lead for good. Madalynn Bassett scored eight points, along with Hannah Wayne, for lead scorer of the game. Congratulations on the win to the West Valley Eagles, and head coach, Lenny Ehn. Good luck in the play-offs for the State championship, we will be rooting for you.

Mr. LaMALFA

Mr. LaMALFA. Mr. Speaker, as compared to other historic viruses and outbreaks in recent years, the coronavirus, so far, is a lesser threat. Let's compare it to H1N1, also known as the swine flu of 2009. The CDC has estimated that approximately 60 million people in the U.S. contracted H1N1 during that 2009 outbreak, leading to the death of around 12,000 Americans. Even more alarming, during this current 2019-2020 flu season, approximately 18,000 people, unfortunately, have died as a result of the more conventional flu. Currently, in the U.S., there are 105 confirmed cases of coronavirus, resulting in the unfortunate death of six people so far. We expect these numbers will go up. While this outbreak is, indeed, a problem, the CDC, not politicians, continue to claim that the American public are unlikely to be exposed to coronavirus. During the Republican majority in Congress, we made several strategic investments in key health resources to prevent the spread of a virus like this one, including a 24 percent increase in CDC funding and a 70 percent increase in infectious disease response. So, instead of sounding an alarm, I encourage my colleagues on both sides of the aisle to continue to remind Americans that our country will adapt to the challenges coming. For people, individually: Work on limiting your own risk by washing your hands frequently.

Mr. LaMALFA

Mr. LaMALFA. Mr. Speaker, authorizing more money for California's high-speed rail--I call it high-cost rail--is a terrible idea. It seems that my House colleagues have quickly forgotten how much of a disaster this project has been. This was sold to the voters in 2008 as a $33-billion project. When we finally got the truth out of them--this is a couple of years later--it tripled to $100 billion. Then, they went back and revised and said: Well, we will just downsize it a bit and make it about $65 billion. It has since ballooned back to $100 billion and more. It will probably be maybe almost double that by the time it actually gets done 30 years from now. It has been a boondoggle since day one. The Trump administration, thankfully, canceled just under a $1 billion grant that could have left Congress and D.C. to go toward that project. Instead, let's put it toward something people can actually use, like our highways and our bridges, where we already have a lot of traffic that we have to deal with. Regular people can access that. They will never be able to afford a high-speed rail ticket at $300 a head to go from San Francisco to L.A., if it actually is ever completed from San Francisco to L.A. Right now, it is just going within the central part of the State, staying between walnut orchards and hayfields. It is really a crazy project. We shouldn't send another dollar from D.C. toward that but claw back the dollars that have already been wasted because they haven't upheld the contract to the voters who voted in this thing several years ago.

Mr. LaMALFA

Mr. LaMALFA. Madam Speaker, coronavirus obviously is a cause of great concern for our citizens' well-being and impact on our health system in its ability to deliver service in this country. What is disappointing in the last few days, it is once again being turned into a political football by those who oppose everything that this President does, even this morning before a briefing we had to educate us Members. Can we please just stop on the bashing and focus on what Americans expect--solutions? There is much we don't know. It is a moving target. China hasn't been very forthcoming with information. So, in order to provide an abundance of caution, we need to have a deliberate process, and that is what our health officials are trying to provide. We don't want an over-panic, but we don't want an under-response either. We need to assure our citizens that proper steps are being taken--and I believe they are--in containing it in this country. Working together for solutions and leaving the politics to the Presidential debates and the talk shows and all that is what we need to be doing. It will help us best serve the needs and provide assurances as we learn and understand the breadth of this virus and its reach into our lives in this country. It is not Democrat. It is not Republican. It is just answers and assurances our citizens expect us to do.

Mr. LaMALFA

Mr. LaMALFA. Madam Speaker, I rise today to recognize the life and legacy of Norma Comnick of Anderson, California, a friend of mine I have known many years in the political scene. She was born in Texas, and she made some fine Texas chili for me, too. Norma moved to Anderson in the mid-eighties and was first elected to the city council in 1996, where she served for 21 years and five terms as mayor. She loved civic duty in her hometown. She was a fierce advocate for veterans and seniors, as well as bringing housing opportunities to the area. Her passion for her city extended well beyond her service on the city council. She dedicated much of her time to the Anderson Rotary, where she was inducted as one of the first two female members of that club, as well as a group called Anderson Explodes, which raises funds for Anderson's annual Fourth of July celebration, which they hold on the third, a massive fireworks display for the 12,000 people who attend. She was a small business owner, having an insurance agency in Anderson until retiring from that in 2004. I had the opportunity to attend her memorial service just a few days ago. It was beautiful. It was moving. Her great friends were there. Indeed, she was always, to the last, when I visited not too long ago, concerned about how her citizens were doing in her area. Indeed, she has a great legacy and will be missed. She was a blessing.

Mr. LaMALFA

Mr. LaMALFA. Mr. Speaker, this week, the Senate Judiciary Committee had a hearing on the Born-Alive Abortion Survivors Protection Act. In the House, Democratic leadership continues to block the near 80 times that my Republican colleagues and I have tried to consider this legislation on this floor, let alone even holding a hearing. I am willing to bet most Americans assume that doctors and nurses will do everything they can to help a baby that has somehow miraculously survived an abortion. They would be surprised and sad to know that that is not always the case. In 2002, Congress recognized the simple fact that an infant who survives an abortion is indeed a person. So why is there no legal protection for those newborn babies who have run the gauntlet, who survived and have been born alive after a failed abortion attempt? It is way past the time to hold abortion providers accountable for ensuring the best possible care for any newborn baby, despite what the Governor of Virginia might say, regardless of whether that baby survived an abortion. Mr. Speaker, I would like to thank my colleagues, Whip Steve Scalise and Representative Ann Wagner, for their great work on this issue. It is time the House passes this important legislation to protect the sanctity of innocent newborn life.

Mr. LaMALFA

Mr. LaMALFA. Madam Chair, I thank my colleague from Idaho for yielding. I rise in opposition to H.R. 2546. This package of land bills will impact California, Colorado, and Washington creating nearly 1.5 million acres of new wilderness. H.R. 2250, one bill included in this package will impact northern California, my area. It adds 262,000 acres of new wilderness designations, despite concerns from local communities as to how they would be impacted. We have seen the devastation that wildfires cause in northern California time and time again, so why are we putting more land into this restrictive wilderness category, which will make it even more difficult to properly manage forests and to access them? Potential wilderness is typically treated as wilderness anyway, so you have 51,000 acres that will probably be enforced as if it were wilderness. We should be prioritizing forest management, not making it more difficult for access and the work needing to be done desperately. In rural northern California, much of the land is already owned by the Federal Government. The local economies depend on access and use of these lands to thrive. Seventy-six percent of Trinity County is controlled by the Federal Government. Ninety-five percent of the land added to wilderness designation by 2250 is located there. The town of Weaverville located in Trinity County has had several occasions where fire has burned right up to their doorsteps, and even then, we still pursue endangering them because these lands are not managed. Even due to the best efforts of our firefighters, our CCC groups out there trying get ahead of it, we put ourselves behind by having wilderness designations that take away options, take away ability to access and properly manage these lands. Currently within that county, 520,000 acres, or 25 percent, are designated as wilderness. It would increase that number to 770,000, or 37 percent of the county. There are concerns with these lands being designated as wilderness that should have been addressed with the local communities, ranging from questions about forest management, grazing implications, to road decommissioning and stewardship contracts. How does that help the public have access? How does that help our firefighters and CCC have access to do the work? Consensus from these local communities most impacted by these designations should be a priority. This legislation does not do that. None of the language changes recommended to help mitigate local concerns were accepted, so I urge you to vote in opposition. If it is all about protecting lands, what is it we are actually protecting when we are endangering them even more so?

Mr. LaMALFA

Mr. LaMALFA. Madam Speaker, I thank my colleague from Montana (Mr. Gianforte) for his leadership on this. It is really a commonsense issue, isn't it? Government efficiency, accountability, and reform is something that all Americans can get behind because, let's remember for just a moment, who pays for all of this? Who pays to keep the lights on here, all of these buildings in Washington, D.C., all of the people working in them, all of them out in the districts, all of them out there in the forests, what have you? It is the American taxpayer. What is the American taxpayer faced with? Trying to take care of their own business, their home, their family, their mortgage, car payments, saving for college, whatever their priorities are, maybe going on a vacation once in a while, saving up so they can have a week or two off. What is it that we are doing with their money in Washington, D.C., or my home State of California in Sacramento? How are we respecting what they earn? How are we respecting that by the priorities we are putting on spending what they earn? And it isn't a contribution, like sometimes it is talked about. I love to hear the talk around here: the contributions you make, and the investments we are going to make. No, tax dollars are not voluntary. They are taken from you per a formula. So, how are we treating them? That is an important charge to me. This is a big place, and there are a lot of Members, and there is a lot of government, after 230-plus years of layers. So getting back to just a little more efficiency, I think, tells those hardworking folks that there is somebody in Washington, D.C., like this GEAR committee, like these folks, who are trying to somehow work toward balancing the budget someday. The President's budget that he is talking about, he is going to take a lot of hits for that right now. At least he is putting the concept out there that is trying to work toward balance instead of deficit spending. We will be consumed one day by the service on the debt if interest rates go wild. It will eclipse our spending. Let me just break it down, in my couple of minutes here, on a couple of things that I think are important about this more locally, more for the Western States that myself, Mr. Gianforte, and others share. The RSC plan lays out more than 100 solutions for GEAR reform, including modernizing NEPA and the Endangered Species Act, especially important in my State, as well as the West. NEPA is Big Government at its best. It has been manipulated into something that is a monster and that it should never have been as far as protecting the environment. It is often the largest hindrance on forest management, water management, water storage, and for simple power line clearing projects; like are so desperately needed in my district since the town of Paradise burned a little over a year ago, and we are trying to rebuild. There are more towns I could name in the district that that same catastrophe could happen to because of overcrowded forests, and in some cases proximity to power lines. According to this report, the NEPA review can take nearly 6 years on average to get a NEPA report. We are talking about forestry, Madam Speaker. How long does it take to study replacing a simple culvert in a Forest Service road? Why does that even need a study? If you built the thing to begin with, just replace it. No. We have got to study it to death. We have to study and get permits to clear trees around power lines that might be hazardous, a leaning tree or a dead tree. Now, thankfully, we got bipartisan legislation, me and Mr. Schrader from Oregon, to help speed that process up, and we are going to work on another bill to speed it up even more so we can do a simple, basic, commonsense thing like that. Californians don't have a lot of time to wait for the government to do the forest management on its lands and infrastructure overhauls needed to protect them from wildfires and droughts. Indeed, when the Pacific Gas & Electric Company says that it might be up to 10 years before we can get out of this power shutoff situation that we are facing because of other issues that they are battling through with green power mandates and getting permission to do the lines. Ten years of power shutoffs for my constituents? Are you kidding me? We need to narrow that down to almost nothing, because we can't have another year like that. So I applaud the Trump administration for recently proposing reforms to NEPA, but we should not have had to wait 40 years for the executive branch to act. This executive branch is doing so. Congress should be in the business of addressing inefficiency in government, having much more oversight, like GEAR, like my colleagues are all working on here as well, including ending the cumulative effects and indirect impact statements required by NEPA. The Endangered Species Act also poses a unique set of problems to California, specifically with critical habitat designations. Take the valley elderberry longhorn beetle. Fish and Wildlife recommended, I think about 15 years ago, to finally delist that. Here we still are waiting to delist that and all the habitat issues with elderberry plants that inhibit the ability to fix flood control projects and to fix levees, because you have to plant back 15 to 1 for every elderberry bush you might disturb because it is possible critical habitat, even if you have never seen an elderberry beetle land there. The Shasta Dam project would raise the dam 18 feet and supply about 650,000 more acre-feet of water for Californians, whether it is for agriculture, people, habitat or whatever--18 more feet. That is a lot of water to an existing dam. It has been halted due to a lawsuit calling for the protection of the Shasta salamander. The 3-inch long salamander makes its home on the banks of Lake Shasta which has been designated as a critical habitat. Now, when there is a lot of rain coming into Lake Shasta, the fastest the lake can rise is about one-quarter inch per hour during heavy rain. So all the salamander has to do is be able to move at one-quarter inch per hour to stay ahead of the lake level. Where is the sense here? Eighteen feet above an already existing lake which the salamander already thinks is pretty cool to live next to. Critical habitats unnecessarily delay critical infrastructure projects like the Shasta Dam, and their designation standards need to be reformed for whatever habitat is. The RSC GEAR report has done an excellent job at addressing these necessary changes, including reforms to NEPA and the ESA. I sincerely hope Congress--both sides of the aisle--will take these suggestions and hold bureaucracy more accountable to the American people who pay for all this. Madam Speaker, I thank the gentleman for yielding.