Bruce Westerman

Mr. WESTERMAN

Mr. WESTERMAN. Madam Speaker, I thank the gentleman for yielding and also for his leadership in the Western Caucus and on these important issues that mean a lot to places like the Fourth District of Arkansas, to all over rural America, where out-of-touch policies in D.C. have a negative impact on people's daily lives, and just being able to earn a living, to pay their taxes, and to provide the goods and services that the rest of the world needs. So I appreciate you hosting this Special Order. For years, it has been clear to rural America that our Federal permitting and environmental review processes are broken. While well- intentioned, they are doing more harm than good. The current system is complex, burdensome, and ineffective, yet the political elite in Washington, D.C., wonder why our farmers, ranchers, and energy producers struggle. Far-left special interest groups have weaponized, as Mr. Newhouse said, well-intentioned laws like the National Environmental Policy Act and the Endangered Species Act, and they use them as clubs to bludgeon or kill critical infrastructure, natural resource management, and energy and minerals development projects across the United States. Delays in environmental regulatory systems are especially acute. In 2020, the Council on Environmental Quality showed that the average time for a Federal agency to complete a final environmental impact statement through the NEPA process--again, Mr. Newhouse quoted this number--is 4\1/2\ years. But that is the average number. One-quarter of all projects took over 6 years to complete. That is more than red tape. That is a roadblock. That is why Republicans support the BUILDER Act to streamline the NEPA process and benefit communities looking to improve infrastructure investment. My district, like many others in the Western Caucus, is built on the agriculture industry, and I hear over and over from hardworking Arkansans who are simply trying to make a living through the sludge of government regulation. Overregulation and stalled regulation ensures that only the biggest businesses have the money and time to navigate the red tape and hire the lawyers that are needed to even attempt to navigate the process. This is the kind of Big Government that puts local, small operators out of business. It stamps out small business operators and honest competition in one fell swoop. The message from rural America is clear: Government needs to get out of the way. More than that, government needs to be part of the solution and not part of the problem. I think government has forgotten that it is the government of the people, by the people, and for the people, and that if you work for the government, you work for the people. It is not the other way around. There is no doubt that we should be good stewards of our environment and communities, but too often the free market, unburdened by government, is seen as the enemy of both. This is simply false. Streamlining a permitting process shouldn't be partisan, political, or picking sides. It can be a win for the environment, the economy, and our communities simultaneously. We do not need to choose just one. In fact, a healthy environment and a strong economy go hand in hand. Somehow, we have gotten this idea that they are mutually exclusive, and we can't have one without the other. Again, Republicans have the solutions to cutting the red tape--it is called the BUILDER Act--and by so doing, we can empower rural America and strengthen our Nation's economy at the same time.

Mr. WESTERMAN

Mr. WESTERMAN. Madam Speaker, again, I support this bipartisan bill. It is unfortunate that with regard to something that had so much agreement on it that people would point fingers at political figures or political movements and try to assign the actions of a disturbed, radical individual to a political party or to a political figure. Madam Speaker, I do support this, I wish that the debate hadn't gone in this direction, and I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. WESTERMAN

Mr. WESTERMAN. Madam Speaker, I rise today to congratulate Colonial Steak House of Pine Bluff for being inducted into the Arkansas Food Hall of Fame Class of 2022. The steakhouse was one of three winners out of ten finalists submitted in the state of Arkansas. Having opened its doors in 1974, the Colonial Steak House has and continues to be a staple in the Pine Bluff community. This local restaurant embodies the resilient spirit of Arkansas, having survived a fire in the 1980s and the Coronavirus pandemic, For nearly fifty years, it has continually served the community, not only with great food, but also with its drive to make the Pine Bluff area better. This was highlighted in 2020 when a $1,200.00 tip was left for one server. Colonial's owners divided it amongst the employees, even those who had the day off. Allie Hall and her business partner Scott Mouser purchased the historic steakhouse from her mom Dana Gately in 2020, and between the three of them, they have over fifty years of experience running the restaurant. To this day, if you come on a busy night, you can find three generations of Gately's working there. I take this time today to congratulate Allie Hall, Scott Mouser, Dana Gately, and the staff of the Colonial Steak House on this well-deserved honor. I thank them for their dedication to Pine Bluff, our community, and all the residents of Arkansas's Fourth Congressional District.

Mr. WESTERMAN

Mr. WESTERMAN. Mr. Speaker, as we witness an evil empire trying to remake itself, I reflect on Mrs. Bolin's first grade class in my tiny rural school in the heartland of America and, as a 6-year-old living during the Cold War, trying to understand how crouching under a desk as part of our nuclear attack drill would save anyone. The simple truth is, it wouldn't. Crouching, hiding, and being intimidated only emboldens Communists. Standing up strong is how you beat the evils of communism. Last year, I had the great experience of standing at the Brandenburg Gate in Berlin, where Ronald Reagan spoke those famous words in 1987: ``Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall.'' Remarkably, less than 2\1/2\ years later, that wall came down, and by the end of 1991, the evil Soviet empire had dissolved. The Soviet Union was gone, but the seeds of the evil in the Communist government of Russia and other parts of the world still remain. As brave Ukrainians are fighting a David and Goliath type battle of survival, we must stand strong and create a long-term plan to crush the Russian energy grip on Europe and our allies. Energy revenue feeds the Russian beast, and we have the resources and the technology to starve it to death. Only a few years ago, the United States became energy independent. But my, how quickly things have changed. On his first day in office, President Biden canceled the Keystone XL pipeline that could have reduced our reliance on Russian oil. But it is not just Keystone. All U.S. pipeline projects are being held up, and Russian hackers even attacked our existing pipelines with no recourse. A week into office, the Biden administration doubled down on their anti-American energy agenda, ordering an indefinite freeze on new oil and gas leasing and, to this day, has issued zero new leases on Federal lands or waters. President Biden's policies are choosing Russian oil and Russian jobs over American energy and our own national security. In fact, in 2021, U.S. imports from Russia reached an 11-year high, and we are sending tens of millions of our dollars every day to fund Putin's war machine. Why are we doing this to ourselves when we have so many resources at our fingertips? Our bill is simple, and it stands up to Russian aggression by going after their major source of funding. It will empower U.S. domestic production by immediately approving the Keystone XL pipeline; by restarting the oil and gas leasing program on Federal lands and waters; by requiring President Biden to submit an energy security plan to Congress; by unleashing liquefied natural gas exports to displace Russian gas abroad; and, finally, requiring drawdowns from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve to be replaced by increased Federal oil and gas leasing. I ask my colleagues on both sides of the aisle to stand up strong and join Mrs. McMorris Rodgers and me in cosponsoring the legislation.

Mr. WESTERMAN. I urge my colleagues to defeat the previous question so that our legislation can be considered immediately by the House of Representatives.

Mr. WESTERMAN

Mr. WESTERMAN. Madam Speaker, I rise today to celebrate the service of Dr. William Slikker, Jr., a committed servant of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and the National Center for Toxicological Research (NCTR) in Jefferson, Arkansas. Dr. Slikker will soon retire from his role as NCTR Director, where he served the American people and his local Arkansas community with distinction since his appointment in 2005. Dr. William Slikker, Jr., has been a leader in his field, holding committee chairmanships or elected offices in several scientific societies including the Teratology Society and the American Society for Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics. He is an adjunct professor in the Department of Pediatrics and the Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences. He has authored or co-authored over 350 publications in the areas of transplacental pharmacokinetics, developmental neurotoxicology, neuroprotection, systems biology, and risk assessment. And he recently co-edited the Second Edition of the ``Handbook of Developmental Neurotoxicology,'' which is a comprehensive and updated view of important research in the field bridging developmental neuroscience with the principles of neurotoxicology. Leaders and educators like Dr. Slikker are what make the Fourth District of Arkansas so special and why NCTR is such an exceptional institution worthy of continued support. I take this time today to congratulate Dr. William Slikker, Jr., on his service. I thank him for his dedication to our fellow citizens and our beloved Fourth District of Arkansas, and I wish him well in his future endeavors.

Mr. WESTERMAN

Mr. WESTERMAN. Today, I think about when my four children were young. They are stair-stepped 2 years apart. They used to have competitions in the backyard. They would race from the patio to the elm tree and back. And I would stagger the starting time: Let the youngest one go first, then the next to the youngest, and so on. And by the time they touched the tree and came back, it turned into a real competition--a photo finish a lot of times. Mr. Speaker, we have all competed in games whose outcome has little significance in life, but we are not facing an insignificant competition in our future. We are in a race of ideologies. The stakes are as high as they can be. We are literally in a struggle for the future of western civilization, of democracy, of representative government, of human rights, and freedom. Mr. Speaker, this isn't a matter of competing. It is a must-win scenario. And quite frankly, I am aghast that this majority thinks that we only need to compete. Losing is not an option. Our attitude must be to win. If we lose, humanity loses. I believe freedom-loving Republicans, Democrats, Independents, and people all across the world want America to win. I am disappointed that the Speaker and this majority, once again, dropped a massive bill that could and should be bipartisan, but instead is a cloak for failed Build Back Better policies that lie dead in the Senate. Mr. Speaker, ``You and I have a rendezvous with destiny. We will preserve for our children this, the last best hope of man on Earth, or we will sentence them to take the first step into a thousand years of darkness. If we fail, at least let our children and our children's children say of us we justified our brief moment here. We did all that could be done.'' Those familiar words were from Ronald Reagan in the 1960s, but they have never been more true than today. How serious are the issues that we face? Take a look at these charts from the economist. This first one is in 2000. The blue is the U.S. and its trading partners. The red is China and its trading partners. Look what has happened in a short 20-year span as we look at this same map from 2022. We see a massive increase in red on this map and a massive decrease of blue on this map. What do provisions in this bill from the blue New Deal have to do with us winning against China? It does the exact opposite by killing American jobs. Restoring coral reefs off our coast is a commendable goal, but what does spending $292 million on coral reef restoration have to do with us winning against China? This bill gives supreme, unilateral authority to the Fish and Wildlife Service to determine what species can be imported into the U.S. This so-called ``white list'' mandated in the bill is virtually impossible to implement and will effectively shut down aquaculture and similar industries who need trade to conduct business. The weaponization of the Lacey Act will only empower bureaucrats and ignores the current State-based approach on species imports. It is legislative laziness since there have been no hearings or an introduced bill on this topic. What in the world does that have to do with winning against China? The bill requires biased studies and new heavy-handed regulations designed to kill American mineral development. Mr. Speaker, how can this majority propose this bill while the Democratic administration continues to illustrate incompetency by killing American energy and jobs, and even pulling mining leases in Minnesota that could create jobs and supply resources for the very policies on electrification the administration supports? This only shifts wealth and jobs to China. How does that help us win? It reminds me of my kids' races, where the majority is trying to handicap America and give China a head start. What we should be doing to have a winning strategy--we should be working together on real issues to ensure that America wins. We should be strengthening diplomacy and trade with our allies and create a solid Western Hemisphere alliance to ensure that America wins. We should be developing our resources and jobs to help America win. We should be part of the solution and not the problem. Americans and freedom will win if we let them. As I close, I want to remind you of a fable by Aesop, the Eagle and the Arrow. The Eagle was struck by an arrow and as he lie on the ground he looked back at it, and he said: Alas, I have been wounded by an arrow that was feathered with my own plume. Mr. Speaker, we cannot afford to put more plumes on China's arrows. I oppose this bill.

Mr. WESTERMAN

Mr. WESTERMAN. Madam Speaker, I rise today to celebrate the life of retired Lieutenant Jerry S. Bush, a committed servant of the Hempstead County Sheriff's Department. Lieutenant Bush passed away on Wednesday, January 5, leaving behind a legacy of joyful service to his beloved Hope, Arkansas home. Having started his career as a Reserve Deputy, Lieutenant Bush worked his way up to Deputy and was later promoted to Lieutenant in the county's detention center. Lieutenant Bush also served many years as a Bailiff to the Arkansas Circuit Court. Remembered most for his service to the citizens of Hempstead County, Lieutenant Bush will always be remembered as a friend and servant to his community. I take this time today to honor the life of service exemplified by Lieutenant Jerry S. Bush. I thank him and his family for their dedication to our fellow citizens and our beloved Fourth District of Arkansas.

Mr. WESTERMAN

Mr. WESTERMAN. Madam Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Madam Speaker, I rise in support of H.R. 4706, offered by Representative Tony Gonzales of Texas, to establish the Blackwell School National Historic Site in Marfa, Texas, as a unit of the National Park system. Segregation education began in Marfa in 1892 following the completion of a new school for the city's White students. The Blackwell School served as the sole public education institution for the city of Marfa, Texas', Mexican and Mexican-American children from 1909 to 1965. Known originally as the Ward or Mexican School, the Blackwell School was later renamed for its longtime principal, Jesse Blackwell, who arrived in 1922. During Blackwell's 25-year tenure, the school grew from one building and 120 students to a multi-building campus and more than 600 students. The original historic school building and grounds provide an authentic setting to commemorate and interpret the history of the Blackwell School. Designation as a national historic site is locally supported and the designation helps meet needs identified in the National Park Services' American Latino Theme Study completed in 2013. Madam Speaker, I highly commend my colleague from Texas (Mr. Tony Gonzales) for his work on commemorating this important landmark. I urge adoption of the measure, and I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. WESTERMAN. Madam Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Tony Gonzales), the author of this bill.

Mr. WESTERMAN. Madam Speaker, I yield the gentleman an additional 1 minute.

Mr. WESTERMAN. Madam Speaker, I have no further speakers. I want to encourage adoption of this bill and, again, I thank the gentleman from Texas for his hard work in bringing this bill forward. I hope we can all get behind it. I urge adoption, and I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. WESTERMAN

Mr. WESTERMAN. Madam Speaker, as I listened to the testimony about the bill today, I thought about all of the women that I was around growing up who were part of that war effort at home during World War II and the jobs that they did that were critical to the war effort. I think about Representative Burchett's mother from Tennessee who flew planes in World War II. My counsel's grandmother, Mimi Hart, was a codebreaker in World War II, and I think it is fitting that we recognize all these women as they are getting up in years and we are losing a lot of them. Madam Speaker, I appreciate the gentlewoman for bringing this bill forward. I urge adoption, and I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. WESTERMAN. Madam Speaker, I have no further speakers on my side, and I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. WESTERMAN. Madam Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Speaker, H.R. 3531 offered by Delegate Eleanor Holmes Norton, authorizes the Women Who Worked on the Home Front Foundation to establish a commemorative work in Washington, D.C., to commemorate the commitment and service of millions of women during World War II. During World War II, roughly 12 million women worked in defense industries and support services across the Nation. Women served in critical professional roles in shipyards, steel mills, foundries, warehouses, offices, and hospitals. Women worked as codebreakers, aircraft testing pilots, trainers, welders, riveters, telegraph operators, radio and electrical engineers, crane operators, surveyors, assembly line workers, and many other jobs that kept America running. In recent years, Congress established the Rosie the Riveter National Historical Park in California to highlight the incredible contributions of women to the war effort. Authorizing this commemorative work in our Nation's capital is another fitting tribute to the brave, strong, and intelligent women that helped us win the war. Madam Speaker, I urge adoption of the measure, and I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. WESTERMAN

Mr. WESTERMAN. Madam Speaker, in closing, I encourage passage of this bill, and I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. WESTERMAN. Madam Speaker, I yield such time as he may consume to the gentleman from Alaska (Mr. Young), the dean of the House.

Mr. WESTERMAN

Mr. WESTERMAN. Madam Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Madam Speaker, H.R. 897, the Agua Caliente Land Exchange Fee to Trust Confirmation Act, would place approximately 2,560 acres of land owned by the Agua Caliente Tribe within the reservation into trust. And I will agree with the gentlewoman from New Mexico. I have visited this area, and it is a beautiful area. The Agua Caliente Band of Cahuilla Indians' reservation is located approximately 100 miles southeast of Los Angeles in and around Palm Springs, California, with nearly 11,000 acres of the reservation within the city limits of Palm Springs. Originally established in 1876 by President Grant, the Tribe's reservation only encompassed 1\1/2\ acres. Today, the reservation is approximately 31,000 acres. The lands in question were acquired through a land exchange with the Bureau of Land Management in 2018 pursuant to the Santa Rosa and San Jacinto Mountains National Monument Act of 2000. H.R. 897 would allow the Bureau of Land Management exchange lands owned by the Tribe to be taken into trust and made part of the Tribe's reservation. Gaming pursuant to the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act would be prohibited. The Tribe intends to use the land for conservation purposes. According to the Tribe, the Santa Rosa and San Jacinto Mountains hold strong cultural and historical value to the Tribe. I appreciate the work of the Tribe and the bill's sponsor to advance this legislation. Madam Speaker, I have no further speakers, and I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. WESTERMAN

Mr. WESTERMAN. Madam Speaker, I yield 4 minutes to the gentleman from Oklahoma (Mr. Cole).

Mr. WESTERMAN. Madam Speaker, I yield 4 minutes to the gentleman from Arizona (Mr. Gosar).

Mr. WESTERMAN. Madam Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Madam Speaker, as the gentlewoman described, this is a very complex issue with a long history behind it. H.R. 4352 would reverse a 2009 Supreme Court decision, Carcieri v. Salazar, which held that the Indian Reorganization Act does not authorize the Secretary of the Interior to acquire land in trust for Tribes that were not under Federal jurisdiction in 1934 when the act was passed. The Carcieri decision created vast uncertainty over the fee-to-trust process for Tribes and impacted stakeholders. Since the decision was handed down, there has been no resolution in this incredibly complex issue. Lands taken into trust are extremely important to Tribes. Tribes' desire to increase their Tribal land base and help their communities must be respected. There are certain benefits and advantages afforded to Tribes having lands that are held in trust. But we should be clear that even prior to Carcieri, the fee-to-trust process was far from perfect. We should not ignore the larger need to improve the process. Many have argued the current Bureau of Indian Affairs process provides very limited incentive for community stakeholders to be partners and places little requirement on the BIA to analyze the impacts of a fee-to-trust decision on nearby communities or Tribes, often resulting in unresolved conflicts and litigation at the local level. For the last decade, county governments have been asking us to reform this process. Their concerns with the tax, zoning, and community impacts of trust land acquisition have been well documented. While this bill addresses the immediate impacts of the Carcieri decision, if this bill becomes law, nothing will have changed to address the larger issues with the fee-to-trust process. Congress should address the impacts of the Carcieri decision and enact needed reforms to improve the fee-to-trust process. Tribes and all stakeholders deserve as much, and I look forward to working with them on this important issue. Madam Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. WESTERMAN. Madam Speaker, I have no further speakers, and I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. WESTERMAN

Mr. WESTERMAN. Madam Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Madam Speaker, Congress has long recognized the importance of Native American Tribal cultural items and their historical, traditional, and cultural importance to Native American Tribes. Approximately 137 million Native American artifacts, works of art, and specimens are in the Smithsonian's collections according to the Government Accountability Office. Both the Archaeological Resources Protection Act and the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act provide a legal framework for the repatriation of human remains and cultural items to Indian Tribes. While these two statutes have greatly reduced the sale of cultural items within the United States, many items have appeared in European auctions where they have little legal protection from being sold. In recent years, Paris auction houses facilitated the sale of Hopi, Navajo, and Acoma Tribal masks and ceremonial items. The U.S. Government attempted to intervene to prevent the sales, but the French government and the auction houses maintained that they were legal. In response to this problem, former Congressman Steve Pearce introduced a concurrent resolution in March of 2016 condemning these sales and requesting that the U.S. Comptroller General conduct a report on the issue. The Safeguard Tribal Objects of Patrimony Act, or the STOP Act, would expand legal protections to Native American Tribal artifacts and sacred objects by increasing criminal penalties for repeat traffickers of Native American human remains or cultural items and banning the export of illegally obtained items. The Department of the Interior would be required to form an interagency working group to facilitate repatriation of items and protect items currently in an Indian Tribe's possession. To incentivize repatriation, the bill would allow immunity from prosecution if an individual voluntarily surrenders to the appropriate Tribe the Native American cultural objects in his or her possession within 2 years of enactment. I want to thank the sponsor of the legislation for working with stakeholders impacted by this bill, including the Acoma, the Pueblo, the Antique Tribal Art Dealers Association, the Department of the Interior, the Department of Justice, and others. It is important that we protect items of cultural and historic significance to our Indian Tribes. Madam Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. WESTERMAN. Madam Speaker, I encourage adoption of this legislation, and I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. WESTERMAN

Mr. WESTERMAN. Madam Speaker, the first unalienable right named in the Declaration of Independence is the right to life. The Preamble of the Constitution further built the framework for this most fundamental liberty. ``We, the people . . . in order to form a more perfect Union, establish justice, insure domestic tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote the general welfare, and secure the blessings of liberty to ourselves and our posterity''--none of which can truly be accomplished when the law allows the murder of unborn children. The Supreme Court got this wrong in 1973 and now has the chance to correct its mistakes and uphold the constitutional right to life. It is absurd to argue, as the plaintiff in Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization does, that our founding document can be used to prevent duly-elected State legislators from protecting life. The Supreme Court must right this wrong. Our Nation should never put an unwritten right to privacy before the enumerated right to life.