[Congressional Record Volume 156, Number 42 (Saturday, March 20, 2010)]
[House]
[Pages H1749-H1756]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
PUBLIC LANDS SERVICE CORPS ACT OF 2009
Mr. GRIJALVA. Madam Speaker, pursuant to House Resolution 1192, I
call up the bill (H.R. 1612) to amend the Public Lands Corps Act of
1993 to expand the authorization of the Secretaries of Agriculture,
Commerce, and the Interior to provide service-learning opportunities on
public lands, help restore the Nation's natural, cultural, historic,
archaeological, recreational, and scenic resources, train a new
generation of public land managers and enthusiasts, and promote the
value of public service, and ask for its immediate consideration in the
House.
The Clerk read the title of the bill.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to House Resolution 1192, the bill
is considered read.
The amendment in the nature of a substitute printed in the bill is
adopted.
The text of the bill, as amended, is as follows:
H.R. 1612
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of
the United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ``Public Lands Service Corps
Act of 2009''.
SEC. 2. REFERENCE.
Except as otherwise expressly provided, whenever in this
Act an amendment or repeal is expressed in terms of an
amendment to, or a repeal of, a section or other provision,
the reference shall be considered to be made to a section or
other provision of the Public Lands Corps Act of 1993 (16
U.S.C. 1721 et seq.; title II of Public Law 91-378).
SEC. 3. AMENDMENTS TO THE PUBLIC LANDS CORPS ACT OF 1993.
(a) Name and Project Description Changes.--The Act is
amended--
(1) by striking ``Public Lands Corps'' each place it
appears and inserting ``Public Lands Service Corps'';
(2) in the title heading, by striking ``PUBLIC LANDS
CORPS'' and inserting ``PUBLIC LANDS SERVICE CORPS'';
(3) in the section 204--
(A) in the section heading, by striking ``PUBLIC LANDS
CORPS'' and inserting ``PUBLIC LANDS SERVICE CORPS''; and
(B) in the heading of subsection (a), by striking ``Public
Lands Corps'' and inserting ``Public Lands Service Corps'';
(4) in the heading of paragraph (2) of section 210(a), by
striking ``Public lands corps'' and inserting ``Public lands
service corps'';
(5) by striking ``conservation center'' each place it
appears and inserting ``residential conservation center'';
and
(6) by striking ``appropriate conservation projects'' each
place it appears (except in paragraph (1) of section 204(e)
as so redesignated) and inserting ``appropriate natural and
cultural resources conservation projects''.
(b) Findings.--Section 202(a) of the Act is amended as
follows:
(1) In paragraph (1), by striking ``the natural and
cultural'' and inserting ``natural and cultural''.
(2) By redesignating paragraphs (2) and (3) as paragraphs
(4) and (5), respectively, and by inserting after paragraph
(1) the following:
``(2) Participants in conservation corps receive meaningful
training and their experience with such corps provides
preparation for careers in public service.
``(3) Young men and women who participate in the
rehabilitation and restoration of our Nation's natural,
cultural, historic, archaeological, recreational, and scenic
treasures will gain an increased appreciation and
understanding of our public lands and heritage, and of the
value of public service, and are likely to become life-long
advocates for those values.''.
(3) In paragraph (4) (as so redesignated), by inserting ``,
cultural, historic, archaeological, recreational, and
scenic'' after ``Many facilities and natural''.
(4) By adding at the end the following:
``(6) The work of conservation corps can benefit
communities adjacent to public lands and facilities through
renewed civic engagement and participation by corps
participants and those they serve; improved student
achievement; and restoration and rehabilitation of public
assets.''.
(c) Purpose.--Section 202(b) of the Act is amended to read
as follows:
``(b) Purposes.--The purposes of this Act are to--
``(1) introduce young men and women to public service while
furthering their understanding and appreciation of the
Nation's natural, cultural, historic, archaeological,
recreational, and scenic resources;
``(2) facilitate training and recruitment opportunities in
which service is credited as qualifying experience for
careers in public land management;
``(3) instill in a new generation of young men and women
from across the Nation, including those from diverse
backgrounds, the desire to seek careers in natural and
cultural resource stewardship and public service by allowing
them to work directly with professionals in agencies
responsible for the management of the Nation's natural,
cultural, historic, archaeological, recreational, and scenic
resources;
``(4) perform, in a cost-effective manner, appropriate
natural and cultural resources conservation projects where
such projects are not being performed by existing employees;
``(5) assist governments and Indian tribes in performing
research and public education tasks associated with natural
and cultural resources;
``(6) expand educational opportunities by rewarding
individuals who participate in national service with an
increased ability to pursue higher education or job training;
and
``(7) promote public understanding and appreciation of the
individual missions and natural and cultural resources
conservation work of the Federal agencies through training
opportunities, community service and outreach, and other
appropriate means.''.
(d) Definitions.--Section 203 of the Act is amended as
follows:
(1) By amending paragraphs (1) and (2) to read as follows:
``(1) Appropriate natural and cultural resources
conservation project.--The term `appropriate natural and
cultural resources conservation project' means any project
for the conservation, restoration, construction, or
rehabilitation of natural, cultural, historic,
archaeological, recreational, or scenic resources.
``(2) Corps and public lands service corps.--The terms
`Corps' and `Public Lands Service Corps' mean the Public
Lands Service Corps established under section 204 of this
title.''.
[[Page H1750]]
(2) By striking paragraphs (3) and (8).
(3) By redesignating paragraphs (4), (5), (6), (7), (9),
(10), (11), (12), and (13) as paragraphs (3) through (11),
respectively.
(4) By amending paragraph (7) (as so redesignated) to read
as follows:
``(7) Public lands.--The term `public lands' means any
lands or waters (or interest therein) owned or administered
by the United States, including those areas of coastal and
ocean waters, the Great Lakes and their connecting waters,
and submerged lands over which the United States exercises
jurisdiction, except that such term does not include any
Indian lands.''.
(5) In paragraph (8) (as so redesignated)--
(A) in subparagraph (B), by striking ``and'' at the end;
(B) in subparagraph (C), by striking the period and
inserting ``; and''; and
(C) by adding at the end the following:
``(D) makes available for audit for each fiscal year for
which the qualified youth or conservation corps receives
Federal funds under this Act, information pertaining to the
expenditure of the funds, any matching funds, and participant
demographics.''.
(6) In paragraph (10) (as so redesignated)--
(A) in subparagraph (A), by striking ``and'' at the end;
(B) in subparagraph (B), by striking the period and
inserting ``; and''; and
(C) by adding at the end the following:
``(C) with respect to the National Marine Sanctuary System,
coral reefs, and other coastal, estuarine, and marine
habitats, and other lands and facilities administered by the
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, the
Secretary of Commerce.''.
(7) By adding at the end the following:
``(12) Residential conservation centers.--The term
`residential conservation centers' means the facilities
authorized under section 205.
``(13) Consulting intern.--The term `consulting intern'
means a consulting intern selected under section 206.
``(14) Public lands service corps participant.--The term
`Public Lands Service Corps participant', `Corps participant'
or `participant of the Corps' means an individual who is
enrolled in the Public Lands Service Corps pursuant to
section 204(b).''.
(e) Public Lands Service Corps Program.--Section 204 of the
Act is amended as follows:
(1) In subsection (a)--
(A) in the heading, by adding at the end ``Program'';
(B) by striking ``and the Department of Agriculture a'' and
inserting ``, the Department of Agriculture, and the
Department of Commerce a service and training program titled
the''; and
(C) by adding at the end the following: ``The Secretary of
the Interior shall establish a department-level office to
coordinate Public Lands Service Corps activities within the
Department of the Interior. The Secretary of Agriculture
shall establish within the U.S. Forest Service an office to
coordinate Public Lands Service Corps activities within that
agency. The Secretary of Commerce shall establish within the
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration an office to
coordinate Public Lands Service Corps activities within that
agency. The Secretary of each department shall designate a
Public Lands Service Corps coordinator for each agency within
that department that administers Public Lands Service Corps
activities.''.
(2) By amending subsection (b) to read as follows:
``(b) Participants.--The Secretary may enroll in the Public
Lands Service Corps individuals between the ages of 16 and
25, inclusive, who are either hired by an agency under the
Secretary's jurisdiction to perform work authorized under
this Act or who are members of a qualified youth or
conservation corps with which the Secretary has entered into
a cooperative agreement to perform work authorized under this
Act. The Secretary may also enroll resource assistants and
consulting interns. All enrollees shall be considered Public
Lands Service Corps participants, and may be enrolled for a
term of up to 24 months of service, which may be served over
more than two calendar years. The individuals may be enrolled
without regard to the civil service and classification laws,
rules, or regulations of the United States. The Secretary may
establish a preference for the enrollment in the Corps of
individuals who are economically, physically, or
educationally disadvantaged.''.
(3) In subsection (c)--
(A) in paragraph (1)--
(i) by striking ``contracts and'';
(ii) by inserting ``natural and cultural resources'' after
``appropriate''; and
(iii) by striking ``subsection (d)'' and inserting
``subsection (e)'';
(B) by redesignating paragraph (2) as paragraph (3);
(C) by inserting after paragraph (1) the following:
``(2) Recruitment.--The Secretary shall undertake, or enter
into cooperative agreements to provide, a program to attract
eligible youth to the Corps by publicizing Corps
opportunities through high schools, colleges, employment
centers, electronic media, and other appropriate institutions
or means.''; and
(D) by amending paragraph (3) (as so redesignated) to read
as follows:
``(3) Preference.--For purposes of entering into
cooperative agreements under paragraph (1), the Secretary may
give preference to qualified youth or conservation corps
located in a specific area that have a substantial portion of
members who are economically, physically, or educationally
disadvantaged to carry out projects within the area.''.
(4) By redesignating subsections (d) through (f) as
subsections (e) through (g), respectively.
(5) By inserting after subsection (c) the following:
``(d) Training.--The Secretary shall establish a training
program based at appropriate residential conservation centers
or at other suitable regional Federal or other appropriate
facilities or sites to provide training for Corps
participants. The Secretary shall--
``(1) ensure that the duration and comprehensiveness of the
training program shall be commensurate with the projects
Corps participants are expected to undertake;
``(2) develop department-wide standards for the program
that include training in--
``(A) resource stewardship;
``(B) ethics for those in public service;
``(C) principles of national service;
``(D) health and safety;
``(E) teamwork and leadership; and
``(F) interpersonal communications;
``(3) direct each participating agency to develop agency-
specific training guidelines to ensure that Corps
participants enrolled to undertake projects for that agency
are appropriately informed about matters specific to that
agency, including--
``(A) the history and organization of the agency;
``(B) the agency's core values; and
``(C) any agency-specific standards for the management of
natural, cultural, historic, archaeological, recreational,
and scenic resources; and
``(4) take into account training already received by Corps
participants enrolled from qualified youth or conservation
corps, including in the matters outlined in paragraph (2).''.
(6) In subsection (e) (as so redesignated)--
(A) in paragraph (1)--
(i) by striking ``The Secretary may utilize the Corps or
any qualified youth or conservation corps to carry out
appropriate'' and inserting ``The Secretary may use Corps
participants to carry out, under appropriate supervision and
training, appropriate natural and cultural resource''; and
(ii) by striking ``law on public lands.'' and inserting the
following: ``law. Such projects may include, but are not
limited to--
``(A) protection, restoration, or enhancement of ecosystem
components to promote species recovery, improve biological
diversity, enhance productivity and carbon sequestration, and
enhance adaptability and resilience of public lands and
resources in the face of climate change and other natural and
human disturbances;
``(B) promoting the health of forests and public lands,
refuges, and coastal and marine areas, including--
``(i) protection and restoration of watersheds and forest,
riparian, estuarine, grassland, coral reef, intertidal, or
other habitat;
``(ii) reduction of wildfire risk and mitigation of damage
from insects, disease, and disasters;
``(iii) erosion control;
``(iv) control or removal of invasive, noxious, or non-
native species; and
``(v) restoration of native species;
``(C) collection of biological, archaeological, and other
scientific data, including monitoring of climatological
information, species populations and movement, habitat
status, and other factors;
``(D) assisting in historical and cultural research,
archival and curatorial work, oral history projects,
documentary photography, and activities that support the
creation of public works of art related to public lands; and
``(E) construction, repair, rehabilitation, green building
retrofitting, and maintenance of roads, trails, campgrounds,
and other facilities, employee housing, cultural and historic
sites and structures, and facilities that further the
purposes of the Public Lands Service Corps.''.
(B) By redesignating paragraphs (2) and (3) as paragraphs
(4) and (5), respectively.
(C) By inserting after paragraph (1) the following:
``(2) Visitor services.--The Secretary may--
``(A) enter into or amend an existing cooperative agreement
with a cooperating association, educational institute,
friends group, or similar nonprofit partner organization for
the purpose of providing training and work experience to
Corps participants in areas including, but not limited to,
sales, office work, accounting, and management provided that
the work experience directly relates to the protection and
management of the public lands; and
``(B) allow Corps participants to help promote visitor
safety and enjoyment of public lands, and assist in the
gathering of visitor use data.
``(3) Interpretation.--The Secretary may assign Corps
participants to provide interpretation or education services
for the public under the appropriate direction and
supervision of agency personnel, including--
``(A) providing orientation and information services to
visitors, including services for non-English speaking
visitors and visitors who use American Sign Language;
``(B) assisting agency personnel in the delivery of
interpretive or educational programs, including outdoor
learning and classroom learning;
``(C) presenting programs on Federal lands or at schools,
after-school programs, and youth-serving community programs
that relate the personal experience of the Corps participant
for the purpose of promoting public awareness of the Corps,
its role in public land management agencies, and its
availability to potential participants; and
``(D) creating nonpersonal interpretive products, such as
Web site content, Junior Ranger program books, printed
handouts, and audiovisual programs.''.
(D) In paragraph (4) (as so redesignated), by striking
``Appropriate conservation projects'' and inserting
``Appropriate natural and cultural resources conservation
projects''.
(7) In subsection (g) (as so redesignated), by striking
``appropriate conservation project'' inserting ``appropriate
natural and cultural resources conservation project''.
[[Page H1751]]
(8) By amending the text of subsection (f)(2) (as so
redesignated) to read as follows: ``will instill in Corps
participants a work ethic and a sense of public service;''.
(9) In subsection (g) (as so redesignated), by striking
``on eligible service lands''.
(10) By adding at the end the following:
``(h) Other Participants.--The Secretary may allow
volunteers from other programs administered or designated by
the Secretary to participate as volunteers in projects
carried out under this section on such terms as the Secretary
considers appropriate.''.
(f) Residential Conservation Centers and Program Support.--
Section 205 of the Act is amended as follows:
(1) In the section heading, by striking ``CONSERVATION''
and inserting ``RESIDENTIAL CONSERVATION''.
(2) In subsection (a)--
(A) by amending paragraph (1) to read as follows:
``(1) In general.--The Secretary may establish residential
conservation centers for--
``(A) such housing, food service, medical care,
transportation, and other services as the Secretary deems
necessary for the Public Lands Service Corps; and
``(B) the conduct of appropriate residential conservation
projects under this Act.'';
(B) by striking paragraph (2) and redesignating paragraphs
(3) and (4) as paragraphs (2) and (3), respectively;
(C) in paragraph (2) (as so redesignated)--
(i) in the text, by inserting ``residential'' before
``conservation centers''; and
(ii) in the heading, by inserting ``residential'' before
``conservation centers''; and
(D) in paragraph (3) (as so redesignated), by striking
``with a State or'' and inserting ``a cooperative agreement
with another Federal, State, or''.
(3) In subsection (b)--
(A) by striking ``The Secretary'' and inserting the
following:
``(1) The Secretary''; and
(B) by adding at the end the following:
``(2) The Secretary may make arrangements with other
Federal agencies, States, local governments, or private
organizations to provide temporary housing as needed and
available.
``(3) In project areas where Corps participants can
reasonably be expected to reside at their own homes, the
Secretary may fund or provide transportation to and from
project sites.''.
(4) By redesignating subsection (d) as subsection (g).
(5) By inserting after subsection (c) the following:
``(d) Facilities.--The Secretary may, as an appropriate
natural and cultural resources conservation project, direct
Corps participants to aid in the rehabilitation or
construction of residential conservation center facilities,
including housing.
``(e) Green Buildings.--The Secretary may seek the
assistance of the Secretary of Energy in identifying and
using solar and other green building technologies and modular
housing designs that may be adapted for residential
conservation center facilities, including--
``(1) designs from the Department of Energy's Solar
Decathlon competition; and
``(2) logistical support, assistance, and training from
Solar Decathlon participants.
``(f) Mentors.--The Secretary may recruit from programs,
such as agency volunteer programs, and from agency retirees,
veterans groups, military retirees, active duty personnel,
and from appropriate youth-serving organizations, such adults
as may be suitable and qualified to provide training,
mentoring, and crew-leading services to Corps
participants.''.
(6) In subsection (g) (as so redesignated), by striking
``are appropriate to carry out this title'' and inserting
``the Secretary determines to be necessary for the
residential conservation center''.
(g) Resource Assistants and Consulting Interns.--Section
206 of the Act is amended as follows:
(1) In the section heading, by inserting ``AND CONSULTING
INTERNS'' before the period.
(2) In subsection (a), by striking ``The Secretary is
authorized to provide individual placements of resource'' and
inserting the following: ``The Secretary is authorized, to
provide individual placements of the following:
``(1) Resource''.
(3) By inserting after subsection (a)(1) (as so
designated), the following:
``(2) Consulting interns with any Federal land, coastal, or
ocean management agency under the jurisdiction of the
Secretary to carry out management analysis activities on
behalf of the agency. To be eligible for selection as a
consulting intern, an individual must be a current enrollee
and have completed at least one full year at a graduate or
professional school that has been accredited by an
accrediting body that has been recognized by the Secretary of
Education. The Secretary may select consulting interns
without regard to the civil service and classification laws,
rules, or regulations of the United States.''.
(4) In subsection (b)--
(A) by inserting ``or consulting interns'' before ``through
private sources'';
(B) in the second sentence, before the period, by inserting
``; up to 15 percent may be in-kind''; and
(C) by striking ``Resource Assistants'' and inserting
``resource assistants or consulting interns''.
(5) By adding at the end the following:
``(c) Cost Sharing Requirements.--At the Secretary's
discretion, the requirements for cost sharing applicable to
participating nonprofit organizations for the expenses of
resource assistants and consulting interns under subsection
(b) may be reduced to not less than 10 percent.''.
(h) Technical Amendment.--The Act is amended by
redesignating sections 207, 208, 209, 210, and 211 as
sections 208, 209, 210, 211, and 212, respectively.
(i) Guidance.--The Act is amended by inserting after
section 206 the following:
``SEC. 207. GUIDANCE.
``Not later than 18 months after funds are made available
for this purpose, the Secretaries shall issue guidelines for
the management of the Public Lands Service Corps programs for
use by regional and State directors, and the supervisors of
individual parks, forests, districts, sanctuaries, reserves,
hatcheries, and refuges.''.
(j) Living Allowances and Terms of Service.--Section 208 of
the Act (as so redesignated) is amended--
(1) by amending subsection (a) to read as follows:
``(a) Living Allowances.--The Secretary shall provide each
Corps participant with a living allowance in an amount
established by the Secretary. The Secretary may--
``(1) apply a cost-of-living differential to such
allowances; and
``(2) reimburse Corps participants for travel costs at the
beginning and end of their term of service if the Secretary
deems appropriate.'';
(2) by amending the text of subsection (b) to read as
follows: ``Each Corp participant shall agree to participate
in the Corps for such term of service as may be established
by the Secretary enrolling or selecting the individual.'';
(3) in the heading of subsection (c), by adding at the end
``Preference and Future Employment''; and
(4) in subsection (c)--
(A) by amending paragraphs (1) and (2) to read as follows:
``(1) grant to a participant of the Public Lands Service
Corps credit for service time in the Corps to be used as
qualifying experience toward future Federal hiring;
``(2) provide to a former participant of the Public Lands
Service Corps noncompetitive hiring status for a period of
not more than two years after the date on which the
participant's service with the Public Lands Service Corps is
complete (not counting any time spent enrolled in an academic
institution or trade school), if the candidate--
``(A) has served a minimum of 960 hours on an appropriate
natural or cultural resource conservation project that
included at least 120 hours through the Public Lands Service
Corps; and
``(B) meets Office of Personnel Management qualification
standards for the position to which the candidate is
applying;''; and
(B) by adding at the end the following:
``(3) develop a system to provide consideration for
participants who cannot meet the requirements of paragraph
(2);
``(4) provide to an individual who has successfully
fulfilled the resource assistant program noncompetitive
hiring status for a period of not more than two years after
the date on which the individual has completed an
undergraduate degree from an accredited institution;
``(5) provide to an individual who has successfully
fulfilled the consulting internship program noncompetitive
hiring status for a period of not more than two years after
the date on which the individual has completed a graduate
degree from an accredited institution; and
``(6) provide, or enter into cooperative agreements with
qualified employment agencies to provide, alumni services
such as job and education counseling, referrals, verification
of service, communications, and other appropriate services to
participants who have completed their Corps service.''.
(k) National Service Educational Awards.--Section 209 of
the Act (as so redesignated) is amended--
(1) in subsection (a), by striking ``If a'' and all that
follows through ``shall be eligible'' and inserting ``If a
Corps participant also serves in an approved national service
position designated under subtitle C of title I of the
National and Community Service Act of 1990 (42 U.S.C. 12571
et seq.), the Corps participant shall be eligible''; and
(2) in subsection (b), by striking--
(A) ``either participants in the Corps or resource
assistants'' and inserting ``participants in the Corps'' ;
and
(B) ``or a resource assistant''.
(l) Nondisplacement.--Section 210 of the Act (as so
redesignated) is amended to read as follows:
``SEC. 210. NONDISPLACEMENT.
``The nondisplacement requirements of the National and
Community Service Act of 1990 shall be applicable to all
activities carried out by the Public Lands Service Corps
participants.''.
(m) Funding.--Section 211 of the Act (as so redesignated)
is amended--
(1) in subsection (a)(1)--
(A) by striking ``appropriate conservation project'' each
place it appears and inserting ``appropriate natural and
cultural resources conservation project''; and
(B) by adding at the end the following: ``The Secretary may
reduce to no less than 10 percent the non-Federal costs of a
project when the Secretary determines that it is necessary to
enable participation in the Public Lands Service Corps from a
greater range of organizations.''; and
(2) in subsection (b)--
(A) by inserting ``program'' after ``Corps''; and
(B) by inserting ``, consulting interns'' before ``and
qualified youth''.
(n) Authorization of Appropriations.--Section 212 of the
Act (as so redesignated) is amended--
(1) in subsection (a), by inserting ``to the Secretary''
after ``authorized to be appropriated'';
(2) in subsection (a), by striking ``to carry out'' the
first place it appears and all that follows through the
period and inserting ``such
[[Page H1752]]
sums as may be necessary to carry out this title.'';
(3) by striking subsection (b); and
(4) by redesignating subsection (c) as subsection (b).
The SPEAKER pro tempore. After 1 hour of debate on the bill, as
amended, it shall be in order to consider the further amendments
printed in part C of House Report 111-445, each of which may be offered
only by a Member designated in the report, shall be considered as read,
and shall be separately debatable for 10 minutes equally divided and
controlled by the proponent and an opponent.
The gentleman from Arizona (Mr. Grijalva) and the gentleman from Utah
(Mr. Bishop) each will control 30 minutes.
The Chair recognizes the gentleman from Arizona.
General Leave
Mr. GRIJALVA. Madam Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members
may have 5 legislative days in which to revise and extend their remarks
and insert extraneous material on H.R. 1612.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the
gentleman from Arizona?
There was no objection.
Mr. GRIJALVA. Madam Speaker, I rise today in strong support of H.R.
1612, a bill I introduced last year to help repair and restore our
Nation's public lands while employing and training thousands of young
Americans and promoting the culture of public service.
In 1993, when the Public Lands Corps was established through the good
work of our late colleague Bruce Vento of Minnesota, there were huge
backlogs of labor-intensive work on national park lands, forests,
wildlife refuges, historic sites, and Indian lands. Unfortunately, we
still face those challenges and more. Years of inadequate funding have
put our Federal land management agencies further behind on vital
maintenance work, while infrastructure continues to crumble.
Despite the best efforts of these underfunded agencies, natural and
cultural resources are being neglected, and in many places the effects
of climate change are magnifying earlier problems such as fire risk,
damage by insects and invasive species, coastal erosion, and fragmented
habitat. The stimulus bill we passed in the first session has begun to
attack the problem, but is only a start. Much remains to be done on the
public lands.
My bill, H.R. 1612, will expand and reinvigorate an existing program,
the Public Lands Corps, by streamlining its management, modernizing its
scope, and providing new tools to help the program accomplish its
mission, putting young people to work repairing our most treasured
resources. Young people participating in the Public Lands Service Corps
will work side by side with professional land managers to collect
biological data, preserve historic documents, rebuild roads and trails,
attack invasive weeds, reduce fire risk and improve watershed health,
paint visitor facilities, restore damaged wetlands, help build green
buildings, and welcome visitors to our parks and public lands. These
and a wide variety of other jobs will be available to Corps members for
a period up to 2 years. Their term of service will include the training
they need do these jobs.
My bill also allows the agencies to provide housing for Corps
participants, and even allows the Corps members to build housing that
can be used by future Corps members. The training and experience Corps
members receive while working to improve the condition of our natural
and cultural resources will give them a huge advantage when they enter
the working world in such professions as science, land management, the
building trades, academic disciplines such as history and education.
The legislation not only takes a decisive step forward in finishing
desperately needed work on our national park lands, forests, wildlife
refuges, historic sites and Indian lands, but also recognizes the
importance of our coastal and marine systems and our national marine
sanctuaries. This expanded public service initiative will introduce
people from a greater diversity of social, ethnic, and cultural
backgrounds to our Nation's parks, forests, and public lands not only
as possible future employees, but also as lifelong advocates and
enthusiasts.
The legislation takes advantage of an opportunity to provide
meaningful employment and training to young people who need it, while
also improving the condition of our priceless natural and cultural
resources. President Obama and Interior Secretary Salazar have made
national service a priority and have graciously supported this
legislation. I am also proud to have the support of preeminent
conversation corps groups, as well as leading national parks advocacy
groups.
I ask my colleagues to support the passage of this measure. At a time
when unemployment among our youth and particularly the urban areas is
at an all time high, H.R. 1612 begins to address that crisis and also
to address the unmet needs of our public lands.
I reserve the balance of my time.
Mr. BISHOP of Utah. Madam Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may
consume.
Madam Speaker, I, as well as many who are here on the floor, am just
pleased to be here on a Saturday morning to discuss the bill that is
the significance and the reason why we are here, and also the side-view
of being able to count the number of arm splints that we see today so
we can be part of an historical occasion.
This bill I do think happens to be one of the metaphors perhaps for
this entire session as we begin this weekend reality play that
definitely does fit into the theater of the absurd. This is a good
program, but there is much common good for which we could have found a
great deal of common support had this bill been allowed to have some
bipartisanship with it.
Both the ranking member of the full committee and the ranking member
of the subcommittee had amendments that had been proposed in the
committee that were withdrawn under the assumption that they would be
worked upon and added to the final bill when it came here to the floor.
That was not simply the case. So what could have been an easy bill to
pass with common assumptions to it that would have been one of the
things that could have been done in a bipartisan way has now been
turned into something that has a partisan flavor to it, as the only
rule bill that we have for this weekend so far simply because of the
standards that we have had in this proposal. This is indeed a metaphor
for what we are doing and what we have been doing for much of this
session.
I do have some concerns, Madam Speaker, for this bill in three basic
areas. First of all, the concept of funding and fiscal responsibility.
Secondly, the concept of curriculum that will be involved in this
program. And third, what I would probably call is the genealogy of this
particular program.
One of the amendments and one of the requests that we had is that
this bill should be sunsetted in some particular way. In fact, there
will be an amendment that will be brought to the floor to add a sunset
provision to this particular bill. This bill as currently administered
spends $12 million a year. For some people, that is considered a lot of
money. Around here, I realize that is simply a rounding error. But what
it does, if you pass this particular bill, it takes off the cap that
caps this program at $12 million a year and allows it to be funded at
any level one assumes. The CBO made the assumption that would be $120
million over 5 years. How they reached that assumption no one really
knows.
One of the things we should do if we were fiscally responsible would
be to make sure that there was a specific cap on this program and that
there was a sunset provision so it could be reviewed. One of the things
we all realize around this country, especially as we talk about the
increasing deficit of this country, is that there are some things that
the Federal Government must do. Defense of this country is one of the
things we must do. There are some things we should never do. And there
are some things that fall into those limited categories of it would be
nice to do if it meets with our priorities and we have the means to
provide them. Providing for the Park Service, healthy forests is one of
those things we should do. But it must be set in the environment of how
much money we have and where our priorities lie.
Having kids being groomed to be future managers is a nice thing to do
on
[[Page H1753]]
these public lands if it fits into our priorities. And that is why this
program should be reviewed at a regular basis by Congress. Once these
types of programs are passed on indefinitely and become embodied within
the budget itself, it is never reviewed by this body again, which is
our function and our responsibility.
If anything was done in a self-executing rule, the amendment we will
talk about later to actually put a cap on this program and make sure
that we review it on a regular basis, that should have been self-
executing because it is our responsibility as Congress, and we should
not abrogate that particular responsibility.
The second concern I have is what I call the curriculum of this
particular program. It has been portrayed by groups to us that this is
like a new version of the CCC coming along trying to make changes and
improvements in public lands. If that were the case, we would probably
have very little concern about it. But that is not necessarily what
will be allowed if this bill actually goes into effect. See, when this
program was originally started the goal was to have kids working on
projects that would benefit specially our Forest Service and public
lands. But unfortunately as this is now altered, there is no guarantee
of where the funds will go and what the priorities may be, which is one
of the things we simply wanted. Keep the program doing what the program
was intended to do.
This time the government will send money, much of which will be
handled by the Student Conservation Association. They will be the ones
who will facilitate programs and give grants. How it's structured no
one knows. Because once again, instead of ensuring that this is done to
the betterment of public lands, this allows for money to go to
political issues under the guise of some kind of conservationship. For
indeed, this group has had an agenda in the past which has been anti-
affordable energy, anti-coal fired plants, pro-higher taxes and energy
costs.
Our staff had the opportunity of looking on the Web site of this
particular group. They sponsored a conference here in Washington
several years ago sponsored by the National Park Service, some funding
from the National Park Service in which the curriculum for that
conference was not just about how we improve our public lands, but also
how one stages protests, how one can do a sit-in to prevent a timber
harvest from taking place. In fact, as you look at their Web site their
organizing chart lists to start small and then grow and make it fun in
the process.
Now, once again, that is not what this program was intended to do,
nor should it be the program. And there are no prohibitions to say that
this program will not evolve into that form. Had they simply added
amendments we wanted to say what the purposes and the directions of
this program were, once again it would be a very good bipartisan bill.
But that was not allowed. It was not allowed by leadership here or in
the Rules Committee to take that place and form.
This Student Conservation Association once again has taken a great
deal of stimulus funds that were added in the stimulus bill. In each of
those, once again, there was much that was involved that was advocacy
outside building our public lands. One of the funds got 18 grand into
my community to assist in building a public library so that they could
associate at the refuge center with conservation efforts. One hundred
twenty thousand dollars was given to this group so they could go to New
England and show legal techniques and practices of how they could use
the legal system to reach goals that they had. That is political
activism, which is not what this program was about, not to which this
program should evolve into itself.
One of the things, Madam Speaker, that was funded as part of this
program is the Mo Udall Legacy bus tour. Actually, it was a 54-day bus
tour promoted by the National Park Service. You can see their logos all
the way around here, as well as Department of Interior, to promote
sustainability in biodiesel buses. According to the kids, it was a
wonderful 54-day trip. However, most of them actually said how great it
was as they visited microbreweries in every one of those areas,
especially biodiversified microbreweries.
Actually, I don't know how successful this tour was. I don't drink
anything harder than Dr. Pepper, so I am going to ask some of the rest
of you around here to see if their touring, their visiting to all of
the bars they had in the cities in which they went on this particular
trip really was worthwhile in making that particular kind of
evaluation.
{time} 1045
Nice trip. There is nothing wrong with these guys doing this as long
as they do it on their own dime; not on the government's dime under the
guise of creating some kind of better lands for our public services.
National Park Services, which will be in charge of the oversight of
this, does not have a great record in that. In 2007, the IG in the
Department of the Interior came up with this in one park service-
managed job corps center--$3 million of misreported expenditures and
$200,000 of improper charges. And that is the oversight that we're
going to have. Those types of things should have been added to the
bill.
We asked those to be added to the bill. It would have solved the
problem of this particular bill, but they weren't done; therefore,
we're here complaining about something which should have been and could
have been a great program of bipartisan support, and it isn't.
Let me talk about the genealogy, for, indeed, this Student
Conservation Association that will be managing this new program was an
offspring created by the National Park Conservation Association, the
godfather of this program, a special interest group with a history of
what I consider to be extreme agendas--a history of filing lawsuits
against this government, filing lawsuits against the Second Amendment
rights, efforts to restrict hunting and recreation that are currently
permitted on public lands, and presently involved in a national
courtroom crusade to destroy the benefits of coal-fired plants with
letters, with testimony. Once again, their motives may be pure, fine.
It's okay to do that, but not on the government dime. And this bill is
written so loosely that it is not clear if any money goes indirectly or
directly back to this point to do it.
This bill, when originally established, this program, when originally
established, was there to inspire use and needs and build needed
programs on public lands. When this program was originally established,
by law, it's highest priority was to generate a new generation of land
managers trained specifically to improve public lands and specifically
to implement the bipartisan Healthy Forest Restoration Act.
That was, under the current system, the highest priority: to help our
lands, stop catastrophic fires, to improve our forests. It was managed
for that. Seventy-five percent of the money went to that particular
issue. That is what should be done.
But once again, in committee, when we said let's restate that at
least as one of the important criteria--because, you see, when this
bill was written, they removed anything that related to healthy forests
from the language. Reinstate that. We actually said, Why don't you
reinstate it so at least 50 percent of this goes to improving the
forests of this country? And that wasn't allowed either.
So there is no criteria. There is no reference once again to the
purpose of this bill originally, which was to make sure that we had a
healthy forest. Instead, we have an open-ended bill that could do
anything, that could go anywhere, that may make any kind of function.
And see, Madam Speaker, all of this could have been avoided. These
are not tough issues. This is not one of the bills that is going to
make or break the Republic. It could be avoided if simply the Democrat
majority had decided to try and do something in a bipartisan way. If
they said, These are your objections. Let's draft something to make
sure that your restrictions are what we do as well. We didn't need to
be here.
As I said, the committee promised that they would work on this before
it came to the floor. I was not privy to those negotiations. I don't
know where it went down, but something happened that did not need to
happen.
And the Rules Committee, we once again took these amendments to the
[[Page H1754]]
Rules Committee and, in their typical fashion, the Rules Committee
dropped all of them except for two. That didn't need to take place.
Typical of what we're doing around here is simply trying to push things
through when we don't need to do it. If we had really had a spirit of
bipartisanship, this is something that could easily be accomplished.
So you can sit back, if this happens to pass today, and simply tell
yourself it could have been great. It could have been a united bill. It
could have been something which we all could say of which we are now
proud. But because of the process that we are using, that does not take
place. In fact, Madam Speaker, what we are doing here is duplicative.
AmeriCorps, if you look on their enacting legislation on page 22 and
page 24, everything this program--which was designed to help public
lands, especially healthy forests--everything this is now opened up to
do is done by AmeriCorps. It's part of their program. Why not funnel
all of the money there and avoid the duplication?
What we are doing now is building a program that has no latitudes, no
restrictions on what their options are, no restrictions on their
funding. This is a hole so wide you could drive a Toyota Prius through
it because there is nothing involved that could stop it. That is not
the way you do good legislation. This is not the way you do good
legislation. But it could be, and it should have been.
I reserve the balance of my time.
Mr. GRIJALVA. Madam Speaker, part of the process that we also see
today, that we're going to experience today and have been experiencing
for a while, is an effort on the part of my colleagues across the aisle
to erase history and to assume that everything that we're doing today
is somehow misconstrued to increase the deficit and that it is a
government takeover, that it's not bipartisanship; and we're at this
place to take corrective steps legislatively, including this
legislation, because we are working on a history, a history of deficit
spending, a history of no priorities, and a history that, although
people want to erase it from memory, is there, and this is the reason
that we're in the situation that we are right now.
As in terms of conspiracies in terms of this legislation, the
American Camp Association endorsed it. The National Trust for Historic
Preservation endorsed it. The Boys and Girls Club endorsed it. Girl
Scouts of Northern California endorsed it. The Wellness Coalition
endorsed it. The Student Conservation Association endorsed it. The
Hispanic Federation endorsed it. The Coalition of National Park
Retirees endorsed it, and the National Trust for Public Lands endorsed
it, and the Muddy Sneakers: The Joy of Learning Outside endorsed it. So
I'm assuming that they must be also part of this vast and nefarious
conspiracy that is going on. Somebody should advise them of that.
With that, let me now yield to the gentlelady from the Virgin
Islands, a member of our Committee on National Resources, Dr.
Christensen, for 3 minutes.
Mrs. CHRISTENSEN. Thank you, Chairman Grijalva.
And although I could be at home this weekend since I don't get to
vote, as a physician, a family doctor, and a person who has worked all
my life, all of my adult life to ensure that people had access to
health care--especially minorities, people of color, those in our rural
areas and territories who have often been left behind--I am pleased to
be here this weekend for this historic vote.
And Chairman Grijalva, I want to thank you for introducing this
legislation and thank you for your leadership as chairman of the
Subcommittee on Parks, Recreation and Public Lands and your leadership
in preserving some of our Nation's most important treasures.
Madam Speaker, I'm pleased to join my colleagues on the floor this
morning in strong support of H.R. 1612, the Public Lands Service Corps
Act. I am sure that my Park Superintendents Tutein and Hargrove are
very much in support of this bill. In fact, Superintendent Hargrove and
I have been trying to set up exactly what this bill would do in St.
Thomas and St. John for several years.
H.R. 1612, in expanding and reinvigorating an existing program,
addresses at least two important needs. First, it creates jobs--jobs
that are so badly needed in our Nation today; jobs in an age group that
has the highest and most chronic unemployment. In the absence of decent
job opportunities, they're lured into drugs and criminal activity that
is threatening to destroy the fabric of many communities, communities
such as mine.
And then it helps to clear up a longstanding maintenance backlog in
our Nation's parks and public lands, but it also begins to reestablish
a relationship between the people in the involved communities and the
public lands in their area.
If I can just speak about St. John for a moment. Two-thirds of that
island is national park, and while it is the anchor of tourism there,
for the most part, the native population are not the major stakeholders
in that important mainstay of our economy. And though it's a small
community, too many of our young people in St. John are in need of jobs
and job training, especially those that don't require that they travel
by boat to St. Thomas every day.
But more than that, with the Virgin Islands National Park occupying
so much of the island, it is critical that we make more St. Johnians an
integral part of what happens there and that they begin to regain a
sense of belonging and ownership with our Nation that has been lost
over the years.
The same is true for the Salt River and the other parklands in St.
Croix and historic Hassel Island in St. Thomas, where those same young
men and women are also in need of job training and jobs.
Although these public land service corps jobs would be just entry
level jobs in the beginning, I am sure that once our young people are
provided with the jobs and the training in preserving our national
treasures that this bill would provide, they will want to go further.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. The time of the gentlewoman has expired.
Mr. GRIJALVA. I yield the gentlelady an additional 1 minute.
Mrs. CHRISTENSEN. We will be building a cadre of new local park
rangers, interpreters, and other positions, as well as management all
the way up to superintendents in the future.
So Chairman Grijalva, thank you for this bill. I am glad to support
it.
Mr. BISHOP. Madam Speaker, I reserve.
Mr. GRIJALVA. I yield 3 minutes to the gentlelady from California,
Ms. Barbara Lee.
Ms. LEE of California. Thank you very much, Madam Speaker.
Let me thank Chairman Grijalva for his leadership in bringing this
bill, the Public Lands Service Corps Act, to the floor. And especially
I want to thank you for bringing it to the floor and our leadership for
allowing it to be brought to the floor today on such a historic day, a
historic weekend. And Congressman Grijalva, I just want to salute you
and Congresswoman Woolsey and all of you who fought so hard for this
health care reform bill this weekend, especially for the public option.
And let me just say, when we cast this vote this weekend, we will be
casting a vote on behalf of all of those uninsured and underinsured, on
behalf of all of those who have died prematurely because they did not
have preventative health care. And we will be casting this vote this
weekend on behalf of our children and our grandchildren so that they
may live longer and healthier lives.
So I'm very delighted that this bill is up this weekend so we would
have a chance to talk about the importance of what we're doing within
the context of this great bill.
This bill will train and connect young adults to service
opportunities on public lands, putting a new generation of Americans
back to work, finally, while instilling in them a great respect for
America's legacy of conservation and stewardship.
The work done by the Public Lands Service Corps will do more than
restore our public lands. It will also protect and preserve our
environment, improve infrastructure, and help ensure the American
public will always have access to the world's greatest recreational and
scenic resources.
The bill would also engage with NOAA to allow young adults to serve
[[Page H1755]]
near coastal and marine waters along our treasured coastlines, such as
those near my home in California in the Bay Area.
And we have many, many young people, especially those with the Martin
Luther King Freedom Center, who work on many conservation projects.
Also, they're learning about protecting our environment, ecology
studies, nature studies. So this bill is going to be of tremendous help
to the young people in my district.
But perhaps more importantly, this bill will provide service
opportunities for our youth to work in restoring and preserving our
public lands at a time when our young adults have been particularly hit
hardest by the economic downturn. We have to remember that the youth
unemployment rate now stands at more than 20 percent. Although low-
income and minority youth populations face even greater challenges,
African American youth, Latino youth, unemployment rates are now
estimated to be as high as 42 percent.
{time} 1100
In light of these harsh economic realities, I am so pleased that H.R.
1612 would encourage Federal agencies to prioritize outreach to
underrepresented communities and populations and take steps to prepare
participants----
The SPEAKER pro tempore. The time of the gentlewoman has expired.
Mr. GRIJALVA. I yield the gentlelady 30 additional seconds.
Ms. LEE of California. Let me just say that this bill would
prioritize, actually, outreach to underrepresented communities and
populations and would take steps to prepare participants for careers
with those agencies or within related conservation fields.
Simply put, this bill could not come at a better time. So I encourage
my colleagues to support this bill and to provide the necessary funding
to start this valuable program as soon as possible.
And let me just thank you, Chairman Grijalva, once again, for your
leadership.
Mr. BISHOP of Utah. I reserve the balance of my time.
Mr. GRIJALVA. Let me yield 3 minutes to the gentlelady from
California (Mrs. Capps).
Mrs. CAPPS. Madam Speaker, I rise today in support of H.R. 1612, the
Public Lands Service Corps Act. And as I do so, I note the rather
unusual markup of this bill or vote on this bill this afternoon here,
or this morning here in our Nation's Capital on a Saturday. We are not
usually gathered here, but that's because we have an historic
opportunity tomorrow to cast a vote for major health care and health
insurance reform legislation in the House of Representatives.
It's interesting the way the various topics are interconnected. When
I think of health, we often think of people's health. But we can also
think of the health and survival, really, of our environment. And then
I also believe that this is a jobs bill because this is a bill designed
to put our young people to work. And that has a great deal to do with
the subject very much on our minds these days with our slow economy and
our great unemployment rate, and as the colleague who preceded me
mentioned, the even higher unemployment rate among our young people.
This legislation will allow more of them to go to work and go to work
in very healthy settings, out in the fresh air, engaged in exercise,
learning to appreciate their natural surroundings. And I believe it
really is a win-win all the way around.
So let me address the legislation. This important bill would help
prepare, repair, and restore our Nation's public lands while also
creating jobs for thousands of young Americans. Years of inadequate
funding have left our public land management agencies with huge
backlogs of labor-intensive work in our national parks, our forests,
our wildlife refuges and our historic sites. Physical infrastructure is
crumbling, and the natural resources have been neglected.
In many places, such as my home State of California, the effects of
climate change are only magnifying the existing problems such as fire
risk, damage from invasive species, coastal erosion, and fragmented
habitat.
H.R. 1612 will help address all of these problems by expanding and
strengthening the Public Lands Corps. It will streamline the corps'
management, modernize its scope and provide new tools to help the
program accomplish its mission. It will also expand the program to
other agencies within the Department of the Interior and to the
Commerce Department agencies, those which manage our coastal and marine
systems, and our national marine sanctuaries.
This expanded public service initiative will introduce people from a
greater diversity of social, ethnic, and cultural backgrounds to our
Nation's parks, our forests, and our public lands, not only as possible
future employees, but also as lifelong enthusiasts. And this bill will
create jobs. H.R. 1612 will provide meaningful training and employment
to young people who especially need it now while also improving the
condition of our priceless natural and cultural resources.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. The time of the gentlewoman has expired.
Mr. GRIJALVA. I yield the gentlewoman 1 additional minute.
Mrs. CAPPS. As one who represents a national forest and a national
marine sanctuary as well as a national park, the Channel Islands, I can
attest to the great work of the Public Lands Corps and the importance
of this legislation. So I thank you, Mr. Grijalva, for introducing this
very important bill and for your great leadership on this issue. I urge
my colleagues to vote ``yes'' on this important legislation.
Mr. BISHOP of Utah. Madam Speaker, may I inquire of the gentleman
from Arizona, my good friend, wrong on all the issues, but still a
great guy, if he has any other speakers?
Mr. GRIJALVA. I have one additional speaker.
Mr. BISHOP of Utah. I will reserve.
Mr. GRIJALVA. I yield the gentlewoman from Texas (Ms. Jackson Lee) 3
minutes.
Ms. JACKSON LEE of Texas. Madam Speaker, and to Congressman Grijalva,
let me thank you for your leadership on this very important issue, and
to Congressman Bishop as well for managing this legislation and
acknowledging the concerns that may have been expressed. And I offer
maybe this rebuttal to some of the points that have been made, and
celebrate legislation that really recognizes that we are not here on
the floor to only provide jobs and support the student conservation
association, if that is what it is being interpreted as, but frankly to
be part of fixing America's crumbling infrastructure, and certainly our
public lands need fixing.
Years of inadequate funding have left our public land management
agencies with huge backlogs of labor-intensive work on national
parklands, wildlife refuges, historic sites, and Indian lands. As we
watch America take advantage of visiting their Capitol, for example, to
see the many monuments and sites that are here, they don't want to come
and see monuments that have chipped surfaces or that are dangerous to
visit.
And this opportunity to employ our young people and to teach them
character and integrity is a very important part of this legislation. I
for one have spoken to my State parks management entity asking them to
look more carefully at the parks in inner cities, the opportunities for
them to be designated national parks and to be able to put more parks
in the inner cities that are under the jurisdiction of our Federal
Government.
Of course, that analysis takes long. But I want to applaud my own
city of Houston that continuously looks to put public and open space
for the many people that live in our community. Houston expects to be
the third-largest city in the Nation. Green space, public opportunities
to utilize parks is very important. So when I see a bill that is going
to help fix the crumbling infrastructure, the physical crumbling
infrastructure, the natural and cultural resources that have been
neglected--and in many places the effects of climate change are
magnifying earlier problems such as fire risks, damage from insects and
invasive species, coastal erosion, and fragmented habitat--I am in
support of this legislation
I also come from the Gulf Coast region and have seen what happens to
the deterioration and erosion of the Gulf Coast. In particular after
Hurricane Ike, we are now trying to restore Galveston and those coastal
lands to be able to provide for an economic engine. So this is a good
bill. With a high rate
[[Page H1756]]
of unemployment among African American youth and youth around the
country, the opportunity for them to work with their hands and minds is
a positive step.
This legislation will be part of the road map to help expand park
service and ensure that our sites are maintained and kept at the level
that they should. And I hope to be able to work with the chairman of
this committee as I assess the needs of Houston to be able to provide
more green space in our community. Along with this bill--tomorrow we
will provide real health care for America by the vote I make tomorrow.
I urge support for the legislation.
Mr. BISHOP of Utah. Madam Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may
consume.
The first gentlelady from California who spoke talked about how
important it was to start this program. May I reiterate, once again, we
are not starting anything new. We have a program. All we are doing is
changing things in that program. The current program has specific
dollar amounts going which will be reviewed and specific programmatic
responsibility, all of which were stripped out in this particular
version.
The gentlelady from Texas, actually, I appreciate everything she
said, she was right on. Everything for which she argued that is
necessary is what the original program was intended to do. The problem
we have is--and we could have easily, easily gone along with the
expansion of this program if they had actually allowed us to come up
with some kind of limitations, because unfortunately, as I mentioned
before, what we have now done with this program, 75 percent of which
was to go to make sure that we have healthy forests, where the actual
priority was to go to help public lands, is you have taken out all that
language and we have simply replicated AmeriCorps.
Once again, go on to the language of the legislation that created
that document. On page 22 they list what they can do. It's exactly the
same thing that has now opened up this possibility. Page 24, where can
they go? Exactly the same thing. All we are doing is making a duplicate
of a program that's already there when we have a good program with a
specific goal, a specific recommendation, and we have taken out those
specifics.
Now I suggested that there is plenty of opportunity for abuse in this
particular program if you don't try and limit it to what we want it to
accomplish, because we all agree on what we want it to accomplish. The
unfortunate thing is the language in this bill doesn't say that. It
doesn't specify that. And so indeed we can have instead people going in
there to provide not jobs, but to provide internships for people to go
in and have them assist professional staff in identifying problems,
formulating legal strategies to address those problems, providing legal
education and direct response representation, engaging in policy
development.
There is nothing wrong with doing that, but not on the government
dime. I don't have a problem with having a tour of this country talking
about sustainability of processes and having drinking parties and all.
That's fine, but not on the government dime. I don't mind actually
having an agency that has a program here in Washington sponsored by the
National Park Service, but not if it's going to teach people how to
lead protests and sit-ins, not on the government dime. You can do all
of these, but not subsidized by government funding. And that's what
should be specified, that those type of activities should be beyond the
opportunity and beyond the appropriation and beyond the concept of this
program. That is what should have been in the bill. And had we done
that, we would also all be singing Kumbaya or anything else that you
want to with that.
But this bill, as I said before, is somewhat of a metaphor for
everything that we have been doing for a large part of this session.
It's simply, once again, a bill that there were assurances made in the
committee that amendments would be applied to this bill. For whatever
reason, they are not. Instead, we are standing up here protesting a
bill which should have been and could have been a great piece of
legislation to move us forward towards a common goal, but for whatever
reason it was not allowed to be written in that form.
We are standing here on a bill that actually presents itself with a
visual of why we need systemic change in this body. If the vast
majority of Members were here on the floor to hear what these arguments
are, I think they would say, yes, this is a logical limitation, it
should be there. But as you look around, the vast majority of Members
are not on this floor right now. So far too often we do things in a
vacuum of understanding, which is why this body needs systemic change
in the process that we use to reach conclusions.
Nothing, nothing more than the changes, nothing more than the process
we are going through this weekend, reeks of the need for some kind of
systemic change. Because if we did that systemic change and the
expectation were the people were here to listen to the debate, they
were there in the committees to hear the testimony, there were there in
the committees to be part of the markup process, I am still convinced
that we could have a better product and a bipartisan product.
But the process does not encourage that. The process encourages the
exact opposite. We have a process that has evolved in the wrong
direction, and if anything else, this weekend should show that we need
systemic change in the process.
This bill, this program, is still a decent program. And with some
limitations on the amount of spending, some review on a regular period,
and some limitations on what the product will be, what the kids will be
working on as they go through these internships, we could have a very,
very good positive program. And I hope before this bill actually goes
all the way through the system, those kinds of limitations are put back
in the bill so we can have something of which we can actually be proud.
I urge defeat of this bill until those changes are made.
I yield back the balance of my time.
Mr. GRIJALVA. I rise to encourage support for H.R. 1612. Part of the
discussion today was to say, from my colleagues on the other side of
the aisle, that it's a bad time to spend money on this program because
unemployment is high and the deficit is high. I would respond that it
is the perfect time for such investment.
This program is an investment in reducing unemployment among young
people and in the long run will save money by preventing these
maintenance problems in our public lands from getting worse. I want to
talk about what is in the bill. Much of the limitations that were
talked about by my good friend are not part of--some of the points that
he made are not even part of the legislation. But let's talk for a
second what this bill does do.
{time} 1115
H.R. 1612 will broaden the scope of the program to include more
agencies within the Department of the Interior, NOAA, within the
Commerce Department; to expand the purposes of this program to make
clear that a central aim is to attract participants from diverse
backgrounds who are underrepresented among visitors and managers of our
public lands; require establishment of coordinators with each agency
eligible to participate in the program so that implementation of the
program will be more uniform and efficient; authorize these Federal
agencies to enter into cooperative agreements with nonprofit youth or
Conservation Corps to improve these partnerships; establish criteria
and methodology for training programs for all participants; modernize
the scope of eligible projects to include new challenges such as
climate change and insect infestation; authorize participating agencies
to provide housing for participants.
That is what the program does do. It is an appropriate time, it is a
necessary time, and it is an investment that will pay huge dividends
for our public lands and our young people, and I urge its adoption.
I yield back the balance of my time.
The SPEAKER pro tempore (Ms. Edwards of Maryland). All time for
debate on the bill, as amended, has expired.
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