Adam Putnam

Mr. PUTNAM

Mr. PUTNAM. Madam Speaker, I am pleased to follow my good friend, Coach Osborne, to also address the malignment of our Speaker of this great House. No one cares more about the institution of this House than Denny Hastert. No one believes in the integrity of this House more than Denny Hastert. No Member is more aware of the need for us to be worthy of the respect and dignity that voters place in us when they elect us to serve in this House. I want to reiterate that the Department of Justice for the second time has affirmed that there is no investigation into the Speaker of this House. And I quote from their release from Deputy Attorney General Paul McNulty, ``With regard to reports suggesting that the Speaker of House is under investigation or `in the mix' as stated by ABC News, I reconfirm, as stated by the Department earlier this evening, that these reports are untrue.'' Two separate statements now from the Department of Justice exonerating the Speaker, saying that he is not under investigation, and yet ABC news continues to malign his good name and his reputation. Stand behind the Speaker of the House.

Mr. PUTNAM

Mr. PUTNAM. Mr. Speaker, on rollcall No. 194 I was unavoidably detained. Had I been present, I would have voted ``aye.''

Mr. PUTNAM

Mr. PUTNAM. Mr. Chairman, I offer an amendment.

Mr. PUTNAM. We appreciate that. Obviously, the Wildlife Grant Fund is something that is a formula-driven process and was an imperfect vehicle, but we certainly wanted to take this opportunity to make the important case for doing everything we can to ameliorate what has become a deadly situation this alligator mating season.

Mr. PUTNAM. Mr. Chairman, I ask unanimous consent to withdraw the amendment.

Mr. PUTNAM. Mr. Chairman, I rise today to submit an amendment to assist States dealing with the increasing problem of alligator attacks. As you may know, just in the past week there have been a number of attacks resulting in three human fatalities, just in the State of Florida. Florida is not the only State that has to deal with this problem. Citizens across Alabama, Georgia, Louisiana, South Carolina, and Texas have all been victims of alligator attacks, often deadly, over the years. The number of alligator complaints received by the Florida Fish and Wildlife Commission continues to grow. Last year there were over 18,000 complaints alone, which resulted in the removal of over 7,000 alligators. Unfortunately, with three deaths in 1 week, current efforts are insufficient to prevent these attacks. I rise today to offer an amendment to add $500,000 to the monies available to the States to hire trappers and expand alligator trapping activities. Our support for nuisance alligator programs helps provide the critical resources States need to respond and remove these alligators, as well as educate the public on the prevention of these attacks. Across the gulf coast and throughout the South, these attacks are increasing in frequency and severity and this amendment will help the States obtain the resources they need to accelerate their trapping program as we continue to face this challenge of an urban interface with the wildlife that are listed as threatened only because of their resemblance to the American crocodile. There is no population concern whatsoever with the alligator. And I thank my colleagues for their support and urge adoption of the amendment. I see that the distinguished chairman of this subcommittee has risen, and I would be happy to yield to him for any comments.

Mr. PUTNAM. Mr. Chairman, reclaiming my time, certainly I recognize the difficult position that Mr. Dicks and Mr. Taylor are in in crafting an appropriate spending bill for this area. I appreciate the gentleman's expression of concern about this problem. Obviously being from the South, he understands the issues we are dealing with, and I hope that we will be able to work something out in conference toward that end.

Mr. PUTNAM. I would be happy to yield to my friend from Washington.

Mr. PUTNAM. Mr. Chairman, I move to strike the last word. Mr. Chairman, I rise to engage my good friend from Texas. This is an issue that the State of Florida and other coastal areas have been dealing with for the past 25 years in terms of the appropriateness of the moratorium. This particular issue is one that has obviously reached critical mass, with the shortages of natural gas that we are facing and the high price of gas that consumers are dealing with. However, this is an important balancing act that this Congress must consider very carefully. Whatever we do as it relates to offshore drilling ought to be done in a comprehensive manner, it ought to have the input of the States, and it ought to recognize the sensitive areas. My friend from Texas makes a very important point about the economic necessity and, frankly, the improvements in technology that allow for safer production and safer exploration capabilities. But it is my belief, and the belief of certainly the Florida delegation, that we must deal with this separate and apart from the spending bill. We must also deal with it in a way that does not expose an area as close to the beaches as 3 miles to the prospect of oil and gas rigs, and one which allows a range of input from throughout the membership so that we can move forward with the goal of dealing with our national energy crisis, do it in a safe and comprehensive way, and do it in a way that respects the rights of States to opt in or opt out, as appropriate, dealing with their own individual environmental sensitivities. We recognize our obligation as Floridians as major energy consumers, that we have an obligation to review our previous positions. We recognize the improvements in technology. But, frankly, 3 miles off of our coast is an unacceptable limit, and we believe that this issue is best served as a stand-alone comprehensive bill.

Mr. PUTNAM

Mr. PUTNAM. Mr. Chairman, I offer an amendment.

Mr. PUTNAM. Mr. Chairman, I ask unanimous consent to yield 15 minutes of my time to the gentlewoman from California (Mrs. Capps) for her to control and yield.

Mr. PUTNAM. Mr. Chairman, I yield myself 1\1/2\ minutes. Mr. Chairman, I rise today to offer language to strip from this bill a grievous assault on Florida and on other States that are dramatically impacted by what will be a 3-mile drilling limit. It does not recognize the needs of our military; it jeopardizes world-class one-of-a-kind ecosystems and industries. It doesn't respect the rights of our States to manage our own resources. It is an ill-conceived plan tied to the back of the wrong legislative vehicle. We come here this evening to debate a very important component of our national energy policy. This particular piece of our national energy policy needs to be comprehensive in nature; it needs to be dealt with in a forum other than the annual spending bill which controls everything from the National Park Service to wetlands mitigation and the national endowment for the arts and the humanities. It should be a stand-alone bill for this House to consider the merits and challenges of opening up the Outer Continental Shelf to exploration to assuage our national energy needs. We are in the process of negotiating a comprehensive solution to this problem. The sponsor of the legislation that found its way into this spending bill has his own comprehensive solution at 20 miles, and yet this jeopardizes our coasts at 3 miles. It does not leave any room for error, it did not have any input from the affected States, and it is opposed almost across the board by the Governors of those States. Mr. Chairman, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. PUTNAM. Mr. Chairman, I am pleased to yield 1 minute to the gentlewoman who represents the pristine Florida Keys, Ms. Ros-Lehtinen.

Mr. PUTNAM. Mr. Chairman, I am pleased to yield 1 minute to the gentleman from Florida (Mr. Miller), who represents the cradle of naval aviation.

Mr. PUTNAM. Mr. Chairman, I yield 1 minute to the gentlewoman who represents Florida's gulf coast (Ms. Harris). (Ms. HARRIS asked and was given permission to revise and extend her remarks.)

Mr. PUTNAM. Mr. Chairman, I yield myself 10 seconds. Mr. Chairman, the sponsor of this, and now one of his supporters, have both said 3 miles is not their ultimate goal. That is what is in the language. If that is not your ultimate goal, let's withdraw this amendment and have a real debate on a separate basis about a comprehensive solution to this problem. Mr. Chairman, I am pleased to yield 1 minute to the gentleman from Jacksonville, Florida (Mr. Crenshaw).

Mr. PUTNAM. Mr. Chairman, I say to my friends again, we agree on the technology having been improved. We agree on the need for a comprehensive solution. But you all agree with us that 3 miles is too close. If that is the case, let's adopt this amendment and do this the right way. I yield 1 minute to the gentlewoman from Virginia (Mrs. Drake). (Mrs. DRAKE asked and was given permission to revise and extend her remarks.)

Mr. PUTNAM. Mr. Chairman, I yield 1 minute to the gentlewoman from Florida (Ms. Ginny Brown-Waite). (Ms. GINNY BROWN-WAITE of Florida asked and was given permission to revise and extend her remarks.)

Mr. PUTNAM. Mr. Chairman, I am pleased to yield 1 minute to my friend from Florida (Mr. Foley).

Mr. PUTNAM. Mr. Chairman, I yield myself 30 seconds. We have begun an important debate here that even the author of the language that we are seeking to strip admits is Draconian, and allowing drilling 3 miles offshore, even the sponsor admits that is not his goal. If that is not his goal, adopt the Putnam-Capps amendment and let us move on to the appropriate way to discuss comprehensive energy policy in this Nation and how it impacts the Gulf of Mexico. Mr. Chairman, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. PUTNAM. Mr. Chairman, I yield myself such time as I may consume. I thank my friend from Hawaii. That conversation is well underway. I appreciate the leadership of our friend from California, the chairman of the Resources Committee, Mr. Pombo, who has led that discussion and has led to a very bipartisan, thoughtful, and candid approach to the proper way to deal with this Nation's energy crisis, the proper way to deal with exploration in the Gulf of Mexico, the proper way to make sure that we are not impeding the military mission that would affect our Nation's defense. This language that the amendment I have sponsored with Mrs. Capps and a number of others is an overreach. The amendment fixes what even the authors of that language admit is an overreach. Three miles is not supported by even the person who wrote the language. So if that is the case, let us pass the Putnam-Capps amendment and begin to move further down that road of the exploration question to solve our Nation's energy problems. Mr. Chairman, I am pleased now to yield the balance of my time to a champion for Florida, a stalwart in this debate, the chairman of the Defense Subcommittee of the Appropriations Committee, my good friend, Mr. Young.

Mr. PUTNAM

Mr. PUTNAM. Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to yield 5 minutes to my friend and colleague from Georgia (Mr. Kingston).

Mr. PUTNAM. Mr. Speaker, by direction of the Committee on Rules, I call up House Resolution 815 and ask for its immediate consideration.

Mr. PUTNAM. Mr. Speaker, for the purpose of debate only, I yield the customary 30 minutes to the gentleman from Massachusetts (Mr. McGovern), pending which I yield myself such time as I may consume. During consideration of this resolution, all time yielded is for the purpose of debate only. (Mr. PUTNAM asked and was given permission to revise and extend his remarks.)

Mr. PUTNAM

Mr. PUTNAM. Mr. Speaker, by direction of the Committee on Rules, I call up House Resolution 817 and ask for its immediate consideration.