Soledad Canyon Settlement Act
Floor Speech
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Mr. SHERMAN. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself as much time as I may
consume.
Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of the Soledad Canyon Settlement Act.
This act is a testament to bipartisanship, fiscal responsibility,
environmental stewardship, local consensus building, and tireless
tenacity for the public good.
Bipartisanship: Here in this House, the bill is introduced, carried,
and written by our colleague, Buck McKeon. In the Senate, the same
language has been introduced by Senator Barbara Boxer and is supported
by Senator Feinstein. You can't get any more bipartisan than that.
Fiscal responsibility: CBO says this bill costs the government zero
dollars and zero cents. You can't get a lower cost estimate on a bill
than that.
Environmental stewardship: this bill is supported by the Sierra Club,
and this land will become the gateway to the new San Gabriel Mountains
National Monument.
Local consensus building: this bill has the support of local leaders
and legislators, Governor Jerry Brown, CEMEX, the local lease owner,
and virtually everyone involved in public life in Santa Clarita, which
is Los Angeles County's third largest city.
Tireless tenacity: Mr. Speaker, tireless tenacity for the public good
is exemplified by our friend, Buck McKeon, 22 years in Congress and I
believe 22 years focused on this problem, and now, on what may very
well be his last legislative day, we have a chance to solve this
problem in a way that I think exemplifies what we should be trying to
do here in Congress.
In addition to Buck's tireless tenacity, I want to commend the city
leaders of Santa Clarita, many-time Mayor Laurene Weste, who I believe
is now a city council member and has been mayor of that city so often;
Bob Keller, now the mayor pro tem; Ken Striplin, the city manager; and
hundreds and thousands of people in Santa Clarita and the immediate
area.
Mr. Speaker, this is a bill that is needed because it will stop the
mining of 56 million tons of sand and gravel, which is now incompatible
with a city that has grown to more than double its size when the
project was originally planned, and now constitutes an area of well
more than a quarter million people.
This sand and gravel mining operation is incompatible with the new
population of the area, and it is also incompatible with the roads and
traffic which is busy not only at rush hour, but throughout the day.
I want to commend the gentleman from Santa Clarita for his decades of
work for his district, and all the people of California.
Mr. Speaker, I urge an ``aye'' vote on the Soledad Canyon Settlement
Act, and I yield back the balance of my time.
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