Ralph Regula

Mr. REGULA

Mr. REGULA. Mr. Chairman, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from Maryland [Mr. Gilchrest].

Mr. REGULA. Mr. Chairman, I yield 2 minutes to the gentlewoman from Maryland [Mrs. Morella]. (Mrs. MORELLA asked and was given permission to revise and extend her remarks.)

Mr. REGULA. Mr. Chairman, I yield 5 minutes to the gentleman from California [Mr. Cunningham].

Mr. REGULA. Mr. Chairman, I withdraw my unanimous-consent request. Mr. Chairman, I ask unanimous consent that all debate on this amendment and all amendments thereto close at 2:40 p.m. and that the time be equally divided.

Mr. REGULA. Mr. Chairman, I ask unanimous consent that all debate on this amendment and all amendments thereto close at 2:35 and that the time be equally divided.

Mr. REGULA. Mr. Chairman, I ask unanimous consent that all debate on this amendment and any amendments thereto close at 2:30 and that time be equally divided.

Mr. REGULA. If the gentleman will yield, we have a couple more speakers. Mr. Chairman, I ask unanimous consent that all time for debate on this amendment be limited to 2:30 p.m.

Mr. REGULA. Mr. Chairman, if the gentleman will yield, we have been thinking about getting a unanimous consent agreement. Does the gentleman's side want to limit debate to another additional 20 minutes?

Mr. REGULA. This is a new program. It cannot have used thousands of volunteers, because it has not been in existence.

Mr. REGULA. Mr. Chairman, will the gentleman yield? [[Page H 6957]]

Mr. REGULA. Mr. Chairman, there is nothing here that says we cannot use volunteers in America. It is a very narrowly constricted area. We permit hundreds of thousands of volunteers, and your friends at Fish and Wildlife can continue to volunteer. I am trying to let them do the breeding bird survey, if you let me get to the amendment.

Mr. REGULA. I yield to the gentleman from Maryland.

Mr. REGULA. Reclaiming my time, two points. One is that the gentleman will have an opportunity in the authorizing committee to bring to that committee his ideas. We would hope there would be a permanent bill prior to October 1 and, therefore, this language will not go into effect. Second, we just accepted an amendment on both sides of the aisle that says that, if it is requested and authorized in writing by the property owner, that they can under this natural resource research division in USGS go on private property lands. So it is not just restricted. I say to the gentleman, ``You see that changes the dynamics.''

Mr. REGULA. I yield to the gentleman from Maryland.

Mr. REGULA. Mr. Chairman, I move to strike the last word. Mr. Chairman, I reluctantly rise in opposition. I am a big fan of volunteers. As we have hearings, I ask each of the agencies, ``How many volunteers do you use?`` I am a volunteer myself. I just worked on a home for Habitat last Saturday, and I am not a skilled carpenter, to say the least. But I want to point out to the gentleman from Maryland [Mr. Gilchrest] that this would in no way inhibit his son from working with the Forest Service. It in no way inhibits the volunteers in Alaska. It is a very restrictive area that we do not allow the use of volunteers. In addition I would say to the gentleman he is a member of the Committee on Natural Resources. The language in this bill that establishes the Natural Resources section of USGS says clearly that, as soon as an authorizing committee produces legislation, that will override, and I would urge the gentleman, as the authorizing committee works on developing legislation in this field, to bring to that, the members of his committee, his ideas on volunteerism, and perhaps it can be very narrowly restricted to ensure to the owners of private property that they will not have the problems that they have suffered to some extent in the past. In addition let me point out again that this in no way, no way whatsoever, affects volunteers in the Forest Service, the Park Service, the Bureau of Land Management, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, the USGS, except for the very narrow activities in the area of natural resource research. I think it is great. Volunteerism is very much a part of the American way, and it's just, that in this instance, we are trying to narrow the way in which this program is used. This is not NBS. This bill will eliminate NBS. Until September 30 they would continue to use volunteers as they choose, and, hopefully before that, the gentleman's committee will have a bill and will reflect some of the gentleman's ideas on volunteerism.

Mr. REGULA. Specific work.

Mr. REGULA. We abolished it and created this function.

Mr. REGULA. Mr. Chairman, the gentleman, as a member of the authorizing committee, knows full well that USGS will now have four branches, including the one on natural resource research. There is no limitation in the other three divisions, geologic, water, you mentioned water, there is no restriction, and mapping.

Mr. REGULA. Mr. Chairman, will the gentleman yield?

Mr. REGULA. Just to respond to the gentleman from Wisconsin, I would point out that there are over 200,000, probably 300,000, volunteers that serve all the agencies, and this amendment, nor does this language in the bill in any way affect them, and all I said is that if you are doing scientific work, it should be done by professionals as much as possible, and that is what we are attempting to do. If it is a high degree of science and the volunteer limitation is in the area of USGS that is devoted to natural resource research to developing ideas, then I think the researcher needs to have skills in order to make sure that is valid and quality science, and I know the gentleman from Michigan would agree with that.

Mr. REGULA. Mr. Chairman, will the gentleman yield?

Mr. REGULA. If the gentleman will yield further, this amendment is necessary to enable Fish and Wildlife to have adequate funds in addition to their regular duties, to do the breeding bird survey, which the gentleman very much wants to happen.

Mr. REGULA. If the gentleman would yield, as a veteran, if I go to a veterans hospital, I do not want any of the medical procedures carried on by the volunteers. What we are trying to go on here is the science.

Mr. REGULA. Mr. Chairman, I want to reemphasize that any science done by the Fish and Wildlife Service is not affected one iota. This is only the natural resource research, and it is only after October 1. The NBS, the National Biological Survey that you do not like, and I do not have any great affection for either, will be able to continue their programs until September 30, and by that time we hope the Fish and Wildlife Service can address their needs.

Mr. REGULA. Mr. Chairman, if the gentleman will continue to yield, the only limitation is on the natural resource function in USGS as far as volunteers. As far as the Fish and Wildlife Service, any science that they are doing, any activities that they are doing, can be done by as many volunteers as they choose. There is no limitation.