Darin LaHood

Mr. LaHOOD

Mr. LaHOOD. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Speaker, H.R. 1397, offered by the gentlewoman from Virginia (Mrs. Comstock), would authorize a small land exchange between the Department of the Interior and the Department of Transportation. Specifically, the bill transfers administrative jurisdiction over approximately a third of an acre of Federal land within the boundary of the George Washington Memorial Parkway of the National Park Service to the Department of Transportation, and transfers from the Department of Transportation approximately a half an acre of Federal land within the boundary of the Turner-Fairbank Highway Research Center of the Federal Highway Administration. The transfer centers on Colonial Farm Road, which provides public access to Claude Moore Colonial Farm and also serves as an entrance road to the Turner-Fairbank Highway Research Center and as a secondary entrance to the Central Intelligence Agency. The configuration of the property lines between the farm and the research center requires farm staff to travel across research center property to access their facilities. The three Federal agencies have discussed concerns over crossing property lines, the need to have uninterrupted access to the properties, and the need to improve security near perimeter fencing of the research center. The agencies have identified properties suitable for exchange on their boundaries which will provide public access to the farm while providing the means to improve security outside the fencing of the research center and the Central Intelligence Agency. Though the immediate security concerns have previously been addressed through a temporary agreement, legislation is needed to codify the land exchange. I include in the Record an exchange of letters to Chairman Bill Shuster of the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee and the responses. We thank them for agreeing to help expedite consideration of this bill today. Mr. Speaker, I urge adoption of the measure, and I reserve the balance of my time. House of Representatives, Committee on Natural Resources, Washington, DC, July 5, 2017. Hon. Bill Shuster, Chairman, Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure, Washington, DC. Dear Mr. Chairman: On June 27, 2017, the Committee on Natural Resources ordered favorably reported without amendment H.R. 1397, to authorize, direct, facilitate, and expedite the transfer of administrative jurisdiction of certain Federal land. The bill was referred primarily to the Committee on Natural Resources, with an additional referral to the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure. I ask that you allow the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure to be discharged from further consideration of the bill so that it may be scheduled by the Majority Leader. This discharge in no way affects your jurisdiction over the subject matter of the bill, and it will not serve as precedent for future referrals. In addition, should a conference on the bill be necessary, I would support your request to have the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure represented on the conference committee. Finally, I would be pleased to include this letter and any response in the bill report filed by the Committee on Natural Resources to memorialize our understanding, as well as in the Congressional Record. Thank you for your consideration of my request and for the extraordinary cooperation shown by you and your staff over matters of shared jurisdiction. I look forward to further opportunities to work with you this Congress. Sincerely, Rob Bishop, Chairman.

Mr. LaHOOD. Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. LaHOOD. Mr. Speaker, I yield such time as she may consume to the gentlewoman from Virginia (Mrs. Comstock).

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

Mr. LaHOOD

Mr. LaHOOD. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Speaker, H.R. 1913, introduced by the gentleman from California (Mr. Panetta), is a bipartisan bill that reopens public access and facilitates recreational activities in central California. The bill designates 63,000 acres as the Clear Creek National Recreation Area, 21,000 acres as the Joaquin Rocks Wilderness, and releases 1,500 acres of wilderness study area. Once considered a world class off-highway vehicle, or OHV, recreation designation, the Clear Creek area has been closed to the public for nearly a decade due to concerns from the EPA about naturally occurring asbestos. However, after commissioning a study of the area, the State of California's Off-Highway Motor Vehicle Recreation Division found a minimal health risk to OHV users from exposure to naturally occurring asbestos. Despite these findings and appeals from local communities and OHV users, the Bureau of Land Management has not reopened the area to the public or for OHV use. This bill remedies the situation by reopening and redesignating the area as the Clear Creek National Recreation Area and including special provisions to prioritize and facilitate long-term, sustainable off- highway vehicle access and recreation. Mr. Speaker, I urge adoption of the measure, and I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. LaHOOD. Mr. Speaker, I thank my colleague and friend for introducing this legislation, and I urge its adoption. Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. LaHOOD. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 1913) to establish the Clear Creek National Recreation Area in San Benito and Fresno Counties, California, to designate the Joaquin Rocks Wilderness in such counties, and for other purposes.

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

Mr. LaHOOD

Mr. LaHOOD. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 1306) to provide for the conveyance of certain Federal land in the State of Oregon, and for other purposes.

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

Mr. LaHOOD. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Speaker, I would first like to acknowledge the gentlemen from Oregon, Mr. DeFazio and Mr. Walden, for their hard work on this important piece of legislation, which will benefit several Indian Tribes in the State of Oregon. H.R. 1306 benefits three recognized Tribes in western Oregon by conveying publicly-owned forestlands to two of them, and to improve the management of forestlands currently held in trust for a third Tribe. Various iterations of H.R. 1306 have been considered multiple times in previous Congresses, and nearly identical bills benefiting some or all of these Tribes were passed by the House in the 113th and 114th Congresses. Title I of H.R. 1306 would place title to approximately 17,519 acres of public land in Oregon in trust for the benefit of the Cow Creek Umpqua Tribe. Lands to be held in trust under this section are depicted on a specific map, and the conveyance of the land in trust shall be subject to valid existing rights. A substantial amount of the public land placed in trust for the Tribe is currently part of the Oregon and California railroad land grant, managed by the Bureau of Land Management. Under title I, the Secretary is required to reclassify an equal acreage of public domain land located in the vicinity of the land given to the Tribe, as O&C land. Land placed in trust by the Tribe under title I may not be used for gambling under the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act, and timber harvested from such land shall be subject to Federal law restricting the export of unprocessed logs. Title II of the bill would provide that seven tracts of land currently managed by the Bureau of Land Management, totaling 14,742 acres, be held in trust for the benefit of the Confederated Tribes of the Coos, Lower Umpqua, and Siuslaw Indians. The parcels so transferred are located in western Oregon's Coos, Douglas, Benton, and Lane Counties, and include tracts such as the Coos Head, the Talbot Allotment, and the Umpqua Eden parcels, which are of particular cultural significance to the Tribes, as well as areas which are managed for timber production. Title III would correct a situation with respect to the management of the Coquille Tribal Forest in Oregon. This forest has been regulated as part of the Northwest Forest Plan, which is inconsistent with the management of other tribally-managed forests in the United States. Under this title, the Coquille Tribe would manage its forest under the National Indian Forest Resources Management Act. This will improve the Tribe's ability to manage its timber resources. Mr. Speaker, I urge adoption of this measure, and I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. LaHOOD. Mr. Speaker, I urge adoption of the legislation, and I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. LaHOOD

Mr. LaHOOD. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 2156) to provide for the establishment of a national memorial and national monument to commemorate those killed by the collapse of the Saint Francis Dam on March 12, 1928, and for other purposes.

Mr. LaHOOD. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may have 5 legislative days to revise and extend their remarks and include extraneous materials on the bill currently under consideration.

Mr. LaHOOD. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. The Saint Francis Dam disaster is considered one of the worst civil engineering catastrophes in the 20th century. H.R. 2156, introduced by the gentleman from California (Mr. Knight), my good friend, recognizes the incident's devastation and subsequent impacts on the residents of northern Los Angeles County by establishing a national memorial and monument to preserve the area for future generations. The bill authorizes the Secretary of Agriculture to establish the memorial using donations from the community, working in consultation with the Santa Clarita City Council and the public. No taxpayer funds are authorized for the construction of the memorial. The bill also authorizes the creation of a 440-acre monument that will encompass the Saint Francis Dam memorial. The boundaries of the monument were designated in consultation with the local community, and the bill includes provisions to ensure motorized access within the monument and continued grazing on any land where it is already permitted. The memorial and the monument created by this legislation are a fitting tribute to the 400 people who lost their lives tragically and thousands more whose lives were forever changed by the Saint Francis Dam disaster. Mr. Speaker, I urge adoption of the bill introduced by Mr. Knight, and I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. LaHOOD. Mr. Speaker, I yield such time as he may consume to the gentleman from California (Mr. Knight), the author of the legislation.

Mr. LaHOOD. Mr. Speaker, I urge adoption of this legislation, and I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. LaHOOD

Mr. LaHOOD. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 1541) to authorize the Secretary of the Interior to acquire certain property related to the Fort Scott National Historic Site in Fort Scott, Kansas, and for other purposes.

Mr. LaHOOD

Mr. LaHOOD. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

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

Mr. LaHOOD. Mr. Speaker, I urge adoption of the legislation, and I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. LaHOOD

Mr. LaHOOD. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 597) to take lands in Sonoma County, California, into trust as part of the reservation of the Lytton Rancheria of California, and for other purposes.

Mr. LaHOOD. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members have 5 legislative days to revise and extend their remarks and include extraneous materials on the bill currently under consideration.

Mr. LaHOOD. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. H.R. 597, sponsored by the gentleman from California (Mr. Denham), my colleague, would take into trust approximately 511 acres of land of noncontiguous fee land owned by the Lytton Rancheria. The land is adjacent to the town of Windsor, in Sonoma County, California. Under the bill, gaming under the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act is prohibited on these lands. In 2009, the Tribe applied to the Department of the Interior to place title to approximately 127 acres of lands acquired in this area in trust. The application is still pending with the Department of the Interior. The Tribe has testified that it intends to use a portion of the lands for Tribal housing, while the rest would support a diverse range of economic development, including plans for a future resort and winery. I want to thank the sponsor of the legislation for his hard work on this bill, and I urge adoption of the measure. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. LaHOOD. Mr. Speaker, I urge adoption of the legislation, and I yield back the balance of my time.