Greg Walden

Mr. WALDEN

Mr. WALDEN. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to recognize my good friend Bob McFadden for his many years of dedicated public service to the Port of The Dalles. Bob has retired after serving 11 years as commissioner and the last two years as President for the Port of The Dalles, and I would like to pay tribute to his leadership for the people of The Dalles. Bob was born near Mollala, Oregon and graduated from Portland's Parkrose High School. Following graduation, Bob studied culinary arts and the hospitality industry at the Horst Mager Culinary Institute before beginning a career in culinary work and hotel management for Holiday Inn in the Portland area. During his tenure with the hotel industry, he met a fellow Parkrose High graduate, Kris, who would become his wife of 42 years. They would go on together to work in the Houston, Texas area before receiving an offer to manage a hotel in The Dalles and so the two moved their new family to The Dalles in 1982. After arriving in The Dalles, Bob began his real estate career as well as his time as an Oregon athletics official for high school football and basketball. His career as a referee in the Mid-Columbia region also included service as basketball and football commissioner and the peer awarded State Football Referee of the Year. Being a family man with a business to operate is a difficult and time consuming role in itself. In addition to being a great father, successful realtor, and a reliable referee for the region's student athletes, Bob found even more time to give to his community in a number of roles including membership and presidency of The DaIles Rotary and Lions Clubs, serving on the Mid-Columbia Fire and Rescue Board, North Wasco County School District Budget Committee, and a term on The Dalles City Council. Bob and Kris also helped establish the long time sister city program with Miyoshi City, Japan that regularly sends citizens abroad and brings citizens of Miyoshi City to The DaIles to better promote understanding and exchange in the global community. Bob's service with The Port of The DaIles began in 2003, where he served as commissioner until 2014 when he was elected President, a position he held until his retirement at the end of June. During his term, he has been an integral part of the economic driver that is The Port of The DaIles. Despite the progressive loss of major job creators over the years, The Port commission has managed to work with the community to create fruitful ideas to bring new jobs into the area. As a member of the Port's Community Outreach Team, I knew I could count on Bob to provide valuable insight in crafting solutions to the issues facing The DaIles and Wasco County. As Bob begins his transition into retirement, I know he and Kris will look forward to more time together. Mr. Speaker and my colleagues, please join me in recognizing and thanking my good friend, Bob McFadden for his many years of leadership and service to The Dalles.

Mr. WALDEN

Mr. WALDEN. Mr. Speaker, I thank my good friend and the gentleman for yielding and for his comments. You are so spot on. On Saturday morning in Medford, Oregon, I met with about 40 veterans who are furious about the delays in getting access to care, and the fact that they can't maintain providers at the local facility. And, by the way, that is not unique just there. I don't know about you, but I am hearing all across my district, all across Oregon, that these clinics and hospitals are having trouble recruiting people, keeping people. Morale is already bad, and part of it is because there is this lack of discipline. I agree, Mr. Collins, that if you are a surgeon and you showed up drunk for the surgery, we are going to give you 30 days to dry out and explain yourself? Are you kidding me? If you were a pilot and showed up drunk for the flight, I can tell you what happens, right? You are done. And so this is part of the problem. The people I represent, the veterans, as you say, the men and women who have fought for our freedom, as you have done, they want action, not delay. They want access to care in a timely manner. Everything in this bill, interestingly enough, came up in our discussion from them. How come you are paying bonuses to people that aren't doing their job? Why do they get bonuses at all? Isn't that what we pay them to do? This bill fixes that. Why is it when we raise complaints internally, you know, there is retribution? This bill protects whistleblowers. Why isn't there more transparency about what happens inside the VA? This bill gets at that. Accountability and transparency will lead us to a better VA, and the dedicated men and women who work in those facilities will feel better about their organization if they know the people who are letting down the veterans that are around them are somehow held accountable. That is true in any organization. I was a small-business owner for 21 years with my wife. This wasn't a you show up drunk on the job and we will talk about it in a month. That is not how this works, and nobody expects that kind of thing. So, look, we need to reform the VA. We need to take care of our men and women in uniform. We need to claw back the bonuses. We need to get this ship righted. We have helped 5,000 veterans out of my office over the last number of years--5,000. Ask yourself this: Why do we all have to have staff in our district offices to help veterans work their way through the bureaucracy to get the help that they have earned and deserve? Yet we all do because we care and we want to help. But somewhere you have to back up and go: Why do we all have to hire people to help these veterans get to that point? That shouldn't be necessary. They ought to be embraced by the agency. They ought to be cared for immediately, and it should be a complete last resort that they have to actually track down their Member of Congress to say: ``Can you help bust through the bureaucracy because my loved one doesn't get access to care?'' or ``I can't get access to care.'' This is fundamentally a broken system that needs repair. I think we all agree on that. That is not a partisan issue. None of this should be. We should protect whistleblower rights. This bill does that. We should recoup the bonuses when they were given to undeserving employees, and we should increase transparency. But most of all, we should start with what matters most, and that is the veteran, and build everything out from there. That should be our foremost commitment and our starting place, what is best for that veteran and that veteran's family.

Mr. WALDEN

Mr. WALDEN. Mr. Speaker, today I rise in support of Representative Murphy's Helping Families in Mental Health Crisis Act. Ten million Americans suffer from serious mental illness, Mr. Speaker. If they get care, they are 16 times less likely to harm themselves or others. Right now, too many patients fall through the cracks. At a recent roundtable in Medford, Oregon, and on a tele-townhall I just completed, I heard from parents about their children who experienced homelessness and violence due to their illness, from caregivers about the difficulty of getting timely care, and from law enforcement about how the default place for the mentally ill is often a jail. The consensus among all of them was that the healthcare system, the government, and society are failing those who need help the most. They overwhelmingly support the provisions in this legislation. We can improve treatment, we can and do boost resources, and we will get care to people in need, especially in our rural communities.

Mr. WALDEN

Mr. WALDEN. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to recognize my good friend Commissioner Tim Kerns for his many years of dedicated public service in Baker County. Tim is set to retire at the end of his term after serving 15 years as Baker County Commissioner, and I would like to pay tribute to his leadership for the people of Baker County. Born in Baker City, Tim was raised with an appreciation for agriculture on his family farm which led him to attend Oregon State University to pursue a degree in Agricultural Engineering at a notable pace, completing 206 credit hours in just four years. But probably the best part of his time at Oregon State was meeting Jan--his wife of 52 years. Upon completing their degrees, Tim and Jan returned to ranching in Baker County. As his operation grew, so did Tim's desire to serve his community. His ability to provide innovative solutions to the problems that Baker County faced proved invaluable in a number of leadership roles, including serving on the school district budget board, as president of both the Baker County Livestock Growers and Farm Bureau, and as Regional Vice President of the Oregon Cattleman's Association. Tim's familiarity with the agricultural industry and community leadership experience next led him to become a major figure in the national farm lending system. Between 1975 and 1994 he was a board member of a number of farm lenders, including the Baker Production Credit Association, Spokane Farm Credit Services, and Inter State Production Credit Association. Following success in those roles, he was appointed to a three year term as Director of the national Federal Farm Credit Funding Corporation. After completing his dual term with the Ag America Farm Credit Bank and the Farm Credit Funding Corporation, Tim was appointed to fill a vacant seat with the county commission, a seat which he has held for the past 15 years. With federal lands making up more than 51% of Baker County, plenty of hurdles exist in the path to economic growth. Despite these hurdles, I know I can count on Tim's work ethic and knowledge of Baker County to help work through these issues and make sure that the needs of the local communities will not be ignored by the federal government. Whether it was stopping the EPA from regulating a local cement plant out of existence and killing hundreds of jobs, or some of the ongoing problems such as the red tape cutting off Baker County miners from being a part of a rich local mining history, or attempts to limit local access to national forests, I knew I could count on Tim to provide valuable input as we craft solutions. As Tim begins his transition into retirement, I know he and Jan will look forward to more time with their two sons and three grandchildren, as well as plenty of time on the ranch and volunteering in various Baker County activities. Mr. Speaker and my colleagues, please join me in recognizing and thanking my good friend, Commissioner Tim Kerns for his many years of leadership and service to Baker County.

Mr. WALDEN

Mr. WALDEN. Mr. Speaker, I walked in and was hearing the gentleman from California talking about all these foreign donations, and I thought for sure he was talking about the Clinton Foundation donations from foreign governments, that there is a big question about their influence on policy and appointments and other things. That is why I was glad the gentleman clarified the topic at hand here. What we are doing here, really, is protecting the First Amendment's guarantee of freedom of speech. That is a very bedrock of our democratic society. As Benjamin Franklin once wrote: ``Whoever would overthrow the Liberty of a Nation, must begin by subduing the Freeness of Speech.'' See, American citizens should not be targeted by their own government for exercising their rights, their free speech, which is exactly why we are here today; because, under the Obama administration, the IRS has all too often targeted groups based on their political affiliation. I don't care whether you are liberal, conservative, or somewhere in between, you shouldn't have your government targeting you, through the IRS, based on your political views. And they even disclosed the identities of supporters of these organizations. This commonsense bill would protect the First Amendment by prohibiting the IRS from collecting sensitive information about citizens who support nonprofit organizations like charities, like education organizations, trade associations, and more. This would, of course, apply to future administrations, too, and will simply serve to strengthen our constitutional right to free speech, no matter what party occupies the White House. Even some IRS officials have admitted they don't need this information to enforce the Tax Code, though I imagine they did find it useful when they ``accidentally'' leaked at least one conservative organization's list of supporters to another nonprofit that, in turn, made that list public. This bill would take away this power from the agency completely. That will greatly reduce the chance this could happen again. Doing so would protect taxpayers' identities and sensitive information, and help prevent the IRS from going after certain organizations because they don't agree with that organization's mission. So I urge support of this thoughtful legislation. Let's prevent taxpayers, protect them, and prevent abuse of taxpayers, and protect their free speech rights under the Constitution.

Mr. WALDEN

Mr. WALDEN. Mr. Speaker, I appreciate the opportunity to support this legislation today and to commend the committees for their work on pipeline safety and pipeline safety improvement. I also have to take this opportunity, because the committee has done very good work on the FAST Act, to talk about rail safety. This rail accident occurred over the weekend just 7 miles from my home in the national scenic area of the Columbia River Gorge. I was there not long after it happened. I met with the incident commanders. I met with the fire chief. I met with city officials and county officials. Let me just say that, while you are protecting pipelines-- and that is really important--we need to continue to make progress on rail safety and to make sure that the new cars that were ordered by this Congress get put into service, especially in these critical waterway areas, as soon as possible. We need to make sure that track improvements are required--that new fasteners are used to deal with issues where, in this case, perhaps, it is a track separation issue. We need to make sure that our first responders get all of the training and that the Department of Transportation finishes its work on its rule for spill response and for safety. This is a critically important issue for the people I represent on both the Oregon and Washington sides of the Columbia River because these trains are going through, and we are having these kinds of situations. We need to make sure we have the most up-to-date safety, the most up-to-date training, and the safest cars and tracks possible. We are going to stay on this until that happens.

Mr. WALDEN

Mr. WALDEN. Mr. Speaker, I thank Mr. Clay and Mr. Hardy for their work and support of this very important legislation. I thank Mr. Grijalva and Chairman Bishop for bringing this bill to the floor, yet another Mount Hood bill. My colleague and friend from Oregon, Earl Blumenauer, and I actually backpacked 3 nights, 4 days around Mount Hood, 9,000 feet up and down, elevation gain and loss. We hiked with environmentalists, foresters, ornithologists, biologists, and geologists. We put together a big bipartisan legislative effort. It took 3\1/2\ years. Part of this effort was making sure that a very sensitive part around Mount Hood in the Crystal Springs watershed was exchanged out so that the development didn't occur there and it occurred in an area that already has development, a more appropriate setting. That is what this is really all about. The legislation that ultimately passed the Congress was a little different than what Representative Blumenauer and I started with because we feared this very result could happen, that it would be delayed for years and years and years because we have seen it happen before. Be that as it may, we are here today, 7 years later, after the Congress had told the agency to get this done in 16 months, which should be all the time that is necessary. Seven years later, we are back with a second piece of legislation, confirming the mediation, working this through so that we can get this exchange done thoughtfully, completely, and finally get this done. I see I am joined by the gentleman from Oregon (Mr. Blumenauer), who has been a real partner in this. The legislation directs the Forest Service to move ahead on implementing the underlying exchange. This is critical as it protects the Crystal Springs area, the water source for much of Hood River and the rest of the upper Hood River Valley as well. So it really does provide a much more thoughtful place where Mount Hood Meadows does their development and protects this very sensitive watershed from development. I urge my colleagues to support this legislation when it comes up for a vote. Let's get this done once and for all.

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

Mr. WALDEN

Mr. WALDEN. I thank my colleague from Kentucky for his great work on this legislation and his thoughtful leadership on these issues over many years. Mr. Speaker, for all your work on this legislation to make much- needed reforms to modernize energy policy into something that better promotes affordability, reliability, and ensures we have the energy we need to continue growing jobs in our communities, I say thank you. Among the many strong provisions in this bill, several are particularly important to the West and our rural communities across central, eastern, and southern Oregon. For farmers and ranchers in the Klamath Basin, this bill ensures that they will actually get a formal seat at the table when there is consultation with Federal agencies on decisions under the ESA. Irrigators in this area have long been impacted by these decisions, and it is only fair they should have an equal seat at the table with other entities during these discussions. Perhaps one of the timeliest provisions, Mr. Speaker, as we head into forest fire season in the West, are the provisions that provide for streamlined planning and would reduce frivolous lawsuits and speed up the pace of forest management across our public lands. This House, 4 years in a row now, after we pass this, has considered much-needed legislation to fix the management of our Federal forests. Now the Senate will have an opportunity to join us in this effort, as we amend this legislation and send it on over to the Senate. Our forested, rural communities, Mr. Speaker, have waited long enough. They have choked on smoke summer after summer long enough. They have seen their watersheds get destroyed by catastrophic fire. It is time to fix the problem. Now, a couple other specifics, Mr. Speaker, on national forests across eastern Oregon. Forest managers' hands are tied by a one-size-fits-all rule prohibiting the harvest of trees over 21 inches in diameter. This measure was implemented temporarily in 1997 but still has not been lifted 20 years later, just about. It represents really poor science. It only serves as a source of frequent appeals and litigation. Repealing this will give our forest managers the flexibility they need to use modern science to actually manage the forests for healthier conditions. Last month the Bureau of Land Management released their proposed resource management plan for Oregon's unique O&C lands in southern and western Oregon. Frankly, it is a terrible plan. Despite a clear statutory requirement that they manage these lands for sustainable timber production and revenue to the counties--dare I say, jobs in the community--the BLM's plan goes the other way. It locks up 75 percent of the lands and harvests less than half the minimum level directed by the O&C Act. This is a job killer. This bill includes bipartisan legislation that I wrote, working with my colleagues from Oregon, Representatives DeFazio and Schrader, to cut costs, increase timber harvest and revenue to local counties, and direct BLM to revise their flawed management plan to actually reflect the underlying act. Mr. Speaker, this is good energy legislation. This is good natural resource legislation. This is sound environmental legislation. I urge its passage.

Mr. WALDEN

Mr. WALDEN. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members have 5 legislative days in which to revise and extend their remarks and insert extraneous materials in the Record on the bill.

Mr. WALDEN. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Speaker, in late October of 2012, Superstorm Sandy, the largest Atlantic hurricane in recorded history, hit the Caribbean and Northeastern United States with devastating impact. Sandy caused an estimated $72 billion in damages in the United States and took 286 lives. While the economic impact of the storm was massive in scope--homes and buildings damaged or destroyed, roads impassible or washed out altogether--the damage to power and communications infrastructure was particularly severe. Broadcasting, wireless and landline telephone services, broadband services, cable services all suffered disruptions and outages that lasted long after the storm's fury had passed. At a time when families struggled to find and reunite with loved ones, this only added to the confusion and, frankly, the panic. But beyond the impact on the personal communications that are needed to assuage the fears in the wake of a disaster, these outages also threatened the delivery of public safety messages and emergency response services. This put even more lives at risk, including those of the first responders--the men and women who race to save others--and made recovery that much more difficult. While our public safety and emergency response experts at all levels of government and the communications industry have implemented changes as a result of the lessons learned from Superstorm Sandy, there is more that must be done. Just a few weeks ago, the wireless industry--CTIA, together with AT&T, Sprint, T-Mobile, U.S. Cellular, and Verizon--announced the adoption of the Wireless Network Resiliency Cooperative Framework. This set of voluntary practices will provide consumers with access to wireless services even when their wireless provider's network goes down, will improve preparedness, and will speed the restoration of services. I would like to thank Ranking Member Pallone of New Jersey, whose district suffered so badly and so much from the effects of Sandy. His leadership and efforts led to the industry's voluntary adoption of this framework, and I commend the industry for its commitment and him for his work. The SANDy Act lets us build on that accomplishment, as there are some changes that only the government can make. This legislation makes what I believe is a commonsense change to the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act to recognize not only wireline, but mobile telephone service and broadcast radio, broadcast television, cable service, and broadcast satellite service as essential services when we have an emergency. This change will ensure that providers of these critical services are not denied or impeded access to a disaster when they are trying to restore service. Without question, these services are critical to ensuring the safety and well-being of both those impacted by the disaster, but also those who are responding to that very disaster. In addition to expediting access for network restoration teams, this legislation also directs the FCC to study making the telecommunications service provider-owned WiFi access and other communications technologies operating on unlicensed spectrum available to access 911 service when commercial mobile service is unavailable. We have an abundance of communications tools in the modern information economy. We should be looking at ways to leverage all of them during emergencies, and this report will do just that. I thank the ranking member for his work on this legislation, and I urge my colleagues to support it. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time. Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure, House of Representatives, Washington, DC, May 18, 2016. Hon. Fred Upton, Chairman, Committee on Energy and Commerce, Washington, DC. Dear Mr. Chairman: I write concerning H.R. 3998, the Securing Access to Networks in Disasters Act, as ordered reported by the Committee on Energy and Commerce. There are certain provisions in the legislation that fall within the Rule X jurisdiction of the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure. In order to expedite this legislation for Floor consideration, the Committee will forgo action on this bill. However, this is conditional on our mutual understanding that forgoing consideration of the bill does not alter or diminish the jurisdiction of the Committee with respect to the appointment of conferees or to any future jurisdictional claim over the subject matters contained in the bill or similar legislation. I request you urge the Speaker to name members of the Committee to any conference committee named to consider such provisions. Please place a copy of this letter and your response acknowledging our jurisdictional interest into the Congressional Record during consideration of the measure on the House Floor. I appreciate the Committee on Energy and Commerce working with me to address my concerns. Sincerely, Bill Shuster, Chairman.

Mr. WALDEN. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Speaker, this is a fine piece of legislation. It is important, in moving ahead, to correct some things that need to be corrected, frankly, in terms of emergency communications during super emergencies. I urge passage of the bill. Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.

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

Mr. WALDEN

Mr. WALDEN. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may have 5 legislative days in which to revise and extend their remarks and insert extraneous materials in the Record on the bill.

Mr. WALDEN. Mr. Speaker, I urge passage of this fine piece of legislation. I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. WALDEN. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Speaker, the Federal Communications Commission regulates an incredibly dynamic and innovative sector of the American economy. The communications technology sector directly impacts the lives of consumers in meaningful ways. Consumers are able to map their ways to new places like, frankly, I did this morning; find information and enriching content; and reach their loved ones who might live in the most remote places. Communications technology also enables other industries to reach their audiences in new and life-changing ways. Health care, finance, manufacturing, agriculture: all of these industries are leveraging communication technologies in ways to better serve the American consumer. We can't afford to allow this functional sector of the economy to languish or fail under outdated regulations or a faulty regulatory process. That is why the Committee on Energy and Commerce has focused on improving the process at the FCC so that it operates in an effective and more transparent manner. This House passed a comprehensive FCC process reform bill back in November, H.R. 2583, but we continue to work on improving the FCC's communications with the public. Hence, H.R. 2589. This is one such improvement. Sponsored by my colleague, Representative Ellmers of North Carolina, this bill is targeted at the FCC's struggle to make its newly adopted rules available to the public in a timely fashion. The bill requires the FCC to show the public what it has just voted on by publishing the text of the rules within 24 hours of the filing of the last dissenting statement. This should not be too difficult. Normally, the FCC does a reasonable job in publishing its new rules fairly quickly after adoption. However, on more controversial items, the documents are not available until much later. For example, the Lifeline Order, adopted on March 31, was not available for 27 days. That is nearly a month. The FCC should not be delaying publication on controversial items. It should seek to add information and facts to the debate rather than appearing to hide the ball. At the same time, we recognize that the FCC must have the ability to respond to dissenting statements that criticize its decisions. Accordingly, we worked with our colleagues across the aisle to ensure that the Commission had a fair opportunity to address dissents to dissents and still make sure that new rules became available to the public in a timely way. In other words, so the Commission can do its work back and forth among Commissioners and finish their product. But once they do, they need to make it available to the public. By the way, that is who they work for. I would like to thank my colleagues on the committee for their work, particularly Representative Ellmers and Representative McNerney. I believe the bill strikes the right balance, and I urge my colleagues to support Representative Ellmers' bill. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. WALDEN

Mr. WALDEN. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 4167) to amend the Communications Act of 1934 to require multi-line telephone systems to have a default configuration that permits users to directly initiate a call to 9-1-1 without dialing any additional digit, code, prefix, or post-fix, and for other purposes, as amended.

Mr. WALDEN. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself the balance of my time. Mr. Speaker, I encourage my colleagues to support H.R. 4167, Kari's Law, and, again, thank my colleague from Texas (Mr. Gohmert) for his leadership on this issue and my colleagues on the other side of the aisle for working with us on this. I would encourage passage of the legislation. Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. WALDEN. Mr. Speaker, I yield such time as he may consume to the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Gohmert), who has been such an advocate for this family and for this change in law and has been terrific to work with on this matter.

Mr. WALDEN

Mr. WALDEN. Mr. Speaker, I yield such time as he may consume to the gentleman from Kansas (Mr. Yoder), the proponent of this legislation who brought it before us.

Mr. WALDEN. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. I am, of course, disappointed that the Democrats cannot support this in its present form. The bill that we worked on last year, by the way, never made it to the House floor, and this one did. The time is now to act. The time is now to help families find abducted children, parents suffering from dementia who are carrying the device and need help saving their lives. This is very narrowly written. As my colleague from Kansas (Mr. Yoder) said: Read the bill. We have. It is very narrowly written. Location, emergency only, life and death. You dialed 911 seeking help. States still have the ability to talk about all these other provisions they may want. We do not preclude that. We honor the right of States, local legislatures to come and add restrictions if they want to do that for post-action reporting, subpoenas, whatever they want to do. But in the meantime, can't we just save lives? Can't we just pass something that gives certainty to the telecommunications providers that when they get that law enforcement call, they have to provide that data of simply the location when everybody agrees that somebody's life is in the balance? I urge my colleagues to support this bill. Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. WALDEN. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 4889) to amend the Communications Act of 1934 to require providers of a covered service to provide call location information concerning the telecommunications device of a user of such service to an investigative or law enforcement officer in an emergency situation involving risk of death or serious physical injury or in order to respond to the user's call for emergency services, as amended.

Mr. WALDEN. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may have 5 legislative days in which to revise and extend their remarks and to insert extraneous materials in the Record on the bill.

Mr. WALDEN. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Imagine that your child is missing. You know that she was abducted from a parking lot, but you don't know where she is now or how to find her. Grasping for any possible lead, you ask her cell phone carrier to provide the location--and just the location--of her cell phone, hoping that it will lead you to her, but you are told they don't release that information. So you wait. You rely on others to search for your child by foot and by air, never knowing if your child is alive or if your child is dead, safe, or in pain. This nightmare came true for Missey and Greg Smith 9 years ago last week when their beloved daughter went missing outside Kansas City, Kansas. By all accounts, Kelsey Smith--pictured here--was a vibrant and joyful 18-year-old girl. She was preparing to attend college in the fall where she planned to join in the marching band. Kelsey loved to sing. She was the third of five siblings. Tragically, her life was cut short when she was kidnapped from a Target parking lot in June of 2007 just 9 days after her high school graduation, a crime caught on the store's security cameras. Her family and her friends spent 4 anguished days searching for her, knowing she was in danger but unable to find her. They used every method they could think of to help locate her, but the one tool that would eventually lead to finding her body was not accessible. Kelsey's parents contacted her cell phone provider on the day she went missing and asked them to ping her cell phone in the hopes that it would assist them in their search. Despite repeated requests from the family and from law enforcement, it took 4 days before the Smiths were able to obtain the location data of Kelsey's cell phone--4 days, Mr. Speaker, nearly 100 hours of not knowing where their little girl had gone, where she had been taken, or if they would ever see her again. Yet, within 45 minutes of receiving that location data, when they finally got it, Kelsey's body was found. She was dead. When her mother testified in front of the Subcommittee on Communications and Technology, she spoke so bravely of the agony Kelsey's family endured during that time. She described their ordeal in painful detail. What does a parent go through when a child is missing? You do not eat because you do not know if your child is eating. You do not sleep because you wonder if your child is sleeping. It is, to quote Missey, ``pure hell.'' Missey and Greg Smith have made it their mission to prevent this type of tragedy from ever happening again. They began facilitating safety awareness seminars for parents and for students. They also began to push for legislation to address the very problem of obtaining timely cell phone location data--only location data, that is all we are talking about here--and only during life-threatening emergencies--just life-and-death situations and only locational data. The legislation we are considering today, which is named in honor of their daughter, is a major step toward that goal. The Kelsey Smith Act requires cell phone providers to provide law enforcement with access to device location data in an emergency situation, when a victim is in danger of death or serious harm or when the device has been used to place a 911 emergency call requesting emergency assistance. This changes current law. You see, current law already permits carriers to provide the data, but it does not require them to. This places an unreasonable burden on wireless providers to determine what constitutes an emergency and then live with the consequences of their decisions, which they now must do in the case of Kelsey Smith. When time is of the essence, do you want a lawyer in corporate headquarters to agonize over the legal definition of an ``emergency'' or do you want the law enforcement officers, who dedicate their lives to keeping us safe, to make that call? I opt for those who can save lives. To date, versions of the Kelsey Smith Act have been adopted in 23 States, but a patchwork of laws that protect some and leave others vulnerable is not good for the companies that must comply with this law or, more importantly, for the American lives that this law can and will save. You see, Mr. Speaker, the committee believes we need a consistent Federal law that law enforcement across the country can use. Parents shouldn't have to forum-shop for the most favorable law when their children go missing. What if it were your child? I have heard the privacy concerns that some say have been raised by this bill. We have worked diligently to make the bill as targeted as possible to balance legitimate privacy concerns with the importance of saving lives. By limiting the circumstances in which it can be used and, most importantly, by limiting the information that is available, we can ensure that it is only used in cases in which it is absolutely necessary. Mr. Speaker, we have heard from law enforcement officers across the country that, when people are in emergency situations, every second counts, and that delay can mean the difference between life and death. The Kelsey Smith Act takes the burden of decisionmaking away from cell phone providers and places it with law enforcement, who are trained specifically to make this kind of determination. The Kelsey Smith Act has been successfully used in multiple States where it is already law. In fact, in Kansas, we have an infant here named Aubrey. Aubrey was innocently in her car seat in a car, in the backseat of the vehicle, when somebody carjacked the car while her parents were standing near it, just feet away. Can you imagine? Her parents are right there, and somebody jumps in the car and drives off with it as you stand hopelessly, unable to do anything as their little daughter, Aubrey, was inside. The local police department used the Kelsey Smith Act in Kansas to track the cell phone that was still in the car, and they were able to successfully recover the baby, Aubrey, who was unharmed, in about 30 minutes. Officer Dan Friesen credited the safe recovery to the Kelsey Smith Act, saying that the ``technology is very helpful to us and is made possible by the Kelsey Smith Law.'' Thanks to Kelsey and Greg and Missey Smith, little Aubrey is safe in the arms of her family once again. In the words of her mother: ``We are so happy to have Aubrey home with us and can't picture life without our baby girl.'' Because of the Kelsey Smith Act, they do not have to. Mr. Speaker, this law goes beyond just kidnapping cases, however. The Kansas Sheriffs' Association told us it has also been used in cases of adults with dementia and missing people who are in danger due to lack of life-sustaining medication, severe weather, or other life- threatening circumstances. I thank my friend from Kansas, Congressman Kevin Yoder. He has been tireless in his advocacy for this legislation. He first brought this bill to my attention last Congress and continued to push for its passage again this year. He has been an advocate for Kelsey and her family throughout the process, and this bill would not have advanced this far without Congressman Yoder's work. I also want to thank Greg and Missey Smith, who are in the gallery today, for their courage in the face of their tragedy. Because of their willingness to speak about their daughter and what happened to her, we are here today with the opportunity to prevent tragedies like this one that befell Kelsey Smith. Now, I think it is important to note this legislation passed out of the subcommittee after full hearings and through the full committee. In fact, it was voted unanimously out of the full committee. There were no voices of objection. This Wednesday, May 25, is National Missing Children's Day. According to the FBI, in 2015, there were more than 460,000 reports of missing children made to law enforcement in the U.S. How many of these missing children carry a cell phone? Even if the Kelsey Smith Act leads to the recovery of only one of those missing children, isn't it worth it? As a parent, I can tell you that, for the families of missing children, it certainly is. We have the opportunity to equip law enforcement with another tool to aid them in emergency situations, a tool that costs nothing and uses information that already exists. Let's seize this opportunity. Now, I know there will be those who will argue that somehow we didn't go far enough in privacy. Well, guess what. My State of Oregon passed an almost identical bill, unanimously, and it is a very blue State, Mr. Speaker--full Democratic house, Democratic senate, Democratic Governor. Not a single member objected. That is what this version of the bill is based on. Multiple other States have different reporting requirements for members of their law enforcement community. We honor what the States have done and can do. We don't take that away. We don't override that. They can go farther if they want in terms of what they want their State law enforcement officers to do or not do. We simply address the issue related to the telephone carriers and what they must do when called upon in life-and-death situations to save the lives of little girls like Aubrey and like Kelsey. Let's honor Kelsey's memory by ensuring that her lasting legacy isn't the story of her death but, rather, the story of how she continued to make a difference to save lives. I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. WALDEN

Mr. WALDEN. Mr. Speaker, I thank the chairman of the Veterans' Affairs Committee. He has done such an incredible job leading that committee and trying to make sure our veterans get both the recognition and the care that they have earned and so deserve. I thank the ranking member for her support of this very timely and important piece of legislation to name the VA clinic in The Dalles, Oregon, after Loren R. Kaufman. This is actually a photo of Mr. Kaufman. Sergeant First Class Kaufman was a true American hero, as my colleagues have said. He was born and raised in The Dalles. Sergeant Kaufman served in the Army during World War II, and he also served in the Korean war. While in Korea, Sergeant Kaufman's company was attacked by the enemy. His platoon was 2 miles away, protecting the battalion flank, and was ordered to come and reinforce the company. On their way to their new location, they came under fire. Selflessly, Sergeant Kaufman ran forward, engaged the enemy, and forced them to retreat in confusion. Once Sergeant Kaufman's platoon rejoined their company, they found the enemy had taken commanding ground and pinned the company down in a draw. Without hesitation, Sergeant Kaufman again charged the enemy lines, firing his rifle, throwing grenades, using his bayonet, and seizing an unmanned machine gun. Because of his fast thinking and fearlessness, the enemy fled and the company regained their position. It was for these actions and conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity above and beyond the call that Sergeant Kaufman was awarded the Medal of Honor by President Harry S. Truman. In his citation it was written, ``The dauntless courage and resolute intrepid leadership of Sergeant First Class Kaufman were directly responsible for the success of his company in regaining its positions, reflecting distinct credit upon himself and upholding the esteemed traditions of the military service.'' Tragically, though, Sergeant Kaufman received this incredible honor posthumously. He was killed in action on February 10, 1951, and was laid to rest in Willamette National Cemetery, Portland, Oregon. I strongly agreed with our local veterans and public officials that the community should honor this native son's heroism by renaming the local VA clinic in his honor. I want to thank the Veterans Ad Hoc Committee, Les Cochenour, the Mid-Columbia Veterans Memorial Committee, and the Wasco County Commission for their efforts to support renaming this clinic. I also want to thank the entire Oregon congressional delegation and the Committee on Veterans' Affairs for their support. Finally, I would like to offer a special thanks to Loren Kaufman's family from The Dalles, his cousin Gerald, Gerald's wife Marilyn, and their daughter Sharon. I am proud to help honor Loren Kaufman by working to rename this clinic in his honor so he can be a continuing inspiration for the community and the country.