[Congressional Record Volume 155, Number 48 (Thursday, March 19, 2009)]
[Senate]
[Pages S3513-S3514]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                          PASSAGE OF H.R. 146

  Mrs. BOXER. Madam President, we just took a very important vote on a 
very important bill that is good for our country and good for our 
families. It is good for our heritage. It is good for our economy 
because I would argue that when we preserve magnificent places in our 
land, it encourages people to come and see those places and spend time 
around those places and spend money around those places, and that helps 
our economy.
  I thank the leaders of the Energy Committee on both sides of the 
aisle, Senators Bingaman and Murkowski, and others on the committee. I 
also thank the staff who worked hard, and I want to take exception to a 
remark by Senator Coburn. After the staff was thanked, he got up and 
said, ``Well, what staff works for the American people?'' Well, I would 
argue that all the staff here and all of the Senators here work for the 
American people. And

[[Page S3514]]

even though Senator Coburn does not bless every provision in this bill, 
this bill has huge support because the bills in this package will 
protect some of the most breathtaking places in the Nation, areas that 
provide a refuge for birdwatchers, hikers, campers, equestrians, 
fishermen, and other visitors who are looking to escape our Nation's 
crowded, fast-passed cities to enjoy the tranquility of nature.
  I am going to show a few pictures. This is in the Eastern Sierra, the 
bighorn sheep. We are protecting this magnificent creature that I know 
Senator Harkin appreciates.
  The bald eagle, which we know we have been doing a lot to save, will 
be preserved in the many acres we preserve in my home State of 
California.
  In the Riverside bill, this is another magnificent scene of the 
mountains and the beautiful vegetation that grows without any water to 
speak of.
  The Eastern Sierra, these White Mountains--imagine the beauty of 
this. So when people come and say we are not doing right by America to 
save areas such as this, all I say is, open your eyes and gaze upon 
God's creation. It is so magnificent.
  I have one more photo I would like to show you. I know Senator 
Schumer feels the way I do about this. In the Eastern Sierras, this 
beautiful creek here, a beautiful place to come and enjoy the day, as I 
said, get away from our crowded cities, bring your family, and stay in 
the area.
  Many bills in this package provide much needed water resources for 
our communities. It provides recycled water to areas suffering from 
drought, restoring major watersheds. We are experiencing one of the 
worst droughts in our State's history. That is why a coalition of 16 
western water agencies and organizations wrote to Congress about the 
urgency of passing this bill that we happily just passed.
  You saw some of the magnificent photos of some of the wilderness 
areas in California that have been saved. They are in what is called 
the California Desert and Mountain Heritage Act, the Sequoia-Kings 
Canyon National Park Wilderness Act, and the Eastern Sierra and 
Northern San Gabriel Wild Heritage Act.
  I want to make a point to colleagues. On each of these wilderness 
areas, I worked with colleagues in the House, many of whom are 
Republicans, and I thank them enormously for their work: Buck McKeon, 
Mary Bono Mack, Devin Nunes. I also worked with many Democrats, 
including Jim Costa. So we have had a wonderful working relationship 
across party lines.
  There are 700,000 acres of wilderness and/or wilderness study areas 
and 105 miles of wild and scenic rivers in this bill in my home State. 
I would say again to Senator Coburn, although I suppose the best thing 
I can say to him is his argument did not win the day, is that it is our 
responsibility, I would say to him, to protect these magnificent areas 
so future generations can enjoy them exactly as we do. These are 
breathtaking places in California. They provide critically important 
habitat, as you saw, for the Peninsular bighorn sheep, the mule deer, 
mountain lions, desert tortoises, and bald eagles.
  Again, the economics of this are very clear. In a time of recession, 
we want to look to the future for jobs, and we know that wilderness 
bills, just the three of mine in this bill, will produce an estimated 
420 jobs and $7 million in income to my State. I cannot say enough 
about the importance of opportunities such as this when you save the 
environment and you create jobs and everybody comes away a winner.
  I would like to respond to some things Senator Coburn has been saying 
about one of these bills, the California Desert and Mountain Heritage 
Act. He has questioned why we are designating Beauty Mountain and the 
Pinto Mountains as wilderness in this bill even though the Bureau of 
Land Management failed to recommend them for wilderness back in 1990. 
Well, the answer is that a lot has changed since then--private lands 
have since been acquired by the BLM and dozens of mining claims have 
been retired. Without these restrictions, the BLM now supports 
wilderness designation for these areas and has testified before 
Congress in support of this bill. Also, Congress has repeatedly 
asserted its right to name wilderness areas--the agencies make 
recommendations but we make the final decision based on what we are 
hearing from the constituents we represent.
  These three bills have bipartisan, bicameral, and diverse support. 
They would not impact the use of private lands, but would simply 
improve the protection of existing Forest Service, National Park 
Service, or Bureau of Land Management lands.
  While preserving these areas, we have been careful to accommodate 
stakeholders' needs. For example, we worked to clarify that the Eastern 
Sierra and Northern San Gabriel Wild Heritage bill's designation of a 
Wild and Scenic River on segments of Piru Creek will not affect the 
operations of the United Water Conservation District or Pyramid Dam on 
the creek, including any rights they may have to modify water releases.
  I will close by thanking my colleague, Senator Feinstein, for not 
only supporting my wilderness bills that are in here but for her 
leadership in the San Joaquin River Restoration Settlement Act, which 
is included in this bill.
  Senator Coburn tried to remove it from this bill. I do not understand 
his motivation. The settlement ended 18 years of litigation over the 
impacts of the Friant Dam on Chinook salmon populations. Why on Earth 
would anyone try to derail a settlement and drive us back into the 
courthouse?
  What is in here is a carefully crafted compromise solution that is 
good for our environment, for our agricultural economy, and for our 
urban communities.
  Again, there is more to be said on this matter. I will say again, to 
see Senator Coburn get up and try to torpedo this important legislation 
was kind of shocking to me because once in a while I say we should come 
together here to preserve our Nation's heritage and to try to avoid 
litigation.
  You know, the fact is, the San Joaquin settlement had broad 
bipartisan support, has it in my State, from the Governor. We even have 
the support of the outgoing Bush administration, bipartisan House 
Members, water agencies, conservation groups, elected officials.
  So it is a happy day, frankly, for my State of California, a very 
happy day--700,000 acres of wilderness, the settlement over the San 
Joaquin River--and for this whole Nation it is a wonderful moment 
because we addressed the drought some of our areas are facing.
  The areas in this bill are truly magnificent places representing 
California's and the Nation's incredible range of landscapes and 
habitats. I look forward to working with my colleagues on both sides of 
the aisle to enact this bill into law and protect these treasures for 
future generations of Americans.
  I hope this bill will get much attention. I hope the President will 
have a ceremony when he signs this bill because it deserve far more 
attention than it has been getting. It is good for the environment, it 
is good for the economy, and it shows a spirit of bipartisanship that I 
know our President and all of us encourage.
  I yield the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Rhode Island.

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