Bruce Westerman

Mr. WESTERMAN

Mr. WESTERMAN. Mr. Speaker, on April 17, American Samoa celebrated 125 years as a territory of the United States. As we observe this historic milestone, enacting this legislation will ensure that the United States will continue its strong presence in the Pacific region. When President Reagan first signed the legislation that established this treaty in the 1980s, he spoke of the bonds of friendship and affection that unite our people. This bill will ensure that these important partnerships will continue for years and decades to come. Mr. Speaker, I thank Congresswoman Radewagen once again for her tireless work on this legislation. I urge my colleagues to support its swift passage, and I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. WESTERMAN. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentlewoman from American Samoa (Mrs. Radewagen), the lead sponsor of this bill.

Mr. WESTERMAN. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Speaker, I rise in strong support of the South Pacific Tuna Treaty Act of 2025, introduced by my friend, Congresswoman Radewagen from American Samoa. This legislation, which was adopted by voice vote in the House in the 118th Congress, codifies updates to the South Pacific Tuna Treaty that were first agreed to in 2016 and later adopted by the United States Senate in 2022. The United States first entered into this treaty with 16 Pacific Island nations under President Ronald Reagan. It gives the United States access to some of the most fertile fishing waters that are found anywhere in the world. This strengthens the United States' tuna fleet, which has experienced a rapid decline in recent decades, while also bolstering the United States' presence in the South Pacific. The 2016 amendments improved the treaty's execution and clarified specific provisions. However, these important updates have not been codified, which has caused regulatory uncertainty. Mr. Speaker, adopting this legislation will bring about the next chapter of the United States' engagement in the South Pacific. I thank Mrs. Radewagen for her leadership on this important issue, and I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. WESTERMAN. 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 H.R. 531, the bill now under consideration.

Mr. WESTERMAN. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 531) to amend the South Pacific Tuna Act of 1988, and for other purposes, as amended.

Mr. WESTERMAN

Mr. WESTERMAN. Mr. Speaker, H.R. 1829 will ensure that two rural communities in eastern Arizona have the space to lay their beloved community members to rest. I thank Congressman Crane for spearheading this critical issue on behalf of his constituents. Mr. Speaker, I urge adoption of the bill, and I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. WESTERMAN. Mr. Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to the gentleman from Arizona (Mr. Crane), the lead sponsor of the bill.

Mr. WESTERMAN. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Speaker, I strongly support Congressman Crane's bill, the Apache County and Navajo County Conveyance Act of 2025. This legislation would transfer small parcels of Federal land to Apache and Navajo Counties to expand existing cemeteries. Located in eastern Arizona, the communities in Pinedale and Alpine are surrounded by the Apache-Sitgreaves National Forest. Given the large Federal footprint, both communities have struggled to expand their respective cemeteries, which are currently located on U.S. Forest Service land and operated under a special use permit. If the cemeteries are not expanded, families will be forced to travel long distances to distant cemeteries to visit their deceased relatives. To address this need, Pinedale and Alpine have worked with their respective counties to identify additional land to expand their cemeteries. This bill provides a straightforward, commonsense solution by transferring U.S. Forest Service land adjacent to the cemeteries to the respective counties. While this is a straightforward bill, I think many of us can attest to the invaluable role a burial place can play in the grieving process. Burial sites are sacred, eternal resting places that provide closure for the families of the deceased. Families should not be forced to travel long distances to lay their loved ones to rest due to the red tape of Federal land ownership. As chairman of the Natural Resources Committee, I fought to elevate the voices of rural communities and highlight their unique challenges. This bill addresses one of those unique challenges. Mr. Speaker, I thank Representative Crane for his work on this legislation. I support the bill, and I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. WESTERMAN. 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 H.R. 1829, the bill now under consideration.

Mr. WESTERMAN. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 1829) to require the Secretary of Agriculture to convey certain lands within the Apache-Sitgreaves National Forest, and for other purposes.

Mr. WESTERMAN

Mr. WESTERMAN. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself the balance of my time. Mr. Speaker, as we wrap up this so-called debate today, I want to remind everyone of something that they are not seeing on the news every day like they were several months ago, and that is hordes coming across our southern border. I want to remind people of how much the illegal drugs and human trafficking have stopped on our southern border. I remind people of that because it was just a few weeks ago that President Trump stood in this Chamber. He addressed the joint session of Congress, and he said something that I think was the most important thing he said that night. He said that we have come to find out we didn't really need different laws. We just needed different leadership. This debate, as my friends will maybe want to call it a debate, has been really nothing but an attack on President Trump. They are using this piece of legislation to go at President Trump. I want to remind everybody of something President Trump has said many times. He said: ``They are coming after me because I am standing up for you.'' That is exactly what is happening today. They are coming after this piece of legislation and equating it to President Trump because he is standing up for the American people. This legislation before us simply follows through on a day one executive order to rename the Gulf of Mexico as the Gulf of America. Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to support this legislation, and I thank Congresswoman Greene for advancing it. I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. WESTERMAN. Mr. Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to the gentlewoman from Georgia (Ms. Greene).

Mr. WESTERMAN. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Speaker, a lot of accusations have been made about serious legislation, about working, about the things that have happened since this new administration has come into office. I would like to recap some of the things that have happened since this new administration has come into office. Number one, they spent a lot of time reversing a lot of bad executive orders that the previous administration put in place. There were executive orders that did put America last. We have an administration now that is working every day to put America first. We saw Congress take many actions on Congressional Review Acts to undo bad rules that the previous administration put in place. Don't believe the accusation that Republicans aren't working. We have 11 committees that have reconciliation instructions, and 8 of those committees have marked up those instructions already. There are instructions on a big, beautiful bill to put America first and to create national security. We will use our resources at home to allow people in America to have a job and a career where they can raise families and grow communities. We are working on policies to avoid a $4 trillion to $5 trillion tax increase on every American. Mr. Speaker, I believe my friends across the aisle are concerned about a piece of legislation that is going to make a huge difference. It is a piece of legislation that is going to reverse the destructive policies that their party has put in place over many years. It is a piece of legislation that is going to focus on getting our fiscal house in order and letting Americans keep more of their hard-earned income. We will develop our resources here at home and become less dependent on China, less dependent on Middle Eastern oil, and all those things that over the years have been eroded away from our American economy and from Americans. Mr. Speaker, if they want to complain about renaming the Gulf the Gulf of America, they can complain about that all day. It gives them something to do other than to talk to Americans about the real policies that Republicans are looking at putting in place. It gives them something to do other than make up scare tactics, which is their normal playbook, and to take anything that happens and say, oh, they are going to cut Social Security or they are going to cut Medicare. We can't even touch Social Security in budget reconciliation. Democrats know that can't happen in budget reconciliation. Yet, they still put those scare tactics out. They talk about what bills are going to do before bill text has been released. It is because Democrats are on the defensive to protect the Big Government that they have created over time, while Republicans want to put government closer to the people, take power out of Washington, D.C., and truly put America first. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. WESTERMAN. Mr. Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to the gentlewoman from Georgia (Ms. Greene).

Mr. WESTERMAN. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. I left out one of the other amendments my colleagues across the aisle filed. They wanted to rename the Gulf the gulf of ignorance. Now, I don't know where they came up with that one. I know they oppose offshore oil and gas production. I know they oppose American energy independence. I know they have a special affinity for fish that aren't in the Gulf and attack recreational fishermen in their endeavor to go out and spend time with their family and catch fish. I don't know what part of the Gulf that they think is so ignorant that they wanted to rename the Gulf the gulf of ignorance, but you can look it up. They filed that amendment. We obviously voted it down. They had no problem renaming the Cannon Caucus Room the Nancy Pelosi Caucus Room. It is not like this is the first thing that has ever been renamed in this Congress, but we will go ahead and have our debate, and they can vent their frustration on the Republicans and really on our country as they continue. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. WESTERMAN. Mr. Speaker, our friends across the aisle want to talk about being serious, but when we marked up this legislation in committee, here are some of the serious amendments that they put out. Number one, they wanted to rename it not the Gulf of America, but the gulf of Helene, after a hurricane. That wasn't good enough, so they decided to file an amendment to name it the Gulf of America if we rejoin the Paris climate accord. That is real serious. As my friend already mentioned, they wanted to take this bill, it was obviously not germane, they wanted to rename the planet, planet Trump. That is how serious they are in their debate. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. WESTERMAN. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Speaker, just earlier this week, this very committee spent 14 hours in a markup on our reconciliation plans that are part of the big, beautiful bill; 14 hours to make America energy dominant, 14 hours to unleash American resources and American jobs. Those 14 hours were mainly spent hearing 121 Democratic amendments to undermine that bill. They wanted to undermine America's energy. They wanted to undermine America's ability to mine our own products. They wanted to undermine America's ability to manage our forests and our resources and take care of this country. Now, there are a lot of bills that come to this floor to rename things. They might not be the most important bills, but usually they go on a suspension vote because both sides agree we can do renaming, but this one got elevated to a much higher level, so here we are under a rule bill debating whether or not we call the current Gulf of Mexico the Gulf of America or if we leave it as it is. Our friends across the aisle have one objective: to undermine everything we want to do to make America first, and this is no exception. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

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

Mr. WESTERMAN. Mr. Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to the gentlewoman from Georgia (Ms. Greene), the lead sponsor of this legislation.

Mr. WESTERMAN. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of H.R. 276, sponsored by Congresswoman Greene of Georgia. Throughout the history of the United States, the executive branch has renamed our public lands and waters. This legislation codifies a portion of President Trump's Executive Order No. 14172, which directed the Board on Geographic Names to rename the Gulf of Mexico as the Gulf of America. President Trump signed this executive order on his first day in office. Enacting this legislation will help make President Trump's historic action permanent and ensure consistency in references to laws, maps, regulations, and records of the United States. The Gulf of America is critical to the United States because of its energy resources and ecological significance. This renaming symbolizes Republicans' commitment to putting America first, and honors the Gulf of America's important role in unleashing American energy and our Nation's return to greatness. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. WESTERMAN. 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 H.R. 276.

Mr. WESTERMAN. Mr. Speaker, pursuant to House Resolution 377, I call up the bill (H.R. 276) to rename the Gulf of Mexico as the ``Gulf of America'', and ask for its immediate consideration in the House.

Mr. WESTERMAN

Mr. WESTERMAN. Mr. Speaker, this Sunday across America families will gather to honor our mothers. I rise today to honor a mother and a dedicated member of my staff as she closes out her time on Capitol Hill. Rebekah Hoshiko joined my staff in 2019 and has been a vital member of my team serving in various capacities and currently serves as communications director at the Committee on Natural Resources. We are grateful for her exemplary service, and she will be missed. Rebekah is departing Capitol Hill to embrace the noble job of full- time mom to her two young boys, Judah and James. Wishing her and her family all the best, I hope to encourage Rebekah and all mothers with the lyrics of a Fourth District Arkansan, Glen Campbell's song: There ought to be a hall of fame for mamas Creation's most unique and precious pearls And Heaven help us always to remember The hand that rocks the cradle rules the world.

Mr. WESTERMAN

Mr. WESTERMAN. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself the balance of my time. Mr. Speaker, first, I acknowledge and agree with my friends from across the aisle. Mark Twain was correct. The more I learn about water, the further west you go, the more it is for fighting. We can agree on that. Mr. Speaker, I also want to try to help them solve the issue about parallel universes from an outsider's perspective. I would say that most people who live in States that are east of California, maybe some that are north and west of California, if you go to California, you realize it is a very beautiful State, a very blessed State, wonderful resources, beautiful beaches, beautiful forests, the most productive farmland in the country, some of the most unique trees in the world, wonderful weather, good fishing. Everything nice, it seems like California has it. I think we all love California, but we all realize somehow it is kind of a different universe than the rest of the country that we live in. Maybe they embrace that and like that, the good people of California. When we look at this legislation, H.J. Res. 78, it is a serious thing. The ESA listing in question was based on incomplete and bad science and will further complicate the delivery of water in California communities. It is already complicating the delivery of water. Passing this resolution will further the priorities of President Trump, who has signed two executive orders aimed at removing unnecessary regulations that prevent water from being delivered to southern California. The current paradigm of having full reservoirs in California while many farmers are only receiving half of the water they are supposed to be getting is unacceptable, and it is unsustainable. It takes away the myth that this is all due to drought conditions. It is not drought conditions in California right now, yet farmers are still only getting half the amount of water they were promised to get. This resolution is cosponsored by the entire California Republican delegation. I thank each Member for standing up for their constituents and tirelessly fighting for additional water resources in the face of Federal and State government overreach and radical decisions. Mr. Speaker, I support this resolution, and I yield back the balance of my time.

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