[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 163 (2017), Part 3]
[House]
[Page 4028]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                            COASTAL EROSION

  (Mr. KILMER asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 
minute.)
  Mr. KILMER. Mr. Speaker, climate change is real; and it is so real 
that, before Donald Trump became President, he petitioned Ireland for a 
permit to build a seawall for one of his greatest golf courses in the 
world. His permit application said rising sea levels and extreme 
weather conditions from climate change threatened his property.
  As President, he seems to have changed his tune. In fact, a draft 
budget proposal from the administration zeros out investments in NOAA'S 
Coastal Zone Management Program, zero dollars for an initiative that 
provides critical resources to communities facing the same threat from 
rising sea levels as the President's golf courses.
  You know, if it sounds like I am outraged about this, it is because I 
find this so outrageous. This is going to hurt people in coastal 
communities.
  I would like to invite the President to Taholah on the Quinault 
Indian Reservation. Tribal elders would tell him that the ocean that 
was once a football field away is now their front porch and creeps 
closer and closer every day.
  They would like a brand-new seawall, too. But, unfortunately, they 
aren't billionaires. They need a partner in the Federal Government to 
protect their homes. So do folks in Ocean Shores and Westport and Neah 
Bay and coastal communities throughout my State.
  Before releasing his budget, I hope the President remembers that it 
is not just his golf course that is at risk. We are talking about 
people's homes and people's lives, and they deserve better than this.

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