Grace Napolitano

Mrs. NAPOLITANO

Mrs. NAPOLITANO. Mr. Chairman, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mrs. NAPOLITANO

Mrs. NAPOLITANO. Madam Chairman, I have an amendment at the desk.

Mrs. NAPOLITANO. Madam Chairman, I rise in support of the DeFazio- Poe-Napolitano amendment. I sincerely thank Ranking Member DeFazio and, of course, the ranking member of the committee for offering this critical amendment which implements the harbor maintenance allocation formulas that were carefully negotiated and included in the WRRDA 2014 and passed the House by a vote of 412-4. I repeat, 412-4. WRRDA '14 said that any funds appropriated for the harbor maintenance account above $898 million--of course this was the baseline amount appropriated in fiscal year '12--should be--it doesn't say ``would be,'' ``could be''--it should be allocated based on the following parameters: Ten percent at least goes to the Great Lakes. At least 10 percent goes to expanded uses at donor ports, which would be New York/New Jersey, Miami, Seattle, Tacoma, Los Angeles, and Long Beach. Expanded uses are berth dredging, removal of contaminated sediment, environmental remediation, and/or subsidies to shippers to continue to use their ports. At least 5 percent goes to underserved harbors. Ten percent goes for emerging harbors. The 2016 Corps budget does not--I repeat, does not--include the WRRDA 2014 harbor maintenance trust allocations. It does not include them. This amendment is needed to require the Corps to implement these funds allocations, as directed by Congress. Madam Chairman, this amendment is especially important to provide fairness to my State of California and to other ports. All ports in California only receive 15 percent--this is all ports-- back of what their shippers paid into that harbor maintenance trust fund. Last year, the users of the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach alone paid $263 million in harbor maintenance taxes and received zero--I repeat, zero--back in harbor maintenance funds. This is terribly unfair, and it is, as far as we are concerned, illegal. This amendment will ensure that it brings back a little bit of that fairness to the donor harbors by providing them with a small portion of what they paid into the system. I do want to add that this amendment is supported by the American Association of Port Authorities and the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach. I ask for support of the DeFazio amendment. I request a ``yes'' vote. I yield back the balance of my time.

Mrs. NAPOLITANO

Mrs. NAPOLITANO. Madam Speaker, I ask unanimous consent to insert my statement in the Record of the House of Representatives that we should vote for bigger paychecks and better infrastructure instead of attacking women's access to all health care.

Mrs. NAPOLITANO

Mrs. NAPOLITANO. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. I am the ranking member of the Subcommittee on Water and Power, and I read this information in the newspaper. Nobody ever contacted me. I had no idea the formulation of this particular bill was going on. When we talk about unemployment, it is nice to trot out pictures and show what the effect is, but I see nothing in this bill that is going to help the farm workers themselves, nothing that is going to provide more wet water, create water, whether it is through recycling, desalination, or conservation--all the things that southern California has been doing. Let's not forget that 80 percent of the water used is for agriculture and 20 percent is for industrial, commercial, and residential; so there is a little bit of a disparity there, my friends. I really am looking at how we move towards working on a bipartisan basis. We don't want to argue. We want to make resolutions by working together, and that is not happening. Maybe it is something that I have said--I am not sure, Mr. Speaker--but I am more than willing to sit down between now and next year when we have this bill come to the light of the day, if it is reintroduced, and we can have an honest discussion about the effects it has. Also, when we talk about California's 35 million residents, only 12 million reside in L.A. County, part of the county that I represent. That is not including San Bernardino, Riverside, or San Diego, so we talk about the boaters in southern California getting the shaft for not getting the water and paying more for that water. When we are looking at water distribution, I suggest that we sit and actually work openly and transparently. We oppose this secretly written Central Valley-focused legislation. We hope that we are going to continue the dialogue because, yes, California, is a donor State. We need to be able to continue providing that for the rest of the Nation, so that we can have a better economy and a growth in our agricultural area. Mr. Speaker, I ask my colleagues to oppose H.R. 5781, the so-called California Emergency Drought Relief Act of 2014, which should be called the CVP California Emergency Drought Relief Act of 2014, and I yield back the balance of my time.

Mrs. NAPOLITANO. Mr. Speaker, I have heard the impassioned speech, but it is not our water. It is California water. I yield 3 minutes to the gentleman from California (Mr. Farr), the ranking member of the Agriculture Appropriations Subcommittee.

Mrs. NAPOLITANO. Mr. Speaker, how much time remains?

Mrs. NAPOLITANO. Mr. Speaker, may I inquire as to the amount of time that is remaining on both sides?

Mrs. NAPOLITANO. Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I yield 4 minutes to the gentleman from California (Mr. Huffman).

Ms. NAPOLITANO

Ms. NAPOLITANO. Mr. Speaker, I yield the gentleman an additional 5 minutes.

Mrs. NAPOLITANO

Mrs. NAPOLITANO. Mr. Speaker, I yield 5 minutes to my colleague from northern California (Mr. George Miller). May I add that I am very thankful for his many years of service to this House and to the Nation, especially the State of California on water issues.

Mrs. NAPOLITANO. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Speaker, Congressman Valadao's bill, H.R. 5781, the California Emergency Drought Relief Act of 2014, is a northern California drought relief bill; it isn't a California drought relief act. It was introduced last week without hearings, without markups, without consultation with the House Democrats, and without any consultation or input from local water agencies, State agencies, cities, and/or tribes. This bill is being rushed to the floor without the input of critical California leaders throughout the State. It focuses primarily on providing more Bay- Delta water to Central Valley farmers at the expense of other users. This bill would require mandatory increases in pumping to Central Valley agriculture, which could force water managers throughout the State to cut water deliveries to southern California, to other urban water users, and, of course, to fisheries, which is a mainstay of many of the tribes in California. This could also lead to less fresh water in the delta and higher levels of salt and contamination in the water being pumped down to southern California. The White House states the President will veto this bill because ``it fails to equitably address critical elements of California's complex water challenges,'' and ``the bill appears to include a number of potentially conflicting mandates which can cause confusion and undermine environmental laws, making it ripe for future litigation.'' Senator Boxer says she opposes the bill because ``it could reignite the water wars by overriding critical State and Federal protections of all of California.'' Mr. Speaker, I have some of the statements of opposition. One of them is The Sacramento Bee who has come out opposing the bill because ``any legislation affecting California water policy deserves a full hearing with input from the varied interests in northern California, the Central Valley, and the south.'' Mr. Speaker, we must work in a bipartisan manner to address this drought crisis for the whole State and certainly not in secret and behind closed doors. I have introduced H.R. 5363, the Water in the 21st Century Act, and Representative Huffman has introduced H.R. 4239, which would provide drought relief to all of California with its water conservation programs, its water recycling projects, its groundwater improvement operations and storm water capture solutions, including desalination and title XVI. House Democratic proposals have been excluded from this bill, H.R. 5781. There have been past attempts in past Congresses to pass certainly some proposals our legislation has proposed today, and it has failed. Mr. Speaker, I include for the Record statements of opposition to this bill from the White House, from Senator Boxer, The Sacramento Bee, American Rivers, the League of Conservation Voters, the Natural Resources Defense Council, the Sierra Club, the Nature Conservancy, the Pacific Fishery Management Council, the Golden Gate Salmon Association, the Golden Gate Fishermen's Association, and the California Environmental Water Caucus, just to name a few. Mr. Speaker, I urge us not to pass this, and I reserve the balance of my time. Executive Office of the President, Office of Management and Budget, Washington, DC, December 5, 2014. Statement of Administration Policy H.R. 5781--The California Emergency Drought Relief Act of 2014 (Rep. Valadao, R-CA, and 6 cosponsors) The Administration opposes H.R. 5781 because it fails to equitably address critical elements of California's complex water challenges. The Administration appreciates the efforts by the bill authors to address concerns raised by the Administration regarding H.R. 3964, the Sacramento-San Joaquin Valley Emergency Water Delivery Act. However, because H.R. 5781 makes operational determinations regarding the use of limited water resources during the ongoing drought, and contains many new provisions that could lead to unintended consequences or further litigation, the Administration cannot support the bill in its current form. The Administration takes seriously the ongoing drought that has affected communities, producers and water users across much of the country, including the especially hard hit State of California. Since the President's visit to Fresno, California earlier this year the Administration has undertaken a number of steps to help those most affected by drought. The U.S. Department of Agriculture has directed millions of dollars in food, conservation and emergency water assistance to tens of thousands of residents in areas hardest hit by drought. The Bureau of Reclamation has provided cost- share assistance for nine water reclamation and reuse projects in the State as well as millions of dollars in grants to build long-term resiliency to drought. Moreover, the President has directed Federal agencies to work with state and local officials in real-time to maximize limited water supplies, prioritize public health and safety, meet state water quality requirements, and ensure a balanced approach to providing for the water needs of people, agriculture, businesses, power, imperiled species and the environment. Among other things, these efforts took form in a 2014 Drought Operations Plan, prepared in close coordination with the State, and the Administration is already taking steps to prepare a new drought plan for 2015 based on lessons learned and the best available science during the current year. H.R. 5781 was introduced on December 2 and is being considered in the few remaining days of this session without a hearing or opportunity for the public to review and provide comment. In particular, the bill appears to include a number of potentially conflicting mandates which can create confusion and undermine environmental laws, making it ripe for future litigation. Given the complexity of California water issues, policy determinations over the use of scarce water resources should be developed in an open and transparent manner, with an ability for the public, affected stakeholders, and Federal, state and local officials to review and provide comment and feedback. The Administration stands ready to work with Congress in this regard. For these reasons, if the President were presented with H.R. 5781, his senior advisors would recommend that he veto the bill.

Mrs. NAPOLITANO. Mr. Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to the gentleman from Oregon (Mr. DeFazio), the ranking member of the Natural Resources Committee.

Mrs. NAPOLITANO. Mr. Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to the gentleman from California (Mr. Costa).

Mrs. NAPOLITANO. Mr. Speaker, I yield the gentleman an additional 1 minute.

Mrs. NAPOLITANO

Mrs. NAPOLITANO. Mr. Speaker, on behalf of Representatives Diana DeGette, Ed Perlmutter, Jared Polis, George Miller, Jim Costa, and Jared Huffman, we rise today to recognize Anne Castle, who is departing after more than five years as Assistant Secretary for Water and Science at the Department of the Interior. Anne has worked to protect our nation's water resources for her entire career, and we are grateful for her service. It is appropriate that Anne hails from Colorado, where engraved in the State Capitol is the poem, ``Here is a land where life is written in water.'' From the Front Range to the Western Slope, water has shaped the character of Coloradans and has no doubt influenced Anne's career. Prior to joining Interior, Anne practiced law for 28 years in Denver, Colorado specializing in water rights law. She also served on several state water initiatives, including the South Platte River Basin Task Force, which she was appointed to by Colorado Governor Bill Ritter in 2007 Anne was twice appointed to the Colorado Groundwater Commission by former Colorado Governor Roy Romer and served from 1994 to 2002. During her tenure at the Department of the Interior, Anne oversaw the creation and implementation of WaterSMART, spearheaded several hydropower initiatives, and played a key role in the recent successful launch of Landsat 8. She also worked to promote youth and STEM initiatives within the Department and mentored the next generation of water leaders. Perhaps Anne's greatest contribution during her tenure as Assistant Secretary is in her leadership on Western water management. Anne was a key member of the team that Secretary Salazar brought to Interior to improve inter-agency cooperation on addressing complex interstate and international water management issues across the West. Anne has prioritized the need for the West to respond to historic drought--focusing on the changing and increasing risks facing water supplies. Most recently, Anne led implementation of Minute 319 to the 1944 Treaty with Mexico--a historic agreement that guides future management of the Colorado River through 2017. As she leaves Interior, the coordination between the federal government, Indian Tribes, states, and other constituencies are at their highest levels on the Colorado River, even during this time of record drought. On a personal level, both career and political appointees have praised Anne's dedication, energy, intellect and professionalism. The West is better off today as a result of Anne's contributions. We thank Anne, and her family, Frank, Chris, and Beth, for their service to the American people. We wish Anne the best as she returns home to the land where life is written in water.

Mrs. NAPOLITANO

Mrs. NAPOLITANO. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent to bring up H.R. 15, a bipartisan, comprehensive immigration reform bill to properly address the humanitarian crisis at the border.

Mrs. NAPOLITANO

Mrs. NAPOLITANO. Mr. Speaker, it is with great sadness that I along with Rep. Linda T. Saanchez rise to honor the life of Armando J. Mora, Jr., a Santa Fe Springs City fireman who died of service related cancer on June 18th, 2014. Mr. Mora was raised in Santa Fe Springs and was proud to serve in the Fire Department of the city he loved. Mr. Mora came from a very distinguished family who have committed their lives to public service in Santa Fe Springs. His father Armando Mora Sr. served on the City Council and was Mayor, and his brother Robert also serves in the Fire Department and is President of Local 3507 of the firefighter's union. Armando J. Mora, Jr. began his career in the fire service of the City of West Covina and was hired by the Santa Fe Springs Fire Department on January 20, 1981. He served with distinction for 33 years as a firefighter, and was known as an extraordinary man of great character and generosity to all in our community. We owe a great debt of gratitude to Mr. Mora because he knew the danger he faced every day on the job, but would not be deterred from his duties in protecting the people of our region. We extend our sincere sympathy to Mr. Mora's mother Alicia Mora, his loving and devoted wife Georgina Mora, his two children, Lauren and Anthony, stepson Jesse, two sisters Annie and Irene, his brother Robert, and to the extended Mora family and friends, including his brave brothers and sisters in the Santa Fe Springs Fire Department. We are all devastated by the loss of one so loved. We ask that our colleagues in the United States House of Representatives join us to honor this fallen hero who has made the ultimate sacrifice for our community.

Mrs. NAPOLITANO

Mrs. NAPOLITANO. Mr. Chair, on Wednesday, June 25, 2014, I was absent during rollcall vote No. 357 due to a medical emergency in my family. Had I been present, I would have voted ``aye'' on Representative Peter DeFazio (OR) Amendment.

Mrs. NAPOLITANO. Mr. Speaker, on Wednesday, June 25th, 2014, I was absent during rollcall vote No. 358 due to a medical emergency in my family. Had I been present, I would have voted ``aye'' on the Democratic Motion to Recommit H.R. 6--Domestic Prosperity and Global Freedom Act.

Mrs. NAPOLITANO. Mr. Speaker, on Wednesday, June 25th, 2014, I was absent during rollcall vote No. 359 due to a medical emergency in my family. Had I been present, I would have voted ``nay'' on final passage of H.R. 6--Domestic Prosperity and Global Freedom Act. Personal Explanation

Mrs. NAPOLITANO

Mrs. NAPOLITANO. Mr. Chair, on Tuesday, June 24th, 2014, I was absent during rollcall vote No. 350 due to a medical emergency in my family. Had I been present, I would have voted ``yea'' on the Pallone of New Jersey Amendment that ensures that the complete length of cross-border projects would be subject to full environmental review under the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA). Amendment No. 2 Offered by Mr. Waxman

Mrs. NAPOLITANO. Mr. Speaker, I was absent during rollcall vote No. 354 due to a medical emergency in my family. Had I been present, I would have voted ``no'' on final passage of H.R. 3301--North American Energy Infrastructure Act.

Mrs. NAPOLITANO. Mr. Chair, on Tuesday, June 24th, 2014, I was absent during rollcall vote No. 351 due to a medical emergency in my family. Had I been present, I would have voted ``yea'' on the Waxman of California Amendment that excludes any project with a pending Presidential permit application from using the new approval requirements in the bill. Amendment No. 3 Offered by Mr. Welch

Mrs. NAPOLITANO. Mr. Chair, on Tuesday, June 24th, 2014, I was absent during rollcall vote No. 352 due to a medical emergency in my family. Had I been present, I would have voted ``yea'' on the Welch/Pingree/ Kuster/Shea-Porter Amendment that ensures that major pipeline modifications receive a thorough environmental review.