[Congressional Record Volume 146, Number 125 (Tuesday, October 10, 2000)]
[House]
[Pages H9618-H9620]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
PROVIDING FOR CONCURRENCE BY HOUSE WITH AMENDMENT IN SENATE AMENDMENT
TO H.R. 150, EDUCATION LAND GRANT ACT
Mr. HANSEN. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and agree to the
resolution (H. Res. 621) providing for the concurrence by the House
with an amendment in the Senate amendment to H.R. 150.
The Clerk read as follows:
H. Res. 621
Resolved, That upon the adoption of this resolution the
House shall be considered to have taken from the Speaker's
table the bill H.R. 150, with the Senate amendment thereto,
and to have concurred in the Senate amendment with the
following amendment:
In lieu of the matter proposed to be inserted by the
amendment of the Senate, insert the following:
SECTION. 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ``Education Land Grant Act''.
SEC. 2. CONVEYANCE OF NATIONAL FOREST SYSTEM LANDS FOR
EDUCATIONAL PURPOSES.
(a) Authority To Convey.--Upon application, the Secretary
of Agriculture may convey National Forest System lands for
use for educational purposes if the Secretary determines
that--
(1) the entity seeking the conveyance will use the conveyed
land for a public or publicly funded elementary or secondary
school, to provide grounds or facilities related to such a
school, or for both purposes;
(2) the conveyance will serve the public interest;
(3) the land to be conveyed is not otherwise needed for the
purposes of the National Forest System; and
(4) the total acreage to be conveyed does not exceed the
amount reasonably necessary for the proposed use.
(b) Acreage Limitation.--A conveyance under this section
may not exceed 80 acres. However, this limitation shall not
be construed to preclude an entity from submitting a
subsequent application under this section for an additional
land conveyance if the entity can demonstrate to the
Secretary a need for additional land.
(c) Costs and Mineral Rights.--A conveyance under this
section shall be for a nominal cost. The conveyance may not
include the transfer of mineral rights.
(d) Review of Applications.--When the Secretary receives an
application under this section, the Secretary shall--
(1) before the end of the 14-day period beginning on the
date of the receipt of the application, provide notice of
that receipt to the applicant; and
(2) before the end of the 120-day period beginning on that
date--
(A) make a final determination whether or not to convey
land pursuant to the application, and notify the applicant of
that determination; or
(B) submit written notice to the applicant containing the
reasons why a final determination has not been made.
(e) Reversionary Interest.--If at any time after lands are
conveyed pursuant to this section, the entity to whom the
lands were conveyed attempts to transfer title to or control
over the lands to another or the lands are devoted to a use
other than the use for which the lands were conveyed, without
the consent of the Secretary, title to the lands shall revert
to the United States.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from
Utah (Mr. Hansen) and the gentleman from American Samoa (Mr.
Faleomavaega) each will control 20 minutes.
The Chair recognizes the gentleman from Utah (Mr. Hansen).
Mr. HANSEN. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
[[Page H9619]]
On June 8, 1999, the House passed H.R. 150, the Education Land Grant
Act, by voice vote. Since that time, the bill was amended in the other
body. However, the committee nor the author are agreeable to the
amendments. Thus, this resolution strips the Senate amendments and
inserts the original text as passed by the House.
Mr. Speaker, H.R. 150 is a good piece of legislation that will help
school children in rural communities throughout the country. I commend
the gentleman from Arizona (Mr. Hayworth) for his hard work on this
bill.
The Education Land Grant Act was designed to alleviate a problem that
many small western communities face. These towns are often hemmed in by
government-owned lands such as BLM land, Indian reservations, national
forests, State land and now all over the West national monuments,
national parks, et cetera. Since so much of the land base in these
areas is nontaxable government land, they often find it difficult to
afford school facilities.
H.R. 150 was designed to help these towns and cities surrounded by or
adjacent to Forest Service land. They would be able to buy parcels of
land for school facilities from the Forest Service at nominal cost. We
have the opportunity to provide communities across our great Nation
with the ability to purchase public lands to facilitate the education
of our youth. This is a good cause and a great idea. H.R. 150 is simply
legislation that resolves an extremely difficult problem for rural
school districts. I urge my colleagues to support this resolution.
Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
Mr. FALEOMAVAEGA. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may
consume.
(Mr. FALEOMAVAEGA asked and was given permission to revise and extend
his remarks.)
Mr. FALEOMAVAEGA. Mr. Speaker, first of all I certainly want to
commend my good friend the gentleman from Arizona (Mr. Hayworth), the
chief sponsor of this bill.
Mr. Speaker, H.R. 621 would have the effect of returning to the
Senate the House-passed language in the bill H.R. 150, the Education
Land Grant Act. The House originally passed this measure in June of
last year and the Senate subsequently took up the bill and sent it back
to the House in April of this year with an amendment.
The Senate amendment is a significant change in the purpose and scope
of H.R. 150 as passed by this body. There are a number of serious
problems with the Senate amendment in terms of policy and its
application. Whereas the House bill was narrowly focusing on making
land available for schools, the Senate amendment greatly expands the
authorized purposes, includes new detailed language on the transfers
and reverters as well as making a number of other changes in the bill.
It is our understanding that the administration strongly opposes the
language of the Senate amendment.
Given the problems with the Senate amendment, we do not object to
disagreeing with the Senate language and returning the bill to the
Senate with the original House-passed provisions.
Mr. Speaker, again I want to commend my friend from Arizona for this
legislation. I urge my colleagues to support the bill.
Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
Mr. HANSEN. Mr. Speaker, I am happy to yield such time as he may
consume to the gentleman from Arizona (Mr. Hayworth), the author of
this bill.
(Mr. HAYWORTH asked and was given permission to revise and extend his
remarks.)
Mr. HAYWORTH. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman from Utah for
yielding me this time. I would also ask the indulgence of those who
join us this evening as I battle a bit of a cold.
{time} 2300
Mr. Speaker, tonight before us is an important bipartisan bill that
will help school districts around the country by allowing those
districts to apply for conveyances of small tracts of Forest Service
land at a nominal cost for the purposes of building, renovating or
expanding school facilities.
Currently, only school districts near Bureau of Land Management lands
can apply for conveyances under the Recreation and Public Purposes Act,
and modeled after that act this legislation simply adds Forest Service
lands to the equation.
It is worth noting, as my colleagues have before me, that H.R. 150
unanimously passed this House by a recorded vote with 420 of us in
attendance voting yes; not a single voice, not a single vote, Mr.
Speaker, in opposition in June of last year.
By unanimous consent, as was mentioned earlier, Mr. Speaker, the
Senate passed an amendment in the nature of a substitute to H.R. 150
and while this was a bipartisan agreement, objections have been raised.
They were enumerated by my good friend, the gentleman from American
Samoa (Mr. Faleomavaega). Therefore, by disagreeing to the Senate
amendments to H.R. 150, we can send the House-passed bill back to the
Senate in the form of H. Res. 621 and send it directly to the President
after the other body passes the legislation.
To recount, this new Education Land Grant Act authorizes the
Secretary of Agriculture to convey Forest Service lands for educational
purposes if certain conditions are met. First, the entity seeking the
conveyance must use the land for a public or publicly funded elementary
or secondary school.
Second, the conveyance must serve the public interest.
Third, the land conveyed cannot be environmentally sensitive land and
cannot be otherwise needed for purposes of the national forest system.
Finally, the total acreage to be conveyed cannot exceed the amount
reasonably necessary for the proposed use.
Furthermore, our new Education Land Grant Act limits the amount of
acreage to be conveyed to 80 acres. It also provides that conveyances
under this legislation shall be for a nominal cost using the guidelines
of the Recreation and Public Purposes Act, which allows for conveyances
or transfers to be made at $10 per acre.
The bill would require expedited review of applications by requiring
the Secretary of Agriculture to acknowledge receipt of an application
within 14 days of receiving it. A final determination about whether to
convey the land must be made within 120 days, unless the Secretary
submits a written notice to the applicant explaining the delay.
Mr. Speaker, ofttimes rural school districts cannot afford the costs
of buying land and building new school facilities. In fact, in the
104th Congress, I introduced legislation which was signed into law that
helped one of these aforementioned financially strapped school
districts, the Alpine School District in Eastern Arizona. This district
desperately needed new facilities. However, they could not afford the
cost of acreage which was estimated to be approximately one quarter of
a million dollars, as well as the cost of new school facilities.
This legislation seeks to set up a national mechanism for school
districts to apply to the Agriculture Secretary for Forest Service land
without having to come to Congress every year to pass legislation for
their particular school district. Indeed, Mr. Speaker, part and parcel
of the exercise tonight is perhaps to an onlooker, Mr. Speaker, a crazy
quilt of small applications or conveyances of land. The beauty of the
new Education Land Grant Act is to offer a uniform mechanism that can
be used.
Mr. Speaker, I would point out that although it is of special
interest in the rural West, it is important to note that this
legislation would help school districts in 44 of our 50 States.
The Constitution gives our Congress authority in article IV, section
3 when it states that Congress shall have the power to dispose of and
make needful rules and regulations respecting the territory or other
properties belonging to the United States. I mention the conditions
unique to the West. It has been part and parcel of discussion on
earlier legislation tonight. Private land in the West is extremely
expensive, and while it is true most federally controlled land is
located in the western States, we also confront a problem there:
Rapidly growing populations. In fact, Arizona, Utah and Nevada have the
three fastest growing States in the Nation. With less and less private
land on which to build schools and other facilities, the West will
increasingly need to find new solutions to growth problems. The
Education Land Grant Act provides one of the ways we can alleviate some
of these concerns and at the
[[Page H9620]]
same time help our children receive the education they need and
deserve.
Not only is there rapid growth in the West but nationwide. As has
been part of the discussion on this floor and in other venues, many
school districts find themselves financially strapped. We have the
opportunity tonight, in the tradition of Justin Smith Morrill, who
consulted with then candidate Abraham Lincoln, in the election campaign
of 1860, for an Education Land Grant Act that allowed for conveyances
of land for the construction and establishment of institutions of
higher learning in the agricultural and mechanical arts, in that
tradition that Lincoln made the centerpiece of his campaign for the
presidency and, of course, a terrible war intervened and his
assassination. Ultimately, the Morrill Land Grant Act was signed into
law. Indeed, from the vantage of time we see how important that was to
higher education in this country.
Mr. Speaker, tonight we again have the opportunity to stand and
deliver, and though it is virtually ignored by the fourth estate, in
retrospect, Mr. Speaker, this legislation is of great importance
because it enables local districts to free up their precious resources
to help teachers teach and help children learn.
Certainly despite our many differences, as we take a look at the
political calendar we can agree on that basic mission. In the tradition
of original passage last year, unanimous passage by this House, I would
ask this House again to support this legislation now by calling for
passage of H. Res. 621 so that this new Education Land Grant Act can
become reality, so that we can streamline this process for the greater
good of all America's children in our finest traditions.
Mr. FALEOMAVAEGA. Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.
Mr. HANSEN. Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.
The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mr. Ryan of Wisconsin). The question is on
the motion offered by the gentleman from Utah (Mr. Hansen) that the
House suspend the rules and agree to the resolution, H. Res. 621.
The question was taken; and (two-thirds having voted in favor
thereof) the rules were suspended and the resolution was agreed to.
A motion to reconsider was laid on the table.
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