Sherman Speaks in Support of Soledad Canyon Settlement Act

I yield myself so 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 anymore bipartisan than that.

Fiscal responsibility: CBO says this bill cost 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, Semex 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 Bucks' tireless tenacity I want to commend the city leaders of Santa Clarita, many time mayor Loraine West 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 Striplen the city manager and the hundreds and thousands of people in Santa Clarita and the immediate area.

Mr. Speaker, this is a bill that's 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.

So I want to commend the gentleman from Santa Clarita for his decades of work for his district, his town and all the people of California. I want to urge an ‘aye' vote on the Soledad Canyon Settlement Act and I reserve the balance of my time.