[Congressional Record Volume 150, Number 100 (Monday, July 19, 2004)]
[House]
[Pages H5935-H5936]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




    AUTHORIZING EXCHANGE OF CERTAIN LAND IN EVERGLADES NATIONAL PARK

  Mr. HAYWORTH. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the 
bill (H.R. 3785) to authorize the exchange of certain land in 
Everglades National Park, as amended.
  The Clerk read as follows:

                               H.R. 3785

       Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of 
     the United States of America in Congress assembled,

     SECTION 1. EVERGLADES NATIONAL PARK.

       Section 102 of the Everglades National Park Protection and 
     Expansion Act of 1989 (16 U.S.C. 410r-6) is amended--
       (1) in subsection (a)--
       (A) by striking ``The park boundary'' and inserting the 
     following:
       ``(1) In general.--The park boundary'';
       (B) by striking ``The map'' and inserting the following:
       ``(2) Availability of map.--The map''; and
       (C) by adding at the end the following:
       ``(3) Acquisition of additional land.--
       ``(A) In general.--The Secretary may acquire from 1 or more 
     willing sellers not more than 10 acres of land located 
     outside the boundary of the park and adjacent to or near the 
     East Everglades area of the park for the development of 
     administrative, housing, maintenance, or other park purposes.
       ``(B) Administration; applicable law.--On acquisition of 
     the land under subparagraph (A), the land shall be 
     administered as part of the park in accordance with the laws 
     (including regulations) applicable to the park.''; and
       (2) by adding at the end the following:
       ``(h) Land Exchanges.--
       ``(1) Definitions.--In this subsection:
       ``(A) Administrator.--The term `Administrator' means the 
     Administrator of General Services.
       ``(B) County.--The term `County' means Miami-Dade County, 
     Florida.
       ``(C) County land.--The term `County land' means the 2 
     parcels of land owned by the County totaling approximately 
     152.93 acres that are designated as `Tract 605-01' and `Tract 
     605-03'.
       ``(D) District.--The term `District' means the South 
     Florida Water Management District.
       ``(E) District land.--The term `District land' means the 
     approximately 1,054 acres of District land located in the 
     Southern Glades Wildlife and Environmental Area and 
     identified on the map as `South Florida Water Management 
     District Exchange Lands'.
       ``(F) General services administration land.--The term 
     `General Services Administration land' means the 
     approximately 595.28 acres of land designated as `Site Alpha' 
     that is declared by the Department of the Navy to be excess 
     land.
       ``(G) Map.--The term `map' means the map entitled `Boundary 
     Modification for C-111 Project, Everglades National Park', 
     numbered 160/80,007A, and dated May 18, 2004.
       ``(H) National park service land.--The term `National Park 
     Service land' means the approximately 1,054 acres of land 
     located in the Rocky Glades area of the park and identified 
     on the map as `NPS Exchange Lands'.
       ``(2) Exchange of general services administration land and 
     county land.--The Administrator shall convey to the County 
     fee title to the General Services Administration land in 
     exchange for the conveyance by the County to the Secretary of 
     fee title to the County land.
       ``(3) Exchange of national park service land and district 
     land.--
       ``(A) In general.--As soon as practicable after the 
     completion of the exchange under paragraph (2), the Secretary 
     shall convey to the District fee title to the National Park 
     Service land in exchange for fee title to the District land.
       ``(B) Use of national park service land.--The National Park 
     Service land conveyed to the District shall be used by the 
     District for the purposes of the C-111 project, including 
     restoration of the Everglades natural system.
       ``(C) Boundary adjustment.--On completion of the land 
     exchange under subparagraph (A), the Secretary shall modify 
     the boundary of the park to reflect the exchange of the 
     National Park Service land and the District land.
       ``(4) Availability of map.--The map shall be on file and 
     available for public inspection in the appropriate offices of 
     the National Park Service.''.

     SEC. 2. BIG CYPRESS NATIONAL PRESERVE.

       Subsection (d)(3) of the first section of Public Law 93-440 
     (16 U.S.C. 698f) is amended by striking ``The amount 
     described in paragraph (1)'' and inserting ``The amount 
     described in paragraph (2)''.

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from 
Arizona (Mr. Hayworth) and the gentlewoman from Guam (Ms. Bordallo) 
each will control 20 minutes.
  The Chair recognizes the gentleman from Arizona (Mr. Hayworth).


                             General Leave

  Mr. HAYWORTH. 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.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the 
gentleman from Arizona?
  There was no objection.
  Mr. HAYWORTH. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
  Mr. Speaker, H.R. 3785, introduced by the gentleman from Florida (Mr. 
Mario

[[Page H5936]]

Diaz-Balart) and amended by the Committee on Resources, would authorize 
the exchange of approximately 1,054 acres of land between the South 
Florida Water Management District and the Everglades National Park. The 
Federal lands conveyed are to be used by the South Florida Water 
Management District for the C-111 project, including restoration of the 
Everglades natural system. The C-111 project, located on the eastern 
boundary of the Everglades, would restore habitat in the national park 
that has been adversely affected by projects to restore more natural 
flows of water to the park's eastern panhandle, Taylor Slough and 
Florida Bay.
  Mr. Speaker, H.R. 3785 is supported by the majority and minority of 
the Committee on Resources and by the administration. I would urge 
adoption of this legislation.
  Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
  Ms. BORDALLO. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
  (Ms. BORDALLO asked and was given permission to revise and extend her 
remarks.)
  Ms. BORDALLO. Mr. Speaker, H.R. 3785, as amended, represents a 
cooperative effort among the bill's sponsor, the Committee on 
Resources, the National Park Service and other Federal and State 
agencies to help restore natural water flows that are very important to 
the health and well-being of the Everglades in Florida. This 
legislation presents a workable solution to the resource management 
needs in this area, and we support adoption of the bill by the House 
today.
  Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. HAYWORTH. Mr. Speaker, it is an honor and privilege to yield such 
time as he may consume to the gentleman from Florida (Mr. Mario Diaz-
Balart), the sponsor of this important legislation, a newcomer to the 
Congress but one who is well schooled in public affairs and in 
legislation as a former member of the Florida legislature.
  Mr. MARIO DIAZ-BALART of Florida. I want to thank the gentleman for 
yielding me this time.
  Mr. Speaker, I am actually glad that I am doing this now because the 
Speaker pro tempore is also from Florida, understands the Everglades 
very, very well, and has been a strong supporter of Everglades 
restoration.
  Let me just briefly talk about what this is. First, the district that 
I am privileged to represent includes the Everglades National Park. I 
spent much of my State legislative career assisting with the 
implementation of the Everglades restoration plan. This plan is showing 
extreme success, and this legislation before us today will greatly 
contribute to that success, to continuing that success.
  Mr. Speaker, the people of Florida have a strong commitment to the 
restoration of the Everglades. Not only is it a national treasure, a 
global treasure, really an international treasure, tourists from around 
the country and around the world come to experience the wonders, the 
beauty that is the Everglades. But the people of Florida as well as the 
taxpayers of the country have also put a lot of resources to try to 
make sure that the Everglades is as pristine as possible and gets back 
to as much of its natural state as is possible.
  This legislation will allow for the implementation of a component of 
the 1994 general reevaluation report that provided for the construction 
of a buffer and detention system along the eastern boundary of 
Everglades National Park. This system seeks to establish a hydraulic 
ridge to both prevent excess loss of seepage from the park and to 
reestablish the historical surface water flow from Northeast Shark 
River Slough to Taylor Slough.
  Again, as I mentioned before, these are not inexpensive propositions. 
These are not only expensive, they are also very time-consuming 
projects.
  Again, the people of the State of Florida, the State legislature in 
the State of Florida, the governor in the State of Florida and again 
previous governors as well but particularly this governor, Governor Jeb 
Bush, have shown that they are extremely committed to this effort; and 
again, the taxpayers, the State legislature and the governor have put 
in a lot of money to make sure that it is not just the Federal 
taxpayer, the Federal Government, that is contributing to this 
wonderful effort.
  Specifically, Mr. Speaker, this legislation will authorize the 
exchange of approximately 1,054 acres between the South Florida Water 
Management District and the Everglades National Park to carry out the 
construction of the buffer and detention system. Currently, 2.5 miles 
of the detention and buffer system have been already constructed, and 
the Federal lands conveyed in this legislation are to be used by the 
South Florida Water Management District to construct the remaining 5.5 
miles of the system.
  This is a vital part of the Everglades restoration that again, I 
repeat, that both the Federal Government has put a lot of emphasis, a 
lot of time, a lot of effort and a lot of money, and the State as well; 
not only the State but also the local taxpayers again through the water 
management district have also put up a lot of money, a lot of effort, a 
lot of time to try to get this done. This is a vital part of that 
restoration.
  I particularly need to thank the efforts of Chairman Pombo. Chairman 
Pombo has been just wonderful to work with on this. His staff has been 
great. My staff has been working with his staff. They have been 
extremely receptive, not only receptive but their in-depth knowledge of 
this national treasure has been wonderful to see. We have not had to 
educate them on something that those of us in Florida know and love so 
much. Chairman Pombo and his staff are so familiar with this project 
and it has been just a wonderful experience.
  Again, one of the things that I want to just reemphasize is that this 
is not a State of Florida project, that this is a national treasure. 
The Everglades is a national treasure that is also a threatened 
national treasure, an extremely delicate ecosystem, one that is vital 
for the entire State and I would then say for the entire Nation. When 
we think about the Everglades, we should not only think about that 
swampland that a lot of people just see in the airplanes when they are 
flying by, but we should also think about the impact that that has on, 
for example, Florida Bay, Biscayne Bay, the Florida Keys, the reef 
system. It is all interconnected. The heart of that is a vital, clean, 
vibrant, alive Florida Everglades.
  Mr. Speaker, I want to thank again Chairman Pombo and his staff for 
allowing me to bring this bill up here.

                              {time}  1500

  Ms. BORDALLO. Mr. Speaker, I have no further requests for time, and I 
yield back the balance of my time.
  Mr. HAYWORTH. Mr. Speaker, I have no further requests for time, and I 
yield back the balance of my time.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mr. Stearns). The question is on the motion 
offered by the gentleman from Arizona (Mr. Hayworth) that the House 
suspend the rules and pass the bill, H.R. 3785, as amended.
  The question was taken; and (two-thirds having voted in favor 
thereof) the rules were suspended and the bill, as amended, was passed.
  A motion to reconsider was laid on the table.

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