[Congressional Record Volume 166, Number 134 (Wednesday, July 29, 2020)]
[House]
[Pages H3885-H3886]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                             APPROPRIATIONS

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair recognizes the gentleman from 
California (Mr. Costa) for 5 minutes.
  Mr. COSTA. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to stress the importance of 
investing in programs that expand opportunities for every person in 
every corner of our Nation, including my district in California's San 
Joaquin Valley.
  Just last week, we passed a spending bill that will benefit our 
farmers, repair aging water infrastructure, help food-insecure 
residents from going hungry, support revitalization efforts on our 
public lands, and combat the climate crisis by cleaning our air.
  This week, we have an opportunity to make further investments in the 
future sustainability of our Nation.
  Face it, Mr. Speaker, we are living off the investments our parents 
and grandparents made a generation ago.
  The availability of a reliable supply of water is the foundation of 
the San Joaquin Valley's economy and, I might add, California and much 
of the West, which grows food that feeds the world. As we say, where 
water flows, food grows.
  We also must ensure access to clean drinking water so our communities 
can thrive. No one should have to worry in the richest nation in the 
world of having access to clean water in their homes.
  These bills will provide more than $100 billion to help repair the 
aging valley canals, such as the Delta-Mendota Canal, the Friant-Kern 
Canal, and the California Aqueduct, which are critical to delivering 
water to not only our farmers but to our valley communities.
  These bills would also make small, disadvantaged communities safer 
and healthier by providing nearly $1 billion for infrastructure 
repairs, communities like Dos Palos, Livingston, Fairmead, and Los 
Banos in the San Joaquin Valley to name but a few. It also provides 
more than $10 billion for clean water and drinking water State 
revolving funds, which are important. It matches funds and is the best 
use of money.
  We have been living off these investments, as I said, for way too 
long. The

[[Page H3886]]

coronavirus pandemic has worsened Americans' food insecurity crisis as 
we have witnessed, but with this bill we have an opportunity to ensure 
hungry Americans, especially children and seniors, have access to 
nutritious food.
  For more than 50 years, hungry Americans have relied on the 
Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, known as SNAP, to keep from 
going hungry. These are the working poor and young and old alike. 
Thirty-eight million Americans, including 25 percent of my 
constituents, depend on these programs.
  Throughout my time in Congress, I fought to increase funding and 
expand eligibility for this program, which has come under constant 
attack from the administration, and I don't understand it. There has 
never been a right time to cut support for the most vulnerable 
residents in our country, and doing so now certainly is not righteous 
in dealing with this worldwide pandemic.
  The package also includes significant funding for agriculture 
research programs to help mitigate crop diseases, eradicate invasive 
species like the navel orange worm, and also has cost billions of 
dollars in California's agriculture economy. In addition, we need to do 
more for farmworkers' safety, people who are working in partnership 
with farmers to, every day, put food on America's dinner table, as well 
as for our packing sheds and our food processing facilities.
  The climate crisis is having an unquestionable impact on the planet. 
This bill makes significant investments to preserve America's 
landscapes and prevent the worst impacts of climate change.
  California's San Joaquin Valley, unfortunately, has some of the worst 
air in the Nation. By providing $450 billion in grant funding for the 
Diesel Emission Reduction Act, this bill will help replace and retrofit 
emission diesel fuels for cleaner burning options to help clean our 
air.
  These DERA grants have already removed dozens of air-polluting 
vehicles from our valley roads, creating immediate and tangible 
results. I have worked for decades to improve our air quality and 
remain committed to finding resources to improve our environment and 
reduce pollution.
  In California, sadly, we have wildfires that have caused incredible 
destruction and hardship to California's mountain communities. There 
are estimated to be more than 100 million dead trees in the State from 
multiple causes. This spending bill will provide nearly $6 billion to 
help maintain our forests and fight deadly fires. We must do more to 
manage our fires and prevent devastating fires. This bill will help us 
do just that. That is why these appropriations bills are so important.
  Finally, it makes strong investments in our nature preservation, 
wildlife conservation, and ecological protections by providing $500 
million to support areas like San Luis National Wildlife Refuge near 
Los Banos, the important refuge area for the Pacific Flyway between 
Canada and Mexico, an important wildlife refuge.
  This spending bill prioritizes public health and safety, invests in 
our aging infrastructure, protects the environment, and prepares us for 
a brighter future. I am proud to vote for it, and I urge my colleagues 
to do the same in a bipartisan fashion.
  Finally, we must also pass a bipartisan version of the HEROES Act for 
all the right reasons, which is contained in that legislation: for our 
States, for our counties, for our cities, for those who work there, for 
our healthcare workers, for further testing, and to create a safety net 
for American agriculture.
  I encourage my colleagues across the aisle to do that as well. We 
must work together during this pandemic that is affecting all of our 
country and the entire world.

                          ____________________