George Miller

Mr. GEORGE MILLER of California

Mr. GEORGE MILLER of California. Mr. Speaker, on that I demand the yeas and nays.

Mr. GEORGE MILLER of California

Mr. GEORGE MILLER of California. Mr. Speaker, I move to lay the resolution on the table.

Mr. GEORGE MILLER of California

Mr. GEORGE MILLER of California. Mr. Speaker, I rise in strong support of H.R. 146, the Omnibus Public Land Management Act of 2009. This legislation is the culmination of years of hard work, negotiation, and consensus-building, and I commend Chairman Rahall and his subcommittee chairs, including Raul Grijalva and Grace Napolitano, and the Natural Resources Committee staff, for all of their efforts to bring this bill before us today. The Omnibus Public Land Management Act is a compilation of many of the most important conservation measures that the Congress has considered in years, and it is supported by a diverse coalition that includes the outdoor industry, sportsmen's associations, parks and wilderness advocates, faith groups, and literally dozens of individual conservation and wildlife protection organizations from across the country. In California, for example, this bill will protect significant stretches of federal land for future generations by enacting the California Desert and Mountain Heritage Act, the Sequoia-Kings Canyon National Park Wilderness Act, and the Eastern Sierra and Northern San Gabriel Wild Heritage Act. But this bill is not just about protecting national treasures for future generations. It's also about taking very significant steps to resolve water conflicts. All of us who represent California and the arid West are very concerned about drought, and this bill provides solutions: the legislation before us today resolves conflicts that have dragged on for decades, and it will bring substantial clean water supplies online. We owe it to our constituents to support this bill. Some previous speakers have erroneously claimed that the Omnibus Public Land Management Act would harm our water supplies. Nothing could be further from the truth. The fact of the matter is that this bill increases the clean water supply available to the American West, and it settles years of costly litigation over water. California, for example, will see seven Title XVI water recycling projects authorized by this package, in addition to two groundwater recharge projects. These projects will allow local communities across our state to produce almost half a million acre-feet of reclaimed reuse water and added storage capacity. These water provisions are environmentally sustainable and they are cost-effective, and should be supported by our state's entire congressional delegation. Because of the widespread benefits of these Title XVI and groundwater water supply authorizations, this bill is supported by a broad coalition that includes the Association of California Water Agencies, the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California, the National Water Resources Association, and the Western Urban Water Coalition. I ask unanimous consent to include in the Record a letter of support sent by this coalition earlier this month to Speaker Pelosi and Minority Leader Boehner. These agencies and associations are supporting the Omnibus Public Land Management Act because they know that this bill represents a historic chance to meet our water challenges head-on. I strongly support continued investment in these and other alternative water supplies, and encourage the Bureau of Reclamation to move expeditiously on these projects. The bill before us today also provides us with the remarkable opportunity to resolve nearly two decades of litigation over the restoration of the San Joaquin River in California. The San Joaquin Restoration Settlement Act is supported by the local affected water districts and the Friant Water Users Authority, the environmental and fishing group plaintiffs who brought the lawsuit, and by the state and federal government. By approving H.R. 146, we are voting to restore water and salmon to the once-mighty San Joaquin River, as well as to authorize programs to help local farmers avoid potential negative impacts from the restoration program. Without this legislation, the parties to the lawsuit would have no choice but to return to court, meaning wasted time and energy, a lack of certainty for both sides, and the loss of significant nonfederal funding. By passing this legislation today, we provide the funding and legal authority the Department of the Interior needs to ensure a timely and robust restoration program, which is so essential to the success of this settlement. As many of my colleagues know, the continued shutdown of the sport and commercial salmon fisheries in our state has resulted in significant economic losses. While California must do more to restore the health of the Bay-Delta and the Sacramento River, restoring 30,000 spring run Chinook salmon to the San Joaquin River each year, as this legislation intends, will help ensure that California's salmon, and the considerable statewide economic activity that depends on healthy salmon runs, are restored and sustained for future generations. Approving the San Joaquin River Settlement will help bring the State's second largest river back to life, improving water quality for the Bay-Delta, and it will achieve some of the goals of the 1992 Central Valley Project Improvement Act. Perhaps most importantly, Congress's approval of this settlement will demonstrate that environmentalists and farmers can work together with federal and state agencies to resolve California's water challenges in a way that all parties can live with. While passage of this legislation is not the final step in the restoration of the river, and although we will need to watch the agencies' implementation of the settlement carefully, this vote today is a critical step in a very long process. For those of us who represent California and the West, it's very clear that this bill offers a significant opportunity to protect our natural resources, address serious economic problems, and resolve conflicts over water. We can't afford to miss this chance. For all these reasons and more, I strongly urge my colleagues to support H.R. 146--the Omnibus Public Land Management Act of 2009. March 10, 2009. Re S. 22 Omnibus Public Lands Act. Hon. Nancy Pelosi, House of Representatives, Capitol Building, Washington, DC Hon. John A. Boehner, House of Representtives, Capitol Building, Washington, DC. Dear Speaker Pelosi and Representative Boehner: The undersigned organizations urge your support for key provisions of S. 22, the Omnibus Public Land Management Act of 2009 and ask that you oppose any parliamentary or procedural efforts to delay or disrupt S. 22. This legislation includes many key water provisions and authorizations for critically important water projects and water resource management programs that would help increase local water supplies. The bill could not come at a more important time as California and the southwest grapple with a multi-year drought--one of the most severe we have experienced in the last hundred years. Additionally, S. 22 authorizes the terms of two historic environmental settlement agreements, the Lower Colorado River Multiple Species Habitat Conservation Plan, and the San Joaquin River Restoration settlement agreement. The Secure Water Act, as detailed in S. 2156, is also included in the Omnibus Public Land Management Act. Your support of S. 22 is imperative and we ask that you move expeditiously to help ensure that the key water provisions of S. 22 including the San Joaquin River Restoration Settlement Agreement, the Lower Colorado River Multiple Species Habitat Conservation Plan can be enacted as soon as possible. Thank you for your consideration of our request which would greatly benefit all Californians. Very truly yours, Tim Quinn Executive Director, Association of California Water Agencies; Donald R. Kendall, General Manager, Calleguas Municipal Water District. Art Aguilar, General Manager, Central Basin Municipal, Water District; Tony Pack, General Manager, Eastern Municipal Water District; Ronald E. Young, General Manager, Elsinore Valley Municpal Water District; Richard Atwater, General Manager, Inland Empire Utilities Agency; John R. Mundy, General Manager, Las Virgenes Municipal Water District; Jeffrey Kightlinger, General Manager, Metropolitan Water District of Southern California. Tom Donnelly, Executive Director, National Water Resources Association; Michael R. Markus, General Manager, Orange County Water District; Matt Stone, General Manager, Rancho California Water District; Leroy Goodson, General Manager, Texas Water Conservation Association; G. Wade Miller, Executive Director, Watereuse Association; Richard Nagal, General Manager, West Basin Municipal Water District; Charles L. Nylander, President, Wester Coalition of Arid States; Guy Martin, National Counsel, Western Urban Water Coalition.

Mr. GEORGE MILLER of California

Mr. GEORGE MILLER of California. Mr. Speaker, I move to lay the resolution on the table.

Mr. GEORGE MILLER of California

Mr. GEORGE MILLER of California. I yield myself 4 minutes. Mr. Chairman, today we consider legislation that is vital to the spirit of America and to our future. A few weeks ago, President Obama called on Congress to quickly deliver legislation that will launch a new era of American service. Today the House will answer that call. The GIVE Act will help our country get through these crises and recognize that service is a deeply ingrained and deeply valued American trait. I want to thank all my colleagues on the committee on both sides of the aisle for their support of this legislation. We consider this bill at a time when our Nation faces enormous challenges. Families are losing jobs, health care, child care and other key services. Schools and colleges are seeing their budgets evaporate. Our public needs are growing while the resources to meet them are disappearing. This legislation will make Americans part of the solution in getting our country back on track. Service is the lifeblood of this country. We have seen this throughout our history. In times of crisis, Americans stand up. Americans give back. We saw it during World Wars I and II, when the Red Cross helped soldiers and their families and returning veterans, and later relief efforts during the Great Depression. We saw this after 9/11 when our citizens, young and old, sprung into action to help their fellow neighbors. We saw it in the wake of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita when volunteers on the ground were there before the Federal Government. They were beacons of hope amidst serious despair. Today volunteers continue to play a huge role in gulf coast relief efforts. We have seen it in my State of California when communities were ravaged by floods, by earthquakes and wildfires. We saw it this last June in the floods that devastated homes and businesses in southeast Iowa. Even before the storms came, volunteers were there. To date, AmeriCorps has coordinated over 800,000 volunteer hours in Iowa. Volunteers play many roles. They teach in our classrooms. They clean up our trails and our public lands. They build and weatherize homes. They shelter the homeless and feed the hungry. That's what Americans do for one another. That's what Americans do in the name of service. They learn skills. They teach others those skills so they can not only participate with Habitat for Humanity but they can develop a career ladder in the construction trades. They pass on those skills to others in communities so communities can help build, help build stronger communities and better homes to be weatherized and to be energy-efficient. They tutor our children. They mentor students in school. They help our community. They build our communities. They strengthen our communities. We have seen them come from all walks of life, from young students who want to give to their community, who want to participate, to senior citizens who continue to take their skills and their talents from their working life and repatriate them back to the community and helping others, the next generation after them. Our generation was called by President Kennedy to do this. This generation is being called by President Obama to do this, and millions of Americans are answering the call and preparing others to answer that call. This is what strengthens our communities. This is what builds our communities. This is what makes America, America. People do it, some for a small stipend, some for an educational benefit, some for free. They come from all different places on the compass to help Americans in our communities. There is a huge focus in this legislation, from middle school to senior citizens, to tying this to a benefit for education. Young students in middle schools can earn a small educational benefit that they can redeem when they go to community college or to the university. For students, for young people who work full time in AmeriCorps, they can earn a stipend of almost $4,700, $4,800 that they can redeem to help pay for their college education. Senior citizens too can get a stipend and get help for education if they want to continue their education. It's a very important piece, and it's about American values. It's about the value of education, it's about the value of Americans helping one another, it's about how we treat our communities. That's what AmeriCorps has done. We have an organization that has been building homes in Louisiana after Hurricane Katrina in St. Bernard Parish, and today they will welcome their 200th family back to a home, a gift from the community, from volunteers in America, to those families that were ravaged, that lost everything. That's what this bill will enable more Americans to do. That's what this bill will do for our communities. I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. GEORGE MILLER of California. I yield myself 15 seconds. I want to thank Congressman Platts and Congressman McKeon for all their cooperation, and for the staff on the minority side, because without their cooperation, I don't think we would be here today. I want to thank them. At this time I want to recognize for 3 minutes subcommittee Chair Carolyn McCarthy from New York who has been an absolute driving force on this issue of national service and thank her for all of her work.

Mr. GEORGE MILLER of California. I yield 1\1/2\ minutes to a gentleman who's been key in this legislation, given his background and history in energy conservation and efficiencies and weatherization, the gentleman from New York (Mr. Tonko).

Mr. GEORGE MILLER of California. Mr. Chairman, I yield myself 30 seconds. Mr. Chairman, one of the very exciting parts of this legislation, as pointed out by Mr. McKeon, is the full integration of our veterans into national service. Today, earlier, we heard from Captain Scott Quilty, who is a decorated infantry captain and Army major retired who lost both his legs and one of his arms in Iraq. Scott has come back to assume the management responsibilities for Survivor Corps, a U.S.-based program that serves the needs of servicemembers and veterans returning from Iraq and Afghanistan. And Survivor Corps spoke in strong support of this legislation, recognizing that we now are extending full partnership to the veterans of this country, thanking them for their services, and providing services to them as they return home. I yield 1\1/2\ minutes to a leader in service, the gentleman from Georgia (Mr. Lewis).

Mr. GEORGE MILLER of California. I yield 1\1/2\ minutes to a member of the committee, a strong supporter of the bill, the gentleman from the Northern Mariana Islands (Mr. Sablan).

Mr. GEORGE MILLER of California. I yield 1\1/2\ minutes to the gentleman from Maryland (Mr. Sarbanes).

Mr. GEORGE MILLER of California. Mr. Chairman, I yield 1\1/2\ minutes for the purpose of entering into a colloquy with the gentleman from Florida (Mr. Grayson.)

Mr. GEORGE MILLER of California. I yield myself 15 seconds to respond to the gentleman and say that I agree that many of our communities' needs, especially in times of natural disaster, are being met through the hard work of the NCCC members, and I look forward to working with you in exploring this issue and certainly recognizing the needs of those States that are hit repeatedly by natural disasters, representing one of those States, but knowing what has taken place in Florida and others with hurricanes and storms that we are now experiencing. And I look forward to working with him as this bill progresses.

Mr. GEORGE MILLER of California. I yield 2 minutes to the gentlewoman from Connecticut (Ms. DeLauro).

Mr. GEORGE MILLER of California. I yield to the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Al Green) for 1\1/2\ minutes.

Mr. GEORGE MILLER of California. I yield the gentleman 10 additional seconds, and I want to thank the gentleman for bringing the housing language that is based upon his expertise in this field, and along with Maxine Waters, thank you so very much. We are happy to include it.

Mr. GEORGE MILLER of California. I thank the gentleman for yielding and for raising this issue. Thank you so much for bringing this to our attention. I am proud to be a long-time supporter of Teach for America, and I am pleased to say that they will continue to be eligible to participate in AmeriCorps through the newly-created National Service Corps exactly as you have described. Teach for America has demonstrated measurable effectiveness in the classroom and is exactly the type of measurable success that we are looking to scale up. Thank you again, Mr. Cassidy, for your support of this program and for raising this issue and for the support of the GIVE Act.

Mr. GEORGE MILLER of California. I yield to the gentlewoman from Pennsylvania (Mrs. Dahlkemper) for 1\1/2\ minutes.

Mr. GEORGE MILLER of California. I yield 1\1/2\ minutes to the gentleman from Ohio (Mr. Driehaus).

Mr. GEORGE MILLER of California. I yield now 1 minute to the gentleman from Maryland, the leader, Mr. Hoyer.

Mr. GEORGE MILLER of California. Mr. Chairman, I yield myself 1 minute. Questions have been raised about the intent of section 1705 giving the Chief Executive Officer authority to delegate specific programmatic authority to the States. In particular, strong concerns have been raised that corporation officials would use this authority to eliminate the State offices of the corporation and adversely impact the operation of VISTA and the Senior Corps. The committee intends that the Chief Executive Officer will use this authority judiciously to improve the operation of all of the corporation's programs by using a consultative process that includes all of the stakeholders in the affected programs. The committee expects the corporation to continue the staff from State offices at an operational level that is at least equal to the current one. I yield 1\1/2\ minutes to the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Cuellar).

Mr. GEORGE MILLER of California

Mr. GEORGE MILLER of California. Madam Speaker, I am against it, but I will not oppose it.

Mr. GEORGE MILLER of California. Members of the House, I want to begin by thanking all of you for your support for this legislation, for the bipartisan support we have received throughout the committee deliberations in our committee, and the support that we received both in the Rules Committee and on the floor today. As we went through the amendment process, Members of Congress from both sides of the aisle spoke in favor of this most important American value, and that is service to our country, service to our neighbors, service to our communities, and that's what's reflected in this legislation. It is a rather remarkable mosaic of organizations and individuals from every corner of this country, from large cities to small rural towns that have responded to the needs of others, and they have responded without question. They have responded with their skills, their talents, and they have come forth to build a stronger America and a better community. Earlier today at an event that we had with many of the volunteers to discuss this legislation, we were honored with the presence of Captain Scott Quilty, who retired from the Army after 10 years of service as a decorated infantry captain and Army Ranger during his tour in Iraq, where he led a platoon assigned to train, assess and build the operational capacity of a 460-man element of the Iraqi Army. In that tour of duty, he lost an arm and a leg. When he returned to America, as if he hadn't given enough service to America, he immediately joined the organization of Survivor Corps to help our returning vets when they come back to this country after serving in Afghanistan, Iraq, and other places around the world, to reintegrate with their families, their communities, their schools, their jobs, their friends, their neighbors. We were honored with Scott Quilty. And at that very same service, a gentleman walked up to me and handed me these, many of us see this when we tour our Army bases or our Air Force Bases or meet with the troops, it's called the Young Marines, and they do much of the same service. They give their time to our veterans. But they are not the only ones. We have senior grandparents, we have Teach For America, we have Jumpstart, we have Americans doing all of this. We have Americans in the AmeriCorps that organized over 300,000 hours of volunteer service when the floods hit Iowa. They were there first. They came with their first responders in California with the wildfires and with the floods. They showed up early and they stayed late with Katrina and Rita. This is what we celebrate with this legislation, and I want to thank you for your support and your good words on behalf of these people, Americans all, who step forward every time one of us needs them or the community needs them. This legislation will strengthen and enable more Americans to be able to do so. It will tie in an educational benefit so that young children can have a service experience in middle school and high school and schools will become the center of service for young people in their communities. Now let me get to the motion to recommit. I think, as we have only seen it for a few minutes, I think most of the motion to recommit is, in fact, already covered in statutes, regulations and the grant agreements that are issued. We are well aware of these issues. The Members on both sides of the aisle have spoken to them, and they have offered statutes, not only in this act, but in other acts, making sure that people who get these grants don't engage in activities that they should not be. So we plan to accept this amendment. I appreciate the gentlewoman offering it, and we will take it to conference. But, again, I want to thank you for supporting this legislation in advance of your support, and I would ask that you feel free to vote for the motion to recommit. Again, I ask for passage of the bill. I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. GEORGE MILLER of California. Madam Speaker, on that I demand the yeas and nays.

Mr. GEORGE MILLER of California

Mr. GEORGE MILLER of California. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may have 5 legislative days in which to revise and extend their remarks and insert extraneous material on H.R. 1388.

Mr. GEORGE MILLER of California

Mr. GEORGE MILLER of California. Would the gentlewoman from Colorado yield?