Rick Renzi

Mr. RENZI

Mr. RENZI. Madam Speaker, I appreciate the leadership of the gentleman from Texas, and I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. RENZI

Mr. RENZI. This afternoon I am introducing legislation, by request of the Bush Administration, designed to combat homelessness nationwide. The Homeless Assistance Consolidation Act of 2006 would consolidate three competitive homeless assistance programs within the Department of Housing and Urban Development--Supportive Housing, Shelter Plus Care, and Section 8 Single Room Occupancy--into a single program aimed at alleviating homelessness in this country. Consolidation of these programs would provide more flexibility to localities, fund prevention of homelessness, and dramatically reduce the time required to distribute grant funds to groups combating homelessness. The legislation would streamline the three programs into one competitive program with a single set of eligibility requirements and would provide incentives for communities to carry out permanent housing activities with supportive services for the homeless. I believe that this legislation is a good starting point for the House of Representatives in crafting a bill that would help achieve the goal of alleviating homelessness in my home state of Arizona, and the country. I look forward to working with my colleagues in the House, the Senate, the Administration, and most importantly, individuals and groups throughout the country who have dedicated themselves to fight homelessness, to craft legislation in the coming months which will authorize the funding and provide the tools needed by advocates of the homeless. In the past, Congress has provided HUD significant funding over the years to distribute to groups to fight homelessness. Millions of individuals and families are, or have in the past, faced homelessness. They deserve our help, and I am committed to fighting on behalf of the homeless, and I am hopeful that this legislation will further this most important effort.

Mr. RENZI

Mr. RENZI. Mr. Chairman, I thank the gentleman from Nevada, my good friend, for yielding me this time. And I want to thank especially the chairman, Mr. McKeon, for his hard work and belief in this effort; Majority Leader Boehner, who helped us early on; and I have got to give credit to a good professor and doctor, Philip Schrag, over at Georgetown University, who for years has been fighting and championing this cause. This amendment to the underlying bill provides much needed loan forgiveness for individuals involved in the public sector. Specifically, the language expands section 428 of the Higher Education Act to provide up to $5,000 in loan forgiveness for individuals that have completed a baccalaureate or an advanced degree and are willing to serve 5 consecutive years in public service. This will make a huge impact on our Native American reservations around America who need young people to come out in the field of doctors and lawyers and nurses to provide for our Native Americans, provide for many of our poorer communities. It is an opportunity for Congress to improve on an existing Federal program and provides incentives for students to enter the field of public service. I urge my colleagues to support this amendment and help us attract and retain the best and brightest of America by providing them a little bit of an incentive. Again, I want to thank my colleague, Mr. Porter of Nevada, and our chairman so very much. I appreciate it.

Mr. RENZI

Mr. RENZI. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 4841) to amend the Ojito Wilderness Act to make a technical correction.

Mr. RENZI. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may have 5 legislative days in which to revise and extend their remarks and include extraneous material on the bill under consideration.

Mr. RENZI. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Speaker, H.R. 4841 introduced by the gentleman from New Mexico (Mr. Udall) simply corrects a map associated with Public Law 109-94. This law made surplus Bureau of Land Management public lands adjacent to the Pueblo of Zia's reservation in New Mexico available for addition to the tribe's trust lands to protect important religious and cultural sites. The Pueblo would pay fair market value for the land, and none of the land would be available for commercial uses, including gaming. Unfortunately, the Bureau of Land Management incorrectly drew the line representing that acreage on the map referenced in the law, omitting approximately 1,000 acres. We now have a corrected map. H.R. 4841 amends Public Law 109-44 to reference this corrected map. H.R. 4841 is supported by the administration and the majority and the minority on the Committee of Resources. I thank Mr. Udall, and I urge adoption of the bill. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. RENZI. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself the balance of my time. Mr. Speaker, I thank Mr. Udall. He has been a true friend and advocate all across Indian country, particularly on Navaho issues in teaming up and working together. This is just one more example of his advocacy for Native Americans. Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. RENZI

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

Mr. RENZI. Mr. Chairman, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Chairman, I am fortunate to represent more Native Americans than any other district in Congress, and this amendment addresses the needs for the tribes and the Office of National Drug Control Policy to work together to combat drug trafficking throughout Indian Country. The purpose of HIDTA is to enhance and coordinate drug control efforts among local, State, and Federal law enforcement agencies; and the HIDTA has proved to be an effective tool, and yet tribal governments need to play a greater role. Our amendment will do just that. It requires a report from the director of the Office of National Drug Control Policy on the representation of tribal governments in the HIDTA process. The report would detail a list of tribal governments represented. It would explain the rationale for the level of tribal inclusion and would ask for recommendations to increase the number of tribal governments participating in the program. I represent the Navajo Nation, the White Mountain Apaches, the San Carlos Apaches, the Yavapai Apaches. Their reservations alone are roughly the same size as the States of Maryland, New Jersey, Massachusetts, and Vermont all combined. These large land masses provide an ideal safe haven for drug smugglers, felons on the run, and these drug dealers. The reservations consist of vast rural areas, with little or no law enforcement to help provide protection. In addition, there is an abundance of tribal youth who in the eyes of these drug dealers serve as perfect innocent drug users. In recent years, the choice of drugs on these reservations and throughout my district has been methamphetamines. It has destroyed the rule of law among the reservation people. It is killing our tribal youth in this country. More than 90 percent of the meth that comes into Arizona comes in through Mexico, and yet we have superlabs on the reservation that produce some of the purest form of highly addictive blend of toxics that make up methamphetamine. And the meth that is produced in these superlabs on the reservation sells for cheaper value on the street than the meth that is produced off the reservation. My colleagues, I have to thank Chairman Souder. He has been out to northern Arizona. He is a champion of those among Indian country, particularly on this issue as it relates to helping so many of our youth combat the drug issue. I commend his efforts and I would ask my colleagues to help us with the most impoverished of our Nation and help our tribal youth say no to methamphetamine and be included in the HIDTA process. Mr. Chairman, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. RENZI. Mr. Chairman, I yield myself the balance of my time, and I want to thank the gentleman from Maryland for his kind words and his bipartisanship on this issue. It truly is bigger than any one party. Also, I want to again thank the chairman for coming out to Arizona and seeing it firsthand, and I will end with this message: What alcohol did to our Native Americans in the late 1800s is now what is occurring with the methamphetamine pandemic across Indian country in our Nation. These gentlemen and their committees stand in the gap to stop that. Mr. Chairman, I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. RENZI

Mr. RENZI. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the Senate bill (S. 449) to facilitate shareholder consideration of proposals to make Settlement Common Stock under the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act available to missed enrollees, eligible elders, and eligible persons born after December 18, 1971, and for other purposes.

Mr. RENZI. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may have 5 legislative days within which to revise and extend their remarks and include extraneous material on the bill under consideration.

Mr. RENZI. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Speaker, S. 449, which is sponsored by Alaska Senator Lisa Murkowski, corrects a problem related to the issuance of stock by Native corporations pursuant to the Native Alaska Claims Settlement Act of 1971. The bill eases certain restrictions placed on Native corporations that have made it practically impossible for many of them to issue new stock to young Alaska Natives. The same legislation has already been passed by the House as part of H.R. 3351, the Native American Technical Corrections Act. In passing this bill today, we should recognize and applaud the efforts of the congressman for all of Alaska, Mr. Young, who has labored for years to bring this bill before the House today. I urge adoption of the bill. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. RENZI. Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. RENZI

Mr. RENZI. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 1096) to establish the Thomas Edison National Historical Park in the State of New Jersey as the successor to the Edison National Historic Site, as amended.

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

Mr. RENZI. Mr. Speaker, on that I demand the yeas and nays.

Mr. RENZI. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may have 5 legislative days within which to revise and extend their remarks and include extraneous material on the bill under consideration.

Mr. RENZI. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. H.R. 1096 redesignates the Edison National Historic site as the Thomas Edison National Historic Park. The park will encompass all lands currently contained in the historic site and property designated for inclusion by the Secretary of the Interior prior to passage of this act. Typically, an historic site is considered by the National Park Service to contain a single historical feature, while generally a National Historic Park extends beyond single properties or buildings. Based on this definition, Edison Historic Site will be more appropriately designated as a National Historic Park. Supporters of the park anticipate that this redesignation will bring more attention, visitation, and revenue to the Edison Historic Site. I urge my colleagues to support H.R. 1096. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. RENZI. Mr. Speaker, I yield such time as he may consume to the gentleman from New Jersey (Mr. Garrett), the author of the bill.

Mr. RENZI. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. RENZI. Mr. Speaker, will the gentlewoman yield?

Mr. RENZI. Mr. Speaker, I raise a point of order on the germaneness of the subject matter.

Mr. RENZI. Mr. Speaker, although I appreciate very much the gentlewoman's comments as they relate to Thomas Edison and in particular her teaching, which enlightened me on his being the greatest inventor in American history, I would ask that we look at the germaneness of the subject matter and confine debate to the relevance of the subject matter, please.

Mr. RENZI

Mr. RENZI. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 1728) to authorize the Secretary of the Interior to study the suitability and feasibility of designating the French Colonial Heritage Area in the State of Missouri as a unit of the National Park System, and for other purposes, as amended.