Doug LaMalfa

Mr. LaMALFA

Mr. LaMALFA. Mr. Speaker, it is time we recognize the important role Blue Star Mothers play in supporting our troops by passing my bipartisan resolution which calls for August 2015 to be designated as Blue Star Mothers of America Month. The Blue Star Mothers have been tireless advocates for our troops and have assisted by providing hundreds of thousands of care packages, sending letters to troops stationed overseas, and hosting thousands of events and ceremonies. Blue Star Mothers of America is a nonprofit, nonpartisan service organization that was chartered by Congress in 1960 and has currently over 11,000 members in 42 States. Women who have a son or daughter that is currently serving or previously served in the U.S. Armed Forces are eligible for membership. Many of these Blue Star Mothers have seen their loved ones sent into harm's way. Mr. Speaker, I urge all my colleagues to stand with the Blue Star Mothers of America and support House Resolution 140.

Mr. LaMALFA

Mr. LaMALFA. Mr. Speaker, I am pleased that the House showed leadership tonight in passing H.R. 1190, Protecting Seniors' Access to Medicare Act of 2015. The IPAB board was going to be very problematic for seniors, and H.R. 1190 is going to be a very important tool in correcting the wrongs of the Affordable Care Act and preserving access to health care. It would indeed have had an unelected board making Medicare spending decisions which, again, would be shifting power to Washington, D.C., and away from that all-important doctor-patient relationship, where it really should be. We want to talk about savings in the medical field--and we need to-- because not nearly enough is done, whether it was in the Affordable Care Act or other conversations around D.C. We need to talk about and work on actually achieving cost cutting, reduction of unnecessary costs delivering health care, litigation, and the time it takes to bring miracle pharmaceuticals to markets. These are the kinds of things that we need to be doing to make health care more affordable and, indeed, more accessible.

Mr. LaMALFA

Mr. LaMALFA. Mr. Speaker, on rollcall No. 375 I was detained with constituents including a World War II veteran and family visiting in the U.S. Capitol for the first time and missed rollcall No. 375. Had I been present, I would have voted ``yes.''

Mr. LaMALFA

Mr. LaMALFA. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of H.R. 1190, the Protecting Seniors' Access to Medicare Act, which repeals ObamaCare's arbitrary Independent Payment Advisory Board, known as IPAB. One of the most concerning and equally troubling aspects of ObamaCare is its unprecedented shift of power to Washington bureaucrats. The Independent Payment Advisory Board is no exception to that. Entrusting 15 unelected bureaucrats with across-the-board power to reduce Medicare spending and decide which treatments are determined necessary only serves to jeopardize access to quality care for our seniors. We know by now that one-size-fits-all solutions coming from D.C. will not fix our healthcare system. Instead, we should focus on advancing well thought-out, long-term solutions to make Medicare more sustainable so we can protect access to care now and for future generations. This bill brings us one step closer to getting Washington out of the way and putting Americans back in charge of their healthcare decisions.

Mr. LaMALFA

Mr. LaMALFA. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of H.R. 160, the Protect Medical Innovation Act, that will be considered on the floor this week. One of the most fundamental flaws of what is known as the Affordable Care Act is trying to offset the trillion-dollar price tag by imposing an arbitrary 2.3 percent tax on lifesaving medical devices, such as pacemakers and heart valves. It actually discourages the type of innovation that will improve our healthcare system for people needing these devices. Hindered with these new high costs, our small businesses are finding it increasingly difficult to innovate, curtailing medical advancements and often delaying the availability of new treatments and cures for patients. I personally visited a number of these companies and understand how important their work is to improving our healthcare system. Taxing innovation is not a 21st century healthcare solution. This devastating tax is reported to have already caused a net loss of over 33,000 jobs. American families and small businesses deserve better, and the House is committed to advancing commonsense ideas to ease the burdens of the President's healthcare law. H.R. 160 is one of those solutions. I ask my colleagues to join me in support of repealing this job- and innovation-killing tax that only limits options for those who really need these lifesaving devices.

Mr. LaMALFA

Mr. LaMALFA. Mr. Speaker, today, we celebrate the 800th anniversary of the Magna Carta, a document with principles that served as a cornerstone in our Nation's founding as the Republic of the United States of America. Eight hundred years ago to the day, following the unyielding and commendable efforts of rebel barons who would no longer accept the arbitrary abuses under a tyrannical monarchy, King John placed his seal on this Latin text, subjecting every person, whether he be king or peasant, to the rule of law. It was this exact premise on which the document based its lasting legacy, to be a nation of laws rather than a nation of men. This idea is just as important today as it was 800 years ago. It can be no better represented than in the protections guaranteed under the Fifth Amendment of our Constitution, stating that no person shall be deprived of life, liberty, or property without due process of law. I rise today to honor 800 years of Magna Carta and to show my appreciation for all those who have made the tremendous sacrifice to defend the founding principles derived from the ideas of liberty and justice.

Mr. LaMALFA

Mr. LaMALFA. Mr. Speaker, trade promotion authority has passed the House on a pretty good bipartisan basis here. This will give the United States the tools it needs to send a message around the world that we are going to be competitive and we are going to be serious about trade. It also gives the Congress very important tools to adhere to the principles that we in this House believe are important to hold the USTR and the White House accountable with all of our principles together for what is good for the country. When we have huge tariffs on some of the products we try and export around the world, it makes it noncompetitive. This will send, again, a very strong signal the U.S. is ready to compete; it is not going to be pushed around on trade, and TPA will be a good tool to do that. However, it is not TPP, which we haven't had much input on lately, and is very difficult to get at. People need to understand, there is a strong difference between TPA, that authorization, and TPP, which is still not finished, still not negotiated, and is something that is a complete separate question from TPA, which I think was a responsible measure we got done here today. We need to clear up the misconceptions on what is happening and the good measures we in this House did today in order to have America and more jobs be able to come home and stay in the U.S. because of better trade policy.

Mr. LaMALFA

Mr. LaMALFA. Mr. Speaker, on rollcall No. 361 I was unavoidably detained in office meeting on the legislation and the roll was closed upon entrance to the House floor. Had I been present, I would have voted ``no.'' (By unanimous consent, Mr. McCarthy was allowed to speak out of order.) Legislative Program

Mr. LaMALFA

Mr. LaMALFA. Mr. Speaker, tonight I rise in fond memory of a friend from Nevada County, Lowell Robinson, who is a community icon who passed away just recently at age 86. Born in Nevada City in April 1929, his entrepreneurial career started in 1949 when he designed equipment for a local sawmill. A few years later, he began the logging business known as Robinson & Sons. In 1971, he helped establish Robinson Enterprises, which includes gold mining, road construction, logging, and petroleum distribution and sales. Mr. Robinson was an active supporter, in many ways, of the Nevada County community. Indeed, he was a very kind gentlemen, liked by everybody, and his legacy will be felt for many, many years in the work he did for helping United Way, FFA, 4-H, Boy Scouts. Just about anything worth doing, he was involved with in Nevada County, including my own personal travels. This little old Indian Springs school still stands where he attended and his family owns. I hope some day they can renovate it in his honor. So I join the community of Nevada County in mourning this loss, a great friend, a personal friend of mine who was always a kindhearted person whom you just got along great with. Our condolences go out to Wanda and his whole family.

Mr. LaMALFA

Mr. LaMALFA. Madam Chair, I thank my colleague, Mr. Denham, for his hard work on curtailing this waste of taxpayer money. Here are just a few of the headlines currently on the Internet about California's high-speed rail project: ``Why California's High-Speed Rail is Off Track''; ``High-Speed Rail Brings Fears of Gutted Communities and Noise''; ``High-Speed Rail Foes Cite Noise, Property Value Concerns''; ``Protesters Rail Against High-Speed Rail Route Proposal''; ``High-Speed Rail Opponents Expected to Converge at LA Meeting''; finally, ``What an Unholy Mess This California Bullet Train Meeting is Going to Be.'' This is all reflected in southern California planning for a route that isn't even planned yet; yet billions of dollars of the California taxpayers--but even more importantly, in this body, Federal taxpayer dollars--are being planned and spent and will be spent if we don't stop this here tonight for a route, for a plan, for a project that isn't even a plan. You couldn't send astronauts into outer space without a plan to bring them back, yet they are hell-bent on this project to spend the money as fast as they can without having any idea where the route is going to go; and we are seeing people all over California protest it, for a project that has tripled in price from what the voters saw as Prop 1A just 7 years ago. Yet here we are 7 years later with a groundbreaking that consists of knocking down some of the houses and buildings without any track being laid, without a real project they can actually count on being a true route under Prop 1A from San Francisco to Los Angeles. We need to put a stop to this now.

Mr. LaMALFA

Mr. LaMALFA. Mr. Chairman, I thank my colleague, Chairman Conaway, for allowing me to speak today. I rise today in support of H.R. 2289, the Commodity End-User Relief Act. End users, such as our ranchers, farmers, manufacturers, and public utilities, face risks that they have no control over on a daily basis. For years now, they have used tools available to manage risks like volatile markets or changing interest rates, such as a farmer who uses futures contracts to establish a guaranteed price to offset the risk of a decrease in crop value before harvest or a grain company using derivatives to hedge commercial risks associated with buying wheat from a farmer. This is part of day-to-day operations that allow them to do their jobs and provide products in an affordable and accessible manner. However, the implementation of Dodd-Frank placed a number of costly burdens on our end users that limit their ability to use these tools. It is important that we do all we can to erase this unintended and excessive red tape. One measure included in this bill today will do just that, which is my Public Power Risk Management Act, which passed with the full support of the House last year. Again, it is included in the bill today. There are over 2,000 publicly owned utilities across the United States, including one in my district in the city of Redding, that have used swaps to manage their risk for years. However, Dodd-Frank put them at a major disadvantage to private utilities by limiting their ability to negotiate with swap dealers. This bill would level the playing field permanently and ensure the 47 million Americans who rely on public power for electricity will not see their rates increase due to unnecessary regulatory policies. Our farmers, ranchers, and small businesses who pose no systemic risk to our financial system and certainly did not cause the financial crisis should not have to face costly bureaucratic overreach from policies originally intended to protect them in the first place. I thank Chairman Conaway for his leadership on this bill. Let's help our agriculture community by passing this commonsense piece of legislation.

Mr. LaMALFA

Mr. LaMALFA. Madam Speaker, I am equally excited about the Golden State Warriors starting this week, but that is not why I am here tonight. Over the weekend, I had the opportunity to participate in a really great ceremony for a gentleman who is a World War II triple ace in Auburn, California, Colonel Bud Anderson. He dedicated so much to his community not just during the war but in all his efforts afterwards and leadership. Colonel Anderson, as a triple ace, helped as a cornerstone to keep the war effort against Germany by escorting fighters and bombers in for the important bombing run to help turn the tide in World War II against the German effort to make war. So being able to honor him with so many of his friends and others showing up with P-51D Mustangs was a great, great tribute to him over the weekend. And this week as well he will be honored with the Congressional Gold Medal ceremony that will be taking place this Wednesday at 3 p.m. eastern time. I hope everybody will take that in.

Mr. LaMALFA

Mr. LaMALFA. Mr. Chair, on rollcall No. 236 I was unavoidably detained. Had I been present, I would have voted ``yes.'' Amendment No. 41 Offered by Mr. Nadler

Mr. LaMALFA

Mr. LaMALFA. Mr. Speaker: ``Learning to do, doing to learn, earning to live, living to serve.'' Those 12 short words comprise the motto of the Future Farmers of America Organization, founded in 1928 by 33 students from 18 different States who came together with a shared mission to develop as the future farmers of this country. Agriculture is the cornerstone of our economy, supporting more than 23 million jobs in our country. But it is also an industry that requires more than just skills and knowledge that might be learned in the classroom, skills that are necessary to feed our country and to connect with the changing marketplace and consumers. FAA has succeeded in fulfilling this gap by expanding not only agricultural education in our schools but also in teaching students to be confident participants and leaders, to be honest and fair, and to show respect for others and our land's resources. These lifelong skills are vital not just for farmers but in all aspects of agriculture, whether it is marketing, management, research, communications, or engineering. I rise today to recognize this organization and the millions of Future Farmers of America, both current and past, and express my gratitude for your dedication, leadership, and commitment to strengthening our towns. It is that spirit and love for this country that truly represents the heart of rural America.

Mr. LaMALFA

Mr. LaMALFA. Mr. Speaker, this week, we made some important strides on water in the West, especially in the time of drought we have in California. We need to do much more to build the kind of supply that is necessary to get out of the drought. Unfortunately, the bureaucracy doesn't reward that with slow permit process or even some of the things we had to battle this week, such as deferring more water for fish that isn't even in records of decision or been feasibly shown to be scientifically sound. At the same time we have to curb the bureaucracy, we have to be positive moving forward with new storage projects, such as Sites Reservoir, such as other obstacles we have in the State of California and throughout the West to address this drought, not just take it to the ``church of climate change'' and think that is the whole problem. We are going to have to be proactive, as we have been in previous generations.

Mr. LaMALFA

Mr. LaMALFA. I thank the gentleman from Idaho, Chairman Simpson. Mr. Chair, the House has previously passed language to require the Army Corps of Engineers to apply the Clean Water Act as the Congress has passed it, not as the Corps may wish it to have been written. Unfortunately, the Corps has disregarded these efforts and imposed regulations that could actually prevent farmers from changing crops or fallowing fields during, especially, California's historic drought. Section 404 of the Clean Water Act exempts from regulation the following: ``Normal farming, silviculture, and ranching activities such as plowing, seeding, cultivating, minor drainage, harvesting for the production of food, fiber, and forest products, or upland soil and water conservation practices.'' No additional requirements are included, and these activities are specifically identified as exempt. However, the Corps and the EPA have used creative interpretations to drastically increase their jurisdiction beyond what Congress has intended. In fact, the Corps states the following on their Web site: If a property has been used for cattle grazing, the exemption does not apply if future activities would involve planting crops for food. An operation is no longer established when the area on which it is conducted has been converted to another use or has lain idle. Now, under this interpretation, a farmer switching from one crop to another, such as corn or tomatoes, would no longer be engaged in normal activities and could be subject to regulation. As I mentioned earlier, in this time of record drought in California, a practice such as leaving a field fallow, as is happening now across California due to the historic droughts, means that replanting the following year, if possible, would be seen by the Corps as a new--not existing--activity triggering regulation and permitting requirements. This is not the intention of what Congress had years ago with the Clean Water Act. This overreach could even prevent farmers from switching to less water-intensive crops, if they saw fit, during California's droughts for fear of an impossible morass of regulatory requirements or, with the involuntary cuts that have been underway, see that they would again be required to have new permits because of this misinterpretation by the Corps. Mr. Chairman, the House has supported amendments I have sponsored on two other occasions. Language addressing this issue previously passed by voice vote and was included in the CR/Omnibus; yet the Corps has refused to recognize clear congressional intent and abandoned its interpretation. My amendment, for the third time, will seek to prohibit funding for these creative interpretations. I urge your support of this effort to once again make clear the will of Congress. Mr. Chairman, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. LaMALFA. Again, Mr. Chairman, I appreciate the comments by my colleague from Ohio on that, but in practice in California, they are already moving well beyond established law in the 404 section that would indeed allow for normal activities to be exempted. I say ``normal activities.'' It is normal for farmers to change crops, to rotate crops as what fits the land, that fits available water supply, that fits what the farmer deems to do with his or her land. There is this thing called property rights in Ohio and California. It is amazing to me that the Army Corps continues to misinterpret and creatively interpret the 404 exemptions because, in practice in northern California, we have seen that the ability to switch crops, to do as you see fit with your land within the permit, with the exemptions of the 404, are being violated. We have attempted to work with the Army Corps in northern California on that when I was told recently that they would ignore this section and ignore the efforts we have made previously. That is why this amendment is necessary, not only to send a message, but to remove the funding that they would try to use to stop the cultural practices of farmers across the country, especially as it seems to be affecting northern California, to do as they see fit within the exemptions that are already in the law, but seemingly outside of what the wishes of the Army Corps are. Mr. Chairman, I would ask for the ``aye'' vote on this bill, and I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. LaMALFA. Mr. Chairman, well, I appreciate that sentiment on helping the West. Perhaps a pipeline from Ohio with all that excess water during flood flows would help us out. But short of doing that right now, indeed, coming back to what is happening with the fish we are speaking of in these systems, the salmon in the Klamath River that we are speaking of are not in danger and are near record numbers in that leg. This amendment will assist actually downstream on the Sacramento River the endangered winter-run chinook with this additional flow. So even though there may have been detected a parasite, it is not affecting natively what we are talking about here. And this goes beyond the Record of Decision with agreed water flow amounts of the stakeholders involved. So this is more by whim of BOR once again deciding that additional flows, based on no science beyond the Record of Decision, are taking valuable water away, and it could happen again in this record drought year. We need not lose the opportunity to have these waters, or other ones talked about earlier tonight, based on the whim of a bureaucracy somewhere that really doesn't seem to be paying attention to the needs of California's farms, cities, and that the water is actually being used to the best benefit of the fish being debated in any one of these systems. So diverting more water away from this is not productive. It doesn't fulfill any scientific goals. With that, I ask the ``aye'' votes of this Chamber. Mr. Chairman, I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. LaMALFA. Mr. Chair, I have an amendment at the desk.

Mr. LaMALFA. Mr. Chairman, as was discussed earlier, California is seeing the most severe drought in many, many years. Our own Governor has recently ordered a mandatory 25 percent water rationing across the State. Despite these dire conditions which have idled hundreds of thousands of productive farmland and caused billions of dollars in economic damage, the Bureau of Reclamation has unnecessarily diverted water from the Central Valley Project which serves the entire State, 20 million or more people, to salmon habitat in the Klamath River. I say ``unnecessarily'' because the chinook salmon of the Klamath River are not threatened or endangered and have, in fact, been returning in near record numbers. Mr. Chairman, the Bureau has misused over 100,000 acre feet of water over the last 2 years, which will be enough for up to 800,000 people or even 30,000 acres of cropland. What is more, stakeholders have already reached an agreement. All the stakeholders in the area have a previous agreement to ensure enough water for both humans and for salmon, according to the Trinity Record of Decision. The Bureau's actions go above and beyond the requirements of the agreement and negatively impact the very stakeholders that agreed to it, including my constituents. Two years ago, a bipartisan group from this Congress sent a letter urging the Bureau of Reclamation not to carry out this activity. Mr. Chairman, this amendment simply prohibits the Bureau of Reclamation from releasing water beyond the record of decision it is a party to and ensures that cities and farms have access to as much water as possible, especially during this acute drought period. It also maintains the river flows that stakeholders have agreed to and forces the Bureau of Reclamation to keep its promises to the people of California. I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. LaMALFA. Mr. Chairman, I have an amendment at the desk.

Mr. LaMALFA

Mr. LaMALFA. I have an amendment at the desk.

Mr. LaMALFA. I yield to the gentleman from Pennsylvania.

Mr. LaMALFA. Mr. Chairman, first of all, let me thank those who have helped with this legislation here, my colleagues from California, Mr. Costa, Mr. Ruiz, and my colleague from Massachusetts, Mr. Moulton, on helping bring this forward. I also thank the chairman and the members of the committee as well as the desk staff here tonight in helping to make this happen. Again, this bill simply reduces the amount budgeted for the general administration of Veterans Affairs to instead be posted toward the Veterans Benefits Administration; therefore, helping to take a bite out of the huge backlog that we have of veterans waiting to have their claims processed after having served with us. This $5 million shift, I think, will be helpful in that backlog, as we already know that the VA is at least 171,000 claims behind in their process. These 171,000 claims are behind by more than 125 days, which is unacceptable. Of course, the VA's top priority should be making sure that veterans have their claims processed and are receiving the benefit they should be getting. Our veterans should not have had to return from fighting a war and have to instead fight a bureaucracy at home.

Mr. LaMALFA. I yield to the gentleman from Pennsylvania.