Tom McClintock

Mr. McCLINTOCK

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

Mr. McCLINTOCK. Mr. Chairman, the gentleman has it exactly backwards. This prevents water from being stolen from northern California in violation of State water rights. It strengthens the water rights that exist in current law. It means that water cannot be stolen from northern California even by the State itself. This amendment offered by my friend is a variation of the amendment offered by the gentleman from California (Mr. Bera) earlier. It gives the Secretary of the Interior the ability to suspend most provisions of this law until she certifies it will have no adverse effect on delta agricultural water. Well, the same points apply. Despite the fact that this bill strengthens water rights in which the delta is senior to the Central Valley, this bill would give the Secretary, on whim, the power to ignore this law even in wet years, an authority her predecessor has already emphatically proven can and will be abused. I will challenge the gentleman to cite one example of a complaint that agricultural water in the delta was adversely affected during all the years the Bay Delta Accord was in effect. This bill merely restores the Bay Delta Accord while strengthening northern California water rights. If he cannot cite even one example, he must admit that this amendment is a hoax designed to nullify the law. I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. McCLINTOCK. Mr. Chairman, I thank the gentleman from California for making the point. I want people to look at the pictures of the empty reservoir at Folsom, the near-empty reservoir at Oroville and remember 800,000 acre-feet that could have been retained behind those dams was released by water officials for the environmental regulations that the gentleman defends. I think people need to reflect on that water that should right now be sitting behind those dams but for these regulations and realize what is exacerbating this terrible drought. Mr. Chairman, I yield the balance of my time to the gentleman from California (Mr. LaMalfa), my friend and neighbor.

Mr. McCLINTOCK. Mr. Chairman, we are ready to close if the gentleman is.

Mr. McCLINTOCK. Mr. Chairman, I remind the House that this same amendment was brought up 2 years ago and rejected, once again, on a bipartisan vote of 177-243. I now yield the balance of my time to the gentleman from California (Mr. Valadao), the author of this important legislation.

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

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

Mr. McCLINTOCK. Mr. Chairman, California has been plagued by litigation and regulation, delay and obfuscation on its water policy, and we are now living with the result of that. The gentleman offers us an amendment that is more of the same--in fact, in this case, delaying the bill until the Federal Government measures the water content of clouds. Enough is enough. It is a time now for action, and this bill calls for action. I now yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from California (Mr. Nunes).

Mr. McCLINTOCK. Mr. Chairman, I am pleased to yield the balance of my time to the gentleman from California (Mr. Valadao), the author of the measure.

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

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

Mr. McCLINTOCK

Mr. McCLINTOCK. Mr. Speaker, the House is scheduled to take up the omnibus appropriations bill for 2014, and I rise this morning to outline my objections to this measure. This is not the ``regular order'' promised to the American people in which each of the 12 appropriations bills is painstakingly vetted. It is all 12 bills rolled into one, with no opportunity for meaningful debate or amendment. True, it adheres to the budget that was passed in December, but that budget is nothing to brag about. That budget destroyed the only meaningful constraint on Federal spending that we have. One Member said he is surprised by opposition because ``this bill, for the 4th year in a row, cuts discretionary spending.'' Well, it only cuts it by Washington math. Last year, the discretionary spending of the United States Government was $986 billion. The measure appropriates $1,012 billion. That is an increase. And it is $45 billion more than the sequester would have allowed. After all, they didn't blow the lid off the sequester because they wanted to cut spending, now did they? So what is this money going for? Well, it increases money for Head Start by $600 million, despite the fact that every credible study has concluded that this program provides no lasting benefit for children; It continues wasteful TIGER grants, which, under the guise of transportation, puts money into projects like a 6-mile pedestrian mall in Fresno and streets that actually discourage automobile traffic; It continues funding for the scandalous essential air service that pays to fly empty and near-empty planes across the country; It continues to throw money at all manner of expensive and failed green energy programs and other forms of corporate welfare. We are told to be grateful that it doesn't fund other wasteful programs, like high-speed rail. But when we vote for these appropriations, we are responsible for the money that we waste, not the money that we don't waste. The regular order would at least give the House a chance to examine and debate these questionable programs before we cast our vote. But not this process. But do not believe for a moment they won't be debated after we have cast our votes. This measure will face the full light of public scrutiny in the days ahead, and that may prove to be very harsh, indeed. True, the measure makes some cuts, but in many cases it makes the wrong cuts. For example, although this bill reverses the cuts made to disabled military veterans' pensions, it maintains the pension reductions for all other military veterans--about 82 percent of our military retirees. According to published reports, over a 20-year period a retired enlisted servicemember will lose an average of $72,000 of promised pension payments and commissioned officers will lose $124,000. The Payments in Lieu of Taxes, or PILT, is not funded at all. That is the program that makes up a small portion of the revenues that the Federal Government has cost our rural communities as it has appropriated vast tracts of their land. To add insult to injury, this bill adds roughly $200 million to pay for more Federal land grabs, which will cost local communities still more of their local revenues and economic activity. We are promised that PILT funding will be restored in the farm bill, which is little consolation. That is the bill that continues to provide massive subsidies to agribusiness at the expense of both taxpayers and consumers. I am not unmindful of the challenges that faced the Appropriations Committee--not the least of which is that the measure must ultimately have the consent of the Senate and the President, which are responsible for the most fiscally irresponsible period of our Nation's history. I understand that. Under our Constitution, a dollar cannot be spent by this government unless the House says it gets spent. The buck literally starts here. As long as we continue to increase spending on frivolous programs at the expense of working families, and at a time when our accumulated debt threatens to sink what is left of our economy, we are clearly moving this Nation in the wrong direction. I appreciate the fact this is a bipartisan agreement, but a bipartisan agreement that moves our country in the wrong direction is still wrong. With all due respect, I must dissent.

Mr. McCLINTOCK

Mr. McCLINTOCK. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to honor Thomas O. Boorman, a man who dedicated much of his life to serving others. Thomas spent four years serving on a mine sweeper in the Navy. He went on to serve for twenty-six years in the United States Air Force, flying over five hundred missions in a B-52. Upon his retirement from military service, Thomas felt the call to continue serving his community. He first joined the Placer County Sheriffs office and then worked as a control officer at Folsom State Prison. Thomas Boorman was an avid sportsman and adventurist and a devoted supporter of the Second Amendment. He would speak openly about his love for his country, his community and the unique freedoms that Americans enjoy. His commitment to our freedoms was consistently illustrated by his lifetime of military and public service. Please join me in honoring Thomas Boorman, a man of lifelong service who will be sorely missed by so many.

Mr. McCLINTOCK

Mr. McCLINTOCK. Mr. Speaker, a great tragedy is now unfolding across America as we prepare for the new year. Millions of Americans are losing their health plans. Millions more are facing staggering price increases. Millions more are having their hours cut back at work or seeing their salaries pared back because of ObamaCare. Sadly, this is just the beginning. In coming days, millions of employer-provided plans face cancelation, multiplying this disaster many fold. The administration recently held a contest for videos to promote ObamaCare. Its grand prize winner featured this message: Don't worry about the price tag. Don't worry about the price tag? Isn't that helpful and compassionate advice to the millions of Americans who are struggling through the fifth year of Obamanomics and who are now also facing the reality of seeing their premiums doubling or tripling. Just don't worry about the price tag, skip the House payment, and cough up the extra cash. That is the best that this administration can offer? Many millions of Americans who had health coverage on New Year's Eve will not have it on New Year's Day because of ObamaCare. What awaits those who actually can sign up? According to the government's own numbers, about two-thirds of exchange applicants have been forced into Medicaid. That includes many on limited incomes who have maintained bare-bones policies because they are desperately trying to stay out of Medicaid. Some have found that nearly by looking at prices they have ended up trapped in this dreaded welfare program. A major study documents that Medicaid patients have worse health outcomes than those without any insurance. If you doubt that, just see how long it will take you to see a Medicaid doctor, if you can find one, for a bad cold. If you are a part of the one in three exchange visitors who escaped this fate, the next problem will be to find a doctor--any doctor. The president of the California Medical Association reports that 70 percent of California doctors will not accept ObamaCare patients. That means the remaining 30 percent will be overwhelmed, resulting in life- threatening waiting lines. As patients desperately seek doctors in emergency rooms, actual emergencies will go waiting. Top-flight specialized doctors and facilities will become increasingly inaccessible as they opt out of the system. Those patients who actually can get an appointment may then discover that there is no record of their policy because the government hasn't been able to connect patients with their new insurers. Patients will next face the cold reality of sky-high deductibles and copayments that many will be unable to pay. Many hospitals that serve large populations of the poor can only do so because of supplemental payments, but ObamaCare is phasing those out. Some may be forced to close their doors. Those ObamaCare patients fortunate enough to stay well in this brave new world can expect a highly elevated risk of identity theft in what the founder of McAfee Security Software calls a ``hacker's dream.'' And there is no need to wait for hackers. In some cases, the government has already accidentally released patients' private financial and medical information. Since so many people--particularly the young--are choosing not to pay inflated prices to subsidize others, we can expect another major round of rate increases next fall on those remaining in the system in order to make up the shortfalls. That is what the new year will bring to our country. Many of us in the House warned of this coming train wreck, and we tried at least to delay it. For this, we were called arsonists, terrorists, jihadists, and demagogues; but now those warnings have proven chillingly and entirely accurate. This program has devastated the lives of millions of Americans. This damage now cannot be undone by delaying it or tinkering with it. It must be repealed and replaced with the patient-centered plan proposed by House Republicans, a plan guided by individual freedom of choice and open competition. This will only happen if there is a massive change of heart by the congressional Democrats who imposed this nightmare on our country. Now is the time for all Americans whose lives have been upended by their folly to share their stories with their Representatives and to pray that they actually can touch some hearts and change some minds during this holiday season. Otherwise, I am afraid that New Year's Day will be nothing to celebrate.

Mr. McCLINTOCK

Mr. McCLINTOCK. Mr. Speaker, the House Judiciary Committee yesterday raised the overarching question of our generation: Will the American Constitution stand? All the laws passed under that Constitution have elaborate enforcement mechanisms backed by armed force, but the Constitution itself has no such enforcement mechanism. It was designed to be internally self-enforcing, with the powers of government clearly divided among three separate and equal branches of government. But this self-enforcement mechanism can only work when the powers are evenly divided, when those who exercise those powers are devoted to the Constitution, and when the American people insist on it. That is the great question for our generation and for which we are deeply answerable. Are we allowing the Constitution to disintegrate before our eyes? The Constitution makes very clear that only Congress may make laws and that the principal responsibility of the executive is to take care that the laws be faithfully executed. Yet the executive branch has increasingly asserted sweeping powers to unilaterally nullify laws that it dislikes, to pick and choose who must obey the law and who need not, and even to impose entirely new laws that Congress has explicitly refused to enact. James Madison, the father of the Constitution, said that its single most important feature was giving the legislative and not the executive branch the decision of war or peace. Yet the executive now asserts the authority to attack other nations without congressional authorization. The Bill of Rights protects every American from retribution for expressing their political beliefs; it protects a free press from intimidation; it protects the free and open expression religious beliefs; it protects the means of individuals to protect themselves and their freedom; it protects every individual from having their records searched or their property seized without due process of law. Yet, these fundamental rights have been made a mockery of by the agents of this administration from the IRS to the Justice Department to the NSA. The rot began long before this administration, but under this administration it has become a crisis. All this is happening, we are told, for the common good. Ours wouldn't be the first civilization to succumb to the siren song of a benevolent and all-powerful government, but every society that has fallen for this lie has awakened one morning to discover that the benevolence is gone and that the all-powerful government is still there. Much of the structure of the American Constitution that has preserved our liberty for 225 years, that has contained the unwarranted expansion of governmental power, and that has preserved the natural and individual rights of every citizen has been allowed to decay. The form is still there--the institutions continue to function--but they no longer serve their principle role to protect the rule of law and the liberty of the people. Here in this Capitol, we are surrounded by the symbols of the Roman Republic. They should be a warning to us. The Roman Senate continued to exist 400 years after the fall of the Republic, but its nature and purpose had become empty. Chairman Goodlatte quoted Gibbon yesterday, who observed that ``the principles of a free Constitution are irrevocably lost when the legislative power is dominated by the executive.'' That is precisely what is happening. The institutions of our American Republic continue to operate, but the structures within it are rapidly degrading. In this condition, our Constitution is becoming like a rotting porch: we can still discern its form and purpose, but the structure that gave it strength and support is hollowing out through years of abuse and neglect until one day it will simply collapse. The Judiciary Committee hearing yesterday was the first step by Congress to assess the harm already done and to begin reversing that damage before it is too late. But I must warn that in its current divided condition Congress cannot do so alone. Ultimately, it will require the active assistance of the rightful owners of the Constitution, the American people. How ironic it would be if the liberties of this Nation, heroically defended by the sacrifices of nine generations of Americans on far-off battlefields, might someday be carelessly thrown away here at home. Let that not be said of our generation. Let it be said instead that just when our Constitution seemed most in peril, this generation rose up, insisted on absolute fidelity to the Constitution by those it elected, and then went on to revive, restore, and preserve that Constitution for the many generations of Americans who followed.

Mr. McCLINTOCK

Mr. McCLINTOCK. Mr. Speaker, I again commend the gentleman from Montana for his work on this issue. It is one of the most important achievements in power development that we have had recently, the jump- starting of these small hydropower generators. I thank the gentleman from the other side of the aisle for his support of the measure and urge its adoption. I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. McCLINTOCK. Mr. Speaker, I am now pleased to yield as much time as he may consume to the gentleman from Montana (Mr. Daines), the author of this measure,

Mr. McCLINTOCK. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. H.R. 1963 by Congressman Daines of Montana seeks to jump-start conduit hydropower development at 11 Bureau of Reclamation projects. The bill specifically removes statutory impediments by authorizing non- Federal hydropower development at these conduits and provides administrative and regulatory reforms necessary to foster such development. Earlier this year, the House passed H.R. 678 by Congressman Tipton and Congressman Costa by a 416-7 vote to promote conduit hydropower development at reclamation facilities. H.R. 678 applied to hundreds of reclamation facilities that are covered under the authorities of the Reclamation Project Act of 1939. This measure applies to the remaining reclamation facilities, all of which are governed under the different and more complex authorities of the Water Conservation and Utilization Act of 1939. The Tipton bill provided for a streamlined regulatory process in part by providing a categorical exemption for redundant environmental reviews. The WCUA actually forbids the installation of small hydroelectric generators in the projects regulated under this act, and thus the need for this separate legislation. The arguments in favor of getting the Federal Government out of the way so that private contractors can lease existing Federal pipelines and canals for the purpose of installing small hydroelectric generators are well known to the House, as evidenced by the overwhelming bipartisan vote accorded the Tipton bill earlier this year. That bill was signed into law a few months ago, and I am told it has already produced a flood of new applications for clean and cheap small hydroelectric generators. Not only has a new source of absolutely clean and inexpensive hydroelectricity been made available, the Federal Treasury benefits from the revenues that these leases produce in addition to the added economic activity that they enable. Mr. Daines' measure completes that work by applying the same policy to the remaining reclamation facilities that fell under the WCUA. I commend the gentleman from Montana for his leadership on this issue, and I reserve the balance of my time

Mr. McCLINTOCK. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that 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. 1963) to amend the Water Conservation and Utilization Act to authorize the development of non-Federal hydropower and issuance of leases of power privileges at projects constructed pursuant to the authority of the Water Conservation and Utilization Act, and for other purposes, as amended.

Mr. McCLINTOCK

Mr. McCLINTOCK. Mr. Speaker, I want to thank my colleagues on the other side of the aisle for their support of this legislation, and I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. McCLINTOCK. Mr. Speaker, I have no further speakers, and I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. McCLINTOCK. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Speaker, the Shingle Springs Band of Miwok Indians occupies a Federal reservation in the Sierra foothills in El Dorado County, California. They lost much of their land when Highway 50 was constructed through the reservation several decades ago. They were left with enough land to eventually build a successful casino, but have very little additional space for tribal housing. Adjacent to their reservation is a 40-acre abandoned and landlocked property. I say ``abandoned'' because it was never developed, and it is presently dangerously overgrown with scrub brush that is just waiting to become a wildfire, which could rapidly spread either to the existing reservation or to an adjacent residential neighborhood. As it turns out, this abandoned parcel is owned by the Bureau of Land Management. The Bureau of Land Management didn't even know that it owned the property when the Miwok first approached it about this matter. In fact, I am told the BLM actually had to be convinced that it does, indeed, own the land that it has obviously never managed. The Miwok would like to acquire this parcel for the reservation, making up some of the land they lost due to the construction of Highway 50. It would be used for tribal housing, and the bill specifically forbids its use for gambling, a condition that the Shingle Springs Band has agreed to. The parcel is untended, overgrown, and unused, and this land transfer would put it to productive use for reservation housing, use fully compatible with adjacent land usage. Indeed, by doing so, the tribe will be removing a major risk for both the reservation and the nearby community. Access would be through the existing reservation to avoid any impact on the existing neighborhood, and the tribe is committed to working with the nearby homeowners association to assure that it doesn't affect the rural nature of the community. The property is on unincorporated county land, and the County Board of Supervisors, which is the land use planning agency with jurisdiction over this land, fully supports the transfer. The administration supports my bill. I urge adoption of the legislation, 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 material on the bill under consideration.

Mr. McCLINTOCK. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 2388) to authorize the Secretary of the Interior to take certain Federal lands located in El Dorado County, California, into trust for the benefit of the Shingle Springs Band of Miwok Indians, and for other purposes, as amended.