[Congressional Record Volume 153, Number 38 (Tuesday, March 6, 2007)]
[House]
[Page H2213]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                          SECURE RURAL SCHOOLS

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the 
gentleman from Idaho (Mr. Sali) is recognized for 5 minutes.
  Mr. SALI. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to speak about an issue that is 
of vital importance to Idaho's First Congressional District, my State 
as a whole, and the greater western region of our country.
  It is critical that Congress include language in the Emergency 
Supplemental to reauthorize and fully fund a 1-year extension of Secure 
Rural Schools and Community Self-Determination Act of 2000. It affects 
more than 615 rural counties and 4,400 schools near national forests in 
39 states and literally, tens of thousands of students.
  Without reauthorization, in Idaho alone, we would lose $23.3 million 
in funding this next year. That is a staggering loss in my small rural 
state.
  In order to fully understand this issue we need to go back to the 
final year of Theodore Roosevelt's presidency to the establishment of 
the 1908 Payment Act for National Forests. Under this act, the Forest 
Service has paid 25 percent of its gross receipts to the states for the 
use of roads and schools in the counties where our national forests are 
located. The receipts come from leases, rentals, timber sales or other 
fees paid for using the National forest lands or resources. This is 
especially critical in Idaho, where more than 60 percent of our land is 
federally managed.
  Congress realized at the time it was difficult for rural communities 
to be financially independent if they were surrounded by Federal land. 
If we privatized the land in those counties, they would be collecting 
property tax. But they cannot because the land is managed by Uncle Sam.
  The Secure Rural Schools and Community Self-Determination Act of 
2000, or a bipartisan Craig-Wyden plan was passed by Congress and 
signed into law by President Clinton to provide funding to offset the 
loss of revenues to counties resulting from the severely reduced 
Federal timber sales in rural communities. The laws kept schools 
opened, roads maintained, search-and-rescue missions operating and many 
other essential services afloat.
  The 5-year time frame of the Craig-Wyden measure was designed to 
allow counties sufficient time to broaden their economic bases to 
replace historic timber sale income. The Federal timber sale program in 
Idaho has, to put it mildly, come up short. Idaho's communities want to 
log and carefully make use of the State's timber resources, but 
regulatory restrictions won't let them.

                              {time}  1730

  And that is why we need to take action.
  Allow me to cite one example. I have the good fortune of representing 
the people of Shoshone County. Shoshone County is a rural county with 
about 13,000 students. Shoshone County receives the second largest 
amount of funds under the Secure Rural Schools Act, about $4.3 million. 
This is an already economically depressed community. About 75 percent 
of Shoshone County is in the Federal system, and yet the county is 
responsible to maintain more than 400 miles of public roads.
  On my recent trip home just days ago, I had the opportunity to meet 
with Shoshone County commissioners and superintendents of public 
schools. For Shoshone County, losing these funds, 40 percent of their 
budget, means massive layoffs in an already small school system, loss 
of transportation for children to get to school, placing children in 
hazardous conditions to get to school. The road system needs constant 
care and maintenance. They can barely get by with what they have now.
  We don't let Idahoans harvest timber. We expect them to maintain 
Federal roads. We provide them no fiscal relief or support. We want a 
top quality education for our children, but they have no economic base 
to raise even modest taxes.
  Congress has to step in. We have to act now. First, in the short 
term, the solution is for Congress to approve a 1-year extension of 
Craig-Widen in the emergency supplemental. Second, while providing 
interim funding, Congress must come up with a long-term solution to 
this situation. I believe ultimately the answer lies in increasing 
timber harvesting.
  The House Appropriations Committee will mark up the emergency 
supplemental this week. The emergency supplemental will be the last 
opportunity to address this issue before counties have to start 
implementing cuts to schools and services. Without a 1-year 
reauthorization of and funding for the Secure Rural Schools and 
Community Self-Determination Act, the predicament will be an emergency 
without rescue for hundreds and hundreds of rural counties across 
America.
  I want to urge my colleagues to support this crucial 1-year 
extension.

                          ____________________