Jim Saxton

Mr. SAXTON

Mr. SAXTON. Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from Vineland, NJ [Mr. LoBiondo].

Mr. SAXTON. Mr. Speaker, I yield 30 seconds to the gentleman from California [Mr. Horn].

Mr. SAXTON. Mr. Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to the gentlewoman from Santa Barbara, CA [Mrs. Seastrand].

Mr. SAXTON. Mr. Speaker, I yield 30 seconds to the gentlewoman from California [Mrs. Seastrand].

Mr. SAXTON. Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from California [Mr. Horn].

Mr. SAXTON. Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from Ohio [Mr. Oxley].

Mr. SAXTON. Mr. Speaker, I yield 5 minutes to the gentleman from Utica, NY [Mr. Boehlert], my good friend. (Mr. BOEHLERT asked and was given permission to revise and extend his remarks.)

Mr. SAXTON. Mr. Speaker, will the gentleman yield?

Mr. SAXTON. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 1965) to reauthorize the Coastal Zone Management Act of 1972, and for other purposes, as amended.

Mr. SAXTON. Mr. Speaker, we have three additional speakers, I would prefer at this point that the gentleman alternate on time as we go along.

Mr. SAXTON. Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from West Palm Beach, FL [Mr. Foley].

Mr. SAXTON. Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from Massachusetts [Mr. Torkildsen].

Mr. SAXTON. Mr. Speaker, I have no further requests for time on my side.

Mr. SAXTON. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. (Mr. SAXTON asked and was given permission to revise and extend his remarks.)

Mr. SAXTON. Mr. Speaker, I am pleased that the House is considering H.R. 1965, the Coastal Zone Protection Act of 1996. It is certainly an appropriate way to show our commitment to the environment and to celebrate Earth Day. I introduced H.R. 1965 10 months ago, and 129 of my colleagues are now cosponsors. Certainly this broad bipartisan support shows the popularity of the Coastal Zone Program and the need to act on this reauthorization. In light of the enormous growth of coastal populations, Congress passed, and President Richard Nixon signed into law, the Coastal Zone Management Act--also known as CZMA--in 1972. That growth has not abated in the 24 years since the original Act was passed, and forecasts predict that significant growth will continue in coastal areas. The CZMA provides grants to States that develop federally approved coastal zone management--or CZM--plans. It also allows States with approved plans to review Federal actions for consistency with those plans. Twenty-nine of the thirty-five eligible coastal States and territories have federally approved CZM plans, and five others are working to prepare acceptable plans. These twenty-nine approved plans include 95,000 miles of coastline, almost 95 percent of the national total. For a relatively small expenditure of Federal dollars and without imposing any additional Federal regulatory burden, this program has been very successful in getting States to improve their coastal planning programs on a totally voluntary basis. H.R. 1965 reauthorizes funding for grants to States to develop, implement, and update their coastal zone management programs for fiscal years 1997 through 1999; bases authorization levels for State grants and Federal administrative expenses on the amounts appropriated for these programs; provides the States with more discretion in the use of their grants; and sets a time limit for final decisions on consistency appeals. This is an excellent bill. It continues the existing program with only minor modifications. However, those changes provide additional flexibility to the States, establish fiscally responsible authorization levels, and streamline the consistency review process. These are all positive accomplishments, and they deserve the enthusiastic support of this body. I urge an ``aye'' vote on this most important environmental bill. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. SAXTON. Mr. Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to the gentleman from Fort Yukon, AK [Mr. Young]. (Mr. YOUNG of Alaska asked and was given permission to revise and extend his remarks.)

Mr. SAXTON. Mr. Speaker, that is correct.

Mr. SAXTON. Mr. Speaker, I yield 30 seconds to the gentleman from Alaska [Mr. Young].

Mr. SAXTON. Does the gentleman intend to yield back the balance of his time?

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

Mr. SAXTON. Mr. Speaker, may I ask the time remaining on each side?

Mr. SAXTON. Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from Delaware [Mr. Castle].

Mr. SAXTON. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume to speak for a moment with the gentleman from California [Mr. Miller]. Mr. Speaker, the problem is that much of the debate on the gentleman's side has been about matters other than the bill, and I suspect that one of the strategies that you could have would be to save your 12 minutes to continue the same kind of rhetoric which I do not think is helpful to the debate. That is why I am reluctant at this time to yield time. I would further point out that the gentleman has missed a couple of turns here, and I think it would be prudent for the gentleman to use whatever time is available at this time.

Mr. SAXTON

Mr. SAXTON. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that during the consideration today of H.R. 1965 under suspension of the rules, debate be limited to 60 minutes, equally divided and controlled by the chairman and the ranking member of the Committee on Resources or their designees.

Mr. SAXTON

Mr. SAXTON. Mr. Speaker, I am sorry the gentleman from California [Mr. Miller] has chosen to make a partisan political debate with fig leaves and gimmicks. This afternoon was structured to be productive and it was structured, in particular, in a bipartisan way. We, for example, are going to consider a bill this afternoon known as the Coastal Zone Protection Act, which has 130 signatures, about half Republicans and half Democrats. We are going to have a number of bills, one sponsored by the gentlewoman from Hawaii [Mrs. Mink], a Democrat; another sponsored by the gentleman from New York [Mr. Forbes], a Republican; we will have another, the North Platte Refuge Act, by the gentleman from Nebraska [Mr. Barrett]; another sponsored by the genteman from Louisiana [Mr. McCrery], a Republican. So we have gone out of our way, Mr. Speaker, to make this a bipartisan effort this afternoon to do some things that are good that we all agree on in the name of the environment. I am sorry that the gentleman from California insists on performing the way he has with fig leaves and other gimmicks. I think it is not what the American people expect. My constituents expect me to come to Washington to pass legislation that does things they want done. I would think the gentleman's constituents would want the same.