Doug LaMalfa

Mr. LaMALFA

Mr. LaMALFA. General Breedlove said: ``EUCOM needs additional intelligence collection platforms, such as the U-2 or the RC-135, to assist the increased collection requirements in the theatre.'' Mr. Chairman, I urge adoption of this amendment.

Mr. LaMALFA

Mr. LaMALFA. Mr. Speaker, tonight I introduced H. Res. 731 expressing Congress' opposition to laws requiring that microstamping technology be included in handguns. Time and time again, studies have shown that microstamping technology has failed to achieve any reliable effectiveness. A study by the University of California, Davis--certainly no hotbed of support for the Second Amendment--recommended against imposing microstamping requirements, and the creator of the technology participated in a study which determined it did not work reliably. Mr. Speaker, the only real impact of microstamping is to increase costs and make it more difficult for Americans to exercise their Second Amendment rights. Unfortunately, that is the true intent of these laws, not to increase safety, but to simply make it more difficult for law- abiding citizens to own firearms. Even the Ninth Circuit Court agreed--the most overturned court in the country--just today that laws intended solely to prevent Americans from exercising their rights are unconstitutional. Mr. Speaker, I ask my colleagues to reject these laws and join me in standing up for the Second Amendment and join on to H. Res. 731.

Mr. LaMALFA

Mr. LaMALFA. Madam Speaker, last night, my colleague, Congressman Reichert, had a Special Order honoring our police officers for National Police Week here. And though I had wished to take part in that, I wasn't able to; but I certainly feel the need and desire to honor our police officers across this country for what they do, for being on the line for all of us here, and sometimes being unappreciated for that in a strange media setting that we have these days. We hearken back to 2014, when 136 officers lost their lives. Fresh on our mind in northern California is the loss of two of our Placer County officers, Michael Davis and Danny Oliver, in a terrible run-and-gun situation that was going on with a released inmate. These two officers served many years in their role for the people of Placer County and northern California. Like them, many others around the country have lost their lives in the line of duty to protect us. We need to honor them. We need to be behind them at all times. The thin blue line is between us and a lot of really bad things in this Nation. They go to work each day willing to pay the price, if it is necessary. We honor them. In the midst of everything going on these days in the news and the media, it is important that we always remember their sacrifice, and stop and thank them, and get to know them as they are trying to get to know the people in the community. We find out they are just human like us and are after the same things, as Americans.

Mr. LaMALFA

Mr. LaMALFA. Madam Speaker, 78 Americans die every day from an opioid overdose in this country. This trend is not an isolated problem. It is an epidemic that now outpaces deaths from motor vehicle accidents and is found in every geographic region across the country, from small farm towns, like in my district, to New York City. Statistics we have been hearing reveal a troubling reality. Addiction does not discriminate. It impacts the young, old, poor, rich, male, female, and it ruins the lives of all those involved. The package of bipartisan bills on the floor this week include two important elements. They ensure Federal dollars are allocated to the most effective programs and methods to reduce drug abuse while also providing doctors, law enforcement, and treatment facilities the better tools they need to combat this growing epidemic. These are solutions Americans in all walks of life need right now. Just last month, for example, Sacramento saw 10 people lose their lives in just 12 days from pills laced with fentanyl, a highly potent opioid, as well as in my own rural district, the continued push of heroin into the area especially as a higher value substitute for cartels as marijuana becomes more and more legal. We can and must do better. I encourage my colleagues from both sides to continue to act quickly so we can advance these solutions to the President's desk and effectively tackle this crisis.

Mr. LaMALFA

Mr. LaMALFA. Mr. Speaker, over the weekend The New York Times published a disturbing story about the Obama administration's efforts to manipulate press coverage of the Iran deal. When the deal was signed last year, many of my colleagues and I warned that Iran could not be trusted to follow these temporary restrictions on their nuclear weapons program, but key staffers in the White House worked to create an echo chamber for their false claims about the Iran deal. The Obama administration spun a concocted story about a moderate regime coming to power in Iran that was suddenly willing to change their approach to their pursuit of nuclear weapons and their relationship with the rest of the world. As it turns out, the administration had already begun talks with Iran well before new President Rouhani took office. Iran already knew how desperate President Obama was to sign this or any deal which allowed them to extract several key concessions. The deal only provides temporary restrictions on Iran's nuclear weapons program while giving Iran permanent relief from sanctions. Meanwhile, Iran will continue to support terrorism and further destabilize the region as well as violate the missile test program in the agreement. The Obama administration's misleading campaign to convince the American people to support the Iran deal has dangerous consequences for us deceiving the public and their trust in government as well as putting our allies around the world, such as Israel, in danger and that trust as well.

Mr. LaMALFA

Mr. LaMALFA. Mr. Speaker, the current process to obtain outfitter and guide permits for hiking, hunting, and fishing exhibitions on our public lands for recreation events is too expensive and very complicated. Guides and outfitters should not have to navigate arbitrary rules, inconsistent practices, and unresponsive Federal agencies. As a result, I have introduced the Guides and Outfitters Act, known as the GO Act, H.R. 5129, which will renew the authorization for these recreation permits while eliminating burdensome red tape. This measure will also cap permit fees, ensure that fees are charged only for activities on the actual public lands, not on private lands, provides categorical exclusions for previously studied uses to reduce delays, and allows online applications. The GO Act is consistent with my commitment to increasing public access to the public lands, making Federal agencies more responsive to the communities in which they operate and removing unnecessary bureaucratic red tape that keeps people off of their lands.

Mr. LaMALFA

Mr. LaMALFA. Mr. Speaker, yesterday the House passed H.J. Res. 88, a measure to reject the Department of Labor's misguided fiduciary rule. Just like ObamaCare gets between you and your doctor, this conflict- of-interest rule attempts to put Washington between you and your financial adviser, insisting on a broad, onerous piece of regulation rather than a simple solution based on best business practices that attracts plaintiff attorneys and a bonanza of new lawsuits. Even State officials in New York, which is a Democratic stronghold, have proposed simpler solutions that inform consumers without burdening investment businesses, if only the Department of Labor would listen. I implore the Senate to pass this measure and the President to listen to State officials, actual financial investors, and small investors, who have developed a better alternative, by signing this legislation into law and not stymieing investment for families and our economy.

Mr. LaMALFA

Mr. LaMALFA. Mr. Speaker, just last month, prune growers in the Sacramento Valley of California were pretty optimistic about 2016. For the first time in a while, they saw some relief from the drought, and though crop prices were down, the little prunes on the trees gave hope for a healthy harvest with an estimated value of up to $120 million for the year. Now, just a few weeks later, these same farmers are questioning whether there will even be a harvest following very rough weather during the critical bloom period. Yet, this is the natural reality of the risks faced by farmers and ranchers. Before blindly attacking sound agriculture policy, such as crop insurance, I ask my colleagues here to take a close look at what it takes to feed our Nation, especially in a year like this one where farm income is down over 50 percent. These policies are not meant for the good crop years or in a good harvest. They exist for the terrible crop years. Mr. Speaker, weather is unpredictable, as are natural disasters and fickle markets. However, we can make sure farmers have access to tools that manage these risks in an efficient and cost-effective manner. Let's not jeopardize this successful and vital program.

Mr. LaMALFA

Mr. LaMALFA. Mr. Speaker, I represent a rural district in northern California where many of my constituents can only access the Internet through dial-up or low-speed DSL. Lack of access to broadband in rural areas is a drag on economic growth and impacts our small businesses, schools, hospitals, and much more. Recently, the House took action to ensure the FCC cannot regulate the rates charged for broadband Internet access by passing H.R. 2666. There is no regulatory scheme the FCC can create that will magically solve the challenge of expanding broadband access in high-cost areas. Instead, likely, it will be a hindrance as it creates more barriers to that access. Expanding broadband in rural areas requires an understanding of the economic realities, recognizing the need for greater access, and removing the regulatory uncertainty. Adoption of H.R. 2666 will encourage investment by letting Internet service providers know they will not have to face the threat of Federal regulations on the rates they charge and continue the push for broadband access and investment in rural areas, which will be very helpful for people who have to drive a long distance for education and the telemedicine that is so critical in rural areas.

Mr. LaMALFA

Mr. LaMALFA. Mr. Speaker, this week the Agriculture Subcommittee on General Farm Commodities and Risk Management held a hearing--and will be holding more--on the condition of the general farm economy. We see prices of commodities going down extremely from a high just a couple of years ago. Indeed, farm income is down approximately 56 percent, according to the USDA. Steps need to be taken to ensure stability in the ag economy because it is a large part of the export market for us; and the stability of U.S. food prices and the economy in rural America rely on it. We need to have the type of policy that helps keep business in America doing well. It isn't just devising policy here in Washington, D.C., but also not making a regulatory burden and causing the prices of inputs to continue to spiral upward as we watch farm prices at the gate go down. We need to do much more to have a friendly atmosphere for business. That includes agriculture in this country. And we hope to come up with solutions as we put the spotlight on the Agriculture Committee in the coming weeks.

Mr. LaMALFA

Mr. LaMALFA. Mr. Speaker, just the other day, April 1, marked the 116th birthday and anniversary of the United States Submarine Force. This is the date the U.S. Government accepted the USS Holland, which is SS-1, into the U.S. Navy, again, in 1900. This was pointed out by a good friend and a great patriot and veteran of the Submarine Forces, Jim Gibson of Redding, California, who has served on several different submarines and is a main organizer of the USS Cuttlefish, a veterans submarine group that does many events up in northern California. He pointed that out to me, and I want to acknowledge, again, the great work of our veterans of those subs and what they mean for the security of our Nation. So happy 116th to the United States Submarine fleet.

Mr. LaMALFA

Mr. LaMALFA. Mr. Speaker, I appreciate my colleague from Texas (Mr. Gohmert) for yielding to me so I may pay tribute to a great, stellar woman from northern California. This can't be done in a 1-minute speech, so a little extra time is very, very fitting in recognition of her work and her life. In rising today, I join with many northstate residents in honoring the life and legacy of Isaac Lowe, an incredible woman and a prominent civil rights leader, who passed away just a few weeks ago in Redding, California. She was born in 1921 in Wharton, Texas. Isaac was the second youngest of nine children, learning early the importance of hard work. She attended Tillotson Business College in Austin, Texas, and Prairie View A&M in Prairie View. It was during a visit to check up on a sick friend in California when she met her future husband, Vernon Lowe, whom she married soon after and started her family in Redding, California. Being an African American woman in the 1940s, unfortunately, racism was no stranger to Isaac. Despite holding a business degree, she was denied jobs because employers chose to judge her skin color rather than her impressive credentials. Isaac did not give up. She started a catering business in Redding, and she eventually became the first Black woman to be hired by the County of Shasta, working in social services for 17 years and helping others. However, Isaac's most noble work was through her plight to advance racial equality in her own neighborhood. Upon first moving to Redding, all but one of the Black families lived on the same street and were segregated from the community. This was a status quo that she didn't accept. Isaac joined her husband in founding the Redding chapter of the NAACP and began her 65-year journey of advocating for civil rights and worked very hard in order to hold onto that charter of the NAACP when times got a little leaner back in the seventies. She lobbied city and county lawmakers for safe and affordable housing for Black families. She worked with local school officials for the equal treatment of Black children in the community's mainly White schools. She fought for fairness and justice under the law for all citizens in the judicial system. She raised funds and successfully sought approval from city hall for the construction of the only Martin Luther King, Jr., community center between Sacramento and Oregon at that time. It was her compassionate advocacy and her resiliency that helped change Shasta County for the better. Some of her most notable accomplishments included being the first Black woman to serve on Shasta County's grand jury, where she served as a founding member of the Shasta County Citizens Against Racism and was awarded the Redding Citizen of the Year in 1992. Her proudest moment was in getting the Redding City Council members to recognize Martin Luther King Day as a holiday. Her legacy speaks volumes of the person she was and of the impact she had on so many lives. One of the anecdotes I know about her informally is that she was fairly commonly referred to as the ``Rosa Parks of Redding, California.'' She was a deeply caring friend, a loving wife and mother, and a selfless advocate. I had the chance to meet Isaac personally on different occasions-- some positive and one, actually, a very negative occasion, but it was made positive by how the community responded to a very ugly racial incident that took place against a Black family in their home. Many of us in the community joined together in a march in solidarity, protesting, that we were not going to tolerate this in our community in northern California. Isaac was there, being strong but also being that smiling, positive voice. You could see her strength. You could also see the light shining from within her as she advocated for what was right for everybody, really, at the end of the day. If we had more people like her and if we had more harmony instead of the divisiveness that we see so badly affecting this country today, we would be much better off. Northern California has lost a gem, but her legacy will live on, and we all recognize that. I am honored to be able to note that here today on the U.S. House floor and to properly show that. Her legacy even lives on in the papers she published and that are right over here in the Library of Congress, which note some of her work in the past for the NAACP. Indeed, it is a rich legacy that reaches all the way to Washington, D.C. I appreciate my colleague from Texas (Mr. Gohmert) for allowing me to make this special tribute to Isaac Lowe today.

Mr. LaMALFA

Mr. LaMALFA. Mr. Speaker, I am pleased today to see that the House came together to have unanimous support for a resolution condemning the Brussels attacks, the terrorism, and the loss of life there as a result of terrorist activity. We can't just stop there, though, with words from the House. We need to have action to ensure that our allies know that they are our allies. But also, our first primary goal is the safety of the United States citizens and the United States soil. We need to vet whoever is going to be immigrating to this country, whoever the so-called immigrants are, and we need to be vetting the refugees here. It is our first obligation for the safety of the American people and the soil of the U.S. that we have the full information on who is coming here and who they are. The methods we have now are endangering our country because we don't know who is coming here, and they certainly don't look like refugees in a lot of cases. Mr. Speaker, I think this is an important first step to be in lockstep with the people of Belgium in their time of struggle and need. Let's also remember that we need to keep the United States of America a safe place.

Mr. LaMALFA

Mr. LaMALFA. Mr. Speaker, on rollcall No. 134, I was unavoidably detained. Had I been present, I would have voted ``aye.''

Mr. LaMALFA

Mr. LaMALFA. Mr. Speaker, after years of extreme drought, California is finally receiving, thanks to the Good Lord and Mother Nature, significant rain and snowfall, perhaps enough to return to near normal conditions. However, despite continued mandatory statewide rationing, Federal agencies are still making decisions that result in the loss of massive amounts of water that could be stored, or decisions that will be harmful to agriculture. Just 5 days ago, the Sacramento River ran so high that enough water to supply over 54,000 people for an entire year flowed past each hour. While recent storms have improved our water supplies, our largest reservoirs are not yet full. They soon could be, but are not yet full. It is precisely during these times that water agencies need to be very cautious and very careful in managing these water supplies so that, as our reservoirs do become full, we can carry through until maybe the next drought. So will they allow these reservoirs to become full, or will they let water flow down because of bad flood data or fish needs? We will see.

Mr. LaMALFA

Mr. LaMALFA. Mr. Speaker, in 2015, the Department of Housing and Urban Development released a new strategy that will affect ending homelessness and the programs involved. However, this top-down approach is forcing homeless shelters to change the way they serve the most vulnerable members of their communities or risk losing access to Federal grants. In my district, at least two different homeless shelters have lost hundreds of thousands of dollars in grant funding that they once received. The Esplanade House has provided a housing option to homeless families with children in Chico, California, for over 25 years. The programs they have put in place for their residents have achieved remarkable success rates. Because of HUD's new approach, the Esplanade House's ability to continue to help the less fortunate members of their community is in jeopardy. I have sent a letter to Secretary Castro and plan to meet with his staff to make sure our concerns are heard and that this new approach is revised. Indeed, it has taken away accountability of their clients, and now just makes handouts. A Washington-knows-best approach that doesn't take into consideration the impact it has at the local level is the wrong way to fight homelessness. We need to empower these local entities to be more effective in fighting homelessness in the future.

Mr. LaMALFA

Mr. LaMALFA. Mr. Speaker, I thank Mr. Rothfus. Also, I appreciate following somebody like the gentleman from New Jersey (Mr. Smith), who has been a tremendous leader on life and on the individual liberties that we are guaranteed and that, indeed, were the cornerstones of the founding of this country and are our religious rights. So I am glad to be able to support Mr. Rothfus today in this Special Order about our First Amendment to the Constitution. We know that next Wednesday, it appears the Supreme Court will hear oral arguments for the Little Sisters of the Poor in the consolidated cases of Zubik v. Burwell. Now, why is it we are even having to do this? How far have we gotten out of touch, as a Nation and as this oppressive government, that we have to go to court to assert the religious rights and freedoms of individual organizations, like Little Sisters and others that are joining them? It is outrageous to me because, again, a cornerstone of the founding of this country is religious rights. The Little Sisters of the Poor is a tremendous faith-based organization consisting of Catholic nuns who serve the elderly in over 30 countries around the world, giving from their hearts to help people in a way they see fit in their views and their religion with God. My scheduler, Caitlin, hosts a weekly movie night at the Little Sisters D.C. home, where she and many others can attest to the incredible work that is done by these nuns. The HHS mandate under ObamaCare is now forcing religious organizations, like the Little Sisters, to provide health care plans, contraceptives, drugs, and things that they find that are against their belief system, that violate their deeply held belief system system; yet the club of ObamaCare and this Federal Government, hitting them over the head saying ``you have to provide this,'' goes against our founding principles, and I think the whole country should be outraged by this, merely so that a few can have something provided to them for free by an organization that shouldn't have to be doing so. Indeed, John Adams once stated: ``Nothing is more dreaded than the national government meddling with religion.'' It is a fundamental liberty critical to a thriving and free society. We have been blessed in a free country, where we can have our expression free, not having to adhere to a healthcare mandate or being forced to bake a cake because of someone else's idea of violating religious views. It is not government's place to determine what a person's religion requires or adheres to. Our laws should support and encourage citizens to worship without fear of reprisal from an oppressive Federal Government. I urge my colleagues to stand up for religious organizations, such as Little Sisters of the Poor, and protect them from this horrific HHS mandate. And for the Supreme Court, once they decide to weigh in on a decision, not just to have yet another partisan down-the-line decision based on politics but, indeed, look into their hearts and look into their souls to what is right for the founding principles of this Nation and for people like Little Sisters of the Poor to carry out their God- given and God-driven agenda to help the people of the world. Mr. Speaker, I, again, thank Mr. Rothfus for the time and for leading this Special Order here today.

Mr. LaMALFA

Mr. LaMALFA. Mr. Speaker, I am heartened to see over the weekend in a Sacramento Bee article that California Senator Dianne Feinstein has also called for pumping excess water that flows through the delta, despite opinions on endangered fish numbers. We have been talking a long time about taking that excess water and putting it aside in storage instead of just letting it run out to the ocean. I am a little frustrated we didn't get to that point earlier. Back in December, we had a press conference and put forth legislation to acknowledge that we are losing water that could be put aside in other storage facilities for anybody to be able to use. We are looking forward to working with Senator Feinstein on this and bringing forward sensible water storage with water we already have in these high-flow times.

Mr. LaMALFA

Mr. LaMALFA. Mr. Speaker, a government for, by, and of the people cannot hold its most basic deliberations in secret. I am not talking about matters of national security, but basic, everyday government deliberations. Yet the Department of the Interior, the State of California, and the State of Oregon are meeting with select groups in private in places like Portland, Sacramento, and even proposed San Francisco, to make public policy decisions affecting my district in the north end of California and south Oregon without public or legislative input. In order to be invited to join these meetings, individuals are required to sign confidentiality agreements and agree to a predetermined outcome. The issues involving the Klamath River water and possible removal of the hydroelectric dams are indeed of concern to the public. The decisions regarding whether these dams should be removed and what water and environmental policy should govern the region are fundamentally a public policy decision. The deliberations should be made in public and free for all to be involved, yet long-distance locations an hour or a full day's drive away don't make that possible, especially when they are held in secret. These secret meetings have been happening for years, and they are wrong. The agencies of the government are meeting in secret to create a 501(c)(3) dam removal entity called the Klamath River Renewal Corporation. This new corporation will be the recipient of taxpayer and utility rate dollars. These meetings need to be held in public where the people can meet and hear what they are planning to do.

Mr. LaMALFA

Mr. LaMALFA. Mr. Speaker, yesterday in the Natural Resources Committee, I requested and demanded that the Interior Department explain its involvement in creating what appears to be a shell corporation, which it calls a non-Federal entity, which would work to remove dams on the Klamath River in northern California and southern Oregon, this without any authorization from Congress. Interior officials refused to answer in committee whether they will be subject to the Freedom of Information Act or even explain why stakeholders are required at these meetings to sign nondisclosure agreements before learning how they will be affected by the actions at these secret meetings. They don't like having them called secret meetings. They have other euphemisms, such as a private conversation, what have you. They are even organizing bylaws for an incoming board at these meetings. Mr. Speaker, the very idea that Federal and State government employees are involved in a project designed explicitly to avoid open government, open government laws, and public disclosure should give us all pause, especially since tax dollars are being used to pay for the salaries of those folks involved, their travel, the meeting spaces, et cetera. They are not doing this pro bono. While this is billed as a California-Oregon project, the Interior Secretary's signature is on a pact to create this entity that suggests that the administration is, again, trying to end run Congress to achieve a political goal. I will continue working to get answers on this Klamath issue on the removal of the dams and the effect it will have on the Klamath Basin water users. But in the meantime, the administration needs to end its focus on dam removal and work towards a solution that doesn't ignore the water supply issues that affect so much of the West, affect many thousands in northern California, and especially those directly in the line of fire in the Klamath Basin that have been clamoring for so long for a long- term solution to keep the waters flowing to their farms. At a time of extreme drought in California and the Western States, and even more burdens such as the electricity renewable mandate that is going to affect California to 50 percent of required renewables, the concept of removing hydroelectric dams that also make a little water storage and have some positive effects on river temperature is absurd. Why is the priority something that is going to hurt the people of the region, hurt their goals? Instead, we should be pursuing water storage in California and putting this issue aside. On top of that insult to injury is that it is being done in secret, without congressional approval, without the chance for all the stakeholders that really have an affect in the area to be involved. This is the wrongheaded way to do things. It is offensive to me, it is offensive to my constituents.

Mr. LaMALFA

Mr. LaMALFA. Mr. Speaker, once again, Congress acted to stop the transfer of GTMO detainees to the United States. Guantanamo Bay is a much better venue to hold these known terrorists than to have them on American soil. Yet the President wants to defy Congress and the American people, who desire not to have this happen, and bring them onto American soil. It endangers our courts, our system of government, and our people by bringing them here or even ultimately releasing them. We need to have the President, if he tries this and loses in court, once again, take a lesson in the final 10 months of his term that he needs to uphold the law that we passed and that he signed.

Mr. LaMALFA

Mr. LaMALFA. Mr. Speaker, the 2016 National Defense Authorization Act prevents the President from closing the detention facility at Guantanamo Bay unless he submits a plan that receives congressional approval. He has not. This week President Obama submitted the plan to close the prison anyway. There are currently 91 detainees at Guantanamo Bay. There were 242 when the President took office. His plan calls for transferring 35 of the remaining detainees to other countries. These detainees have been cleared for transfer by the relevant national security agencies. Approximately 60 detainees will be transferred to facilities in the United States on our own soil. These are not even specified in the plan. The Department of Defense has identified many potential sites, but again this has not received congressional approval. Construction for a new facility on American soil would cost nearly half a billion dollars. With all these things going on, with the former GTMO detainees being re-arrested for recruiting new ISIS members and an expiration of the timeline for developing an ISIS plan to defeat ISIS, this is a misplaced priority by the President. We need to stick to the business of what is going to keep our country safe, not fulfill some campaign promise.

Mr. LaMALFA

Mr. LaMALFA. Mr. Speaker, I thank Dr. Murphy. I really appreciate him holding this Special Order, his dedication, and his persistence in moving this issue along. It is very important because mental health is an issue that is getting more and more rampant in our communities. We really have some challenges in northern California with it and the lack of available treatment. I just had a doctor visit my office yesterday from Siskiyou County who, had she had this ability, had that county had these resources available in the way that your bill prescribes, tragedy would have been prevented with an attempted suicide and a suicide that actually happened in that same family. It is really inexcusable after a point that we are not able to channel the resources and have the effectiveness of the program that you are seeking. Previously, in Nevada County, California, we witnessed a devastating shooting at a nearby health clinic that took the lives of three individuals back in 2001. The shooter, who suffered from mental illness, had repeatedly refused treatment, despite his family's best efforts to get him help. This is where the system, again, is broken. Outdated laws leave individuals suffering with severe mental illness to fend for themselves, only to have intervention step in when it is too late. Does it really take an attempted suicide, does it really take a drug overdose, to get attention, instead, when people that have this and know about these triggers would be able to get them the help they need with the right implementation? We need to break down those barriers and provide that pathway. The Assisted Outreach Treatment program, for example, helps patients and families experiencing severe mental health issues to get the treatment they need before a crisis occurs. Patients are able to live at home and meet their therapist on a regular basis while having access to lifesaving medications. Success rates are testimony to the effectiveness of the program in terms of compassion and effectiveness. Again, in one of my counties, Nevada County, where this program is in effect, hospitalization was reduced 46 percent, incarceration reduced 65 percent, homelessness reduced 61 percent, and emergency contacts and emergency needs reduced 44 percent. Of the patients who entered the program overall, 90 percent said it made them more likely to keep their appointments and take their medication, and 81 percent said it helped them get well and stay well. This is what it is all about: to give them hope and to put them in the mainstream of society where they can function well and be successful. Forty-nine percent fewer abused alcohol, 48 percent fewer abused drugs. Yet, instead of investing in programs such as this, we continue to spend billions on duplicative behavioral wellness programs that allow far too many Americans to fall through the cracks. We have got to do more to care for our neighbors in this country. I rise today in support, and I am proud to be a cosponsor of the gentleman's legislation. We cannot stand by anymore and allow the status quo because, as we know too well, the cost of inaction is too high for those who suffer from it and for the families and the communities. This is going to be very effective in helping to channel that and having a success we can all be proud of. Thank you for the time and for your persistence.

Mr. LaMALFA

Mr. LaMALFA. Mr. Speaker, last week our Nation lost an incredible man and jurist: Justice Antonin Scalia. As a steadfast defender of the rule of law, Scalia was a pillar of the Supreme Court for nearly 30 years. He was a man of God and a champion of religious freedom. In a recent speech, Justice Scalia reflected on the role of faith in society. While discussing his time in Rome in the aftermath of the 9/11 attacks, he recalled watching President Bush ask God to bless our Nation and a later conversation he had with a jurist from a different country who expressed his own desire for his nation's leader to be able to publicly evoke God's name during a time of national crisis, as it was forbidden. This moving speech serves as a reminder of the importance of fighting for our basic liberties that we hold so dearly. Justice Scalia, who consistently demonstrated a deep understanding of what our Founding Fathers intended, was a fierce and loyal leader in this fight. It was through his strong adherence to our Constitution, his sharp analytical mind, and his unwillingness to compromise his principles that made him a brilliant jurist; though it was his unreserved vitality and unwavering love for his country that made him a widely admired and beloved friend to his supporters and adversaries alike. I had a chance to meet Justice Scalia a couple of different times and hear him and even talk with him and ask him questions. Indeed, I was blessed by that. I rise today to extend my deepest sympathies to his family. He will certainly be missed by our Nation.

Mr. LaMALFA

Mr. LaMALFA. Mr. Speaker, President Obama has proposed a new $10-per- barrel tax on oil. That represents 24 cents in new taxes on every gallon of gas. That is right, 24 cents per gallon of new cost for families. When families are finally feeling the benefit of lower cost fuel, this President proposes a plan to take those savings away from families. Worse, this new tax on driving will actually go to fund pie-in-the- sky government boondoggles like California's high-speed rail projects and many other pet projects of the President. That pet project in California has tripled in price since its first inception. The American people paid a record amount of taxes last year to the Treasury, over $3.2 trillion, or nearly $22,000 per working American; yet there are those in government who still want to take more and spend more. I say ``no''--no more taxes on the American family; no more wasted billions of dollars on the President's and California Governor Brown's pet projects. I urge my colleagues to join me and put this country, instead, on a balanced budget track.