Tom McClintock

Mr. McCLINTOCK

Mr. McCLINTOCK. Mr. Speaker, I would again like to say what a great pleasure it has been for me to work with Ms. Bordallo and the members of the Natural Resources Committee. It truly does work in a bipartisan manner, most of the time. And it is no coincidence that, most of the time, it is productive work. Mr. Speaker, I urge adoption of the measure, and I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. McCLINTOCK. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentlewoman for her kind comments. Mr. Speaker, I yield such time as he may consume to the gentleman from Kansas (Mr. Estes).

Mr. McCLINTOCK. Mr. Speaker, I yield such time as he may consume to the gentleman from Kansas (Mr. Yoder), the author of this bill.

Mr. McCLINTOCK. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Speaker, the Quindaro Townsite in Kansas City preserves an important piece of our past whose history should be known by all. The site preserves the ruins of a frontier town on the Missouri River, founded in 1857 as a free-state port of entry during the Kansas Territory's fight over the question of slavery. The town's diverse inhabitants were antislavery and included Americans of European and African American descent, as well as members of the Wyandot Tribe. The Quindaro area was the location of an African American refugee settlement that began during the Civil War and grew into a prominent African American community. It was also the site of the Freedman's University and its successor institution, Western University, the first Black university in Kansas. The Quindaro Townsite is on the National Register of Historic Places and, importantly, has been designated as part of the National Underground Railroad Network to Freedom. Quindaro's early residents assisted fugitive slaves escaping across the Missouri River to freedom. Supporters of Quindaro have long sought elevated status and recognition for the site. H.R. 5613 designates Quindaro Townsite as a national commemorative site. This establishes the townsite as an affiliated area of the National Park System and authorizes the Secretary of the Interior to offer technical assistance and support to Quindaro. I want to compliment my colleague, Mr. Yoder, for bringing this matter to the attention of the Congress and for the work he has done to ensure that this site receives national recognition. Mr. Speaker, I urge adoption of the measure, and I reserve the balance of my time.

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

Mr. McCLINTOCK. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 5613) to designate the Quindaro Townsite in Kansas City, Kansas, as a National Historic Landmark, and for other purposes, as amended.

Mr. McCLINTOCK

Mr. McCLINTOCK. Mr. Speaker, as you have heard, this bill irons out a lot of problems with the settlement and clears the way for hopefully a very productive project. Mr. Speaker, I urge its adoption, and I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. McCLINTOCK. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. The Claims Resolution Act of 2010 included four Indian water rights settlements. Title III of the act resolved the White Mountain Apache Tribes' water-related claims against the United States, the State of Arizona, and a number of other State and non-Federal parties. In consideration for the Tribe's waiving its water-related claims against the United States and other parties, the act authorized funding for the construction of the White Mountain Apache rural water system to bring safe and reliable drinking water to the Tribe and to its members. Specifically, the rural water system will consist of a dam and reservoir, a treatment plant, and 55 miles of pipeline to serve the community. The act also established the creation of the White Mountain Apache Tribal settlement fund that can be used to cover any cost overruns for the system and water-related economic development projects. The rural water system will serve a number of water-related activities that fit squarely with the settlement fund's authorized purposes. To ensure the completion of the Tribe's rural water system, S. 2850 makes a technical amendment to the Claims Resolution Act to clarify that the Tribe may utilize funding from the settlement fund for planning, design, and conduction activities related to construction of the rural water system. The bill also clarifies the 99-year lease authority for the Pueblo of Santa Clara and the Ohkay Owingeh Pueblo in New Mexico. The Indian Long-Term Leasing Act allows Indians to lease their lands subject to the approval of the Secretary of the Interior for public, religious, educational, recreational, residential, or business purposes of up to 25 years. Congress has amended the ILTLA more than 40 times to adjust the terms and conditions of Indian land leases, including the authorization of 99-year leases for lands held in trust for the Pueblo Santa Clara and the Ohkay Owingeh Pueblo of New Mexico. S. 2850 clarifies that this 99-year lease authority also extends to lands in restricted deed status. These are lands held by a Tribe or individual Indians subject to a limitation on alienation or taxation. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. McCLINTOCK. 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 under consideration.

Mr. McCLINTOCK. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (S. 2850) to amend the White Mountain Apache Tribe Water Rights Quantification Act of 2010 to clarify the use of amounts in the WMAT Settlement Fund.

Mr. McCLINTOCK

Mr. McCLINTOCK. Mr. Speaker, I would ask for adoption of the measure, and I yield back the balance of my time

Mr. McCLINTOCK. Mr. Speaker, I yield such time as he may consume to the gentleman from New York (Mr. Reed), who is the author of this measure.

Mr. McCLINTOCK. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Speaker, the National Comedy Center in downtown Jamestown, New York, is a nonprofit institution that tells the story of comedy in America. Opening next month, the center is a live performance space as well as an interactive museum. It is the first national scale, nonprofit, cultural institution with a visitor experience dedicated to comedy outside of the U.S. Senate. The museum is acquiring the personal archives of prominent American comedians and will showcase more than 50 exhibits on the history of comedy from early vaudeville to today. In addition, the center operates the Lucille Ball Desi Arnaz Museum, as Jamestown is the birthplace of Ms. Ball. H.R. 6077 will officially designate the National Comedy Center in Jamestown, New York, as the National Comedy Center. The center will not be a part of or affiliated with the National Park System. Just to be crystal clear, this designation will not require Federal funds to be expended for any purpose related to the center--no joke. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. McCLINTOCK

Mr. McCLINTOCK. Mr. Speaker, I rise to honor a hero of the Sierra and mourn his tragic loss. Braden Varney, age 36, gave his life Saturday night fighting the Ferguson Fire, which continues to ravage the forests near Yosemite Valley and threaten the communities of Mariposa County. A second-generation bulldozer operator with CAL FIRE, he was all alone that night, cutting firebreaks to stop this monster fire, when his dozer overturned in treacherous terrain. He was well-known to the people of Mariposa, being involved in many civic activities. Braden leaves behind a grieving widow, Jessica, and two small children, Malhea, age five, and Nolan, just 3 years old. Our firefighters face mortal peril when they leave the safety and comfort of their homes and families to put themselves in harm's way. They literally place their lives between our communities and the fires that can consume them. They know the danger better than anyone. Yet, they do what they do anyway. Mr. Speaker, to the Varney family, I can only express our profound respect, admiration, gratitude, and sympathy on behalf of all of those who Braden died to protect

Mr. McCLINTOCK

Mr. McCLINTOCK. Mr. Chairman, I thank the gentleman from California for bringing this amendment to the floor. The gentlewoman from Minnesota misses an important fact, and that is that the current massive water diversions have done absolutely nothing to improve salmon populations. By taking those diversions to 40 percent unimpaired flow to the ocean, in practical terms, this means that New Melones and Don Pedro reservoirs in my district will be drained to their dead-pool levels each fall. It would destroy what's left of agriculture in California's Central Valley, destroy the tourism these reservoirs attract in my region, and create catastrophic water shortages in one of the most water-rich regions of the Nation. We don't build these reservoirs to dump water into the ocean. We build them to store surplus water from wet years so that we have it in dry ones. This is insanity. It is the result of years of greens-gone-wild radicalism in California. This amendment assures that the Federal Government will not participate in such nonsense.

Mr. McCLINTOCK

Mr. McCLINTOCK. Mr. Speaker, I urge adoption of the measure, and I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. McCLINTOCK. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Speaker, I urge adoption of H.R. 4032, the Gila River Indian Community Federal-Rights-of-Way, Easements and Boundary Clarification Act, introduced by Congressman O'Halleran of Arizona. The Gila River Indian Reservation was established in 1859 and later expanded by a series of executive orders in Maricopa and Pinal Counties, Arizona. In 2006, the Tribe sued the Federal Government, alleging a breach of the United States' fiduciary duty for its failure to accurately survey the reservation's northwesterly boundary, resulting in the patenting of land along the Salt River to non-Indians. The Tribe also asserted a failed duty to document rights-of-way across the reservation, collect rent, and account for the Tribe's and allottees' trust assets. Rather than litigate the case, the Obama administration settled with the Tribe in 2016. The settlement provided that the United States would survey all the Federal rights-of-way on the reservation. It would also take approximately 3,400 acres of Bureau of Land Management land into trust for the Tribe, after the Tribe purchases the land for fair market value. Finally, the settlement provided monetary damages of about $12.5 million from the judgment fund, an issue not addressed by this bill. This legislation is needed to facilitate portions of the settlement by clarifying the northwestern boundary of the reservation, documenting the existing Federal rights-of-way on the reservation, and placing the 3,400 acres into trust after the Tribe buys the land from the Federal Government. The bill is cosponsored by the entire Arizona delegation, and I commend their work to resolve this issue. Mr. Speaker, I urge adoption of the measure, and I reserve the balance of my time.

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

Mr. McCLINTOCK. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 4032) to confirm undocumented Federal rights-of-way or easements on the Gila River Indian Reservation, clarify the northern boundary of the Gila River Indian Community's Reservation, to take certain land located in Maricopa County and Pinal County, Arizona, into trust for the benefit of the Gila River Indian Community, and for other purposes, as amended.

Mr. McCLINTOCK

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

Mr. McCLINTOCK. Mr. Speaker, I yield such time as she may consume to the gentlewoman from Utah (Mrs. Love).

Mr. McCLINTOCK. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Speaker, H.R. 3777, introduced by Congresswoman Mia Love, would authorize the transfer of approximately 2.6 acres of U.S. Forest Service land and improvements in the city of Nephi to Juab County, Utah. The bill would require the county to pay all conveyance costs, including the cost of environmental analysis and surveying. This land has been designated by the U.S. Forest Service for administrative disposal since 2013. Under an agreement with the Forest Service, the county fire department houses its mitigation program on this site. On August 15, 2017, the county requested the Secretary of Agriculture to transfer this property to the county, which intends to use the land to house its wildlands fire team and equipment, with plans to construct a new fire station on the property. As fires continue to rage across the West, Congress should take every opportunity to give local communities the resources and support they need to combat these catastrophic events. While this transfer represents just two ten-thousandths of 1 percent of the 1.5 million acres of Federal land in Juab County, the new fire station it will facilitate could mean the difference between suppression and conflagration when wildfire threatens Juab County. The legislation would also improve fire response services to surrounding communities and the Federal lands, since Juab County plans to use this land to house its wildlands fire team equipment. There is strong local support from the county and its elected officials for this conveyance. By ensuring that the surrounding communities and public lands have the emergency response resources they need to respond to catastrophic wildfire, H.R. 3777 furthers the important local-Federal partnership that is critical to restoring the Federal Government as a good neighbor to the communities it impacts. Mr. Speaker, I urge adoption of the measure, and I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. McCLINTOCK. 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 under consideration.

Mr. McCLINTOCK. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 3777) to direct the Secretary of Agriculture to convey certain National Forest System land containing the Nephi Work Center in Juab County, Utah, to Juab County, as amended.

Mr. McCLINTOCK

Mr. McCLINTOCK. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman from Massachusetts for bringing this bill to us. I urge its adoption, and I yield back the balance of time.