Tom McClintock

Mr. McCLINTOCK

Mr. McCLINTOCK. Mr. Speaker, if only the budget were this easy. I would ask for the adoption of this measure. I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. McCLINTOCK

Mr. McCLINTOCK. Mr. Speaker, I am very pleased to commend this measure to the House and ask for its adoption. I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. McCLINTOCK. Mr. Speaker, I would only add that I look forward to working with my colleagues across the aisle on those reforms to restore the free market principles that made America the manufacturing capital of the world, so that those great days that gave birth to success stories like Colt and the prosperity they meant for our Nation can be reproduced in this generation. I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. McCLINTOCK. 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 (H.R. 2857) to facilitate the addition of park administration at the Coltsville National Historical Park, and for other purposes, as amended.

Mr. McCLINTOCK. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Speaker, H.R. 2857, introduced by Representative John Larson of Connecticut, modifies a condition that the Park Service acquire 10,000 square feet of space in East Armory to allow the NPS to acquire that space within any part of the Colt Armory Complex in Hartford, Connecticut. Coltsville was the home of Samuel Colt's industrial enterprise, the Colt Firearms Company. In Hartford, Samuel Colt developed the use of the assembly line and highly mechanized techniques. Colt Manufacturing not only transformed the firearms industry, but was a major contributor to the industrial revolution by pioneering the use of interchangeable parts and precision manufacturing. This small modification to current law would provide the Park Service flexibility in selecting a location for park administrative offices and visitor services at the Coltsville site. I am grateful for Mr. Larson's hard work to establish the Coltsville Historical Park, and urge my colleagues to vote in favor of its passage today. I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. McCLINTOCK

Mr. McCLINTOCK. Mr. Speaker, I am very pleased to recommend this bill to the House, and I urge its adoption. Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. McCLINTOCK. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Speaker, H.R. 482, introduced by Representative Sanford Bishop of Georgia, would redesignate the Ocmulgee National Monument in Georgia as the Ocmulgee Mounds National Historical Park and adjust the boundary of the historical park to include approximately 2,100 new acres. Additionally, the bill directs the Department of the Interior to conduct a special resource study to determine the feasibility of adding the Ocmulgee River corridor to the National Park Service. The study will also examine the national significance of the site, as well as the best methods and means for ensuring protection and interpretation of this area. This bill passed out of the committee by unanimous consent, and I urge my colleagues to vote in favor of its passage today. 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 yield such time as he may consume to the gentleman from Georgia (Mr. Austin Scott), my friend and the cosponsor of this measure.

Mr. McCLINTOCK. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 482) to redesignate Ocmulgee National Monument in the State of Georgia and revise its boundary, and for other purposes, as amended.

Mr. McCLINTOCK

Mr. McCLINTOCK. Mr. Speaker, I rise today, on behalf of myself and Mr. LaMalfa, to honor the service of Police Chief John Foster, who has kept the citizens of Grass Valley, California, safe for 17 years. As a police officer for 35 years, Chief Foster has dedicated his life to public welfare and safety. He began his career as a police officer in Palo Alto, California. Over the course of 13 years, he was promoted to Sergeant and then Lieutenant. His demonstrated leadership resulted in the position of Police Captain in Corvallis, Oregon. John Foster became the Chief of Grass Valley Police in July 1998. He has been a mainstay of the community ever since that time. He has been a member of the Chamber of Commerce, Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks, Rotary International, League of Cities, and Big Brothers and Big Sisters. He currently serves as a Blue and Gold Officer for the United States Naval Academy. Chief Foster has been the standard-bearer for public safety and leadership training. He is a member of the POST Instructor Standards Council, a Pointman Leadership Institute Instructor, an Allied to Benefit Law Enforcement Consultant/Trainer, a Sierra College Administration of Justice Committee member, a Drug Free Coalition Steering Committee member, a Nevada County Law Enforcement and Fire Council and a Leadership Institute Advisory Council member. Mr. Speaker, Chief John Foster has dedicated his life to the protection of his fellow citizens. He is an example of leadership for us all.

Mr. McCLINTOCK

Mr. McCLINTOCK. Mr. Speaker, I rise to express the heartfelt gratitude of the people of the Tahoe Basin for Chief Mike Brown of the North Lake Tahoe Fire Department. On March 18, Chief Brown will close a distinguished career of 26 years with that department, including 9 years as its chief, and a total of 37 years as a firefighter. The greatest environmental threat to the Tahoe Basin is catastrophic wildfire. Chief Brown has led the fight to develop community wildfire protection plans, promote best practices for fire management, and educate the public on maintaining defensible space. His success is measured not only in the fires he has extinguished but, far more important and far less appreciated, the fires he has prevented. Chief Brown has been a tireless advocate for restoring sound management to our public lands to protect our communities, and Tahoe has been most fortunate to have had him.

Mr. McCLINTOCK

Mr. McCLINTOCK. I thank the gentleman for yielding. Mr. Chairman, this amendment would forbid development of one of the most promising and untapped oilfields in the world. I have to ask: How is the cause of American energy independence advanced by forbidding development of America's own vast energy resources? We are talking about reserves that are larger than the reserves in the entire nation of Mexico or Norway, whom we currently depend on for importing oil. The gentleman from California is right: that land is owned by the American people. So is the oil under it. That means about $300 billion of revenues into the Federal Treasury. That is about $2,400 for every family in this country. The proposed development of the Arctic oil requires about 2,000 acres out of 19 million acres of the wildlife reserve. That is one-one hundredth of 1 percent of that land area. That is how extreme this measure is. It would sacrifice American prosperity. It would sacrifice oil reserves larger than those in all of Mexico. It would sacrifice revenues to the Treasury of $2,400 for every family to place off limits a tiny part of the frozen Arctic tundra. If you want to know why our economy is stagnating, if you want to know why our country is going bankrupt, you need only look to measures like the amendment before us.

Mr. McCLINTOCK. Mr. Chairman, Federal law prohibits certain criminals from possessing firearms. This amendment assumes that a criminal who is forbidden from possessing a firearm, who then breaks that law and possesses one anyway, will then obey a law that says he can't bring the illegally possessed gun to a shooting range. I have news for the author of this amendment. The last place a criminal wants to be is on a shooting range where he is surrounded by law-abiding and armed citizens. Criminals prefer gun-free zones where decent people can't fight back. So what is the real purpose of this amendment? I think it is twofold. The first is to imply that gun ranges are brimming with criminals who are honing their skills to go on rampages. That is an insult to the many millions of Americans who own guns and who use shooting ranges. Second, and more disturbing, it is to put the owners and managers of shooting ranges in an impossible legal position. How are they supposed to comply with this law? The gentleman says, well, they don't need to do background checks of every consumer, but what else are they then supposed to do in order to abide by this law? Require a 2-week waiting period to make reservations? How long before leftist legal firms begin suing these gun ranges for failing to do due diligence in thoroughly probing the backgrounds of their customers? We have many laws on the books to prohibit the illegal use of firearms and to prohibit criminals from possessing them. That is the problem with criminals: they just don't obey our laws. But instead of putting them behind bars, where they can't hurt anyone, the left seeks to make it increasingly difficult for law-abiding citizens to defend themselves. It shouldn't surprise us that the sum total of these laws is more gun violence and not less. I urge the House to defeat this amendment.

Mr. McCLINTOCK. Mr. Chairman, I rise in opposition to the amendment.

Mr. McCLINTOCK. Mr. Chairman, yesterday I noted that one of our principal objectives of the Federal lands policy must be to restore the Federal Government as a good neighbor to the communities impacted by the Federal lands. Gifford Pinchot, the founder of the Forest Service, advised his foresters to find out in advance what the public will stand for. If it is right and they won't stand for it, postpone action and educate them. That is essentially what this bill does. It says that the Federal Government needs to listen to States and territories before imposing fishing regulations in State waters. This amendment would strip this language and say, in effect: We don't care what local communities think. We know what is best. It speaks volumes about why States and communities are openly revolting against Federal lands policy. Pinchot also advised us to get rid of an attitude of personal arrogance or pride of attainment of superior knowledge. I would commend that advice to the gentleman from Virginia. Mr. Chair, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. McCLINTOCK. Mr. Chairman, I yield such time as she may consume to the gentlewoman from Florida (Ms. Ros-Lehtinen).

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

Mr. McCLINTOCK

Mr. McCLINTOCK. Madam Chair, I thank the gentleman for yielding and for his work on behalf of American sportsmen. Madam Chair, three overarching goals should guide our Federal land policy. First, to restore public access to the public lands; second, to restore sound and proven scientific management to the public lands; and finally, to restore the Federal Government as a good neighbor to the local communities impacted by the public lands. This measure does all three. It removes the arbitrary and capricious restrictions that are increasingly imposed on hunting and fishing by various Federal agencies; it enlists sportsmen in the long-neglected management of overpopulated species; and it gives more funds to States for recreational activities on public lands while encouraging greater participation by the public in developing these policies. Outdoor sporting activities, including hunting and fishing and recreational shooting, are deeply engrained in the fabric of America's culture and heritage that are now under attack by the radical left. In 2011, over 37 million Americans hunted or fished across the country. These traditional outdoor activities contributed over $90 billion to the U.S. economy in 2011, much of it in the gateway communities to our public lands. Unfortunately, Federal agencies like the Forest Service and the BLM often prevent or impede public access for outdoor sporting activities. This is a large and growing class of complaints that my office fields in a district that includes five national forests in the Sierra Nevada of California. One of the key provisions of this bill will increase and sustain access for hunting and fishing and recreational shooting on public lands by implementing an ``open until closed'' management policy. It also requires Federal agencies to report to Congress on any closures of Federal lands to these pursuits. Another provision would provide State and Federal coordination to create and maintain recreational shooting ranges on the Federal lands. This bill protects the property rights of those who have acquired ivory products and other trophies over generations, long before any of this hunting was banned, and often passed on down through the generations within a family. It does absolutely nothing to imperil the protected species under current laws. The purpose of the public lands can be found in the original Yosemite Grant Act of 1864: public use, resort, and recreation for all time. The SHARE Act recognizes our Nation's hunting and fishing heritage; it strengthens the fundamental right of public use; it secures the vital role that recreational hunting and fishing play in resource management; and it guarantees the freedom to sustain that heritage for the many generations of Americans to come.

Mr. McCLINTOCK

Mr. McCLINTOCK. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. H.R. 3004, introduced by the gentleman from South Carolina (Mr. Clyburn), amends the Gullah/Geechee Cultural Heritage Act by extending the authorization for the Gullah/Geechee Cultural Heritage Corridor Commission. The corridor exists to preserve and foster the unique cultural communities formed by Americans of African descent along the Atlantic coastal islands of four States and that existed in relative isolation for many generations. During those years, a distinct and uniquely American culture evolved, a culture that is gradually slipping from us in the march of the modern world. Although the heritage corridor was authorized through October 12, 2021, the Commission was only authorized through October 12, 2016. Without any legislative change, the corridor will have to be managed by a different, as yet unconstituted, entity. I urge passage of the measure. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. McCLINTOCK. Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from Georgia (Mr. Carter).

Mr. McCLINTOCK. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from South Carolina (Mr. Rice).

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