Providing for Further Consideration of H.R., Student Success Act, and Providing for Consideration of H.R. 2647, Resilient Federal Forests Act of 2015
Floor Speech
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Mr. NEWHOUSE. Mr. Speaker, on Tuesday, the Rules Committee met and reported a House rule, House Resolution 347, providing for consideration of two important pieces of legislation for which I am honored to be able to bring forward for consideration by this legislative body: H.R. 2647, the Resilient Federal Forests Act of 2015, and H.R. 5, the Student Success Act.
The rule provides for consideration of H.R. 2647 under a structured rule with four amendments made in order, a majority of which were offered by our Democratic colleague Members of the House. The rule also provides for further consideration of H.R. 5 under a structured rule with four additional amendments that were made in order.
Mr. Speaker, this rule provides for consideration of H.R. 2647, the Resilient Federal Forests Act of 2015, a bill that is critically important to my district in central Washington State which is, unfortunately, once again facing another devastating wildfire season.
This bipartisan, comprehensive legislation is aimed at expediting and improving forest management activities in Federal forests. It builds upon many legislative concepts introduced in this and in previous Congresses to address disastrous consequences of catastrophic wildfire, insect and disease infestations, and other threats to our Nation's forests.
H.R. 2647 would return resilience to the overgrown, fire-prone forests that encompass a great deal of land in the Western United States. It would dramatically improve the health and resiliency of our Federal forests and rangelands by simplifying environmental process requirements, curtailing project planning times, and reducing the cost of implementing forest management projects, all while still ensuring robust protection of the environment.
Mr. Speaker, just last year, my district in central Washington endured the Carlton Complex fire, the largest wildfire in our State's history, which was responsible for the destruction of over 300 homes and businesses. This devastating, catastrophic wildfire crippled many parts of my district, and many of my constituents are still trying to recover; yet it seems, as soon as we start to move past one major wildfire, another is immediately on our doorstep, literally.
Almost 10 days ago, new fires broke out in Washington State in cities like Wenatchee and Quincy and counties, including Benton, Chelan, Grant, Adams and Douglas, immediately spreading and some requiring Washington State fire mobilization resources to keep them from escalating. As the West continues to face severe drought conditions, the threat of wildfire will only continue to worsen.
In order to begin to prevent and address these fires, we need to reform the way we prepare for, respond to, and fund wildfire response and mitigation efforts. We cannot continue to limp from one devastating fire season to the next, leaving little to no time, and even less funding, available for reforestation, rehabilitation, and overall forest management.
This bill addresses those shortcomings by providing new methods of funding, which will tackle the problem of fire borrowing. It also includes tools the Forest Service can implement immediately to treat thousands of acres of forest land at a lower cost.
Earlier this year, the House Natural Resources Committee's Subcommittee on Federal Lands, of which I am a member, held a hearing on this bill. One of the witnesses testifying was U.S. Forest Service Chief Tom Tidwell.
In his opening comments, Chief Tidwell remarked that ``the Forest Service is encouraged by many of the goals outlined within'' the bill and ``welcomes legislation that incentivizes collaboration and expands the toolset that we can use to complete critical work on our Nation's forests without overriding environmental laws.''
I believe these comments reflect the bipartisan nature in which the legislation was drafted and highlights the necessity of the reforms we are considering here today.
Mr. Speaker, it should also be noted that, because of the reforms and streamlined authorities in this bill, there will be an increase in acres of treated land, all at no additional costs to taxpayers. This legislation is essential and desperately needed to change the current path of forest management on public lands, which is outdated, unsustainable, and dangerous.
This rule also provides for further consideration of H.R. 5, the Student Success Act, an education reform bill that reduces the Federal Government's footprint and restores local control over education by eliminating wasteful and duplicative Federal programs and replacing them with guidelines that maintain both high-performance expectations and appropriate levels of funding.
This legislation provides local governments with the flexibility necessary to develop appropriate strategies with which to serve their students, parents, and communities.
The Elementary and Secondary Education Act, known as No Child Left Behind, has been due for reauthorization since 2007. Because it has not been reauthorized, the administration has been free to circumvent Congress and impose its own vision of education reform on the country, resulting in unprecedented intervention in local education issues.
The Student Success Act addresses this overreach by streamlining and eliminating more than 70 elementary and secondary education programs that have been deemed ineffective and instead promotes a more focused, efficient, and appropriate Federal law in the Nation's education system.
H.R. 5 will eliminate the current one-size-fits-all Federal accountability requirement and replace it with State-determined accountability systems designed to maintain high expectation for our Nation's schools. Additionally, the bill supports and encourages parental engagement in their children's education by helping parents to enroll their children in charter schools and allowing title I funds to follow low-income children to the school of their parents' choice.
Mr. Speaker, a well-educated workforce is imperative to the health and vitality of both our Nation's children and our economy. The Student Success Act will benefit students, parents, teachers, and school administrators by returning responsibility for student achievement to the States and local communities while maintaining high standards and expectations for our Nation's students, teachers, and schools.
Mr. Speaker, this is a good, straightforward rule, allowing for consideration of two critical pieces of legislation that will help protect our rural communities, provide much-needed reforms to our education system, and ensure that we are prepared to respond to devastating and catastrophic wildfires that have plagued many areas of our country.
Mr. Speaker, I support the rule's adoption; I urge my colleagues to support both the rule and the underlying
bill, and I reserve the balance of my time.
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Mr. NEWHOUSE. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
As you can tell, due to the number of colleagues from both sides of the aisle speaking today, these are critically important issues we are considering, important to the economic well-being of our country, as well as to the health of our forest lands and the safety of rural communities.
Reforming our education system and the way we combat wildfires and manage our forests is of the highest priority, and I urge my colleagues to support this rule, as well as both of the underlying bills.
This rule provides for consideration of H.R. 2647, the Resilient Federal Forests Act of 2015, a bipartisan, comprehensive bill aimed at expediting and improving forest management activities in Federal forests.
This critical piece of legislation would address the disastrous consequences of catastrophic wildfire and would return resilience to our overgrown, fire-prone forests by dramatically improving the health of our Federal forests and rangelands.
My district, as well as many other areas around the country, continue to face the threat of catastrophic wildfire, which is made worse by the continuing drought conditions and the poor management and maintenance of forests on our Federal lands.
We must begin to take steps to prevent and address these fires, which this bill does by reforming the way we prepare, respond to, and fund wildfire response and mitigation efforts.
Mr. Speaker, we cannot continue on this current path, where we limp from one devastating fire to the next, unable to break the cycle of destructive fire seasons due to ineffective funding mechanisms, insufficient forest maintenance, and a burdensome Federal permitting and review process.
This bill addresses these shortcomings by tackling the problem of fire borrowing, simplifying environmental process requirements, reducing project planning times, and lowering the cost of implementing forest management projects, all while ensuring robust environmental protections.
Mr. Speaker, because of the reforms and streamlined authorities in this bill, there will be an increase in acres of treated land, which will come at no additional cost to our taxpayers. This legislation is essential and desperately needed to change the outdated, unsustainable, and ultimately dangerous system of forest management on Federal lands.
This rule also provides for further consideration of H.R. 5, the Student Success Act, a reform of our Nation's education system which reduces the Federal Government's footprint in State and local issues and restores control over education back to those on the ground who are best qualified to make the decisions affecting their students, parents, teachers, and communities.
Mr. Speaker, a well-educated workforce is imperative to the health and vitality of both our Nation's children and our economy. The Student Success Act empowers parents, local communities, and State governments to lead the way in fixing America's broken educational system.
H.R. 5 will benefit students, parents, teachers, and school administrators by returning responsibility for student achievement to the States and local communities, while maintaining high standards and expectations for our Nation's students, teachers, and schools.
This is a good, straightforward rule, Mr. Speaker, allowing for consideration of two critical pieces of legislation that will help protect our rural communities, provide much-needed reforms to our education system, and ensure that we are prepared to respond to the devastating and catastrophic wildfires that have plagued many areas of our country. I support the rule's adoption, and I urge my colleagues also to support both the rule and the underlying bills.
Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time, and I move the previous question on the resolution.
The previous question was ordered.
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