[Congressional Record Volume 149, Number 86 (Thursday, June 12, 2003)]
[House]
[Page H5345]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                   ROADLESS RULE REVISION AND ALASKA

  (Ms. DeLAURO asked and was given permission to address the House for 
1 minute and to revise and extend her remarks.)
  Ms. DeLAURO. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to express my strong 
opposition to the decision earlier this week by the Bush administration 
to roll back protection for over 14 million acres of pristine 
forestland in the Tongass and Chugach National Forests in Alaska, the 
crown jewels of our national forest system.
  In its most blatant example of catering to corporate special 
interests to date, the administration has once again put its wealthy 
contributors before the health and safety of our environments. Whether 
it comes to the stewardship of our precious forestlands, it appears the 
administration's priority is the timber industry, first and foremost, 
not the taxpayers or the environment. This decision, which was the 
result of a settlement with the State of Alaska, was made despite over 
2.2 million comments and 600 public meetings and hearings on the 
roadless policy, the vast majority in support of protecting the Tongass 
and the Chugach, which is home to America's last great rainforest.
  Just as damaging, the decision will allow individual States to seek 
additional exemptions, eroding national protections for 58.5 million 
acres of pristine national forests in 39 States.
  I urge my colleagues to support the legislation that I have 
introduced, the Alaska Rainforest Protection Act, and the Inslee-
Boehlert National Forest Roadless Area Conservation Act.

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