Don Young

Mr. YOUNG of Alaska

Mr. YOUNG of Alaska. I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Speaker, since 1918, the United States has signed four migratory bird treaties with Canada, Mexico, Japan, and Russia. In 1997, the Canada and Mexico treaties were revised to allow Alaska Natives to harvest for subsistence use protected migratory birds during the so- called closed season. Unfortunately, when implementing the treaty language, Congress failed to clarify that the nonedible parts of the harvested migratory bird could be sold in commercial products. As a result, what we have today is a bizarre policy that allows Alaska Natives to hunt, kill, consume, and to also use nonedible parts in handicraft items, but prohibits them from selling those handicrafts. However, the Fish and Wildlife Service has now decided to cite Alaska Native artists who use migratory bird feathers in a variety of items, including hats, fans, and hunting arrows. It is not illegal to simply throw away these nonedible migratory bird parts. According to Ms. Jacqueline Pata, the vice chair of the Sealaska Corporation, there are less than 500 traditional artists and a much fewer number that use nonedible parts of migratory birds. In her testimony, she noted that this legislation parallels the existing exemption in the Marine Mammal Protection Act and that ``all we are asking is to be able to begin helping ourselves in a very small way by providing a modest income to severely impoverished communities through a traditional means.'' Mr. Speaker, the Fish and Wildlife Service could have revised their regulations, they could have worked with the Alaska Migratory Bird Co- Management Council, and they could have continued to utilize their law enforcement discretion. In each case, they chose not to; instead, they decided to penalize a Native Alaskan artist who used raven and flicker feathers gathered from road-killed animals. This is a misguided and wrong policy. This is why I introduced this important legislation on behalf of my Native Alaskan constituents. I urge an ``aye'' vote on H.R. 3109, and I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. YOUNG of Alaska. Mr. Speaker, I have no further requests for time, and I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. YOUNG of Alaska. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 3109) to amend the Migratory Bird Treaty Act to exempt certain Alaskan Native articles from prohibitions against sale of items containing nonedible migratory bird parts, and for other purposes.

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

Mr. YOUNG of Alaska

Mr. YOUNG of Alaska. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

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

Mr. YOUNG of Alaska

Mr. YOUNG of Alaska. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the joint resolution (H.J. Res. 120) approving the location of a memorial to commemorate the more than 5,000 slaves and free Black persons who fought for independence in the American Revolution.

Mr. YOUNG of Alaska. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Speaker, in 2012 Congress authorized a National Mall Liberty Fund to establish a memorial on Federal land to honor the more than 5,000 slaves and free Black persons who served as soldiers and sailors or provided civilian assistance during the American Revolution. Under the Commemorative Works Act, memorials must be recommended by the Government Service Administration for placement within what is known as Area I, which is generally the location around The National Mall in Washington. A recommendation may be issued if the Administrator finds a proposed memorial is of preeminence and of lasting significance. On June 3, 2014, the GSA Administrator notified the Natural Resources Committee he found the proposed National Liberty Memorial to be of lasting significance. Under current law, once this notification is delivered, Congress has 150 days to concur with the finding. H.J. Res. 120 provides the necessary concurrence and allows this privately funded project to move forward. Again, I know of no Federal funds that will be used in this memorial. I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. YOUNG of Alaska. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. YOUNG of Alaska

Mr. YOUNG of Alaska. Mr. Speaker, I want to compliment Mr. Kilmer in his legislation. I am one of the few people on this floor who lived through that period of time. The reason I remembered it, I was 10 years old. My father happened to be from California--and I myself was born and raised in California--went to the local farm bureau and caused a great disturbance because they started putting Japanese into internment camps, and he actually stood up in that meeting and said, I don't see any Germans serving in internment camps. It was an unjust thing. Not only were they interned, their property was seized. We have never had a black eye in our history of the United States such as we had during that period of time. I just hope people in America realize it can happen again. We have to be very aware of what we actually have from people when they are under stress or when they are under, they think, attack by fellow Americans. So, I compliment you on this legislation. I did have an individual-- actually, three individuals--from Alaska that I know of that served on that island during that period of time. So again, I compliment you, Mr. Kilmer, for your work on this legislation, and I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. YOUNG of Alaska. I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. YOUNG of Alaska. I yield myself such time as I may consume. H.R. 4751 makes technical corrections to reflect a change in the name of the Bainbridge Island Japanese American Memorial. The site will now be known as Bainbridge Island Japanese American Exclusion Memorial to reflect a new name adopted by the Board of Commissioners of the Bainbridge Island Metropolitan Park and Recreation District in Kitsap County, Washington. This legislation has no cost and is only a change in the name, and I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. YOUNG of Alaska. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 4751) to make technical corrections to Public Law 110-229 to reflect the renaming of the Bainbridge Island Japanese American Exclusion Memorial, and for other purposes.

Mr. YOUNG of Alaska. Mr. Speaker, I object to the vote on the ground that a quorum is not present and make the point of order that a quorum is not present.

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

Mr. YOUNG of Alaska

Mr. YOUNG of Alaska. Mr. Speaker, I want to thank the gentleman from Michigan, Chairman Camp, for his work on this important legislation. H.R. 4719, the America Gives More Act of 2014, is a package of bipartisan bills to improve or make permanent several tax rules governing charitable donations. Especially, I would like to speak to a provision in the bill concerning Alaska Native Corporations. Alaska Native Corporations generally pay Federal corporate tax at the highest marginal rate but are not able to take advantage of many of the corporate tax credits like the other corporations. Under the current Tax Code, the Federal Government provides favorable tax treatment for conservation easements donated by certain corporations owned by farmers and ranchers. Considering that in Alaska, Native corporation lands have high conservation value and lack access to many other corporate tax credits, it makes sense to extend these favorable tax benefits to Alaska Native corporations. I must make it clear this provision does not mandate the creation of conservation easement, but allows Alaska Native landholders to determine themselves which lands will be best suited. I strongly support this provision and underlying bill. Mr. Speaker, it is always interesting. We talk about our good chairman's proposal for tax reform. If I remember correctly, that side of the aisle criticized that tax reform badly, and did not do it when they were in the majority. They passed ObamaCare, they passed cap-and- trade, they passed the stimulus package, and they passed Dodd-Frank. They didn't address this issue of being fiscally responsible. That amazes me. Now I hear from that side ``be fiscally responsible.'' Well, what we are trying to do here is give an extension for those who want to give instead of going through this Congress. Let's let the private individual be the one that is able to help his neighbor, not through a bureaucracy. I mean, it is amazing to me how this changes, how somebody on that side can say, well, we need reform, we need reform, and it was criticized by that side of the aisle. I want to compliment the chair again for his hard work, and especially my provision. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

Mr. YOUNG of Alaska

Mr. YOUNG of Alaska. I thank the gentleman for yielding. Mr. Speaker, I would like to go through history. The former chairman of the Infrastructure Committee on the last large highway bill, SAFETEA-LU, that was passed, I had a dear friend from Minnesota named Jim Oberstar who served beside me and worked with me to write that piece of legislation. Finally, he became the chairman. What is impressive about that, this gentleman had more knowledge about transportation probably than anyone in this House has ever had, including myself. I will tell you what was the biggest disappointment of his life is he wanted to write a transportation bill, a long-term transportation bill, and fund it. And guess who said no. Our President, Mr. Obama. His Secretary, a dear friend of mine, came down and said there is no way we are going to pass a long-term bill with full funding. He did not support Jim Oberstar. What I wanted to do was to fully fund it, and I was opposed then by the seated President, George W. Bush. In fact, if Mr. Oberstar had the opportunity, with the Senate being in the control of the President's party and the House being in the control of the President's party, we would not be here today. We would have infrastructure, bar none. We wouldn't be discussing what we are doing today. This measure today is a stopgap measure. But this Congress has to wake up, and the President should have woken up then when he had control to pass legislation for the infrastructure of this country. So, when we get accused on this side of not doing anything and making a stopgap measure, go back through history. This President has failed to recognize the importance. And for those interest groups, they should have been on him at that time in support of Mr. Oberstar. So, Mr. Speaker, I say respectfully, this is a two-way street. We have to understand this is a really important piece of legislation to keep us going, but then we have to solve it permanently. Let's be leaders on infrastructure, which we do not have down on Pennsylvania Avenue right now at this time.

Mr. YOUNG of Alaska

Mr. YOUNG of Alaska. I thank the gentleman for yielding to me. With all due respect to the gentleman offering this amendment, yes, we are one State; but if you took all of the land from the tip of Maine to the tip of Florida, from the Mississippi River over, that is part of Alaska. That is a big State, not a little State, like Ohio. This Commission has work. And I have to say one thing, it is being referred to as the ``IG report by Mr. Marshall''--totally incompetent. It has been unfounded. His finding was unfounded. In fact, we can't find him. We would like to find out where he is. He no longer exists. What he said about this Commission is totally inaccurate. It has worked. It will work, and we are a rural area. What it has done, one thing when it was created was to move the fuel tanks away from the waters that EPA said they couldn't be close to. These communities could not do that, and the process of the Federal Government and the other agencies, it would have taken too long. So we moved these fuel tanks across. And yes, it was used for clinics, and yes, it has been used for sewer and water. Forty-four of our villages don't have water yet, don't have sewage. They carry ``honey buckets.'' Why they call them ``honey buckets'' I have no idea. But this Commission is to take and provide the proper things for, just as your constituents use every day and take for granted. This Commission has worked. We want to keep the money, and I want to thank the chairman for understanding this. This amendment has been offered time and time again. And as he said, this is a very small amount of money. That is not what I am arguing. It is money well spent. If we don't spend it on this type thing to cut out the middleman, and they keep saying there are other agencies. That is not true. Those agencies do not function. Most of our agencies today do not function because there are too many layers and nothing gets to the constituent, nothing gets to solving the problem. So I am suggesting, and we have done some work on this. I asked for a GAO investigation; I did, to find if this has occurred. It has not been reported back to us yet. It will be. In fact, it will show that the IG's report is false, and that is one of the things I am looking forward to. I urge my colleagues to reject this amendment. It is time we accept the fact that this system works, as the other commissions do, for those communities that are less fortunate than the communities in which most people live in who are in this body. I come from a rural State. I want to serve my rural State, and I am sure the Commission does also.

Mr. YOUNG of Alaska

Mr. YOUNG of Alaska. Mr. Speaker, today, I would like to recognize and thank Mr. Randy Erickson, a constituent from Kodiak, Alaska. Recently, on behalf of the National Rural Electric Cooperative Association's International Foundation, he traveled from Kodiak, Alaska, to South Sudan. While there, Mr. Erickson repaired and serviced power generators for the two utilities that provide these towns with electricity. This work is part of the Electrification Sustainability Program in South Sudan, funded by the U.S. Agency for International Development. One project has evolved into a self-sustaining municipal electric cooperative serving approximately 1,300 consumer members. The other project also serves approximately 550 customers, including household, commercial enterprises, public institutions, and nongovernmental organizations. After the 2005 peace agreement in South Sudan, the National Rural Electric Cooperative Association International Foundation sent a team of experienced engineering and management staff to establish the first electric cooperative, and later to build two more rural utilities in other areas. The National Rural Electric Cooperative Association International team provided training at these utilities to strengthen the competency of their directors, management, and employees. Civil unrest broke out again last December, and many people were evacuated. Recently, USAID and the State Department began approving travel for its employees and partners to South Sudan, and Mr. Erickson volunteered his time and skills for the National Rural Electric Cooperative Association International Foundation to help ensure that, despite the unpredictable situation, the people in these areas could still have electricity. Mr. Speaker, I would like to thank Mr. Erickson for his hard work.

Mr. YOUNG of Alaska

Mr. YOUNG of Alaska. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 3786) to direct the Administrator of General Services, on behalf of the Archivist of the United States, to convey certain Federal property located in the State of Alaska to the Municipality of Anchorage, Alaska, as amended.

Mr. YOUNG of Alaska. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. H.R. 3786, as amended, will direct the General Services Administration, on behalf of the National Archives, to convey property in Alaska to the city of Anchorage. I am pleased to be the sponsor of this legislation, which will bring savings to the taxpayer. The National Archives has determined that it no longer needs the property to be conveyed in the bill, and it wants to sell it as part of its efforts to shrink its space footprint. The bill will require fair market value for the property and will allow the National Archives to retain the proceeds to offset the costs of repairing other facilities. I urge my colleagues to support the passage of this legislation. I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. YOUNG of Alaska

Mr. YOUNG of Alaska. Mr. Speaker, I would just like to put a plug in for charter schools period. The Amy Biehl school is an example of what can be done under charter schools and how it does serve a purpose. We have been very successful in the State of Alaska with our charter schools, and I think it is crucially important to understand that sometimes other schools can fulfill that gap. Apparently, this one does a good job, according to the young lady that sponsored the bill and the gentleman that is managing this bill. But let's just remember that when education is failing, then we have to look for other alternatives, and this is a classic alternative. Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. YOUNG of Alaska. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 3998) to authorize the Administrator of General Services to convey a parcel of real property in Albuquerque, New Mexico, to the Amy Biehl High School Foundation, as amended.

Mr. YOUNG of Alaska. 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. 3998, as amended.

Mr. YOUNG of Alaska. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Speaker, H.R. 3998, as amended, will direct the GSA to convey property in New Mexico to the Amy Biehl High School Foundation for fair market value. The Amy Biehl High School is a public charter school that has been using the building since 2006. While the school currently leases the facilities from the General Services Administration, GSA only receives nominal rent, making it more costly to the taxpayer to maintain the property. In fact, the Amy Biehl Foundation has invested funds to renovate and restore the building for use as a school. GSA has determined there is no Federal need for the property and concluded the cost of managing this building exceeds any revenue. Selling this property for fair market value will ensure the taxpayer receives the best return on the property. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.