[Congressional Record Volume 165, Number 36 (Wednesday, February 27, 2019)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E224]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                          PERSONAL EXPLANATION

                                 ______
                                 

                         HON. PETER A. DeFAZIO

                               of oregon

                    in the house of representatives

                      Wednesday, February 27, 2019

  Mr. DeFAZIO. Madam Speaker, yesterday had I been present, I would 
have voted in strong support of S. 47, the Natural Resources Management 
Act. I was detained due to severe weather and cancelled flights in 
Oregon.
  S. 47 is a compilation of approximately 100 public lands and natural 
resources bills. One of the main provisions would provide permanent 
authorization of the Land and Water Conservation Fund, which I strongly 
support.
  Also included in this essential legislation are three provisions that 
I authored to protect critical salmon and steelhead habitats in 
southwestern Oregon and designate more than 30,000 acres of public land 
as Wilderness.
  H.R. 994, the Chetco River Protection Act, would prohibit new mining 
claims on various rivers and creeks in Southwestern Oregon. The waters 
protected by this legislation supply clean drinking water to thousands 
of residents of Southwest Oregon and Northwest California and are 
critical salmon habitat.
  H.R. 999, the Devil's Staircase Wilderness Act, would permanently 
protect Devil's Staircase, a remote, unspoiled area in the Coast Range. 
The legislation would designate approximately 30,500 acres of Bureau of 
Land Management (BLM) and U.S. Forest Service (USFS) lands as 
Wilderness. In addition, this legislation designates approximately 14.4 
miles of the Wasson and Franklin Creeks, which support native Coho and 
Chinook salmon, trout, and steelhead runs, as Wild and Scenic Rivers.
  H.R. 1056, the Frank and Jeanne Moore Wild Steelhead Special 
Management Area Designation Act, would designate almost 100,000 acres 
of public land in the Steamboat Creek Watershed in the Umpqua National 
Forest that is vitally important steelhead habitat. The legislation 
would honor Frank and Jeanne Moore's lifelong efforts to protect the 
North Umpqua River and its tributaries.
  The lands protected in these bills are some of the most beautiful, 
pristine, and ecologically-diverse areas in Oregon. To leave these 
areas unprotected would be to subject them to pollution and mining, 
endanger drinking water for thousands of families, and devastate local 
recreation economies.
  I am proud that Congress overwhelmingly passed this legislation and 
that President Trump is expected to sign this important legislation 
into law.

                          ____________________