Scott Tipton

Mr. TIPTON

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

Mr. TIPTON. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Speaker, H.R. 3115, authored by Congressman Richard Nolan, is a bipartisan bill that implements a land exchange to facilitate the exercise of certain mineral rights in the Superior National Forest in Minnesota to create economic growth for the area. Congressman Nolan will certainly provide the history of this exchange, but I do want to take note that this bill has greater impacts than just a single forest in Minnesota. Across the United States, people hold mineral estates underlying lands that were acquired by the National Forest under the Weeks Act. Without an agreement such as the one authorized by this bill, their ability to exercise those valid preexisting rights is in jeopardy. I note that the land exchange authorized in this bill has undergone extensive environmental review under the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 and was supported by the Obama administration. This is an equal-value land exchange, but the holder of the mineral estate forgoes any equalization under the bill if the private land being swapped for the Federal land is worth more. Finally, the bill provides a net increase in the size of the Superior National Forest of 40 acres. It is no wonder that this bill was supported by the ranking members of the Subcommittee on Federal Lands and the Subcommittee on Energy and Mineral Resources when it was considered by the Natural Resources Committee in July. I commend Congressman Nolan, Congressman Collin Peterson, Congressman Tom Emmer, and Congressman Jason Lewis for working together to craft this commonsense solution bill to help Minnesota. Mr. Speaker, I urge adoption of the measure, and I reserve the balance of my time.

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

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

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

Mr. TIPTON

Mr. TIPTON. Mr. Speaker, I continue to reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. TIPTON. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 995) to direct the Secretary of Agriculture and the Secretary of the Interior to amend regulations for racial appropriateness, as amended.

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

Mr. TIPTON. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Speaker, the United States is 241 years old. In that time, the country has seen an immense amount of change and growth. Over the course of history, laws and policies have been updated to be able to reflect this growth. However, some decades-old statutes and regulations still contain antiquated terms. Enacted in 2016, Public Law 114-157 modernized antiquated ethnic terms related to minorities found in the Office of Minority Economic Impact of the Department of Energy and section 106 of the Local Public Works Capital Development and Investment Act of 1976 for racial appropriateness. H.R. 995 would make similar changes to terms found in certain regulations of the Department of Agriculture and the Department of the Interior. Mr. Speaker, I thank the sponsor of this bill, Mr. Jeffries, and I urge adoption of the measure. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time. House of Representatives, Committee on Natural Resources, Washington, DC, November 20, 2017. Hon. K. Michael Conaway, Chairman, Committee on Agriculture, Washington, DC. Dear Mr. Chairman: We thank you for agreeing to discharge the Committee on Agriculture from further consideration of H.R. 995, the 21st Century Respect Act, that the Committee on Natural Resources ordered favorably reported, as amended, on November 8, 2017. This concession in no way affects your jurisdiction over the subject matter of the bill, and it will not serve as precedent for future referrals. In addition, should a conference on the bill be necessary, I would support your request to have the Committee on Agriculture represented on the conference committee. Finally, I would be pleased to include this letter and your response in the bill report and in the Congressional Record. Thank you for your consideration of my request and for the extraordinary cooperation shown by you and your staff over matters of shared jurisdiction. I look forward to further opportunities to work with you this Congress. Sincerely, Rob Bishop, Chairman, Committee on Natural Resources.

Mr. TIPTON. Mr. Speaker, I think the legislation that we are seeing on this floor today demonstrates addressing a variety of issues, be it on our public lands, needing that to be able to be updated, private property rights to be able to update it, but probably nothing is more personal than the legislation that we are addressing at this particular moment, to be able to be respectful of individuals and have that there to actually be able to be addressed. This legislation is a long time coming--much like Mr. Jeffries, coming to the floor--to be able to address this important piece of legislation, for the House to be able to consider, as we move forward with our business. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

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

Mr. TIPTON

Mr. TIPTON. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to honor Mrs. Sharon Swerdfeger of Pueblo, Colorado and her lifelong commitment and work for Pueblo, Colorado and the business KR Swerdfeger Construction, Inc. she started with her husband, Keith. In 1968, Sharon and Keith went into business for themselves at the age of 21 after learning the construction trade from Keith's father. They had a loan co-signed by Sharon's father for $5,000 to purchase a backhoe and have some operating capital and began an excavation company specializing in water and sewer lines. From there, the company quickly expanded into natural gas distribution pipeline and telephone lines and has grown to a multi-million dollar business that has expanded throughout the Southwest United States. KR Swerdfeger Construction, Inc. will be celebrating 50 years in business in 2018. Ms. Swerdfeger is also very active in the Pueblo community with civic service and activism. She is the founder of the Pueblo chapter of The National Association of Women in Construction and is President, charter and emeritus member of the Pueblo South High School Alumni Foundation. Her involvement with other organizations includes the Pueblo YMCA, Pueblo Community College Foundation, Colorado Business Education Coalition, Parkview Hospital Foundation, the Boys and Girls Clubs of Pueblo County, St. Mary-Corwin Healthcare Foundation, the Sangre de Cristo Arts and Conference Center, Friends of the Library, Kiwanis Club and the Sangre de Cristo Arts and Conference Center. Mr. Speaker, Sharon Swerdfeger has been a tireless business leader and advocate for her hometown of Pueblo, Colorado. She is a dedicated mother, wife, business owner and a valued member of the Pueblo Community. It is my honor and privilege to recognize and honor her today.

Mr. TIPTON

Mr. TIPTON. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to recognize the Connect Charter School in Pueblo, Colorado, which was recently named a 2017 National Blue Ribbon School by U.S. Department of Education Secretary Betsy DeVos. With this award, the Connect School has been recognized as one of the nation's highest performing educational institutions. Members of the Pueblo community know that this honor is well deserved. The dedication shown by the teachers, administrators, and school staff is extraordinary, and I know they have a profound impact on the lives of each student who attends Connect School. National Blue Ribbon Schools are among the nation's highest performing educational institutions, as measured by state assessments, nationally normed test scores, and graduation rates. Now in its 35th year, the National Blue Ribbon Schools Program has recognized over 8,500 public and private elementary, middle and high schools. The Connect School should be proud of its inclusion in the 2017 award group, and I join the Pueblo community and entire state in offering my enthusiastic congratulations.

Mr. TIPTON

Mr. TIPTON. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to join my colleagues in support of the gentleman from Minnesota's legislation, the Micro Offering Safe Harbor Act. As I have traveled through my district back in Colorado, I have often been dismayed by the ever-increasing number of storefronts, once thriving businesses, which now have ``for sale'' and ``for lease'' signs out front. Small businesses are essential to job creation and job innovation, but they have been so hamstrung by the burden of compliance with regulations intended for large public companies that their ability to be able to create jobs and innovate has been stifled. The Micro Offering Safe Harbor Act will exempt certain micro offerings from the registration requirements of the Securities Act of 1933, thereby removing obstacles to obtaining funding in capital markets for Main Street businesses. It is hard for capitalism to work, Mr. Speaker, without capital. This legislation tackles that problem and creates opportunities for hardworking small businesses to be able to go public to raise that initial capital in the early stage and to be able to develop that seed capital that is needed. Growth is often contingent on capital. Without investment, it is easy for small businesses to falter. By defining the ``nonpublic offering'' exemption under the Securities Act, this legislation will provide small businesses with much-needed clarity and a renewed confidence in what the proper procedure is for a nonpublic offering that does not violate the law and helps to be able to grow businesses. Removing this confusion will provide small businesses with much- needed certainty and allow them to be able to focus their resources on growth, rather than on compliance. For this reason, I support the measure that is before us today, and I would encourage my colleagues to do the same. I commend Mr. Emmer for introducing this legislation to alleviate the burdensome compliance environment that is imposed on small businesses. Again, I encourage my colleagues to support this legislation.

Mr. TIPTON

Mr. TIPTON. Mr. Chairman, I thank my colleague from Arkansas, Mr. Westerman, for his hard work on the Resilient Federal Forests Act. I would like to be able to submit that if you actually care about helping our forests, if you care about our watersheds, if you care about wildlife habitat, if you care about outdoor recreation, if you care about responsible job development, if you care about being able to provide funding for our schools, this is a piece of legislation to be able to try and achieve a win-win-win, literally, for our communities. We have seen 7 million acres, Mr. Chairman, burn in the West in 2017 alone. We have seen our forests devastated. We have seen over half of the budget of the Forest Service being used to fight forest fires. Is there a better way? The better way can be found in this piece of legislation, to be able to not only address what we must address, in terms of fighting forest fires when they break out, but also to be able to have a responsible, proactive management forest to be able to make sure that we are creating healthy forests. Mr. Chairman, as I travel throughout my district, I am now looking at forests that my great-grandchildren will not see as I saw them as a young boy growing up. It is time that we actually have legislation that doesn't just be reactive to the problem that we face when it comes to forest management but be proactive. This legislation will achieve that goal. And, again, I applaud Mr. Westerman and the Committee on Natural Resources for their hard work on this.

Mr. TIPTON

Mr. TIPTON. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to honor Lauren McCoy, Community Animal Response Team coordinator at the Humane Society of the Pikes Peak Region, Jeremy Colburn, Animal Care supervisor at the Humane Society of the Pikes Peak Region, and Lois Benson, Megan Miller, Jasmine Pattschull, and Kate Scheer who were Community Animal Response Team volunteers. Following Hurricane Irma, they all assisted with helping to meet animal sheltering needs in Georgia when they were travelling through the area following the devastating hurricane. The team voluntarily flew to Georgia to assist in caring for the large number of animals the Atlanta Humane Society had taken in as a result of the hurricane. The Humane Society of the Pikes Peak Region's Community Animal Response Team was specially trained to handle this type of natural disaster that affects the wellbeing of pets and livestock. The shelter in Atlanta was opened before and during Hurricane Irma where more than 600 animals were located in the 60,000 square foot facility. The entire Third District of Colorado is incredibly proud of the work completed during a time of national crisis. Mr. Speaker, it is an honor to recognize these Colorado natives for the work they accomplished during Hurricane Irma. Their hard work and service is an example to us all and I stand with the residents of the Third District in thanking them.

Mr. TIPTON

Mr. TIPTON. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to recognize the employees of the Garfield County Department of Human Services for their dedication to child welfare. Their work recently garnered national recognition from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Service's Children's Bureau. Every year the U.S. Department of Health and Human Service's Children's Bureau reviews child welfare practices across the nation. The Department selected Denver, Pueblo, and Garfield Counties in Colorado for in-person reviews this year. The child welfare division is the second largest division in the Garfield County Department of Human Services; it employs 31 individuals, who each respond to and manage cases related to child abuse, neglect, and protection for at-risk adults. From January 1 through September 20, 2017, roughly 350 referrals were assigned to the division, 85 percent of which were cases related to parental substance abuse. During the in-person review, 27 of Garfield County's cases were analyzed in-depth to determine whether the child welfare division followed federal guidelines and focused on child protection, outcomes of permanency, safety and well-being. While it is rare for any entity to be awarded a perfect score, at the conclusion of the Department's evaluation, nine of Garfield County's cases were marked in the 100 percent category. The review results are a testament to the passion and dedication that each member of the child welfare division brings to their work every day. In addition to its review findings, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services also praised Garfield County for going above and beyond to engage in timely communication with families involved in cases. Mr. Speaker, Garfield County's exemplary performance in the field of child welfare is incredibly valuable to communities in the county and our state as a whole. We are thankful for their continued efforts to improve the lives of young children and adults in the Third Congressional District. I stand with the residents of Colorado in thanking the employees of the child welfare division for their service.

Mr. TIPTON

Mr. TIPTON. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to honor Mr. Keith Swerdfeger of Pueblo, Colorado, who has been honored with the Lifetime Business Achievement Award from the Colorado State University--Pueblo. Keith Swerdfeger was born and raised in Pueblo, Colorado, and has had a lifelong passion to start a business and make a contribution to his hometown. In 1968, Keith realized his dream of becoming a business owner, opening Swerdfeger Construction, Inc. with his wife Sharon. This was the beginning of a very successful business venture. Today, Swerdfeger Construction, Inc. is a vital part of Pueblo's economy as well as in southern Colorado and six other states, employing up to 500 people. Keith readily gives all of the credit to his employees for his company's success, while continuing to strive to create more jobs and opportunities. Keith is passionate about investing in the Pueblo community and firmly believes that part of his company's success has come as the result of the work he, his family and employees have done to give back. Keith has been very active with the Pueblo Economic Development Corporation, Pueblo County United Way, the Colorado Contractors, the Distribution Contractor Association, the Greater Pueblo Chamber of Commerce and other civic and industry associations. Keith represented Colorado House of Representatives District 47 from 2011 to 2013 where he served on the Economic and Business Development Committee, the Finance Committee and the Local Government Committee. He was a strong advocate for his District and the community of Pueblo and worked diligently to bring jobs and economic opportunities to the people of southern Colorado. Mr. Speaker, Keith Swerdfeger has been a long-time business leader and tireless civic volunteer for his hometown of Pueblo, Colorado. I'm fortunate to consider him a dear friend. When we tell younger generations of Puebloans that the keys to a successful life are dedication and a strong work ethic, we can point to Keith as an example. Pueblo is grateful to have Keith Swerdfeger as one of its sons.

Mr. TIPTON

Mr. TIPTON. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to honor Mr. Keith Swerdfeger of Pueblo, Colorado, who has been honored with the Lifetime Business Achievement Award from the Colorado State University-Pueblo. Keith Swerdfeger was born and raised in Pueblo, Colorado, and has had a lifelong passion to start a business and make a contribution to his hometown. In 1968, Keith realized his dream of becoming a business owner, opening Swerdfeger Construction, Inc. with his wife Sharon. This was the beginning of a very successful business venture. Today, Swerdfeger Construction, Inc. is a vital part of Pueblo's economy as well as in Southern Colorado and six other states, employing 500 people. Keith readily gives all of the credit to his employees for his company's success, while continuing to strive to create more jobs and opportunities. Keith is passionate about investing in the Pueblo community and firmly believes that part of his company's success has come as the result of the work he, his family and employees have done to give back. Keith has been very active with the Pueblo Economic Development Corporation, Pueblo County United Way, the Colorado Contractors, the Distribution Contractor Association, the Greater Pueblo Chamber of Commerce and other civic and industry associations. Keith represented Colorado House of Representatives District 47 from 2011 to 2013 where he served on the Economic and Business Development Committee, the Finance Committee and the Local Government Committee. He was a strong advocate for his District and the community of Pueblo--and worked diligently to bring jobs and economic opportunities to the people of southern Colorado. Mr. Speaker, Keith Swerdfeger has been a long-time business leader and tireless civic volunteer for his hometown of Pueblo, Colorado. I'm fortunate to consider him a dear friend. When we tell younger generations of Puebloans that the keys to a successful life are dedication and a strong work ethic, we can point to Keith as an example. Pueblo is grateful to have Keith Swerdfeger as one of its sons.

Mr. TIPTON

Mr. TIPTON. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to honor Patti Canchola, a well-respected veterinarian at Pueblo Animal Services. Patti was voted the 2017 American Humane Hero Veterinarian, which is a national honor bestowed upon an individual who improves the lives of animals and their owners in unheralded ways. Patti performs 3,500 to 4,500 spay and neuter procedures a year, as well as 200 other surgeries. She voluntarily takes veterinary forensics courses that train her on identifying abused, neglected, and mistreated animals that are a part of criminal investigations. When off the clock, Patti operates Amazin' Amos Pet Food Pantry, a nonprofit food bank, as well as St. Martin's Well Pet Clinic, an independent low-cost health center. Both of these organizations help pet owners with low socio- economic status provide their animals with the care and food they need. As a child in Pueblo, Patti would bring home wounded cats, dogs, squirrels, and birds in need of assistance. Her love of animals has continued throughout her entire life. We are truly fortunate to have such an upstanding and dedicated member of our community and on behalf of the Third District I would like to thank Patti for her generous service to the community.

Mr. TIPTON

Mr. TIPTON. Mr. Speaker, I really appreciate the gentleman's efforts to be able to highlight the threat from wildfires that we are having in the West. Mr. Speaker, in recent weeks, the aftermath of Hurricanes Harvey and Irma have dominated our news cycles. Our hearts certainly go out to the people who have been impacted as they rebuild their lives and continue to work to ensure that they have the resources they need. When we hear the term ``natural disaster,'' most of us probably think of hurricanes, tornadoes, or earthquakes. Unless you come from the Western United States, you probably don't think of wildfires as a natural disaster. But they are, and they have devastating effects. Wildfire season is a part of life in the West, but this year's fire season is shaping up to be the worst in history. Years of mismanagement of our national forests have led to conditions where fires are burning longer and hotter than ever before. We need to address this problem on two fronts: one, through better forest management; and, two, by updating wildfire response so it is more in line with the Federal response to other natural disasters. On the forest management front, we need to give the Forest Service the tools to engage in actual forest management. This means removing the dead and downed timber that serves as a fuel source for either man- made or naturally occurring fires, empowering local foresters and land managers to identify and designate areas of high risk, and supporting collaboration between all levels of government. These principles are laid out in the Resilient Federal Forests Act by my colleague, Mr. Westerman from Arkansas. I am proud to be a cosponsor of this legislation. We must also reform the Federal budgeting process for wildfire prevention and the suppression efforts. For too long, the process the Federal Government has used to allocate money to fight catastrophic wildfires has undermined forest management efforts that could prevent these types of fires from igniting in the first place. Under current law, if firefighting costs exceed an agency's budget, it must shift money from non-firefighting accounts to make up the difference. Last year, the Forest Service had to transfer $700 million from other budgeted line items to cover firefighting costs, which brought the agency's total firefighting efforts to about 55 percent of the entire budget. You would think that firefighting wouldn't be the biggest line item in the budget for an agency tasked with maintaining healthy forests. It is critical that we treat wildfires like other natural disasters after an agency's wildfire suppression funds are exhausted. The cost of any extraordinary firefighting that goes beyond the agency's annual budget should be funded through a budget cap adjustment similar to what is used by FEMA for other natural disasters. It is my hope that we can continue to bring more attention to wildfires that are burning across the West and the impacts they are having on our communities, and also that we can work together to advance policies that better support forest management and fire prevention and suppression efforts and forest health.

Mr. TIPTON

Mr. TIPTON. Mr. Speaker, this resolution of disapproval will repeal the CFPB's Arbitration Agreements rule, a rule that consumers are going to be able to be protected by, according to the CFPB. That is their stated mission: to protect the consumers. Let us look at the data that has been provided by the CFPB. Just 13 percent of the class action suits actually provided a benefit to the consumers. And what was that whopping benefit? Thirty-two dollars. Thirty-two dollars that they are willing to celebrate over as compensation for people who have been harmed. Let us look at the other side of the ledger. What are trial lawyers receiving? On average, $1 million. So while our friends may want to stand up for the trial lawyers, for their million-dollar paychecks, we are going to choose to stand with the American consumer to make sure that they are going to be able to receive the justice that they deserve, and one way to be able to do that is going to be through arbitration. When we look at the CFPB's own statistics, the average arbitration payout is not your $32. It is almost $5,400, which has been received in terms of compensation that is going to be paid. This latest rule, Mr. Speaker, joins a growing list of CFPB actions that have hurt consumers. Since the Bureau's inception, they have rolled out rules and regulations 3\1/2\ times faster than other Federal agencies, and according to the research from the American Action Forum, just 26 of these regulations have added an additional $2.8 billion in regulatory costs. The practical effect of the Bureau's actions are measurable, especially in rural districts like mine: no mortgage credit for young families trying to purchase their first home, community banks that spend more time on compliance than serving their community, and small businesses that cannot get the capital that they need to grow. The Arbitration Agreements rule is nothing more than the latest sleight- of-hand by the Bureau taking money out of pockets of consumers and gifting it to trial lawyers.

Mr. TIPTON. Mr. Speaker, the CFPB would lead you to believe that a multiyear class action lawsuit--and that is according to the CFPB's own estimates, average attorneys' fees of $388 million, and that is a win for consumers. The judgment is not on the side of consumers. They may want to stand for the trial lawyers. We are going to stand for the consumers. Let's repeal this and institute the CRA for the arbitration rule.

Mr. TIPTON

Mr. TIPTON. Mr. Chair, to speak to the nature of the amendment.

Mr. TIPTON. Mr. Chair, I am.