I find it stunning today that we have so many people on the other side of the aisle who took an oath of office that they would uphold the Constitution and all the laws of this country, and now we have the Hatch Act that's being violated.

That is why the legislation introduced by Congresswoman Jackie Speier, H.R. 1132, the San Francisco Bay Restoration Act, is so timely and important.

We must protect the San Francisco Bay, and it is obvious that we cannot do so without steady and robust federal funding.

The degradation of San Francisco Bay would be an enormous loss for the residents of the Bay Area and our Nation.

I have introduced this legislation every Congress since the 111th Congress in 2010, and the need for action to protect the Bay has been increasing ever since.

Representative Jackie Speier in support of the San Francisco Bay Restoration Act.

Her bill would authorize up to $25 million each year for five years to the EPA to award grants to Bay conservation and restoration projects.

So FEMA has kind of failed. Has it not?

HR 1132 recognizes the success of the EPA's National Estuary Program model and the need to add additional federal funds ($25 million a year) to implement the CCMP for San Francisco Bay.

Over the last 200 years, an alarming 90% of the Bay's wetlands have been destroyed by human activity.

It is so important that we provide more federal funding to protect and restore the Bay.

I thank the gentlewoman from New York for yielding. I rise to engage in a colloquy with the chairwoman of the State- Foreign Operations Appropriations Subcommittee. I rise today to discuss the immense value to the American taxpayer and…