Sean Maloney

Mr. SEAN PATRICK MALONEY of New York

Mr. SEAN PATRICK MALONEY of New York. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in opposition to H.R. 2353. This bill will mark the thirty-third time we've passed a short-term extension to the Highway bill in eight years. Enough is enough. Our roads and bridges are crumbling. We owe it to the American people to pass a robust long-term surface transportation bill and make real investments in our transportation infrastructure. These short-tern extensions not only diminish our economic competitiveness as a nation but they erode the safety of all of the folks we were sent here to represent. I will not support any more short-term gimmicks and implore my colleagues to join me in rejecting this proposal and instead pass a long-term bill and once again invest in our national infrastructure.

Mr. SEAN PATRICK MALONEY of New York

Mr. SEAN PATRICK MALONEY of New York. Mr. Speaker, I have a motion to recommit at the desk.

Mr. SEAN PATRICK MALONEY of New York. Yes, I am in its current form.

Mr. SEAN PATRICK MALONEY of New York. Mr. Speaker, I offer this amendment today as the final amendment to the bill. I am proud of the bipartisan work that the committee has done, and I want to commend the chairman, Mr. Shuster, also Messrs. DeFazio, Denham, and Capuano, and all the staff for the work that went into this legislation. This is a good bill, and it makes key investments in our rail infrastructure and in rail safety. I want to personally thank the chairman for all of his hard work on this bill and for, in particular, including the provisions that I authored on positive train control and grade crossings, the need for which has been so dramatically demonstrated by the terrible accidents in places like Valhalla and Spuyten Duyvil, New York, and recently in Oxnard, California. However, we can make this bill better. My amendment will not kill the bill nor send it back to committee. If adopted, it would proceed immediately to final passage. My amendment simply provides $150 million annually to Amtrak's police department to address critical security needs. Amtrak's security force is not large, but its task is monumental, protecting nearly 32 million passengers who use Amtrak every year. My amendment gives those security officials the resources they need to prevent and defend against terrorist attacks. From additional canine units to explosive detection equipment, we need to make sure that Amtrak's police officers, nationwide, have the capability to protect passengers. The amendment also requires Amtrak to implement a veterans hiring initiative specifically designed to hire veterans with experience working with military dogs, canine units. Amtrak has a long history of providing career opportunities to veterans, as well as Active Duty military members, but under current law is not required to do so. It is not required to seek out veterans for open positions. With more than 200,000 Active Duty servicemembers transitioning to civilian life, we can, today, guarantee that Amtrak will seek out veterans for new hires. In the last 10 years, more than 800 attacks have occurred worldwide against passenger and commuter rail systems, killing thousands. Many of us remember the terrifying images of the terrorist attacks in Madrid and London. In Mumbai, three separate attacks in the last 15 years have killed hundreds of people. All of us here in both parties understand the real dangers our country is facing. I have no doubt that one of the greatest threats we face is to our U.S. rail system. Subways and commuter systems, in particular, remain a top threat. Information taken from Osama bin Laden's very compound in Pakistan indicated that al Qaeda was considering attacks on a number of U.S. rail systems. Our intelligence and law enforcement officials have foiled several threats in just recent years. In 2009, an Afghan-born jihadist plotted to bomb New York subways with devices very similar to those used in the 2005 London attacks. And in 2011, two al Qaeda-supported terrorists were arrested after plotting to bomb and derail a train between Toronto and New York's Penn Station. At a time with heightened security and growing threats like ISIL, we are asking Amtrak's police force to do more with less. Amtrak reports that security funding overall has decreased by more than 50 percent since 2011. We need to reverse this trend to protect the security of our national passenger rail system. I urge my colleagues to join me in supporting this commonsense amendment to provide the necessary funding to ensure the safety and security of Amtrak passengers and rail commuters. I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. SEAN PATRICK MALONEY of New York. Mr. Speaker, I demand a recorded vote.

Mr. SEAN PATRICK MALONEY of New York

Mr. SEAN PATRICK MALONEY of New York. Mr. Speaker, I rise in strong support of my bill, H.R. 357, the Human Trafficking Prevention Act. I would like to thank my colleagues Mr. Royce and Mr. Cicilline and my cosponsors, and I would like to acknowledge Majority Leader McCarthy for his leadership on taking up this legislation at the beginning of this new Congress. No matter what part of the country you are from, human trafficking is an issue that we have to address now because lives are at stake. The State Department estimates that millions of children, women, and men are trafficked each year and forced into modern-day slavery as part of an evil and fast-growing industry. We know that the crime of human trafficking is dramatically underreported, and most of it happens invisibly; therefore, a critical part of the work we are doing today is to bring human trafficking out in the open, so we can raise awareness and prevent it from happening to more of the world's most vulnerable populations. We must also remember that this happens right here in our communities, all across our own country. Behind all of these numbers and statistics, there are real faces and real stories of women, men, and, too often, children--women like Mandy Palmer of western New York who 4 years ago met a man named Ryan online. Ryan was not who he pretended to be. Ryan turned out to be a human trafficker, a pimp who forced Mandy into prostitution and threatened her family. New York continues to be one of the top hubs of human trafficking where sex trafficking, child labor, and indentured servitude happen all too frequently. Just one organization in New York, Safe Horizon, has worked with more than 600 victims in recent years. In the Hudson Valley, we have seen it in Newburgh, in Poughkeepsie, places like Wappingers Falls, places like New Windsor, and even small villages like Pound Ridge. Story after story tells us that this disgusting, this horrifying practice of modern-day slavery happens right here, right in our own neighborhoods, in our own backyards. Just 10 days ago, authorities took action against a major sex trafficking ring in Albany, New York. Nine women who had traveled here from a foreign country were forced into prostitution at four different massage parlors. In another community in the Hudson Valley, about an hour away from New York City, a man tricked teenage girls to travel to the United States on tourist visas from countries like Brazil, Hungary, and France. He instructed these women to lie to both Immigration and State Department officials in order to gain access to our country. It is precisely this type of situation that my legislation seeks to stop. We must ensure that our men and women on the front lines of our borders have the resources and training they need in order to identify and stop human trafficking at its source, before these women, children, and men enter the United States out of their own culture, away from their own language many times, and become isolated and become victims. As part of our goal to end human trafficking, we can make sure that our Foreign Service officers and other government personnel have the tools and training they need to spot and to identify these victims and to stop this trafficking across international borders. In the past, the State Department estimated that between 14,000 and 17,000 foreign nationals were trafficked into the United States every single year. Although the Federal Government has a zero tolerance policy on human trafficking, our Foreign Service officers, who often have face-to-face contact with these victims when they are obtaining U.S. visas, currently undergo minimal training to define, identify, and recognize the indicators of this human trafficking so they can stop it at the source. My legislation would expand new minimum training procedures for Foreign Service officers and other government personnel in order to identify and stop this human trafficking before people cross these boundaries and end up in our own communities, before it becomes too late, when they are here and victimized. We know criminals will do just about anything to adapt to our new methods and to avoid getting caught, so this bipartisan legislation also requires annual updates to keep on top of key problems, threats, the new methods, and to identify new warning signs of trafficking. I want to thank my colleagues across the aisle because, by working together, we have a new opportunity to come together to combat this monstrous practice of trafficking in children, women, and men. Victims of human trafficking cannot wait another day. Today, we have an opportunity to do something together to combat this growing problem. Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to support my legislation, H.R. 357, the Human Trafficking Prevention Act.

Mr. SEAN PATRICK MALONEY of New York

Mr. SEAN PATRICK MALONEY of New York. Amendment XXI: Section 1: ``The eighteenth article of amendment to the Constitution of the United States is hereby repealed.'' Section 2: ``The transportation or importation into any State, Territory, or possession of the United States for delivery or use therein of intoxicating liquors, in violation of the laws thereof, is hereby prohibited.''

Mr. SEAN PATRICK MALONEY of New York

Mr. SEAN PATRICK MALONEY of New York. Mr. Speaker, I have a motion to recommit at the desk.

Mr. SEAN PATRICK MALONEY of New York. Yes, I am.

Mr. SEAN PATRICK MALONEY of New York. Mr. Speaker, this is the final amendment to the bill. It will not kill it or send it back to committee. If it is adopted, it will move immediately to final passage, as amended. Mr. Speaker, since 1978, the Environmental Protection Agency's Science Advisory Board has been tasked with external, independent advice on the scientific and technical aspects of environmental issues to help inform environmental decisions, and this commonsense amendment is critical to protecting the integrity of the SAB. It simply says: No person shall be a member of the Environmental Protection Agency Science Advisory Board if they represent a corporation or a trade association that has a direct or indirect financial interest in the outcome of decisions based on recommendations made by the board. My colleagues, a simple notion, a commonsense notion: if someone has a financial interest, they should not serve on the board. The Science Advisory Board has some of the most distinguished scientists in their fields, folks like Dr. William Schlesinger, from Dutchess County in the Hudson Valley, in my neck of the woods, who has served as a member of the Science Advisory Board. Dr. Schlesinger is a good example of the kind of people we have on this board. He is the president emeritus of the Cary Institute of Ecosystem Studies, an ecological research institute in Millbrook, New York. He has spent 30 years investigating the link between environmental chemistry and global climate change, and his expertise has informed numerous pieces of legislation, such as the Clean Air Act. America is the world leader in research, with an unprecedented number of scientists like Dr. Schlesinger in academic institutions, not because we politicize science, but because we don't politicize science. Their entire life's work has been devoted to serving the public and to leaving our country a better place. It is why it is imperative that we continue to allow the most knowledgeable scientific and technical experts from our research institutions to serve without conflict, without a paycheck in the offing. So far, scientists on the SAB have been instrumental in creating real reforms to the Clean Air Act, the Federal Water Pollution Control Act, the Clean Water Act, the Toxic Substances Control Act, and the Safe Drinking Water Act. Science is not political. We shouldn't fear science, and we shouldn't politicize science. We should not monetize science, and we should not make it political today. We should ban these conflicts and trust in our scientists. We must continue to allow the SAB to implement impartial scientific recommendations, and we simply must prohibit scientists who can profit from decisions from making recommendations as part of the board. This bill now requires a new disclosure requirement for SAB members, but there is a glaring omission. It fails to effectively prevent persons with key financial conflicts from serving. That is why I urge my colleagues to support my commonsense amendment. We must not allow corporations to influence this process by sending corporation-funded scientists onto the board. We must not allow corporation-funded scientists to drown out genuine scientific debate. My goodness. This amendment would simply ensure that the science board continues its integrity of serving science, not serving itself or any one political agenda. Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. SEAN PATRICK MALONEY of New York. Mr. Speaker, I demand a recorded vote.

Mr. SEAN PATRICK MALONEY of New York

Mr. SEAN PATRICK MALONEY of New York. Mr. Speaker, today, we celebrate Constitution Day--a holiday that falls 227 years after our founding fathers George Washington, James Madison, and their colleagues signed the original Constitution and sent it to the states for ratification. We should all use this important holiday as an opportunity to reflect on the achievements of the Founding generation-- who wrote the most durable and successful charter of government in world history--but we should also remember that the Framers only wrote the opening chapter in a much longer constitutional story. And this is precisely what the Framers themselves intended--leaving it up to future generations to use the Article V amendment process to improve upon their handiwork and ``form a more perfect Union.'' Perhaps the most important set of constitutional changes occurred after the Civil War, when President Lincoln and his generation ratified a series of transformational Amendments that many scholars have rightly described as our nation's ``Second Founding.'' As we approach the 150th anniversaries of these key Second Founding Amendments--the Thirteenth, Fourteenth, and Fifteenth--it's worth pausing for a moment on this Constitution Day to consider their centrality to America's constitutional story. The Thirteenth Amendment banned slavery and forced labor--redeeming us from the Founding generation's original sin. Following his reelection in November 1864, President Lincoln worked furiously to convince members of Congress to support the Thirteenth Amendment, eventually securing congressional approval on January 31, 1865. The following day, Lincoln took the unusual step of signing the Thirteenth Amendment before sending it to the states for ratification, calling it a ``King's cure'' for the evil of slavery. The Fourteenth Amendment is arguably the most important constitutional provision ratified after the Bill of Rights, enshrining a host of new constitutional guarantees in our nation's charter. It granted U.S. citizenship to everyone born on American soil--a guarantee worthy of special reflection on a day also set aside as Citizenship Day. It protected fundamental rights like free speech from state abuses and ensured due process of law for everyone. Finally, it wrote Jefferson's famous Declaration into the Constitution and perfected it by changing ``all men'' to ``any person.'' This universal language guarantees equality for everyone--whether black or white, woman or man, gay or heterosexual. Finally, the Fifteenth Amendment guaranteed the right to vote free of racial discrimination--beginning the most sustained project of constitutional improvement in American history. This project produced a total of six Voting Rights Amendments that established the right to vote as the most fundamental of all rights in our constitutional system. Beginning this Constitution Day, we should use the 150th anniversary of the Second Founding to begin a national conversation about its enduring meaning and our nation's unfinished project of living up to the constitutional principles enshrined in its transformational Amendments. While our country has made tremendous progress since that day 227 years ago, our nation's story is not over and together we must continue building on our strong foundation to improve upon our more perfect union.

Mr. SEAN PATRICK MALONEY of New York

Mr. SEAN PATRICK MALONEY of New York. Mr. Speaker, I am proud to be one of the sponsors of this bill. I thank the gentleman from New Jersey. I want to thank my colleague, Chris Gibson from New York. Here we are again. Just a month ago, my colleague Mr. Gibson and I were working across the aisle to lower energy prices in the Hudson Valley, and here we are working again on an issue of tremendous importance to our region. I support the Tick-Borne Disease Research Accountability and Transparency Act, along with so many others, and I want to acknowledge Mr. Gibson's leadership on this issue. I am proud we are working across the aisle, because Lyme disease is an epidemic in the Hudson Valley, and it is hurting our kids, our friends, and our families. It is happening everywhere--on our playgrounds, in our backyards, at parks, picnics, and on trails in the woods. It is the invisible, silent disease that so many find themselves developing--and far too many find out too late. It is now one of the most common and fastest growing infectious diseases in our country. Every year, there are hundreds of thousands of cases nationwide, with 96 percent of those cases in only 13 States. In New York, thousands of my neighbors in the Hudson Valley are suffering from Lyme disease every day. Four counties in the Hudson Valley, including Dutchess and Putnam Counties, have reported the highest rates of Lyme disease in the entire country. I hear about it everywhere I go. A man named Alex from Washingtonville told me he has been suffering from Lyme disease for over 35 years. I spoke with a man who has a tree- cutting business in Garrison, New York. He said he has got about 12 guys working for him. I said, How many have got Lyme disease? He said, Every single one. All of my guys have Lyme disease, he said. A member of my own staff spent a month this summer injecting himself with heavy-duty antibiotics through a catheter that was put into his heart. A member of my own staff had to sit on a couch every day and inject antibiotics into his heart because of this disease. Thank God he caught it in time and will make a full recovery. I met a woman at an event in Poughkeepsie who came up to me with a cane. She couldn't be more than 30 years old. She was with her husband. She said: Our whole lives have been ruined by this disease. My husband and I were just starting our life together. We were going to have a family. We had big plans, and now all we do is deal with this chronic Lyme disease that I have, and I can't get better. There is a woman named Valerie from Westchester County who wrote to me and says: No one listens. I hope you will listen. Well, we are listening today, Valerie, and I urge my colleagues to listen and pass this critical bill. This bipartisan legislation makes a landmark investment in Lyme disease and other tick-borne illnesses so that our friends and families in the Hudson Valley no longer have to suffer in silence. When folks are suffering, I guarantee you they aren't thinking, Mr. Speaker, about partisan politics. There is no Republican or Democratic Lyme disease, and Americans expect us to work together. That is why I am proud we are doing so today. We can stand up. We can stand shoulder-to-shoulder and say the health of our communities is too important to wait. For neighbors like Alex, Valerie, the others I mentioned, and for so many others I have never met, I want you to know we are listening. I urge my colleagues to support H.R. 4701 because our constituents deserve a government that is working for them and that steps up to the plate when they need it most.

Mr. SEAN PATRICK MALONEY of New York

Mr. SEAN PATRICK MALONEY of New York. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of H.R. 2807, the Conservation Easement Incentive Act. This important legislation would make the current tax deduction for the contribution of conservation easements permanent, affording landowners the stability and certainty needed to complete the long term planning necessary for either continued agricultural production or conservation work. Since being signed into law in 2006, the enhanced tax incentive for conservation easements has boosted donations of conservation easements by a third--to a total of over a million acres a year. The Hudson Valley is a national treasure that must be preserved, and we owe it to our children and grandchildren to protect the places New Yorkers cherish and depend on. In the Hudson Valley, a landowner in my district is struggling to preserve his thirty five acre homestead, which he has lived on for over 40 years. The land dates back to the original family farmsteads and orchards that have dotted the Hudson Valley for generations. Many of those farmsteads have since been sold to developers, but not his. The parcel of land he is fighting to protect and preserve is not only precious in its heritage and conservation value, but in its current use as a trail, which connects several larger land preserves in the region. While he would like to donate a conservation easement and receive the much needed tax deduction, there is considerable financial pressure on him to sell the land to developers. If that happens--the land is lost. And as my friend and President of the Westchester Land Trust, Lori Ensinger, put it-- when the land is lost, it's lost for good. We must balance economic development with protecting the land for preservation and outdoor recreation. Rather than being forced to sell to developers, conservation easement tax incentives allow farmers and landowners the choice to maintain working lands for agriculture or to protect more land for wildlife protection and outdoor recreation. In the Hudson Valley conservation easements have a tremendously positive impact, boosting regional economies while protecting some of America's most important natural sites for future generations. While we have been successful in protecting thousands of acres over the last ten years all across the Hudson Valley, our work is not done. Passing the Conservation Easement Incentive Act is about more than just environmental preservation it is about regional economies, businesses and jobs. Without the conservation easement tax incentives, landowners may be forced to divide or sell their property to developers; losing the land, its heritage and economic benefits for good.

Mr. SEAN PATRICK MALONEY of New York

Mr. SEAN PATRICK MALONEY of New York. Mr. Speaker, I rise to mark the 40th anniversary of Turkey's invasion of Cyprus and to call for a reunited and independent Cyprus. The Turkish invasion in 1974 affected hundreds of thousands of Greek Cypriots and its impact continues to be felt today as Cyprus is still one of the most highly militarized areas in the world. Furthermore Greek Cypriots are still being denied human rights. They have been denied their right to return to their homes, their properties have been sold or confiscated, and their right to religious freedom has been restricted. The United States has strongly encouraged continuing formal negotiations between the leaders of the Greek Cypriot and Turkish communities. It is important that we continue to support Cyprus as it is an ally and strategic partner in combatting terrorism. Cyprus has also helped in the promotion of security and stability in the eastern Mediterranean. On the 40th anniversary of the invasion of Cyprus, the United States is reminded that we should strive to end this injustice and continue to support the long overdue reunification and independence of Cyprus.

Mr. SEAN PATRICK MALONEY of New York

Mr. SEAN PATRICK MALONEY of New York. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume, and rise in strong support of H.R. 2283, the Human Trafficking Prioritization Act. First, let me thank my friend and colleague, Representative Chris Smith, for introducing this important piece of legislation which elevates the Office to Monitor and Combat Trafficking to the status of a bureau within the State Department. Put simply, as we have heard this evening, human trafficking is modern day slavery. It represents a brutal violation of individual freedom and human dignity. Unfortunately, this practice is all too common around the world and in our own neighborhoods. But, fortunately, the United States is committed to responding to this crime here at home and around the world. Since this Congress passed the Trafficking Victims Protection Act in 2000, leaders on both sides of the aisle have rallied around this issue. Indeed, three administrations have made this effort a priority. Our coordination across government through the President's Interagency Task Force on Human Trafficking has never been stronger. Mr. Speaker, today we can take another step forward by making the Office to Monitor and Combat Trafficking in Persons a full bureau within the State Department. This office is already doing critical work. Its annual Trafficking in Persons Report has become the global gold standard in assessing how well governments around the world are meeting this important challenge. Elevating the trafficking office to a State Department bureau would send a strong message to the world that combating modern day slavery remains a top priority to the United States. Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to support this important legislation. I reserve the balance of my time. General Leave

Mr. SEAN PATRICK MALONEY of New York. Mr. Speaker, I would like to thank the gentleman from North Carolina. I listened with great interest to his words earlier. I would like to thank him and acknowledge him for his leadership on this issue. It is so great to see him reaching across the aisle to do so, and I want to acknowledge his leadership on this issue. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to my colleague from New Mexico (Mr. Ben Ray Lujan).

Mr. SEAN PATRICK MALONEY of New York. I yield an additional 2 minutes to the gentleman from New Mexico.

Mr. SEAN PATRICK MALONEY of New York. Mr. Speaker, I would like to thank the gentleman from New Mexico for his eloquent and passionate remarks, a concern so many of us share. With that, Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. SEAN PATRICK MALONEY of New York

Mr. SEAN PATRICK MALONEY of New York. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. I rise in strong support of my bill, H.R. 4449, the Human Trafficking Prevention Act. Mr. Speaker, I would like to also thank my colleague, Mr. Meadows, for his leadership on this bill. I would like to thank the Democratic whip--my friend, the gentleman from Maryland, Steny Hoyer--and his staff for the work they dedicated to this piece of legislation and to my own staff. Worldwide, less than 1 percent of an estimated 27 million victims of human trafficking have been reported, and in the past year, only about 44,000 survivors have been identified. Millions--literally millions of children, women, and men are trafficked each year and forced into modern-day slavery as part of the world's most evil and fastest growing industry. It may seem like it only happens on the other side of the world, but it is happening here in quiet neighborhoods across our country. Some of those survivors are from neighborhoods I represent in the Hudson Valley of New York. In New Windsor and Newburgh, for nearly 4 years, one man would troll the streets, coercing at least 10 women to work for him as sex workers in local motels. Last year, law enforcement authorities uncovered an international sex trafficking ring operating brothels in Yonkers, Poughkeepsie, and Newburgh, where women were brutalized and forced to have sex 10, 20, 30 times a day. It is a hard truth, but it is a truth nonetheless. This disgusting, this horrifying practice of modern-day slavery happens here, right here in our own neighborhoods, in our own backyards, in our own country. Even with the assistance of law enforcement and dedicated organizations like My Sister's Place in Westchester and Safe Homes of Orange County, groups which help survivors rebuild their lives, New York continues to be one of the top hubs of human trafficking where sex trafficking, child labor, child sex trafficking, and indentured servitude happen all too frequently. In another community in Hudson Valley about an hour away from New York City, a man tricked teenage girls to travel to the United States on tourist visas from countries like Brazil, Hungary, and France. He instructed these women to lie to both Immigration and State Department officials in order to gain access to our country. It is precisely this kind of situation that my legislation seeks to stop. We must ensure that our men and women on the front lines of our borders have the resources and training they need in order to identify and stop human trafficking at its source before these women and children and men become victims. As part of our goal to end human trafficking, we can make sure that our foreign service officers and other government personnel have the tools and training they need to spot, to identify these victims and stop this trafficking across international borders. In the past, the State Department estimated that between 14,500 and 17,000 foreign nationals were trafficked into the United States every single year. Although the Federal Government has a zero tolerance policy on human trafficking, our foreign service officers, who often have face-to-face contact with these victims when they are obtaining U.S. visas, currently undergo minimal training to define, identify, and recognize the indicators of human trafficking or smuggling. My legislation would expand new minimum training procedures for foreign service officers and other government personnel in order to identify and stop human trafficking at its source and take action before people are trafficked across international borders before it becomes too late, when they are already in the United States and already victimized. Since we know criminals will do just about anything to adapt and to avoid being caught, this legislation also requires annual updates on key problems, threats, methods, and warning signs of trafficking. I want to thank my colleagues across the aisle because, by working across the aisle, we have a new opportunity to come together to combat this absolutely monstrous practice of trafficking in children, women, and men. Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to support my legislation, H.R. 4449, the Human Trafficking Prevention Act, and I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. SEAN PATRICK MALONEY of New York

Mr. SEAN PATRICK MALONEY of New York. I would like to thank the chairman and the ranking member for working with me on this issue. Mr. Chairman, in January, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, known as FERC, approved a proposal by the New York Independent System Operator to create a new capacity zone in the Hudson Valley. The committee report accompanying the fiscal year 2015 Energy and Water Appropriations bill acknowledges that zones like this one may result in increases in consumer energy costs. In the case of the Hudson Valley, this new zone would impose an unprecedented $230 million increase in energy costs for our region in just the first year and nearly $500 million in increased costs over a 3-year period. Initial estimates suggest that customers throughout the Hudson Valley could see their utility bills go up by 3 to 10 percent. Not only did FERC approve this new zone, but they have completely disregarded ratepayers and local officials in this decision. They have consistently ignored local stakeholders' warnings that this zone will arbitrarily hurt families and businesses. Moreover, they have failed to demonstrate that the zone would even achieve the result that they are seeking. FERC has also failed to take into account a wide range of ongoing investments that will facilitate the movement of energy in New York State and which may reduce or eliminate the need for such high-capacity payments. Would the chairman and the ranking member agree that it is the intent of the report language to ensure that FERC reexamines and reforms the way they conduct this type of decisionmaking, so that the proceedings ensure the Commissioners hear and consider the concerns of local ratepayers?

Mr. SEAN PATRICK MALONEY of New York. I want to thank the chairman and the ranking member. Would you also be committed to continuing to work with me during fiscal year 2015 to ensure that FERC makes reforms to ensure that the views of residents, local and State officials, regulators, and business leaders are taken into account when FERC makes these major decisions?

Mr. SEAN PATRICK MALONEY of New York

Mr. SEAN PATRICK MALONEY of New York. Madam Chair, I have an amendment at the desk.

Mr. SEAN PATRICK MALONEY of New York. Madam Chair, many of my colleagues may be familiar with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, also known as FERC. But I imagine few of my colleagues have experienced an agency with the accountability that we have experienced in the Hudson Valley recently, or have seen how a few unelected bureaucrats can wreak havoc, literally, on our utility bills and those of our struggling neighbors without regard for basic facts, like how those people use energy or how those bills will be paid or whether people can even afford to pay these bills after the worst winter and the highest energy costs we have seen in a generation. This egregious bureaucratic overreach has to stop. In January, FERC approved a plan to create what is called a new capacity zone in the Hudson Valley. Now, this new zone would arbitrarily impose an unprecedented $230 million increase in energy costs in my region for just the first year alone, and nearly $500 million in increased costs over the first 3 years. This is absolutely outrageous and unnecessary. No one elected anyone in the FERC, and they are accountable to no one. But their decisions affect all of us and, in this case, affect the struggling ratepayers of the Hudson Valley. Initial estimates suggest that customers throughout the Hudson Valley could see their utility bills go up by as much as 10 percent. This, again, after the worst winter and highest energy costs in a generation. Every single day, I am hearing from my neighbors about how awful this decision is and their fears of how they will pay for their energy. I heard from Russ in Putnam Valley, who told me that, as a senior on a fixed income, this is an increase that he simply can't afford. He is expected to pay $120 more over the next year, and he doesn't have it. And it is not just families that will be hit. Schools, like those in Carmel, are scrambling to find ways to cut budgets that are already stretched thin. And our large employers, like IBM, estimate that this FERC decision could cost just IBM up to $10 million over the next year. Now, you might think that any agency with that kind of destructive power might be accountable to someone, but apparently you would be wrong. Last week, I received a letter from Dutchess County Executive Marcus Molinaro stating that, in the 20 years that he has been in elected office, ``I have never interacted with a less accessible, less accountable government entity, seemingly impervious to legislative and public scrutiny.'' I couldn't agree more, and we have that agreement across party lines and across levels of government. The new capacity zone is an unnecessary and destructive step designed to fix a problem that we can fix in so many other ways, and we have to rein in these unaccountable Washington bureaucrats. So my amendment is simple. It would specifically prohibit funds from going towards allowing the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission to enforce the decision that created the new capacity zone. Because a runaway agency like this needs a serious wake-up call, and this amendment will let FERC know that they are accountable to folks like Russ and the people in Carmel and the seniors in my district and to this Congress. I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. SEAN PATRICK MALONEY of New York. Mr. Chair, I thank the chairman for his assistance with the colloquy earlier. I respect his remarks. Let me just point out that this amendment relates to a specific FERC docket. So by definition, it can affect nothing other than this specific decision that I have referred to. I yield for such time as he may wish to consume to the gentleman from New York, Chris Gibson, my colleague from across the aisle who also represents the Hudson Valley.