Bruce Westerman

Mr. WESTERMAN

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. 7370, the bill now under consideration.

Mr. WESTERMAN. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from Utah (Mr. Curtis), the lead sponsor of the bill.

Mr. WESTERMAN. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 7370) to amend the Geothermal Steam Act of 1970 to establish a deadline for processing applications related to geothermal leasing, as amended.

Mr. WESTERMAN. Mr. Speaker, I have no further requests for time. I am prepared to close, and I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. WESTERMAN

Mr. WESTERMAN. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of the legislation led by the gentleman from Utah (Mr. Curtis), which amends the Central Utah Project Completion Act. As we all know, the Great Salt Lake is one of Utah's most famous natural resources. In recent years, however, the lake levels have dropped to historic lows, posing a threat to the lake's ecosystem, local air quality, and the prosperity of surrounding communities. Mr. Curtis' legislation would authorize the Secretary of the Interior to use Central Utah Project funds toward new water conservation measures to help recover the Great Salt Lake. Importantly, this bill does not require any new spending authorizations. I thank Representative Curtis and the rest of Utah's congressional delegation for their leadership on this issue. Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to support this bill, and I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. WESTERMAN. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 4094) to amend the Central Utah Project Completion Act to authorize expenditures for the conduct of certain water conservation measures in the Great Salt Lake basin, and for other purposes.

Mr. WESTERMAN. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from Utah (Mr. Curtis), the sponsor of the bill.

Mr. WESTERMAN. Mr. Speaker, I have no further requests for time, and I am prepared to close. I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. WESTERMAN

Mr. WESTERMAN. Mr. Speaker, I have no further requests for time, I am prepared to close, and I continue to reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. WESTERMAN. Mr. Speaker, I yield 5 minutes to the gentlewoman from Virginia (Mrs. Kiggans), who is the sponsor of the bill.

Mr. WESTERMAN. Mr. Speaker, coastal barriers are important for the protection of coastal communities and for wildlife habitat. The BEACH Act balances these two needs by reauthorizing and amending CBRA to recognize the changes to coastal barriers that have taken place over time. The bill would also benefit coastal communities by providing much-needed transparency. Mr. Speaker, I commend my colleague, Mrs. Kiggans, for her great work on the bill. I urge my colleagues to support the legislation, and I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. WESTERMAN. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members have 5 legislative days to revise and extend their remarks and to include extraneous material on H.R. 5490, the bill now under consideration.

Mr. WESTERMAN. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of Mrs. Kiggans' bill, the BEACH Act, which would reauthorize and amend the Coastal Barrier Resources Act, or CBRA. Congress passed CBRA in 1982 to restrict the use of new Federal funding that may encourage development on or around certain coastal barriers. The intention of these restrictions is to minimize the loss of human life, wasteful expenditure of Federal revenues, and the damage to fish, wildlife, and other natural resources associated with the coastal barriers. H.R. 5490 would reauthorize CBRA and codify new maps that were recently proposed by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. In addition, H.R. 5490 makes critical reforms to the underlying CBRA statute that will benefit coastal home buyers. Specifically, the bill would require owners who are selling or leasing property in a CBRA zone to disclose that the property is in a CBRA zone to the buyer or lessee. This is a much-needed transparency measure that is long overdue. Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to support this bill, and I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. WESTERMAN. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 5490) to amend the Coastal Barrier Resources Act to expand the John H. Chafee Coastal Barrier Resources System, and for other purposes, as amended.

Mr. WESTERMAN

Mr. WESTERMAN. Mr. Chair, I thank the gentlewoman for yielding and for her amendment. Mr. Chair, I note that over 2.3 million households rely on firewood to heat their homes. I didn't say they enjoy a nice evening by the fire. They rely on firewood to heat their homes. It is even more common in western, rural communities near Federal lands, especially in counties with significant Native American communities. The Forest Service has made some positive efforts with programs like Wood For Life, which provides firewood from forest restoration projects in northern Arizona to local Tribal communities that otherwise could not afford to heat their homes. Providing ample firewood sources to these communities is an essential and cost-effective service the Forest Service should be helping to provide. Also, for as little as $5, more than 300,000 American families receive a Christmas tree permit from Forest Service properties each year. This not only helps Americans celebrate the Christmas season, but it also helps manage our forests through the removal of forest products that may otherwise fuel the next wildland fire. I commend Representative Boebert for her work on this creative and thoughtful amendment that can make a big difference in the lives of rural Americans, and I urge its support.

Mr. WESTERMAN. Mr. Chair, I thank the gentlewoman for yielding. I thank her for bringing this amendment, which is important. I support the amendment. Unfortunately, our forests out West are overstocked. They compete with each other. They get weak. They invite disease and insect infestation. These insects and diseases kill the trees, and then you have dry kindling for a lightning strike or a wildfire that gets out, and it creates the perfect storm for catastrophic wildfires. Again, I thank Representative Boebert for her efforts to improve the health of our western forests, and I support the amendment.

Mr. WESTERMAN. Mr. Chair, I thank the gentleman from New York for yielding. Mr. Chair, I thank my friend, Representative LaLota, for filing this amendment which seeks to address the serious threat to forests in the American northeast. The amendment does require the Forest Service to conduct a study on the causes and effects of the infestation of pine beetles in the northeastern region of the U.S. and offer solutions to the pressing problem. The southern pine beetle is an invasive species that has been expanding into northeastern forests in recent years. As a southerner, I wish all the southern pine beetles would leave the South, but I don't wish them on my friends in the North. It is an invasive species that poses a serious threat to the health of pine forests in the North. Concerning tree mortality has been documented in recent years in pitch pine stands in several northeastern States, including New York, New Jersey, and Connecticut. The expansion of this invasive species into northern forests is concerning and warrants our attention. This is a good amendment that addresses a very real threat to forests in the northeast. Examining this threat further and developing solutions to prevent, treat, and detect insect infestations is an important endeavor. I, again, applaud Representative LaLota for his leadership in this effort, and I urge my colleagues to support the amendment.

Mr. WESTERMAN. Mr. Chair, I rise today in support of this amendment being offered by Representative Boebert. This amendment ensures that livestock grazing activities are considered as hazardous fuels reduction work when Federal land management agencies calculate the number of acres treated to reduce hazardous fuels. Section 302 of the Fix Our Forests Act requires land management agencies to submit a yearly hazardous fuels reduction report to Congress based on the actual number of acres the respective agencies treated over the past year. The goal is to improve transparency and accountability. Livestock grazing is beneficial for land. Just last month, the U.S. Department of Agriculture released research showing livestock grazing can lower wildfire risk and limit invasive grasses. The rangeland scientists who published this report include researchers from Representative Boebert's home State of Colorado. I, again, thank her for her leadership and for supporting our ranching and farming families. Mr. Chair, I urge my colleagues to support this commonsense amendment, and I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. WESTERMAN. Mr. Chair, this is a good amendment that allows for good use of our resources. It allows Tribes and local communities to take care of the roads that are necessary to access, to be able to do these forest management projects, and also to be able to fight fires when they break out and stop them before they get too big. Mr. Chair, I support the amendment.

Mr. WESTERMAN. Mr. Chair, I ask unanimous consent to claim the time in opposition, although I am not opposed to the amendment.

Mr. WESTERMAN

Mr. WESTERMAN. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that the Clerk be authorized to make technical corrections in the engrossment of H.R. 8790, to include corrections in spelling, punctuation, section and title numbering, cross-referencing, conforming amendments to the table of contents and short titles, and the insertion of appropriate headings.

Mr. WESTERMAN

Mr. WESTERMAN. Mr. Speaker, this is a commonsense bill that will benefit the people of northern Minnesota and our public lands. Once again, I applaud Representative Stauber for his work on this legislation. Mr. Speaker, I urge adoption of the bill, and I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. WESTERMAN

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. 2468, the bill now under consideration.

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

Mr. WESTERMAN. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of Representative Owens' bill, the Mountain View Corridor Completion Act. This legislation would expedite the completion of the Mountain View Corridor by transferring roughly 200 acres from the Bureau of Land Management to the State of Utah to complete the final segment of this large and urgently needed transportation project in Utah. Finishing the Mountain View Corridor will improve road safety and reduce traffic congestion, results that Utah residents will readily welcome. Over 60 percent of Utah's land is federally owned. Without these types of conveyances, Western States have limited land they can develop into the homes, schools, and roads that growing communities demand. H.R. 2468 is an example of Federal agencies, local stakeholders, and Congress successfully collaborating productively to address the problems of a growing population. I hope this kind of collaboration will continue with all Federal land management issues in Utah and across the West. Mr. Speaker, I commend Representative Owens for leading this effort, which will finally deliver the Mountain View Corridor to the growing populations of Salt Lake and Utah Counties. He worked with local communities and stakeholders, including the Utah Department of Transportation, to address this need. Mr. Speaker, I support the bill, and I reserve the balance of my time.