[Congressional Record Volume 147, Number 1 (Wednesday, January 3, 2001)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E14-E15]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




   INTRODUCTION OF BILL TO AMEND CLEAR CREEK COUNTY, COLORADO, LANDS 
                              TRANSFER ACT

                                 ______
                                 

                            HON. MARK UDALL

                              of colorado

                    in the house of representatives

                       Wednesday, January 3, 2001

  Mr. UDALL of Colorado. Mr. Speaker, I am today reintroducing a bill 
to provide additional

[[Page E15]]

time for Clear Creek County to sell certain lands that it received from 
the United States under legislation passed in 1993.
  Under that legislation--the Clear Creek County, Colorado, Public 
Lands Transfer Act--the County took title to certain public lands with 
explicit authority for their sale, subject to two basic requirements: 
the County must pay to the United States any net proceeds realized 
after deduction of allowable costs, as defined through agreement with 
the Secretary of the Interior; and any lands not sold within 10 years 
after enactment of the Transfer Act must be retained by the County.
  In the last Congress, I introduced a bill to extend for an additional 
ten years the period during which the County will be authorized to sell 
these lands. This has been requested by the Commissioners of Clear 
Creek County because it has taken longer than anticipated for the 
county to implement this part of the Transfer Act. Additional time 
would mean a greater likelihood that the County can sell these lands, 
and thus a greater chance that the national taxpayers will benefit from 
payments by the County. Last year, the House passed the time-extension 
bill, but the Senate did not complete action on it.
  The bill I am introducing today is almost identical to the one the 
House passed last year. The only difference is that the new bill would 
extend until May 19, 2015 the time for the county to sell the lands in 
question--one year longer than under the previous bill. The additional 
year would be provided in recognition of the additional time that will 
now be required for the bill to be enacted into law.

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