Department of the Interior, Environment, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 2017

Floor Speech

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Mr. CALVERT. Mr. Chairman, pursuant to House Resolution 820, I offer amendments en bloc.

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Mr. CALVERT. Mr. Chairman, the majority and the minority have agreed to these amendments being offered en bloc. They are amendments that address a variety of issues. Additionally, the sponsors of the amendments have agreed to consideration of these amendments en bloc. I urge the adoption of the amendments.

I yield back the balance of my time.

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Mr. CALVERT. Mr. Chairman, pursuant to House Resolution 820, I offer amendments en bloc.

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Mr. CALVERT. Mr. Chairman, the majority and the minority have agreed to these amendments en bloc. They are noncontroversial amendments that affect a variety of issues. Additionally, the sponsors of the amendments have agreed to consideration of these amendments en bloc.

I urge adoption of the amendments.

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Mr. CALVERT. Mr. Chairman,

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Mr. CALVERT. Mr. Chairman, I am happy to support the en bloc amendment.

I yield back the balance of my time.

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Mr. CALVERT. Mr. Chairman, I rise in opposition to the amendment.

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Mr. CALVERT. Mr. Chairman, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from Utah (Mr. Bishop), the chairman of the Committee on Natural Resources.

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Mr. CALVERT. Mr. Chair, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from Wisconsin (Mr. Ribble).

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Mr. CALVERT. Mr. Chairman, I yield the balance of my time to the gentlewoman from Wyoming (Mrs. Lummis).

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Mr. CALVERT. Mr. Chair, I yield back the balance of my time.

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Mr. CALVERT. Mr. Chair, I rise in opposition to the amendment.

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Mr. CALVERT. Mr. Chair, the gentleman wants to ensure that funds are being expended on climate and sustainability executive orders issued by the President.

Simply put, the President did not consult Congress on these executive orders. We would not be doing our job if we allowed this President or any President to unilaterally make policy decisions without allowing Congress to weigh in with appropriate policy debates.

In the meantime, we must use our congressional power of the purse to rein in executive branch overreach, which is exactly what we are going to do.

I urge my colleagues to vote ``no'' on this amendment.

Mr. Chair,

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Mr. CALVERT. Mr. Chair, I urge everyone to vote ``no'' on this amendment.

I yield back the balance of my time.

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Mr. CALVERT. Mr. Chair, I rise in opposition to the amendment.

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Mr. CALVERT. Mr. Chairman, the administration, as already mentioned, already removed the Atlantic leases from consideration in the 5-year lease plan from 2017 to 2022. This language is completely unnecessary, and I urge all the Members to oppose this amendment.

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Mr. CALVERT. Mr. Chair,

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Mr. CALVERT. Mr. Chair, I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from South Carolina (Mr. Duncan).

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Mr. CALVERT. Mr. Chairman, I am in opposition to this amendment. I urge everyone to vote ``no.''

I yield back the balance of my time.

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Mr. CALVERT. Mr. Chairman, I rise in opposition to the amendment.

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Mr. CALVERT. Mr. Chair, first, I want to point out that we have had separate and stand-alone debates on each of the provisions that the gentleman is trying to address, so obviously we have already had this debate.

I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from West Virginia (Mr. Jenkins).

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Mr. CALVERT. Mr. Chairman, I yield the gentleman an additional 30 seconds.

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Mr. CALVERT. Mr. Chair, as I mentioned earlier, we already had a number of debates about each of the provisions that the gentleman is trying to strike; therefore, this amendment is totally unnecessary. Nevertheless, the committee included each of these provisions for sound reasons, and each have their own merit. Broadly speaking, these policy provisions are included in the bill to put the brakes on flawed policies that this administration is trying to implement.

I urge my colleagues to oppose this amendment.

Mr. Chair, I yield back the balance of my time.

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Mr. CALVERT. Mr. Chairman, I rise in opposition to the amendment.

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Mr. CALVERT. First, I want to say I have enjoyed serving with the gentlewoman from California for a number of years. We have shared many a plane ride back and forth here to Washington, D.C., but we disagree on this issue.

In May, the Department of the Interior issued a finding of no significant impact with respect to these operations. This followed a review of 23 oil and gas platforms currently operating off the shore of California. The review drew upon the best available science and reaffirms these operations are operating as safely as they should.

The amendment is nothing more than another attempt to restrict offshore development for oil and gas. I oppose the amendment and encourage my colleagues to vote ``no.''

Mr. Chairman,

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Mr. CALVERT. Mr. Chairman, in closing, I would like to say that BSEE has done an enormous amount of study and assessment. They continue to do so as they look at the operations of oil and gas industry in California, certainly off the coast of California.

Many people don't realize how large a producer the State of California is in the oil and gas industry. It has a long history in the State of California, one of the largest oil companies in the country, Chevron, still one of the few that operates out of the State of California, and we are certainly very proud of that.

It has not been a perfect history, but the science has improved. The production practices have improved, and it is certainly an important part of our economy, and we want to make sure that they continue to operate safely. We are going to make sure that these agencies do the necessary regulatory work that they need to do.

So I am opposed to this amendment.

I yield back the balance of my time.

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Mr. CALVERT. Mr. Chair, I rise in opposition to this amendment.

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Mr. CALVERT. Mr. Chair, the bill provides funds for law enforcement functions of the Forest Service and the Bureau of Land Management. Even if these agencies wanted to, they could not eliminate their law enforcement offices and responsibility. Neither could they provide more or less funding for them without the approval of the Appropriations Committee, and this committee has no desire to end the law enforcement function of either the Forest Service or the Bureau of Land Management.

This amendment has no purpose and, therefore, it is not needed. It is nothing more than a nuisance amendment, in my opinion. I would urge my colleagues to oppose the amendment.

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Mr. CALVERT. Mr. Chairman, as I said earlier, there is no need for this amendment, and I would oppose this amendment.

I yield back the balance of my time.

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Mr. CALVERT. Will the gentleman yield?

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Mr. CALVERT. Mr. Chairman, I have no problem with the amendment and am willing to accept the amendment.

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Mr. CALVERT. Mr. Chairman, I rise in opposition to the amendment.

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Mr. CALVERT. Mr. Chairman, my friend wants to ensure that funds are being expended on efforts to address climate change. I understand that. Simply put, though, we are not here to write blank checks. Some programs may have merit; many certainly do not.

We would not be doing our jobs if we allow the Secretary of the Interior to just unilaterally make policy decisions without allowing Congress to weigh in with appropriate policy debates, and certainly, we are not going to allow a future Secretary to be bound by a prior Secretary's fiat without congressional input.

In the meantime, we must use congressional power of the purse to rein in the executive branch overreach. I would think that whoever is in power, we cannot allow an executive to continue to use executive orders in violation of the separation of powers.

Mr. Chairman, I urge my colleagues to vote ``no'' on this amendment.

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Mr. CALVERT. Mr. Chairman, just call me old-fashioned. I just think that the folks that are elected to office should have some authority around this town.

Mr. Chairman, I oppose this amendment and urge my colleagues to vote ``no.''

I yield back the balance of my time.

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Mr. CALVERT. Mr. Chairman, I rise in opposition to the amendment.

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Mr. CALVERT. Mr. Chairman, my friend wants to ensure that funds are being expended on an executive order issued by the President. Simply put, the President did not consult Congress on these executive orders. Again, call me old-fashioned, but around here you should be able to pass a law in the House of Representatives, the United States Senate, have it signed, and not do things unilaterally.

Obviously, we were not consulted. From the perspective of the majority, we have a problem with this executive order. We would not be doing our jobs if we allowed the President to unilaterally make policy decisions without Congress having the ability to weigh in with these appropriate policy debates.

In the meantime, we must use our congressional power of the purse to rein in the executive branch overreach.

I urge my colleagues to vote ``no'' on the amendment.

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Mr. CALVERT. Mr. Chairman, obviously, being from California, we have our own versions of what is going on with the drought, and certainly the science that I look at is different than the gentleman's look at the science that he is at; but that is what policy debates are all about. We should debate that here in the Congress, we should debate that in the Senate, and it shouldn't be decisions that are unilaterally made by any President of the United States. That is why we have a democracy here, not a king.

I oppose this amendment, and I encourage all of the Members here to oppose this amendment.

I yield back the balance of my time.

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Mr. CALVERT. Mr. Chairman, I rise in opposition to the amendment.

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Mr. CALVERT. Mr. Chairman, I agree with the gentleman that current law regarding public lands must be followed. There is nothing in this bill that contradicts that. We are not going to be getting rid of public lands in this bill. As such, there is no purpose or relevance for this, so I would oppose this. I think this is trying to get people all excited that we are going to be getting rid of public lands in this bill, which is not true.

I encourage my colleagues to oppose this amendment.

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Mr. CALVERT. Mr. Chair, there is no need for this amendment.

I yield back the balance of my time.

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Mr. CALVERT. Will the gentlewoman yield?

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Mr. CALVERT. If you come by my office, the gentlewoman can meet our dog, Callie, whom we refer to as the ``barker of the House.'' As a fellow dog lover, I have no problem with the gentlewoman's amendment and would happily support it.

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Mr. CALVERT. Mr. Chairman, I rise in opposition to this amendment.

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Mr. CALVERT. Mr. Chairman, of course the Federal lands are managed according to current law, and current law requires that they be managed for sustained yield and multiple use. There is nothing in this bill that contradicts that--nothing. There is no purpose for this amendment, so I urge my colleagues to oppose it.

I yield back the balance of my time.

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Mr. CALVERT. Mr. Chairman, I certainly appreciate the gentleman's amendment. I have experience firsthand with Mrs. Kirkpatrick, as a matter of fact, and with Ms. McCollum. We were at the Navajo reservation about a year ago, and my back is still hurting from the road that we were on. It was quite an experience.

So they need help. I think this is a very modest amount of money. I appreciate the support that our colleagues give to Indian Country. They certainly deserve it.

I would encourage adoption of this amendment.

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Mr. CALVERT. Will the gentleman yield?

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Mr. CALVERT. Mr. Chairman, if the gentleman from Florida wants to cut it short, I will accept the amendment right now.

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Mr. CALVERT. Mr. Chairman, I rise in opposition to the gentleman's amendment.

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Mr. CALVERT. Mr. Chairman, Jim Florio was a good friend of mine, a great guy.

As I mentioned during the debate on the gentleman's previous Superfund amendment, I certainly appreciate the gentleman's support for robust funding for the Superfund program, particularly the cleanup program. I agree, we need to make progress to address the backlog of 1,300 sites, as the gentleman mentioned, on the national priorities list, and the bill proposes to do so with the $40.1 million increase for cleanup work.

However, the gentleman's amendment proposes to increase EPA's enforcement budget by $15.2 million, offset by other reductions within the Superfund account. Presumably, those reductions would come at the expense of the cleanup program. So I reluctantly oppose the amendment and urge my colleagues to vote ``no.'' Certainly, I sympathize with what the gentleman is trying to do, but we just don't agree to the offset. I urge opposition to the amendment.

Mr. Chairman,

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Mr. CALVERT. Again, I oppose the amendment.

I yield back the balance of my time.

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Mr. CALVERT. Will the gentleman yield?

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Mr. CALVERT. This is a good amendment. We are willing to accept the amendment.

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Mr. CALVERT. Will the gentleman yield?

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Mr. CALVERT. I appreciate the gentleman yielding. I certainly agree with the gentleman that permit holders should meet all their existing requirements in order to renew their permits, and I would accept this amendment.

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Mr. CALVERT. Will the gentleman yield?

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Mr. CALVERT. Mr. Chair, I like the gentleman's amendment. Criminals shouldn't get contracts. I accept the amendment.

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Mr. CALVERT. Will the gentleman yield?

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Mr. CALVERT. Mr. Chairman, I appreciate the gentleman yielding to me. I do so for the purpose of speaking to this problem we have.

I certainly thank my colleague from Colorado for his willingness to work with the subcommittee in agreeing to withdraw the amendment later in this discussion. I fully understand his concerns regarding the Bureau of Land Management's research program for wild horses and burros.

I value wild horses and burros. They are certainly, as you mentioned, an iconic part of our history in the West. But we have a problem, and I think we can agree to that. Right now we are spending $80 million a year.

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Mr. CALVERT. Mr. Chairman, I rise in opposition to the amendment, obviously not to speak in opposition, but to speak for the purpose of the amendment.

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Mr. CALVERT. Mr. Chairman, right now we are spending $80 million a year in this appropriation bill. It will double to $160 million in 4 years to store horses that we are presently doing. Also, as the gentleman is aware, we are concerned not just about the health of the herds--some of these herds are in very poor health--but also about the health of the range. Some areas are way overutilized.

So we need to work with the gentleman to find out a way to deal with this problem because we just can't continue to ignore this issue. It is a growing problem.

I was just over in Death Valley. We have in some cases irreversible environmental damage that is being done by wild burros in Death Valley. So I look forward to working with the gentleman to resolve this problem.

Mr. Chairman, I yield back the balance of my time.

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Mr. CALVERT. Mr. Chairman, I move that the Committee do now rise.

The motion was agreed to.

Accordingly, the Committee rose; and the Speaker pro tempore (Mr. Calvert) having assumed the chair, Mr. Chaffetz, Acting Chair of the Committee of the Whole House on the state of the Union, reported that that Committee, having had under consideration the bill (H.R. 5538) making appropriations for the Department of the Interior, environment, and related agencies for the fiscal year ending September 30, 2017, and for other purposes, had come to no resolution thereon.

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