[Congressional Record Volume 150, Number 124 (Tuesday, October 5, 2004)]
[House]
[Pages H8140-H8141]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




 PROVIDING FOR THE USE BY THE STATE OF NORTH CAROLINA OF FEDERAL LANDS 
   AT THE OXFORD RESEARCH STATION IN GRANVILLE COUNTY, NORTH CAROLINA

  Mr. GOODLATTE. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the 
bill (H.R. 2119) to provide for the use by the State of North Carolina 
of Federal lands, improvements, equipment, and resource materials at 
the Oxford Research Station in Granville County, North Carolina, as 
amended.
  The Clerk read as follows:

                               H.R. 2119

       Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of 
     the United States of America in Congress assembled,

     SECTION 1. LAND CONVEYANCE, OXFORD RESEARCH STATION, 
                   GRANVILLE COUNTY, NORTH CAROLINA.

       (a) Conveyance Required.--The Secretary of Agriculture 
     shall convey, without consideration, to the State of North 
     Carolina all right, title, and interest of the United States 
     in and to a parcel of Federal real property consisting of 
     approximately 4.28 acres and administered as part of the 
     Oxford Research Station in Granville County, North Carolina. 
     The conveyance shall include all improvements, equipment, and 
     resource materials at the research station.
       (b) Description of Real Property.--The exact acreage and 
     legal description of the real property to be conveyed under 
     subsection (a) shall be determined by a survey satisfactory 
     to the Secretary. The cost of the survey shall be borne by 
     the State.
       (c) Additional Terms and Conditions.--The Secretary may 
     require such additional terms and conditions in connection 
     with the conveyance under subsection (a) as the Secretary 
     considers appropriate to protect the interests of the United 
     States.

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from 
Virginia (Mr. Goodlatte) and the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Stenholm) 
each will control 20 minutes.
  The Chair recognizes the gentleman from Virginia (Mr. Goodlatte).
  Mr. GOODLATTE. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may 
consume.
  Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of H.R. 2119 sponsored by the 
gentleman from North Carolina (Mr. Butterfield).
  H.R. 2119, as amended, would allow the Forest Service to transfer a 
currently disused facility in North Carolina to the State of North 
Carolina. The facility has not been used in several years, and in fact, 
the land on which it sits was donated by the State of North Carolina to 
the Federal Government for the purpose of establishing a research 
station.
  The administration supports the proposed transfer, and the State 
intends to use the facility to do research on invasive species, a very 
worthwhile project.
  I urge my colleagues to support this bill.

                                         House of Representatives,


                                     Committee on Agriculture,

                                  Washington, DC, October 5, 2004.
     Hon. Tom Davis,
     Chairman, House Committee on Government Reform, Rayburn House 
         Office Building, Washington, DC.
       Dear Mr. Chairman: I would like to take this opportunity to 
     share with you a copy of H.R. 2119 as passed by the Committee 
     on Agriculture. As you know, the Committee on Government 
     Reform has received an additional referral of this 
     legislation and I am respectfully requesting that this 
     legislation be discharged from your committee. This 
     legislation, sponsored by Representative Balance would 
     provide for the use by the State of North Carolina of Federal 
     lands, improvements, equipment, and resource materials at the 
     Oxford Research Station in Granville County, North Carolina.
       As the committee of primary jurisdiction, on September 23, 
     2004, the Committee on Agriculture favorably reported this 
     legislation by an affirmative voice vote. As this bill 
     prepares to move to the floor I am asking for your discharge 
     to move this legislation forward.
       This discharge in no way affects your jurisdiction over the 
     subject matter of the bill and it will not serve as precedent 
     for future referrals. In addition, should a conference on the 
     bill be necessary, I would support your request to have the 
     Committee on Government Reform represented on the conference 
     committee.
       Thank you for your cooperation in this matter and look 
     forward to working with your committee in the future.
           Sincerely,
                                                    Bob Goodlatte,
     Chairman.
                                  ____

                                         House of Representatives,


                               Committee on Government Reform,

                                  Washington, DC, October 5, 2004.
     Hon. Bob Goodlatte,
     Chairman, Committee on Agriculture, Longworth House Office 
         Building, Washington, DC.
       Dear Chairman Goodlatte: Thank you for working with me as 
     you developed H.R. 2119, a bill to provide for the use by the 
     State of North Carolina of Federal lands, improvements, 
     equipment, and resource materials at the Oxford Research 
     Station in Granville County, North Carolina. I would like to 
     confirm our mutual understanding with respect to the 
     consideration of H.R. 2119. As you know, the disposal of 
     federal property, including real property, is within the 
     jurisdiction of the Committee on Government Reform.
       In the interests of moving this important legislation 
     forward, I will agree to waive sequential consideration of 
     this bill by the Committee on Government Reform. However, I 
     do so only with the understanding that this procedural route 
     should not be construed to prejudice the Committee on 
     Government Reform's jurisdictional interest and prerogatives 
     on this bill or other similar legislation. I respectfully 
     request your support for the appointment of outside conferees 
     from the Committee on Government Reform should this bill or a 
     similar Senate bill be considered in conference with the 
     Senate.
       Finally, I would ask that you include a copy of our 
     exchange of letters on this matter in the Congressional 
     Record during the

[[Page H8141]]

     House debate of this bill. If you have questions regarding 
     this matter, please do not hesitate to call me. I thank you 
     for your consideration.
           Sincerely,
                                                        Tom Davis,
                                                         Chairman.

  Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. STENHOLM. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
  Mr. Speaker, I rise to express my support for H.R. 2119, legislation 
to allow the Secretary of Agriculture to convey to the State of North 
Carolina approximately 4.28 acres of Federal lands administered as part 
of the Oxford Research Station in Granville, North Carolina.
  The bill addresses concerns raised by USDA with the original 
legislation. In a letter dated March 30, 2004, USDA acknowledged the 
strong, equitable interest the State of North Carolina has in the 
research station and stated it will gladly exercise the authority 
provided to convey the Oxford Research to the State of North Carolina 
once the legislation is enacted.
  According to USDA estimates, the amendment will not significantly 
affect the Federal budget. In fact, the research station is currently 
unused and actually costs the USDA's property inventory funding to 
maintain it.
  For all these reasons, I urge my colleagues to support this 
legislation.
  Mr. Speaker, I yield such time as he may consume to the gentleman 
from North Carolina (Mr. Butterfield).
  Mr. BUTTERFIELD. Mr. Speaker, I thank the chairman, the gentleman 
from Virginia (Mr. Goodlatte) and the ranking member, the gentleman 
from Texas (Mr. Stenholm) for bringing up this legislation today.
  The Oxford Research Station was established in 1912 as a crop and 
forestry research station. The station facilities include computerized 
curing barns, office facilities, a shop building, several equipment 
shelters, a tobacco evaluation facility and underground irrigation 
systems.
  For 92 years, the station's marquee programs have been tobacco-
related. Accomplishments at the Oxford Tobacco Research Station include 
fertility investigations concerning tobacco plants' nutrition; 
development of the first tobacco varieties with resistance to Granvill 
Wilt and black shank disease; the invention of tobacco bulk curing 
barns; genetic studies to develop new varieties resistance to Granville 
Wilt and black shank diseases; evaluation of crop breeding lines, 
curing experiments, computerized monitoring and control of humidity and 
temperatures; and many others.
  As long a list of accomplishments that the station has accumulated in 
its 92 years of service to American agriculture, the station now stands 
unused by USDA, and American taxpayers are still paying for upkeep and 
maintenance. An unofficial estimate, Mr. Speaker, from the Animal and 
Plant Health Inspection Service for fiscal year 2005 is that the 
station will cost $227,000 for basic upkeep.
  Mr. Speaker, one man's trash is another man's treasure. USDA does not 
want or need the Oxford Research Station, but the North Carolina 
Department of Agriculture does. If the facility is conveyed to the 
North Carolina Department of Agriculture, the State will move its 
entire biological control program to the station. The State intends to 
use the quarantine facilities to research invasive species without risk 
of introducing them to the national environment of our State.
  Among the species to be studied include the hemlock wooly adelgid, an 
insect that has been identified in Public Law 108-148, the President's 
Healthy Forest Initiative, as a forest-damaging insect. The facility 
will also research control methods of the Sudden Oak Death Fungus.
  The people of North Carolina, Mr. Speaker, would be grateful for the 
passage of this legislation.
  Mr. STENHOLM. Mr. Speaker, I have no further requests for time, and I 
yield back the balance of my time.
  Mr. GOODLATTE. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may 
consume.
  Mr. Speaker, I congratulate the gentleman from North Carolina on 
bringing forward a fine piece of legislation. I thank my colleague, the 
gentleman from Texas (Mr. Stenholm), the ranking member, for his work 
on this and other bills that we brought before the House tonight. I 
urge my colleagues to support this legislation.
  Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The question is on the motion offered by the 
gentleman from Virginia (Mr. Goodlatte) that the House suspend the 
rules and pass the bill, H.R. 2119, as amended.
  The question was taken; and (two-thirds having voted in favor 
thereof) the rules were suspended and the bill, as amended, was passed.
  The title of the bill was amended so as to read: ``A bill to provide 
for the conveyance of Federal lands, improvements, equipment, and 
resource materials at the Oxford Research Station in Granville County, 
North Carolina, to the State of North Carolina.''.
  A motion to reconsider was laid on the table.

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