House Proceeding on Mar 11th, 2009 :: 0:26:55 to 0:46:55
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Speech By: Charlie Wilson

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Charlie Wilson: it's important to send the right

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message to the american people. a message that says congress is willing to tighten its belt just like american families are doing across the country. but we need to go even further. that's why i hope the leadership in the house will take up my legislation, h.r. 566, blocking all future congressional pay raises until the federal budget

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is balanced. millions of hardworking americans only get a salary increase if they produce positive results. congress should be no different. with our national debt about to surpass $11 trillion, unemployment in our country over 8%, we need to hold ourself to a higher standard. the american people expect and

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deserve nothing less. my legislation to block congressional pay raises until we balance the budget offers meaningful reform. i encourage members from both sides of the aisle to support it. mr. speaker, i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back the balance of his time. the chair lays before the house a communication.

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the clerk: the honorable the speaker, house of representatives. madam, pursuant to the permission granted in clause 2-h of rule 2 of the rules of the u.s. house of representatives, the clerk received the following message from the secretary of the senate on march 11, 2009, at 9:20 a.m. that the senate passed without amendment h.r. 1105.

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with best wishes i am sincerely lorraine c. miller, clerk of the house. the speaker pro tempore: the chair lays before the house an enrolled bill. the clerk: h.r. 1105, an act making omnibus appropriations for the fiscal year ending september 30, 2009, and for

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other purposes. the speaker pro tempore: pursuant to clause 8 of rule 20, the chair will postpone further proceedings today on motions to suspend the rules on w recorded vote or the yeas and na are ordered, or on which the vote is objected to under clause 6 of rule 20.

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recorded votes are postponed questions will be taken ler. fowhat purpose does the gentleman from west virginia rise? mr. rahall: i move to suspend th amended. the speaker pro tempore: the clerk wi the clerk: senate 22, designate certain land and components of the national wil8derness preservation system to authorize certain programs and activities in the department of interior and department o

0:29:25 to 0:29:45( Edit History Discussion )

Nick J. Rahall: agriculture and for other purposes. the speaker pro tempore: pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from west virginia, mr. rahall, and the gentleman from washington, mr. hastings, each will control 20 minutes. the chair recognizes the gentleman from west virginia. . mr. rahall: i ask unanimous consent that all members may

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Speech By: Nick J. Rahall

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Nick J. Rahall: have five legislative days to revise and extend their remarks on the bill under consideration. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, so ordered. mr. rahall: mr. speaker, in a speech given in the fall of 1964 as the war in vietnam intensified president lyndon johnson quoted scripture from the book of matthew which says that the floods came, but the house did not fall because it

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Nick J. Rahall: was founded upon rock. president johnson then said the following, the house of america is founded upon our land and if we keep that whole then the storm can rage but the house can stand forever. once again we find ourselves as a nation seeking shelter from the storm, the storm of two

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Nick J. Rahall: wars, the storm of economic collapse. but like president johnson, we remain convinced that no matter what adversity we may be facing, if we are faithful stewards of our land, our house will stand forever. the legislation before us today, s. 22, the omnibus public land management act of 2009 will keep america's land

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Nick J. Rahall: whole. the bill contains more than 160 individual measures, including new wilderness designations, new wild and scenic rivers, new hiking trails, heritage areas, water projects and historic preservation initiatives. taken as a whole, this omnibus bill is the most important piece of conservation

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Nick J. Rahall: legislation we will consider this year and perhaps this congress. some have argued and will argue today, no doubt, that the challenges we face mean that we should not spend time considering environmental legislation. they dismiss a package before us as feel-good legislation. well, i think the american

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Nick J. Rahall: people could use some feel-good legislation right now. they could use legislation that protects our pristine public lands, the clear running streams and rivers, the wide-open spaces and the unique history that make this nation great. when the headlines read that banks are failing and companies are folding, they could use

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Nick J. Rahall: some headlines announcing tha our national parks are still beautiful, our national battlefields are still sacred and our rivers are still wild and scenic. when the headlines read that america he's -- america's status as a superpower is in doubt, they can read the

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Nick J. Rahall: headlines that we have never been stronger. the package before us is exactly what the american people want and it is exactly what our public lands need. in my own case, i'm enormously proud of the fact that included in this package is something that will designate more than 37 acresn my home state of

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Nick J. Rahall: west virginia. it should be noted that we are amending s. 22 today to insert language making it absolutely clear that this bill will not, will not affect existing state authoritto regulate hunting, fishing and trapping on the lands in this package. the amendment also makes clear that nothing in s. 22 will

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Nick J. Rahall: affect these activities. my colleagues should know that this provision was negotiated with the national rifle association and has n.r.a.'s full support. opponents of this bill fail to grasp the deep and abiding love that the american people have of their land. they fail to understand the

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Nick J. Rahall: power of our wide-open spaces and magnificent vistas, the power of those magnificent vistas to inspire our generation and renew our spirit. it's that kind of inspiration and that kind of renewal that are always valuable. but when times are tough they are precious.

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Nick J. Rahall: we should approve s. 22 today, not in spite of the chalnges we face but because of them. these storms will pass and the house of america will be

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Doc Hastings: standing because we have kept our land whole. i urge passage of s. 22 and i reserve the balance of my time. the speaker o tempore: the gentleman reserves his time. for what purpose does the gentleman from washington rise? mr. hastings: mr. speaker, parliamentary inquiry. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman will state his parliamentary inquiry. mr. hastings: mr. speaker, just to clarify, i have a series

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Speech By: Doc Hastings

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Doc Hastings: here of questions i'd like to ask under parliamentary inquiry and that does not account against my time, is that correct? the speaker pro tempore: it will not count against your time. mr. hastings: thank you, mr. speaker. mr. speaker, just to be clear, as we are considering s. 22, has the gentleman from west virginia made a motion to amend s. 22? the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is correct.

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Doc Hastings: mr. hastings: further parliamentary inquiry. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman will state it. mr. hastings: mr. speaker, is this motion by the democrat bill manager the only way that this bill may be amended under suspension of the rules? the speaker pro tempore: the motion is permitted to specify whatever text might be proposed for passage by the house. the motion is debatable for 40

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Doc Hastings: minutes and not subject to amendment, not even with unanimous consent. mr. hastings: further parliamentary inquiry then, mr. speaker. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman will state it. mr. hastings: mr. speaker, just to clarify then. under suspension of the rules, no other member except the democratic bill manager may offer amendments or text to direct -- directly to s. 22 to

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Doc Hastings: change any of the provisions of the bill which have not been considered by the house or which have substandive issues which is like reducing border security, locking up energy resources or high cost? the speaker pro tempore: the motion is debatable for 40 minutes and is not subject to

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Doc Hastings: amendment, not even by unanimous consent. mr. hastings: further parliamentary inquiry. the eaker pro tempore: the gentleman may ask it. mr. ha considered under an open rule, would any member with any germane amendment may be able to offer that amendment? the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman cannot respond to hypothetical questions. mr. hastings: further -- i

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Doc Hastings: think i know the answer but further parliamentary inquiry. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman may ask mr. hastings: mr. speaker, could the rules committee have issued a rule to allow members from both sides the aisle to offer amendments to strike objectionable provisions or restorehouse passed language which was t included by the senate?

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Doc Hastings: the speaker pro tempore: the chair cannot speculate or respond to hypothetical questions. mr. hastings: i suspect that that would be your response, mr. speaker. the speaker pro tempore: thank you. mr. hastings: mr. speaker, i yield myself four minutes. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized for four minutes. mr. hastings: mr. speaker, i oppose this bill by suspending the rules of the house.

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Doc Hastings: let us be very clear what's happening on the house floor this morning. for weeks and months, democrat leaders in the senate and the house and outside special interest groups have repeatedly insisted that the house must pass this massive senate bill without changing a single word or it will be doomed to senate purgatory and no further action will be taken. this was the justification given for why every member of this house should be blocked

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Doc Hastings: from offering their ideas and this 1,200-page bill. yet this morning, as i have just confirmed with the speaker through the parliamentary inquiry, democrat leaders are using the special suspension process to amend the senate bill and simultaneously block other members from offering an amendment. the senate's rube conof not

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Doc Hastings: changing one word has not been crossed. s. 22 has been amended. if we change one part of the bill, then this house deserves in an open and fair manner. instead the democratic leaders are shutting down everyone from offering amendments, including democrats, who have publicly been outspoken about wanting to remove entire provisions from s. 22.

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Doc Hastings: i urge these democrats and all house members to oppose this bill under suspension and demand a fair and open process of debate. the suspension process, mr. speaker, should be reserved for noncontroversial bills with little or no cost to the taxpayers. yet, this senate omnibus lands

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Doc Hastings: bill costs over $10 billion and consists of over 170 bills folded into 1,200-page monster piece of legislation. mr. speaker, this is an extreme abuse of the process for considering bills under suspension of the rules. under suspension of the rules, the house has only 40 minutes to debate the bill. with over 170 bills in this

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Doc Hastings: omnibus package, that allows just seven seconds, seven seconds to debate each bill. and each of these 170-plus bills, 100 of them have never been passed by the house. any notion that this is just a package in a bill already passed by the house is absolutely false. now i know that for some

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Doc Hastings: members there may be a page or two in this 1,200-page bill that does something positive for this district, in fact, three pieces of legislation that i authored were attached to this package. but i am more concerned about the other bills that have not been closely examined or have been debated by the house. this massive bill was aserved behind closed doors with the

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Doc Hastings: purpose of creating a pack thadge that tries to force individual members to vote for it in order to get their own bill passed despite broad policy differences that will have serious and harmful impacts. members of the house should consider a bill in its entirety and what it does for our country. this bill contains 19 provisions to block american-made energy

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Doc Hastings: production, locking away hundreds of millions of barrels of oil and trillions of cubic feet of natural gas. under this bill, our country becomes less secure, and we must rely on foreign imports of energy to fuel our vehicles to run our businesss. when the federal government shuts down energy production in america, we are sending

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Doc Hastings: good-paying jobs overseas. over three million acres of lands will be locked up from possible production and new jobs won't be created when americans desperately need them in these times. with our economy reeling and thousands of americans losing jobs every week, this is a poisonous policy that makes it tougher and more expensive to get america's economy back on track.

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Doc Hastings: this bill also bans recreational access to millions of acres of public lands despite, dpite proponent's claims it will do otherwise. lands that citizens currently use for enjoyment will be barricaded from vehicle use. riding a bicycle won't even be used. i yield myself 30 seconds. the speaker pro tempore: the

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Doc Hastings: gentleman is recognized for 30 seconds. mr. hastings: mr. speaker, this bill costs $10 billion at a time when taxpayers and the economy simply can't afford it. our national parks system can't keep existing priorities open and in working order. with the backlog of over $9 billion on existing lands, congress should not be passing a $10 billion to buy more land

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Doc Hastings: and make the problem worse. this makes it more difficult for the border patrol and other law enforcement agencies to secure the southern border and this bill makes criminals and potential felons who wants to collect foss ills on federal i only have 20 minutes for debate. mr. speaker, i yield melf 15

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Doc Hastings: seconds. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized for 15 seconds. mr. hastings: and we're considering a package of over 170 bills with just seven seconds to debate each bill's cost.

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Nick J. Rahall: so i urge my colleagues to oppose package of this bill under suspension of the rules and allow this under an open process. mr. speaker, i ask unanimous consent to revise and extend my remarks. thspeaker pro tempore: without objection, so ordered. the gentleman from west virginia. mr. rahall: thank you, mr. speaker. to respond to the gentleman

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Speech By: Nick J. Rahall

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Nick J. Rahall: since over 70 -- 170 passed out of the housof representatives some 20 more

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Raul Grijalva: prereviewed when the gentleman was on leave of absence from our committee. i yield three minutes to the distinguished gentleman from arizona, the subcommite chair of our national parks subcommittee, the gentleman ha been very instrumental in crafting this legislation and does so much for our national parks, mr. grijalva, yield him three minutes.

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Speech By: Raul Grijalva

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Raul Grijalva: the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized for three minutes. mr. grijalva: thank you, mr. speaker. s. 22 will likely be the most -- best piece of legislation we will consider during this congress. during the years that our wildlife refugees having ignored, after too many years

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Raul Grijalva: of healthy trees and healthy wildlife were not priorities, s. 22 is a long overdue recommitment to the frokse and the preservation of our natural and cultural resources that make this nation truly great. contrary to stated cost estimates, c.b.o. has stated this package is budget neutral,

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Raul Grijalva: and according to about every environmental, outdoor recreation, sportsmen and historic preservation group, it's the best thing they've seen in a long, long time. i'm particularly proud of the inclusion of my legislation, the national landscape conservation system, within the bureau of land management.

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Raul Grijalva: nlcs was created administratively approximately a decade ago. about 10% of the land administered by the bureau of land management, including national and historic scenic trails, national conservation areas, wilderness areas, wild and scenic rivers managed by b.l.m. these individual units make up

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Raul Grijalva: the national landscape convery vation system. they are -- conservation system. they are unique and beautiful and of natnal significance. mr. speaker, the opponents of this bill seem to be keshed that it will somehow -- concerned that it will somehow change these lands. these are simply not true and it's obvious if you read the text of the legislation. after almost a decade of

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Raul Grijalva: success, it's time that congress puts its stamp of approval on this system by formally authorizing nlcs. that authorization, combined with the important wilderness, wild and scenic rivers, trails and other designations in this package, will begin the process of restoring the american people's faith in our ability to serve as good stewards of

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Raul Grijalva: this incredible natural and cultural resources which make -- which make this make blessed. thank you, and i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back his time. the gentleman from washington. mr. hastings: mr. speaker, i want to yield for the purpose of unanimous consent request to mr. smith from texas. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized.

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mr of all, i thank the ranking member and the gentleman from washington for yielding. i ask my statement be made part of the record as well as an exchange of letters between chairman conyers and chairman rahall. the speaker pro tempore: without objection mr. hastings: mr. speaker, i'm pleased to yield 1/2 minutes to the gentleman from california, mr. nunes. the speaker pro tempore: the

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Devin Nunes: gentleman is recognized for 1 1/2 minutes. mr. nunes: thank you, . speaker. this bill contains a san joaquin settlement. it's a poison. if you vote for this bill you end agriculture in the san joaquin valley. it dries up 700 acres of farm ground. we already have 16% unemployment in my district. this bill ensures 20%. i thought this congress wanted to create jobs.

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Speech By: Devin Nunes

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Devin Nunes: do radical environmentalists really possess the power to force congress to choose dead fish over living communies? how could this possibly be in the best interest of our country during these economic times? spending $21 million per fish to recovery a mystic salmon run is completely irresponsible. citizens against government

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Devin Nunes: waste, national taxpayers union have labeled this the billion dollar fish fry. . if you like tumble weeds, bankpt farmers, communities without water, and people without jobs, you're going to love this bill. if you believe the most basic rule of government is to provide water to the people, you must vote no. it's hard to imagine a more

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Devin Nunes: flaw approach than the one this congress has taken today. greed, dishonesty, and the vain hope of relief from lawsuits seem to be the primary motivation for passage of this bill. mr. speaker, i urge my

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Jason Altmire: colleagues to vote no on this disastrous piece of legislation. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back the balance of his time. the gentlemafrom west virginia. mr. rahall: mr. speaker, i yield two minutes from pennsylvania, mr. altmire. >> would the gentleman yield for one moment? the prior gentleman described greed, dishonesty, and some other thing as the motivation

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Speech By: Jason Altmire