Collin Peterson

Mr. PETERSON

Mr. PETERSON. Mr. Chairman, I yield 2 minutes to the distinguished gentleman from Virginia (Mr. Beyer).

Mr. PETERSON. Mr. Chairman, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. PETERSON. Mr. Chairman, I yield 4 minutes to the distinguished gentleman from Oregon (Mr. Schrader).

Mr. PETERSON. Mr. Chairman, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. PETERSON

Mr. PETERSON. Mr. Chair, I rise today to urge my colleagues to support H.R.1873, the Electricity Reliability and Forest Protection Act. This important legislation is meant to proactively prevent major utility reliability problems before they happen. Currently, electric cooperatives in my district own transmission lines which cross lands managed by the U.S. Forest Service and the Bureau of Land Management to provide essential services to rural areas. I've heard from my electric coops that before addressing problems with these transmission lines, such as clearing downed trees or excess debris near utility poles, they must first be granted approval to do the work from these federal agencies. Any delay in receiving approval costs time, money, and amplifies the impacts of major power outages to my constituents. Currently, electric coops can be held responsible for damages if a tree falls on a power line and causes a fire, even if the coop is still awaiting approval to work on clearing the hazardous debris. H.R. 1873 will save utilities unnecessary costs and improve electricity reliability for consumers by streamlining outdated federal land management policies. The language minimizes the need for case-by- case approvals and instead provides expedited review and approvals for routine vegetation management and maintenance activities. Cutting red tape will make it easier for electric utility companies to initiate preventative measures to manage vegetation and woody debris on right- of-way transmission lines. This proactive work will mitigate the effects of fires and storms by clearing hazardous material before the natural disaster hits. Just two weeks ago, a major storm with winds up to seventy miles-per- hour blew through my district and left thousands of my constituents without power. The strong winds downed trees and took out power lines, severely damaged homes and businesses, and ripped the roofs off of barns. Lengthy power outages delay the repairs needed to get storm victims' lives back on track. So I am eager to support legislation which helps my communities recover from these painful storms as fast as possible. Storms like these are commonplace in Minnesota. Our electric coops are ready to complete the work necessary to mitigate the effects of these disasters as much as possible so consumers can have better access to electricity, especially during natural disasters. Again, I urge my colleagues to support this bill.

Mr. PETERSON

Mr. PETERSON. Mr. Chairman, I rise today to support the Reducing Regulatory Burdens Act of 2017. This bill would restore congressional intent regarding the relationship between FIFRA and the Clean Water Act. Historically, Congress has viewed FIFRA as sufficient to protect human health and the environment. Until the early part of the past decade, even the EPA interpreted its responsibilities related to pesticide use as compliance with FIFRA would reduce the need for duplicative permitting under the Clean Water Act. If pesticides were used according to their regulation under FIFRA, then permits for pesticide application under the Clean Water Act were unnecessary. Unfortunately, this historic interpretation has been overturned by activist litigation. In 2009, a decision by the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals upended the historic interpretation of the space between these two laws. The Sixth Circuit order created a new permitting requirement that provides no additional environmental or public health protection. The goal of this legislation has been to address only those problems created by the Sixth Circuit decision and to be consistent with congressional intent and the EPA's long-held interpretation. It is a commonsense solution to a court-imposed regulatory burden that Congress never intended to be applied. I urge my colleagues to support this legislation.

Mr. PETERSON

Mr. PETERSON. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Speaker, H.R. 1177 is a bill that will allow the city of Old Town, Maine, to move forward with economic development plans that have been hampered by Federal red tape. H.R. 1177 removes the current deed restriction on the land surrounding the Old Town airport. This will allow the city to implement economic development initiatives that will create jobs and spur economic activity in the area. As a pilot, I am glad to see that the airport will not be impacted by this change and will continue to meet the region's air transportation needs. Again, H.R. 1177 is common sense, reasonable legislation. I urge my colleagues to vote ``yes.'' Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. PETERSON. Mr. Speaker, I have no further speakers, and I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. PETERSON

Mr. PETERSON. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. H.R. 2154 recognizes former U.S. Department of Agriculture Secretary and former North Dakota Governor Ed Schafer by renaming the Red River Valley Agricultural Research Center in his honor. The research center serves the region, including my district in Minnesota, by coordinating five research units in two Fargo laboratories. The center does a wide range of work with a focus on animal metabolism-agricultural chemicals, cereal crops, insect genetics and biochemistry, sugar beet and potato, and sunflower and plant biology research. I worked closely with Ed Schafer when he was at USDA and also during the time he was North Dakota's Governor. We worked on many things together. Some of them were pleasant and some of them not so pleasant, such as floods and so forth. I think it is a fitting recognition for an outstanding career in government, and I am happy to be here to support this bill. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. PETERSON. Mr. Speaker, I have no further speakers on this side. Again, I thank the gentleman from North Dakota (Mr. Cramer) for bringing this forward. Mr. Schafer is a great member of our community. He spends some time in my hometown every year and I have gotten to know him very well. He very much deserves this honor. I am happy to support this bill, and I ask my colleagues to support it. Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. PETERSON

Mr. PETERSON. Mr. Speaker, I am proud to be an original co-sponsor of H.R. 1431, the EPA Science Advisory Board Reform Act of 2017 and urge my colleagues to vote in support. The Science Advisory Board's work is important to making sure the EPA considers all scientific information when writing regulations that will impact American farmers, families and small businesses. Unfortunately, concerns have been raised about the current review process. This legislation addresses those concerns and builds on the work done in the 2014 Farm Bill to create an agriculture committee under the Science Advisory Board. This bill is necessary to ensure the EPA takes into account the best information possible with input from public and independent stakeholders. H.R. 1431 will ensure a balanced and independent Science Advisory Board and will help alleviate some of the unintended consequences surrounding EPA regulations.

Mr. PETERSON

Mr. PETERSON. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to recognize three of my constituents, Mr. Anthony Spaeth, Mr. Lucas Bakken, and Mr. Troy Seter, who volunteered three weeks of their time to build and upgrade power lines in Haiti. They work for Lake Region Electric Cooperative in Pelican Rapids, MN. These men decided to put their skills to work as power linemen in an area that desperately needs help. They were selected and sent to Haiti by the National Rural Electric Cooperative Association (NRECA) International, a non-profit development corporation which helps build energy distribution infrastructure in regions of need. Mr. Spaeth, Mr. Bakken, and Mr. Seter worked side-by-side with NRECA International on the U.S. Agency for International Development-funded Pilot Project for Sustainable Electricity Distribution in Haiti. This project is commercializing power from the Caracol Industrial Park generation station that is currently serving more than 10,000 Haitians in Caracol, a community in northern Haiti. These volunteers provided their expertise to NRECA International to eventually connect 20,000 Haitians in the local area with electricity. Only thirteen percent of Haitians currently have access to electricity. This alarming statistic provided an opportunity for these three men to impact the lives of thousands of Haitians who depend on reliable electricity for health care services, education, and economic expansion. Today, I urge lawmakers to join me in commending Mr. Anthony Spaeth, Mr. Lucas Bakken, and Mr. Troy Seter for their service.

Mr. PETERSON

Mr. PETERSON. Mr. Chairman, I yield myself such time as I may consume. In closing, I just wish that I could support a reauthorization bill, a clean bill for the CFTC that came through the Committee on Agriculture in regular order, but that is not what has happened. I want to thank Chairman Conaway for his work in the last Congress, trying to find common ground, and I hope that we can get back to regular order in the future in the committee. So again, Mr. Chairman, I urge my colleagues to oppose H.R. 238, and I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. PETERSON. Mr. Chairman, I yield myself such time as I may consume. I rise in opposition to this bill. The bill last Congress went too far; and the one in this Congress, in my opinion, is going too far as well. The Commission, in my opinion, just needs a simple reauthorization. I urge Members to consider this when deciding how to vote on the amendments that will be debated here on the floor. Title II actually makes it more difficult for the Commission to function, and I am also concerned that title III's cross-border rulemaking mandate will result in a race to the bottom for multinational banks in the swaps market, which is a global market. On top of that, this bill caps the agency's yearly budget at $250 million for the next 5 years, and it does this when every single witness before the Agriculture Committee last year told us that the agency needs more resources to do its work. Well, maybe that is the whole point--that this bill will leave the agency to not doing much, and I think that would be a mistake. We tried that once before, and we found ourselves in a real mess. Since we last discussed reauthorization, the market situation has changed, and the CFTC has addressed many of our concerns through rulemaking. Yet, the Agriculture Committee wasn't given the chance to consider these issues before the bill was rushed to the floor here today. So we are moving forward, once again, without regular order. Again, I oppose this bill and urge my colleagues to vote ``no.'' I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. PETERSON. Mr. Chairman, I yield 2 minutes to the gentlewoman from the Virgin Islands (Ms. Plaskett).

Mr. PETERSON. Mr. Chairman, I yield 4 minutes to the gentleman from Massachusetts (Mr. McGovern).

Mr. PETERSON. Mr. Chairman, I yield an additional 1 minute to the gentleman from Massachusetts.

Mr. PETERSON. Mr. Chairman, I yield 3 minutes to the gentleman from Arizona (Mr. O'Halleran), a new member to the House and a new member of the committee, and somebody who actually has experience in this business during his storied career.

Mr. PETERSON. Mr. Chairman, I yield 4 minutes to the gentlewoman from California (Ms. Maxine Waters), the ranking member of the Financial Services Committee.

Mr. PETERSON. Mr. Chairman, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. PETERSON. Mr. Chairman, if I could inquire from Chairman Conaway if he has any more speakers?

Mr. PETERSON. Is the gentleman prepared to close?

Mr. PETERSON. Mr. Chairman, I rise in opposition to this amendment.

Mr. PETERSON. Mr. Chairman, I rise in opposition to this amendment. According to the CFTC, there is a drafting error in this amendment. I don't know exactly what it is, but they claim that there is a drafting error. They also claim that it prohibits the CFTC from entering into leases going forward. They have expressed concern that this prohibition will affect their ability to enter into contracts with GSA in emergency situations and in order to sublease unused space. This is one of the problems that I have with this bill in skipping the process of consideration in the Committee on Agriculture. If we would have done that, we would have had a chance to go over this and figure out exactly what is going on and who is right and who is wrong and what the situation is. So, according to them, there are problems. We haven't gone through regular order, so I reluctantly oppose the amendment. I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. PETERSON. Will the gentleman yield?