[Congressional Record Volume 154, Number 91 (Wednesday, June 4, 2008)]
[House]
[Pages H4919-H4927]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
PUBLIC LAND COMMUNITIES TRANSITION ACT OF 2008
Mr. DeFAZIO. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the
bill (H.R. 3058) to amend chapter 69 of title 31, United States Code,
to provide full payments under such chapter to units of general local
government in which entitlement land is located, to provide
transitional payments during fiscal years 2008 through 2012 to those
States and counties previously entitled to payments under the Secure
Rural Schools and Community Self-Determination Act of 2000, and for
other purposes, as amended.
The Clerk read the title of the bill.
The text of the bill is as follows:
H.R. 3058
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of
the United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE AND TABLE OF CONTENTS.
(a) Short Title.--This Act may be cited as the ``Public
Land Communities Transition Act of 2008''.
(b) Table of Contents.--The table of contents for this Act
is as follows:
Sec. 1. Short title and table of contents.
Sec. 2. Transitional payments States and counties previously entitled
to payments under Secure Rural Schools and Community
Self-Determination Act of 2000.
Sec. 3. Special requirements regarding transition payments to certain
States.
Sec. 4. Conservation of resources fees.
Sec. 5. Sense of Congress on distribution of secure rural schools
transition payments to eligible counties.
SEC. 2. TRANSITIONAL PAYMENTS STATES AND COUNTIES PREVIOUSLY
ENTITLED TO PAYMENTS UNDER SECURE RURAL SCHOOLS
AND COMMUNITY SELF-DETERMINATION ACT OF 2000.
(a) Transitional Payments.--Chapter 69 of title 31, United
States Code, is amended by adding at the end the following
new section:
``Sec. 6908. Secure rural schools transition payments
``(a) Definitions.--In this section:
``(1) Adjusted share.--The term `adjusted share' means the
number equal to the quotient obtained by dividing--
``(A) the number equal to the quotient obtained by
dividing--
``(i) the base share for the eligible county; by
``(ii) the income adjustment for the eligible county; by
``(B) the number equal to the sum of the quotients obtained
under subparagraph (A) and paragraph (8)(A) for all eligible
counties.
``(2) Base share.--The term `base share' means the number
equal to the average of--
``(A) the quotient obtained by dividing--
``(i) the number of acres of Federal land described in
paragraph (7)(A) in each eligible county; by
``(ii) the total number acres of Federal land in all
eligible counties in all eligible States; and
``(B) the quotient obtained by dividing--
``(i) the amount equal to the average of the 3 highest 25-
percent payments and safety net payments made to each
eligible State for each eligible county during the
eligibility period; by
``(ii) the amount equal to the sum of the amounts
calculated under clause (i) and paragraph (9)(B)(i) for all
eligible counties in all eligible States during the
eligibility period.
``(3) County payment.--The term `county payment' means the
payment for an eligible county calculated under subsection
(c).
``(4) Eligible county.--The term `eligible county' means
any county that--
``(A) contains Federal land (as defined in paragraph (7));
and
``(B) elects to receive a share of the State payment or the
county payment under subsection (f).
``(5) Eligibility period.--The term `eligibility period'
means fiscal year 1986 through fiscal year 1999.
``(6) Eligible state.--The term `eligible State' means a
State or territory of the United States that received a 25-
percent payment for 1 or more fiscal years of the eligibility
period.
``(7) Federal land.--The term `Federal land' means--
``(A) land within the National Forest System, as defined in
section 11(a) of the Forest and Rangeland Renewable Resources
Planning Act of 1974 (16 U.S.C. 1609(a)) exclusive of the
National Grasslands and land utilization projects designated
as National Grasslands administered pursuant to the Act of
July 22, 1937 (7 U.S.C. 1010-1012); and
``(B) such portions of the revested Oregon and California
Railroad and reconveyed Coos Bay Wagon Road grant land as are
or may hereafter come under the jurisdiction of the
Department of the Interior, which have heretofore or may
hereafter be classified as timberlands, and power-site land
valuable for timber, that shall be managed, except as
provided in the former section 3 of the Act of August 28,
1937 (50 Stat. 875; 43 U.S.C. 1181c), for permanent forest
production.
``(8) 50-percent adjusted share.--The term `50-percent
adjusted share' means the number equal to the quotient
obtained by dividing--
``(A) the number equal to the quotient obtained by
dividing--
``(i) the 50-percent base share for the eligible county; by
``(ii) the income adjustment for the eligible county; by
``(B) the number equal to the sum of the quotients obtained
under subparagraph (A) and paragraph (1)(A) for all eligible
counties.
``(9) 50-percent base share.--The term `50-percent base
share' means the number equal to the average of--
``(A) the quotient obtained by dividing--
``(i) the number of acres of Federal land described in
paragraph (7)(B) in each eligible county; by
``(ii) the total number acres of Federal land in all
eligible counties in all eligible States; and
``(B) the quotient obtained by dividing--
``(i) the amount equal to the average of the 3 highest 50-
percent payments made to each eligible county during the
eligibility period; by
[[Page H4920]]
``(ii) the amount equal to the sum of the amounts
calculated under clause (i) and paragraph (2)(B)(i) for all
eligible counties in all eligible States during the
eligibility period.
``(10) 50-percent payment.--The term `50-percent payment'
means the payment that is the sum of the 50-percent share
otherwise paid to a county pursuant to title II of the Act of
August 28, 1937 (chapter 876; 50 Stat. 875; 43 U.S.C. 1181f),
and the payment made to a county pursuant to the Act of May
24, 1939 (chapter 144; 53 Stat. 753; 43 U.S.C. 1181f-1 et
seq.).
``(11) Full funding amount.--The term `full funding amount'
means--
``(A) $520,000,000 for fiscal year 2008; and
``(B) for fiscal years 2009, 2010, and 2011, the amount
that is equal to 90 percent of the full funding amount for
the preceding fiscal year.
``(12) Income adjustment.--The term `income adjustment'
means the square of the quotient obtained by dividing--
``(A) the per capita personal income for each eligible
county; by
``(B) the median per capita personal income of all eligible
counties.
``(13) Per capita personal income.--The term `per capita
personal income' means the most recent per capita personal
income data, as determined by the Bureau of Economic
Analysis.
``(14) Safety net payments.--The term `safety net payments'
means the special payment amounts paid to States and counties
required by section 13982 or 13983 of the Omnibus Budget
Reconciliation Act of 1993 (Public Law 103-66; 16 U.S.C. 500
note; 43 U.S.C. 1181f note).
``(15) Secretary concerned.--The term `Secretary concerned'
means--
``(A) the Secretary of Agriculture or the designee of the
Secretary of Agriculture with respect to the Federal land
described in paragraph (7)(A); and
``(B) the Secretary of the Interior or the designee of the
Secretary of the Interior with respect to the Federal land
described in paragraph (7)(B).
``(16) State payment.--The term `State payment' means the
payment for an eligible State calculated under subsection (b)
``(17) 25-percent payment.--The term `25-percent payment'
means the payment to States required by the sixth paragraph
under the heading of `forest service' in the Act of May 23,
1908 (35 Stat. 260; 16 U.S.C. 500), and section 13 of the Act
of March 1, 1911 (36 Stat. 963; 16 U.S.C. 500).
``(b) Calculation of State Payment Amount.--For each of
fiscal years 2008 through 2011, the Secretary of Agriculture
shall calculate for each eligible State an amount equal to
the sum of the products obtained by multiplying--
``(1) the adjusted share for each eligible county within
the eligible State; by
``(2) the full funding amount for the fiscal year.
``(c) Calculation of County Payment Amount.--For each of
fiscal years 2008 through 2011, the Secretary of the Interior
shall calculate for each eligible county that received a 50-
percent payment during the eligibility period an amount equal
to the product obtained by multiplying--
``(1) the 50-percent adjusted share for the eligible
county; by
``(2) the full funding amount for the fiscal year.
``(d) Payment Amounts for Eligible States.--The Secretary
of the Treasury shall pay to each eligible State an amount
equal to the sum of the amounts elected under subsection (f)
by each county within the eligible State for--
``(1) if the county is eligible for the 25-percent payment,
the share of the 25-percent payment; or
``(2) the share of the State payment of the eligible
county.
``(e) Payment Amounts for Eligible Counties.--The Secretary
of the Treasury shall pay to each eligible county an amount
equal to the amount elected under subsection (f) by the
county for--
``(1) if the county is eligible for the 50-percent payment,
the 50-percent payment; or
``(2) the county payment for the eligible county.
``(f) Election To Receive Payment Amount.--
``(1) Election; submission of results.--
``(A) In general.--The election to receive a share of the
State payment, the county payment, a share of the State
payment and the county payment, a share of the 25-percent
payment, the 50-percent payment, or a share of the 25-percent
payment and the 50-percent payment, as applicable, shall be
made at the discretion of each affected county by August 1,
2008, and thereafter in accordance with paragraph (2)(A), and
transmitted to the Secretary concerned by the Governor of
each eligible State.
``(B) Failure to transmit.--If an election for an affected
county is not transmitted to the Secretary concerned by the
date specified under subparagraph (A), the affected county
shall be considered to have elected to receive a share of the
State payment, the county payment, or a share of the State
payment and the county payment, as applicable.
``(2) Duration of election.--
``(A) In general.--A county election to receive a share of
the 25-percent payment or 50-percent payment, as applicable,
shall be effective for 2 fiscal years.
``(B) Full funding amount.--If a county elects to receive a
share of the State payment or the county payment, the
election shall be effective for all subsequent fiscal years
through fiscal year 2011.
``(g) Source of Payment Amounts.--The payment to an
eligible State or eligible county under this section for a
fiscal year shall be derived from--
``(1) any revenues, fees, penalties, or miscellaneous
receipts, exclusive of deposits to any relevant trust fund,
special account, or permanent operating funds, received by
the Federal Government from activities by the Bureau of Land
Management or the Forest Service on the applicable Federal
land;
``(2) for fiscal year 2008, any funds appropriated to carry
out this section; and
``(3) to the extent of any shortfall, out of any amounts in
the Treasury of the United States not otherwise appropriated.
``(h) Distribution and Expenditure of Payments.--
``(1) Distribution method.--A State that receives a payment
under this section shall distribute the appropriate payment
amount among the appropriate counties in the State in
accordance with--
``(A) the Act of May 23, 1908 (16 U.S.C. 500); and
``(B) section 13 of the Act of March 1, 1911 (36 Stat. 963;
16 U.S.C. 500).
``(2) Expenditure purposes.--Subject to paragraph (3),
payments received by a State under this section and
distributed to counties in accordance with paragraph (1), and
payments received directly by an eligible county under this
section, shall be expended in the same manner in which 25-
percent payments or 50-percent payments, as applicable, are
required to be expended.
``(3) Reservation of portion of payments.--Each eligible
county receiving a payment under this section or a portion of
a State's payment under this section shall reserve not less
than 15 percent of the amount received for expenditure in
accordance with titles II and III of the Secure Rural Schools
and Community Self-Determination Act of 2000 (16 U.S.C. 500
note; Public Law 106-393).
``(i) Time for Payment.--The payments required under this
section for a fiscal year shall be made as soon as
practicable after the end of that fiscal year.''.
(b) Clerical Amendment.--The table of sections at the
beginning of chapter 69 of title 31, United States Code, is
amended by adding at the end the following new item:
``6908. Secure rural schools transition payments.''.
(c) Extension of Titles II and III of Secure Rural Schools
and Community Self-Determination Act of 2000.--
(1) Extension.--The Secure Rural Schools and Community
Self-Determination Act of 2000 (16 U.S.C. 500 note; Public
Law 106-393) is amended--
(A) in sections 203(a), 204(e)(3)(B)(vi), 207(a), 208, and
303 by striking ``2007'' and inserting ``2011'';
(B) in sections 208 and 303, by striking ``2008'' and
inserting ``2012''.
(2) Definition of participating county.--The Secure Rural
Schools and Community Self-Determination Act of 2000 is
amended--
(A) in section 201(1), by inserting before the period the
following: ``or that is required to reserve funds under
section 6908(h)(3) of title 31, United States Code, or
section 3(e) of the Public Land Communities Transition Act of
2008''; and
(B) in section 301(1), by inserting before the period the
following: ``or that is required to reserve funds under
section 6908(h)(3) of title 31, United States Code, or
section 3(e) of the Public Land Communities Transition Act of
2008''.
(3) Definition of project funds.--The Secure Rural Schools
and Community Self-Determination Act of 2000 is amended--
(A) in section 201(2), by inserting before the period the
following: ``or reserves under section 6908(h)(3) of title
31, United States Code, or section 3(e) of the Public Land
Communities Transition Act of 2008 for expenditure in
accordance with this title''; and
(B) in section 301(2), by inserting before the period the
following: ``or reserves under section 6908(h)(3) of title
31, United States Code, or section 3(e) of the Public Land
Communities Transition Act of 2008 for expenditure in
accordance with this title''.
SEC. 3. SPECIAL REQUIREMENTS REGARDING TRANSITION PAYMENTS TO
CERTAIN STATES.
(a) Definitions.--In this section:
(1) Adjusted amount.--The term ``adjusted amount'' means,
with respect to a covered State--
(A) for fiscal year 2008--
(i) the sum of the amounts paid for fiscal year 2006 under
section 102(a)(2) of the Secure Rural Schools and Community
Self-Determination Act of 2000 (16 U.S.C. 500 note; Public
Law 106-393), as in effect on September 29, 2006, for the
eligible counties in the covered State that have elected
under section 6908 of title 31, United States Code, as added
by section 2 of this Act, to receive a share of the State
payment for fiscal year 2008; and
(ii) the sum of the amounts paid for fiscal year 2006 under
section 103(a)(2) Secure Rural Schools and Community Self-
Determination Act of 2000 (16 U.S.C. 500 note; Public Law
106-393), as in effect on September 29, 2006, for the
eligible counties in the State of Oregon that have elected
under section 6908 of title 31, United States Code, as added
by section 2 of this Act, to receive the county payment for
fiscal year 2008;
(B) for fiscal year 2009, 90 percent of--
(i) the sum of the amounts paid for fiscal year 2006 under
such section 102(a)(2) for the
[[Page H4921]]
eligible counties in the covered State that have elected
under such section 6908 to receive a share of the State
payment for fiscal year 2009; and
(ii) the sum of the amounts paid for fiscal year 2006 under
such section 103(a)(2) for the eligible counties in the State
of Oregon that have elected under such section 6908 to
receive the county payment for fiscal year 2009;
(C) for fiscal year 2010, 81 percent of--
(i) the sum of the amounts paid for fiscal year 2006 under
section such 102(a)(2) for the eligible counties in the
covered State that have elected under such section 6908 to
receive a share of the State payment for fiscal year 2010;
and
(ii) the sum of the amounts paid for fiscal year 2006 under
such section 103(a)(2) for the eligible counties in the State
of Oregon that have elected under such section 6908 to
receive the county payment for fiscal year 2010; and
(D) for fiscal year 2011, 73 percent of--
(i) the sum of the amounts paid for fiscal year 2006 under
such section 102(a)(2) for the eligible counties in the
covered State that have elected under such section 6908 to
receive a share of the State payment for fiscal year 2011;
and
(ii) the sum of the amounts paid for fiscal year 2006 under
such section 103(a)(2) for the eligible counties in the State
of Oregon that have elected under such section 6908 to
receive the county payment for fiscal year 2011.
(2) Covered state.--The term ``covered State'' means each
of the States of California, Louisiana, Oregon, Pennsylvania,
South Carolina, South Dakota, Texas, and Washington.
(3) Eligible county.--The term ``eligible county'' has the
meaning given that term in section 6908 of title 31, United
States Code, as added by section 2 of this Act.
(b) Transition Payments.--For each of fiscal years 2008
through 2011, in lieu of the payment amounts that otherwise
would have been made under section 6908 of title 31, United
States Code, as added by section 2 of this Act, the Secretary
of the Treasury shall pay the adjusted amount to each covered
State and the eligible counties within the covered State, as
applicable.
(c) Distribution of Adjusted Amount.--It is the intent of
Congress that the method of distributing the payments under
subsection (b) among the counties in a covered State (other
than California) for each of fiscal years 2008 through 2011
be in the same proportion that the payments were distributed
to the eligible counties in that State in fiscal year 2006.
(d) Distribution of Payments in California.--The following
payments shall be distributed among the eligible counties in
the State of California in the same proportion that payments
under section 102(a)(2) of the Secure Rural Schools and
Community Self-Determination Act of 2000 (16 U.S.C. 500 note;
Public Law 106-393), as in effect on September 29, 2006, were
distributed to the eligible counties for fiscal year 2006:
(1) Payments to the State of California under subsection
(b).
(2) The shares of the eligible counties of the State
payment for California under section 6908 of title 31, United
States Code, as added by section 2 of this Act, for fiscal
year 2011.
(e) Treatment of Payments.--Any payment made under
subsection (b) shall be considered to be a payment made under
section 6908 of title 31, United States Code, as added by
section 2 of this Act, except that each eligible county
receiving a payment under such subsection or a portion of
such payment under subsection (c) or (d) shall reserve not
less than 15 percent of the amount received for expenditure
in accordance with titles II and III of the Secure Rural
Schools and Community Self-Determination Act of 2000 (16
U.S.C. 500 note; Public Law 106-393), as required by
subsection (h)(3) of such section 6908.
SEC. 4. CONSERVATION OF RESOURCES FEES.
(a) Establishment of Fees.--
(1) In general.--Not later than 60 days after the date of
enactment of this Act, the Secretary of the Interior by
regulation shall establish--
(A) a conservation of resources fee for producing Federal
oil and gas leases in the Gulf of Mexico; and
(B) a conservation of resources fee for nonproducing
Federal oil and gas leases in the Gulf of Mexico.
(2) Producing lease fee terms.--The fee under paragraph
(1)(A)--
(A) subject to subparagraph (C), shall apply to covered
leases that are producing leases;
(B) shall be set at $9 per barrel for oil and $1.25 per
million Btu for gas, respectively, in 2005 dollars; and
(C) shall apply only to production of oil or gas
occurring--
(i) in any calendar year in which the arithmetic average of
the daily closing prices for light sweet crude oil on the New
York Mercantile Exchange (NYMEX) exceeds $34.73 per barrel
for oil and $4.34 per million Btu for gas in 2005 dollars;
and
(ii) on or after October 1, 2006.
(3) Nonproducing lease fee terms.--The fee under paragraph
(1)(B)--
(A) subject to subparagraph (C), shall apply to leases that
are nonproducing leases;
(B) shall be set at $3.75 per acre per year in 2005
dollars; and
(C) shall apply on and after October 1, 2006.
(4) Treatment of receipts.--Amounts received by the United
States as fees under this subsection shall be treated as
offsetting receipts.
(b) Covered Lease Defined.--In this section the term
``covered lease'' means a lease for oil or gas production in
the Gulf of Mexico that is--
(1) in existence on the date of enactment of this Act;
(2) issued by the Department of the Interior under section
304 of the Outer Continental Shelf Deep Water Royalty Relief
Act (43 U.S.C. 1337 note; Public Law 104-58); and
(3) not subject to limitations on royalty relief based on
market price that are equal to or less than the price
thresholds described in clauses (v) through (vii) of section
8(a)(3)(C) of the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act (43
U.S.C. 1337(a)(3)(C)).
(c) Royalty Suspension Provisions.--The Secretary of the
Interior shall agree to a request by any lessee to amend any
lease issued for Central and Western Gulf of Mexico tracts
during the period of January 1, 1998, through December 31,
1999, to incorporate price thresholds applicable to royalty
suspension provisions, or amend existing price thresholds, in
the amount of $34.73 per barrel (2005 dollars) for oil and
for natural gas of $4.34 per million Btu (2005 dollars).
SEC. 5. SENSE OF CONGRESS ON DISTRIBUTION OF SECURE RURAL
SCHOOLS TRANSITION PAYMENTS TO ELIGIBLE
COUNTIES.
It is the sense of Congress that amounts made available by
a State to an eligible county under section 6908 of title 31,
United States Code, as added by section 2 of this Act, or
under section 3 of this Act to support public schools in that
county should be in addition to, and not in lieu of, general
funds of the State made available to support public schools
in that county, and that the State should not adjust
education funding allocations to reflect the receipt of
amounts under such section 6908 or section 3.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from
Oregon (Mr. DeFazio) and the gentleman from Utah (Mr. Bishop) each will
control 20 minutes.
The Chair recognizes the gentleman from Oregon.
Mr. DeFAZIO. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
This is incredibly important legislation, and I hope it doesn't
devolve into the partisan debate that's been going on earlier today to
point the fingers of blame on the current high cost of gasoline at the
pump.
This is about another crisis the American people are experiencing,
not as widespread as the cost of fuel, but the impact will be even
heavier on more than 600 counties in 42 States and hundreds of school
districts across America. This is the issue of whether or not we should
continue to compensate these counties for the fact that they have very
high ownership of Federal lands and Federal forests. Federal forest
policy has changed, and their revenues have diminished dramatically,
and many of them have no alternative, under their State constitution or
other laws, to go out and replace those funds, particularly in the
short term.
It's expensive. It would cost $1.9 billion over 4 years. But being
sensitive to the fact that many of us on this side of the aisle feel
that the policies of recent years have put the country on the verge of
bankruptcy, we pay for it. In fact, with the value of what we have in
here as a so-called offset in Washington speak, the way we pay for it,
with fees on offshore oil leases that were inadvertently omitted by the
Clinton administration, would raise $3.3 billion. That means we pay for
rural schools and counties. That's 7,000 teachers. That's hundreds of
deputy sheriffs, hundreds of corrections officers, many roadworkers,
other critical public safety folks, public health, all across 42 States
in America and 600 counties. We pay for that with this bill. In fact,
we would help reduce the deficit, which is something we're handing off
to our kids and we do need to deal with, by $1.4 billion.
Now, some will object to the offset, that the oil companies shouldn't
be required to pay a fee even though they got this royalty relief
without a cap inadvertently, by mistake, by a previous administration.
I really hope that they don't take the debate down that path. That does
not do the counties, the schools, the teachers, the police, the
deputies, and the others justice.
Let's focus on the issue at hand. They have an alternative to fund
this. I have been trying desperately for more than a year. It's been
quite some time since this bill came out of committee, and Mr. Walden
and I joined in a bipartisan way earlier this year in a letter on
January 18 to the majority asking that this bill be brought up. And
then Mr. Walden on May 1 came to the floor with Mr. Blunt and asked
that
[[Page H4922]]
the bill be brought up. In fact, he sent out a press release saying
it's been 44 legislative days and over 3 months, that it's a strongly
bipartisan bill. I hope it stays bipartisan. To extend county payments
has been ready for a vote on the House floor. I simply do not
understand why the Democratic leadership has not scheduled a vote.
Well, the Democratic leadership has now scheduled a vote. And I hope
that we can get back to the bipartisanness. I hope we can get back to
the focus of this debate. Let's pass this bill and move it over to the
Senate. If you don't like the way it's paid for, if you want to protect
the royalty relief for the oil and gas industry, then vote ``present,''
send the bill to the Senate, and see if they can come up with, as they
claim, a better way to pay for it.
Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
Mr. BISHOP of Utah. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may
consume.
This is, to be honest, a very sad day on this bill today on the
floor. As an educator, I simply understand the need for secure rural
schools funding. As a westerner and someone who served for a long time
in the State legislature, I understand what payment in lieu of taxes,
or PILT, means to western counties.
Unfortunately, though, this bill that is before us today did not get
here through regular order. This is not the same bill we discussed in
committee nor is it the same bill that I and some others cosponsored.
It appears almost as if political games are now being played in an
effort to pass this particular bill, which breaks new ground. The
precedent has always been, in dealing with secure rural schools and
PILT, that we have dealt in a bipartisan manner in an effort to find
legal and politically feasible solutions to pay for secure rural
schools and payment in lieu of taxes. We have always addressed these
two issues in a bipartisan manner, always, until now. H.R. 3058, this
version of it, has broken that covenant.
When a version of this numbered bill was passed in the Resources
Committee, two promises were made to the Republicans who cosponsored
it, Mr. Walden and me and others. The first promise was that PILT would
not be decoupled from secure rural schools. I cannot stress enough the
importance of PILT funding being coupled with secure rural schools, as
was promised. Even the majority leader in the Senate has said this is
the key to the success of this piece of legislation. And yet this
promise was broken.
Second, the offset using the 1998/1999 lease moneys was supposed to
be taken out by the time this came to the floor. This set of money,
which has already been spent three times on three different bills, not
the same pot of money, the exact same dollars which have been spent, is
not going to be a solution to this. The gentleman from Oregon suggested
last night that there might be constitutional concerns and we should
not listen to those. I have some sympathy for that approach, but the
fact of the matter is his speech last night was to the wrong audience.
It should be to the lower courts, who have already ruled that this pot
of money is not accessible to us.
In 2006 we passed the Deep Ocean Energy Resources Act. Using these
fees for that was justifiable. Using it in this bill is not
justifiable. Those fees for the Deep Ocean Energy Resources Act was to
fund programs and projects related to conservation of OCS-related
resources. It was to increase America's energy supply and encourage
domestic energy development on the Outer Continental Shelf. Because we
are no longer using that and have now taken them to a different level,
it will be a breach of the oil and gas leases and designed to punish
energy companies and discourage much-needed domestic oil and gas
production. This bill sends now a message to every energy company in
America that Congress will not respect lease contracts and will result
in less oil, less gas production, which I certainly hope is not the
objective of the Democratic Party.
We need to have a different way of paying for this bill that does not
include an energy price-increasing bankrupt offset. We need a genuine
offset that will pay for both PILT and secure rural schools without
making America's energy more expensive, less available. And to be
honest, if the court upholds their ruling that they already had, if the
other courts do, there won't be any money for secure rural schools in
this project anyway.
Now, I know there will be people who will tell us this is merely a
bogus placeholder. We don't really mean to use this money as the bill
progresses through, which simply shows that perhaps PAYGO is nothing
more than an accounting game or scam as we're looking at it, and that
all we need to do is give a blank check over to the Senate, pass it
along, and they will fill in some reasonable way of funding this
particular bill. We will abdicate our responsibility of coming up with
legal, legitimate, responsible legislation because somewhere down the
line, someone else will do it.
If the Senate, indeed, has a secret magical formula for funding this
bill, why wasn't it in the farm bill? Why wasn't it in the extension of
the Rural Schools Act? Why did the Senate not put it in a bill and send
it over here? Or why did the sponsor not negotiate with the Senate to
insert it in this bill so we could discuss it in the House?
The promise was before this bill to the floor there would be a
legitimate source for an offset. It is not there. Instead, we seem to
be playing a game of political gotcha, which is so sad because there
was a compromise that could have funded this bill and done it in a
legally effective way. It was presented by the National Education
Association on behalf of schools. It was supported by the consortium of
counties. It was supported by energy producers that would have fully
funded PILT, fully funded the secure rural schools, expanded energy
options. It would have given States control over sand and gravel for
beach replenishment, over the viewshed, States control over their
offshore renewable energies, would have funded energy and minerals
higher education program, and be done with real money, not the funny
money in this particular bill. It is language that is similar to a
bipartisan bill passed in the 109th Congress which was supported by Mr.
DeFazio and 39 other Democrats in a bipartisan way.
The question that we have to ask ourselves today is why are we
confronted on suspension with a bill that has a phony PAYGO offset,
money that we know is not there? Why are we presented with a suspension
bill that has already been rejected by the Senate, that has already
been rejected by the administration? Why instead did we not agree to go
with the compromise approach, which would have had real offsets and
provided real solutions to fully fund our schools, to fully fund PILT,
and not to have to take it out of the hide of anyone who stops at a gas
pump this weekend? Now, that's what we should have done, and we didn't
do it. And that's why this is a very, very sad day on a bill that was
not discussed in committee.
Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
{time} 1415
Mr. DeFAZIO. It's not phony, it's just painful. Schools, teachers,
cops, Big Oil. It's a tough choice for some people. Not for me. I'd be
happy to stick with this, all the way through sending it to the
President. But some on that side of the aisle, particularly in the
Senate, don't want to do that. If the money has not been spent because
the Republicans in the Senate have rejected it to pay for other
valuable things, this is a valuable thing to pay for.
With that, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from California (Mr.
Thompson).
Mr. THOMPSON of California. I thank the gentleman for yielding and
also thank you for your great work on this bill, Mr. DeFazio, and thank
you especially for paying for the bill.
Mr. Speaker and Members, county governments don't receive property
tax for lands owned and controlled by the Federal Government. However,
they are obligated to provide services in those areas. The Secure Rural
Schools and Community Self-Determination Act was created to compensate
local governments for the tax exempt status of the public lands within
their county. If we fail to reauthorize this important program,
teachers will be laid off, kids will be short-changed on their
education, and county roads will go unmaintained.
In my district, over 1.2 million acres are controlled by the Federal
Government. The National Forest Service
[[Page H4923]]
land in my district is twice the size of the State of Rhode Island, and
every acre, every acre is exempt from property tax. In one of my
counties, 40 percent of the roads are within the National Forest. So
that county is responsible for maintaining the roads that run through
the very property that is exempt from the taxes that pay for our roads.
It's unconscionable for the Federal Government to walk away from this
obligation to rural local governments. Rural counties have no other
options. We have made a commitment on this issue. Now let's live up to
our word.
Mr. BISHOP of Utah. As we now talk about a bill that a commitment was
made but does not exist anymore, I yield 1\1/2\ minutes to the
gentleman from California (Mr. Herger).
Mr. HERGER. Mr. Speaker, counties and schools in my district need a
lifeline. They don't need partisanship. They don't need a talking
point. They need leadership, which will result in an actual law being
passed to help them.
Secure rural schools has rested on hard work by grassroots supporters
and bipartisan efforts in Congress. So why are we moving a bill that
divides our coalition by removing PILT and tying secure rural schools
to a controversial offset that we know will fail in the Senate?
This bill does nothing to help our counties and schools because it
has no chance of becoming law. Yesterday, there was an effort to rescue
this legislation with a compromise that would extend a lifeline to
rural counties and every American through new domestic oil production
and lower gas prices. That proposal was rejected because we were told
the majority will not allow consideration of any bill that increases
domestic oil supplies.
America and our counties and schools deserve better. I urge a ``no''
vote.
Mr. DeFAZIO. I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from Oregon (Mr. Wu).
Mr. WU. I rise in strong support of H.R. 3058, and I want to thank my
good friend and colleague, Mr. DeFazio, for his hard work and tireless
work on this issue.
Almost exactly 100 years ago, Congress passed a law creating a
partnership with rural counties with a high percentage of Federal land,
and Congress realized that because the Federal lands were off-limits to
the counties for development and they would never contribute to the tax
base, that these counties should be compensated for permanent loss of
any tax revenues. The law allowed a percentage of the revenue produced
from Federal land resources to be returned to the county. Counties were
then able to use these funds for public safety, public schools, and
public roads.
Over the years, because of changes in Federal forest policy, the
revenue for Federal lands has decreased and Federal lands are still off
limits for development, and this leads many counties in the American
West with dramatic decreases in the tax base.
In 2000, we passed the Secure Rural Schools and Community Self-
Determination Act in order to provide a stable base of funding to the
affected counties. But that act has not been reauthorized and the
Federal payments are scheduled to end June 30. This is a very, very
serious issue in Oregon and across the American West, where counties
have already, in preparation for this date, in preparation for future
budgets, begun to issue pink slips. They have issued pink slips to
police, firefighters, teachers, and other essential personnel. It is
not an exaggeration to say that Oregonians may have their lives
endangered because of these cuts, if they take place.
The bill that my good friend and colleague from Oregon (Mr. DeFazio)
has submitted would provide an extension of payments through fiscal
2011 to counties that previously received these payments. And to
maintain fiscal responsibility, the bill is fully paid for with
offsets, and it reduces payments to counties by 15 percent each year,
asking all to make sacrifices.
Mr. DeFAZIO. Can I inquire as to the time remaining, please.
The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mr. Ross). The gentleman from Oregon has 12
minutes remaining. The gentleman from Utah has 12\1/2\ minutes
remaining.
Mr. BISHOP of Utah. I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from
California (Mr. Doolittle).
Mr. DOOLITTLE. Mr. Speaker, this program needs to be reauthorized. I
represent northeastern California, which is one of the top recipients
of money under this Secure Rural Schools and Community Self-
Determination Act, which expired a couple of years ago. Just to give
you an example, Plumas County School District in my district receives
roughly 20 percent of their annual operating budget from these funds.
Without this money, the county is prepared to lay off 9 out of the 16
administrators; 47 teachers out of a total of 150; close all school
libraries; possibly close some or all cafeterias; and cut
transportation services. Another county adjoining Plumas that I
represent is Sierra. They would need to lay off nearly 40 percent of
their teachers and administrators.
Today's bill will not become law and therefore does nothing to
support our rural counties. We cannot continue to go from year to year
without this being resolved. In California, if you don't have the
funding assured, layoff notices are sent off by March 15 of the year.
For the second year in a row, those layoff notices have already gone
out. We lose valuable teachers that do not come back once the funding
has been restored.
This debate should be about schools and public infrastructure, not
used as fodder to drive an anti-oil agenda. This process that we are
using is deplorable. We were told that PILT would be included, but it
was stripped out of the bill on its way to the floor. We were told
there would be an acceptable offset, not one that has been rejected on
three previous occasions by the U.S. Senate. But there is none.
We are also considering this bill under suspension of the bills,
denying the minority a right to offer an alternative and preventing any
Member from offering alternative offsets. A compromise has been offered
and rejected.
For this reason, I would urge defeat of the bill.
General Leave
Mr. DeFAZIO. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members
may have 5 legislative days to revise and extend their remarks and
include extraneous material on this bill under consideration.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the
gentleman from Oregon?
There was no objection.
Mr. DeFAZIO. With that, I would yield 1\1/2\ minutes to the gentleman
from Washington State (Mr. Baird).
Mr. BAIRD. I rise in strong support of H.R. 3058, the Public Land
Communities Transition Act, and I commend my dear friend, Peter
DeFazio. I have rarely seen a Member of Congress work so diligently on
behalf of his constituents. He also works on behalf of my constituents
because in southwest Washington, we are one of the 10 most forested
districts in the entire country. So much of the land in my district is
under control of the Forest Service. Counties like Lewis, Skamania, and
Cowlitz rely on Secure Rural Schools money to keep public safety
working.
My friends, we have to work to pass this bill. It is urgent, as many
speakers have said. It is a bit ironic, however, to criticize the bill
and say the criticism is because this bill will not become law, and
then vote against it. Things don't become law around here when people
vote against them. Things become law when people vote for them.
Because of that, I would encourage my colleagues to vote for this
bill. Without this bill, 600 counties across the country that are home
to millions of Americans would be left behind. Without this program,
millions of rural communities would face steep job losses, breakdowns
in services and infrastructure, and deep cuts to school budgets.
Without this funding, almost 7,000 teachers and other educational staff
will be laid off across the country. They are facing termination as we
speak.
Delay should not be an option. Passage should be our remedy. I urge
passage of this fine bill.
Mr. BISHOP of Utah. I am pleased to yield 2 minutes to the ranking
member of the Agriculture Committee, the gentleman from Virginia (Mr.
Goodlatte).
Mr. GOODLATTE. Mr. Speaker, I rise in opposition to H.R. 3058, the
Public Land Communities Transition Act of 2008. Mr. Speaker, this bill
had the opportunity to provide rural schools with
[[Page H4924]]
the much-needed funding that allows them to keep their doors open and
serve sparsely-populated areas. Unfortunately, the majority decided to
offset this bill with provisions that will increase the cost of gas to
the American public. Already paying $4 a gallon at the pumps, Americans
should not be forced to bear further increases, especially those living
in rural areas that, on average, already drive greater distances.
The fee increases on oil and gas leases would place further confines
on domestic energy production at a time when we need to be expanding
production and building our Nation's energy independence.
This provision was included in the farm bill that was brought to the
House floor a year ago, and was one of several tax increasing
provisions that drew criticism from House Members, as well as the
Senate and the White House. It would be disingenuous to sing praises of
this bill when the cost of providing support to rural schools would be
borne by the very rural constituents we are trying to help.
There is a proposed compromise that was introduced in the 109th
Congress and enjoyed broad bipartisan support. It would solve the
problems created by the oil and gas lease provisions in H.R. 3058 by
increasing domestic energy exploration and production, thereby helping
to reduce the gas prices for the American consumer. At the same time,
this alternative would provide the necessary funding for rural school
districts. That alternative would be something I could stand behind
but, unfortunately, that is not the bill we are considering today.
I urge my colleagues to vote ``no.'' I urge them to vote against the
policy that will raise gas prices for Americans when they have the
opportunity to do it right and create increased domestic energy
production and solve this problem for our rural schools.
Mr. DeFAZIO. At this point I would yield 1\1/2\ minutes to the
gentlelady from Oregon (Ms. Hooley) whose district is impacted.
Ms. HOOLEY. I would like to thank my colleague, Mr. DeFazio, for all
of the work that he has done on this bill. Look, I grew up in a family
where if you made a promise, you kept that promise. A deal is a deal.
County payments available for 100 years are payment for the Federal
Government owning 57 percent of the forested land in Oregon. If the
Federal Government did not make these payments, these counties would
have very little in the way of infrastructure funding.
This money will cut the following services if we don't have it, and
it will impact our most vulnerable citizens: Loss of sheriffs; loss of
DAs; loss of economic development services and juvenile services; loss
of mental health services, public health, and in general, loss of
veterans services and senior services. The loss of county payments
means the loss of sheriffs. In just one county, Curry County alone,
three sheriffs will have to patrol an area the same size as
Connecticut, which has a police force of 2,000.
This bill is a 4-year extension of the Secure Rural Schools. This
program will not continue unless we give this an appropriation. It
needs to pass to provide that critical funding for our counties. I
cannot over-emphasize the need for this legislation for Oregon and for
the Nation to maintain its 100-year-old bargain with the National
Forest States. I encourage my colleagues to support its passage today.
Mr. BISHOP of Utah. May I inquire how much time is left.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. The gentleman from Utah has 8\1/2\ minutes
remaining. The gentleman from Oregon has 9.
Mr. BISHOP of Utah. With that, I would yield 2 minutes to the ranking
member of the Resources Committee, the gentleman from Alaska (Mr.
Young).
(Mr. YOUNG asked and was given permission to revise and extend his
remarks.)
{time} 1430
Mr. YOUNG of Alaska. Mr. Speaker, when this bill came out of the
committee, I thought we had an agreement where there would be an offset
and a payment of the bill. Unfortunately, that did not occur, so
consequently I will be voting against this legislation because it
doesn't do what it says it is going to do. Very frankly, this is funny
money, and the schools won't be, as we want them to be, funded, and
that is unfortunate.
But I am also going to talk about a lot of the statements on the
floor, and my good friend from Oregon has to understand that I do watch
the debate. There were some statements made that I think were
incorrect, in fact I know, not think, about ANWR and about PET4 and
about independence.
There has been no oil shipped overseas from Alaska. It all goes to
the West Coast, at one time through the Panama Canal, through a
pipeline, for American consumption, all 17 billion barrels of oil. And
if we were to open ANWR or the Chukchi Sea it would go to the United
States. It wouldn't go overseas to China or Japan. We could make sure
of that as we vote for it on this House floor, as we did when we had
the Trans-Alaska Pipeline.
I think it is important that the American public recognize that we do
have a supply problem. And anybody who denies that, I have heard these
arguments for 25 years, well, we only do have one month or 6 months or
whatever it is oil supply, so we shouldn't do it. If we have that 1
million barrels a day, Chavez would not have the ability to blackmail
us, or if Nigeria had an upheaval, there wouldn't be the spike in oil
prices.
A lot of people are pointing their fingers at all the problems, the
big oil, the speculators, and I do think there is some merit in the
speculators because they know we haven't acted on the supply side ever
since the Trans-Alaska Pipeline. Not one time.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. The time of the gentleman has expired.
Mr. BISHOP of Utah. I yield the gentleman an additional 30 seconds.
Mr. YOUNG of Alaska. Let's follow this train a little bit further. If
we don't increase our supply, Mr. and Mrs. America, instead of $4 a
gallon, it is going to be $10 a gallon by January 1.
We must act in this Congress, and if you do not, may the wrath come
down on you and may you be punished for what you have not done. We must
address this issue in this Congress. I urge my colleagues to consider
the supply side. Consider it. And this legislation itself has its weak
points, too.
Mr. DeFAZIO. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from
West Virginia (Mr. Rahall), the chairman of the Natural Resources
Committee.
Mr. RAHALL. Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of H.R. 3058, the Public
Land Communities Transition Assistance Act. As the chairman of the
Committee on Natural Resources, I do want to express my deep
appreciation to the gentleman from Oregon, Peter DeFazio, for his
strongly tenacious efforts and determined determination on behalf of
this legislation. He has more than adequately explained the bill. My
purpose is to stress the urgency of this body acting on the
legislation.
This legislation, commonly referred to as the ``county payments
bill,'' was enacted in 2000 to provide stability in revenue sharing
payments made to the States and counties containing Federal forest
lands. This funding has been extremely important, critically so in many
cases, in assisting schools and communities in rural counties across
the country, including my home State of West Virginia. Yet the Congress
has failed to reauthorize the program.
This Congress, with a Democratic majority, is attempting to pick up
the pieces of a program that was looking at being eliminated square in
the eye. Last year we managed to pass a 1-year extension of county
payments, but that is due to expire at the end of this month. So I
cannot stress enough the urgency of today's vote.
Critical funding for schools and county services across the country
will evaporate if we do not act today. Indeed, the National Forest
Counties and Schools Coalition estimates that about 7,000 teachers and
other educational staff will be laid off as of June 30th when their
contracts expire if this body does not act. That is something worth
thinking about. Students in rural forest counties across this Nation
will be deprived of almost 7,000 teachers and the other educational
staff.
Now, some have taken issue with the pay-for, the offset being used
for this bill, which is a conservation of resources fee on a class of
Federal oil and gas leases in the Gulf of Mexico that
[[Page H4925]]
are unduly enjoying royalty relief by virtue of not having price
thresholds.
This is not a new proposal. This body has considered it before, and
rightly so. My colleagues, to date the American people have been
deprived of over $1 billion in Federal royalties as a result of this
situation. That is over 1 billion with a ``B'' dollars, something worth
thinking about.
We now learn that in the future if this situation is not corrected,
the American people will be fleeced to the tune of $4 billion and to a
high of $14 billion.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. The time of the gentleman from West Virginia
has expired.
Mr. DeFAZIO. I yield the gentleman an additional 15 seconds.
Mr. RAHALL. That figure could go as high as $14 billion, depending on
the price of oil and natural gas and the amount produced from these
leases.
So it is very important that we recognize this bill does have funding
sources and that is what we are trying to do here, at the same time
generating funds to pay for teachers and the education of our school
children.
Mr. BISHOP of Utah. Mr. Speaker, I yield 30 seconds to the gentleman
from Texas (Mr. Brady).
Mr. BRADY of Texas. Mr. Speaker, one of the reasons this Congress has
the lowest approval ratings in poll history is it keeps playing
political games instead of solving real problems like energy prices or
supporting our troops in Iraq.
Today we are doing the same, playing games with our rural schools,
with our rural counties, with our rural firefighters and police forces.
Unfortunately, this bill is deader than a doornail, only because some
political genius decided they would like to pit those of us who support
rural schools against our energy companies. Well, guess what? Everyone
loses, especially our rural communities who fought for this. This bill
is a shame.
Mr. DeFAZIO. Mr. Speaker, the gentleman is correct. It's teachers or
cops or Big Oil.
With that, I would yield 1\1/2\ minutes to the gentlewoman from South
Dakota (Ms. Herseth Sandlin).
Ms. HERSETH SANDLIN. I thank the gentleman for yielding.
I rise today in support of H.R. 3058, the Public Land Communities
Transition Assistance Act, and I too thank the gentleman from Oregon,
Mr. DeFazio, for his tireless efforts to reauthorize the Secure Rural
Schools program. I also thank the House Committee on Natural Resources
and the House leadership for their work on this legislation.
H.R. 3058 would reauthorize the secure rural schools program for 4
years. Annual payments to counties impacted by National Forest lands
are an important part of many school districts' budgets, and failure to
reauthorize the Secure Rural schools would force very difficult
decisions in counties and school districts in over 40 States.
In the State of South Dakota, the Black Hills National Forest is a
special place and a highly valued resource. Yet the national ownership
of this land has clear impacts on finances of counties in western South
Dakota. For example, under the Secure Rural Schools program, Custer
County schools receive approximately $310,000 for the 2007-2008 school
year. If this program isn't reauthorized, Custer schools would receive
about $90,000. The loss of $210,000 would likely lead to eliminating
numerous teaching positions and increasing class sizes to as many as 40
students per class.
Custer County isn't alone. If we fail to reauthorize the secure rural
schools program, almost 7,000 teachers and other educational staff will
be laid off across the country as of June 30, 2008, when their
contracts expire. H.R. 3058 provides a new distribution formula and
transition payments as counties adjust.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. The time of the gentlewoman from South
Dakota has expired.
Mr. DeFAZIO. I yield the gentlewoman an additional 15 seconds.
Ms. HERSETH SANDLIN. On the offset, by my count, 48 of my Republican
colleagues have in the past voted for legislation that included this
offset. That was all in 2007, before oil went over $100 a barrel. So I
would think that even those of us that do support expanded exploration
and drilling for energy sources on public lands would agree that it
should be equitable and Federal royalty payments should be paid when we
are extracting oil resources from public lands.
I encourage my colleagues to support this fair, bipartisan bill.
Mr. BISHOP of Utah. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
Mr. DeFAZIO. Mr. Speaker, I would inquire as to the time.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. The gentleman from Oregon has 4 minutes
remaining. The gentleman from Utah has 5\1/2\ minutes remaining.
Mr. DeFAZIO. I suggest the gentleman use some of his time, because I
only have one more speaker and then I will be closing.
Mr. BISHOP of Utah. Mr. Speaker, I will be happy to yield 5 minutes
to the gentleman from Oregon (Mr. Walden) who has worked tirelessly on
this issue in a bipartisan way in the past.
Mr. WALDEN of Oregon. Mr. Speaker, it is unfortunate that we have
arrived here today like an out-of-control car skidding to a stop. Let's
not forget why we are here. We are here because of a changed Federal
timber policy that has bankrupted the people that live in my district
and many of yours, and as a result we now have fires at costs that are
unbelievable. They are historic. We are burning more acres of our
Federal forests than at any time in our Nation's history, and we are
paying more for it. Forty-seven percent of the Federal budget for the
Forest Service now goes to put out fires.
Yet we have shut down the Federal forests from active management.
That is why we are here today, because the revenues that used to flow
to our communities to pay for basic services, to be the good partner
that Teddy Roosevelt envisioned the great forest reserves more than 100
years ago, to be a partnership with the local community, that
partnership, that bond, that pledge has been broken. People are put out
of work. Services are lost.
The tragedy that brings us here today is another broken promise, and
that is when this bill was considered by the House Natural Resources
Committee there was a consistent and common pledge that this bill would
be brought to the floor with a different offset.
I have a quote here from the spokesperson from the committee that
makes that very clear. It says very clearly, it is definitely our
intention for the money not to come from increased fees on oil and gas
companies.
It is definitely not our intention for the money to come from
increased fees on oil and gas companies. That is what the committee
said. I just couldn't read it. It is too far in front of me. I
apologize.
That clearly is not the case. It is clearly not the case. So we have
before us a bill with a broken promise, first of all, and it didn't
have to be that way.
Yes, I have come to this floor repeatedly and called for this bill to
come to this floor for consideration. I don't know why it was held
hostage for 130 or so days. But I came here calling for this bill to
come to the floor with the clear understanding, the promise and pledge
of that committee that it would come here with a different offset, one
that was palatable. That promise and pledge was broken.
Meanwhile, I know the Speaker was out in Oregon a while back and said
where we go from here is we ought to phase out that system. That
doesn't sound like the Speaker is very supportive to me.
So what we have here today is an offset of questionable legality. And
I say that not because I am a lawyer, I am not, but because of court
cases that have occurred that said when it comes to levying a fee on
conservation of resources on the Outer Continental Shelf, that leases
that exist today prohibit the application of future laws and
regulations except future regulations related to conservation of the
resources of the Outer Continental Shelf.
What does that mean in real people talk? It means if you are going to
levy the fee that you plan to levy, you have to spend it in a legal
way, which is on conservation efforts on the Outer Continental Shelf,
or else the courts will say you are not following the decisions we
already gave you, Mobil v. U.S., among others. So this is of
questionable legal status.
So, I asked my colleague from Oregon, we talked, we have worked
really closely on this issue over the years in
[[Page H4926]]
a bipartisan manner, and I said I think we are going to have a lot of
problems on our side with this and I don't think it is legal. And
indeed that is where we are today.
So we have exchanged letters. My colleague wrote me on May 30. Mr.
DeFazio said if you have other suggestions for offsets that won't raise
the ire of oil patch or mineral-dependent Members, I would welcome the
input. So we talked on Monday and I said give me a day. This is rushed
on the suspension of the rules. Give me a day to come up with an
alternative, and we did.
We spent all day yesterday with the Congressional Budget Office,
technical experts, legal experts, and we came up with a proposal that
legally funds county payments, legally and fully funds PILT, legally
and fully accesses energy resources on the Outer Continental Shelf. It
is very similar to a proposal that my colleague from the Fourth
District voted for that was passed by this house less than 2 years ago
that would generate revenue legally. By the way, for those 98-99
leases, we do levy a fee so that they do pay, but we do it in a
constitutional legal way so it is applied for conservation, coastal
line improvements.
{time} 1445
So we get at the 98-99 lease issue in a legal way under this
proposal. The Coalition of County Roads and Schools, we presented this
to them yesterday afternoon, they embraced it wholeheartedly. But it
was rejected.
Under suspension of the rules, I am not allowed to offer it as an
alternative. If this bill goes down today on a vote on the suspension
calendar, it can be brought up. The placeholder that this represents is
a seat on a bus going into a cliff. It is going off the cliff and into
a chasm. Fortunately, there is a cable attached to that bus. If this
goes down today, counties aren't lost. They can come back, bring it up
under a rule and we can have a real and substantive debate about a way
to fully fund it.
House of Representatives,
Washington, DC, May 30, 2008.
Hon. Greg Walden,
Longworth House Office Building,
Washington, DC.
Dear Greg: As you know, I worked with the administration to
come up with several other potential offsets to pay for a
multi-year extension of the county payments program.
Unfortunately, those offsets were strongly objected to on a
bi-partisan basis. If you have other suggestions for offsets
that won't raise the ire of oil patch or mineral-dependent
members, I would welcome the input.
I look forward to talking to you this afternoon or on
Monday.
Sincerely,
Peter A. DeFazio,
Member of Congress.
Mr. DeFAZIO. Just in response, the gentleman asked three times to
bring this bill to the floor with these offsets, and the gentleman from
Utah actually said in committee: I am specifically looking at offshore
drilling fees, which is a concept of a new fee that is there. I am more
than happy to go in that direction.
But today they're not.
I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from Oregon (Mr. Blumenauer).
Mr. BLUMENAUER. I appreciate the gentleman's courtesy as I appreciate
his leadership and tireless effort to help keep this alive.
I understand the frustration of my friend from Oregon that just
spoke. He should be frustrated, because his Republican Party was in
total control for 6 years with the Presidency, with both Houses of
Congress, and there is a situation that he doesn't like. I understand
it. I understand his frustration. If I were in his position, I would
be, too. It was the Republican Congress that did not extend this
program and allowed it to expire.
There is a simple choice before us today where we have an opportunity
to deal with the needs of hundreds of thousands of rural Americans, not
just in Oregon, but from 40 States around the country, or the interests
of a few oil companies who are making money hand over fist, and they
are making some money that they shouldn't because they are not paying
what they should under the leases.
We have already dealt with this canard that somehow the answer is to
give the oil industy access to more land to drill. Oil companies have
been granted 42 million acres of which they are only using 12 million
currently, so they have 30 million acres of area that they could
potentially drill and they are not drilling now. Somehow we should come
up with something more to give to them, allow them to have more money,
ignores the issue here today.
I would suggest that we ought to respect the work of Mr. DeFazio in
bringing this forward. Frankly, I was frustrated at the negative
comment about Speaker Pelosi who said that, instead of pushing these
people off a cliff, that she would work to cushion the blow, to help
phase it down. She was trying to help instead of cutting them off. She
has been helpful in moving this forward, and taking a shot at the
Speaker is unfair and if you are trying to solve the problem, it is
unwise.
It is the Republicans for 6 years that had the control, who didn't
exercise it. This is a constructive alternative. I suggest that we
recognize the need of these hundreds of thousands of Americans, not a
few oil companies.
Mr. BISHOP of Utah. Mr. Speaker, I yield to myself the balance of our
time.
I appreciate Chairman Rahall from the committee coming down here
earlier to speak on the bill. When this bill was under his control, he
treated us with kindness and consideration.
In the tornado of words that we have heard here today, there is one
thought that still comes through: We need a permanent solution. This
bill is half a bill without a permanent solution and without an offset
that is legitimate. The counties, the education community, and the
energy companies presented a real solution that would really pay, not a
phony placeholder, but real money that would pay for full tilt, full
secure rural schools, a real solution to real problems. This bill is
the wrong bill, the wrong process, at the wrong time, and should be
defeated.
Mr. DeFAZIO. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself the balance of our time.
This is a difficult choice. It is always difficult to choose between
your constituents and your patrons. The patrons heavily to that side of
that aisle have been Big Oil. This would hurt Big Oil. They would
actually have to pay a fee for leases that were written improperly
where they don't pay any royalties to the American taxpayers at a time
of record prices. That hurts.
Yes, it is true. So far, a bare minority of Senators have rejected
it, previously. Maybe they won't this time. Maybe with oil at $125 a
barrel they will go along with it and say we can get some good out of
this for a change. We can help kids get an education. We can keep
teachers employed. We can provide money to police our counties and to
keep people in jail who need to be there, and for other public services
and public works. We can do those things. But we have got to have some
guts. Every once in a while you have got to stand up.
We hear all this stuff, all we need is more leases. Their staff
boycotted a meeting last week. They sprung a proposal last night, which
is a Republican bill, not a single Democrat on it, and would open up
offshore oil drilling, which is not acceptable to the Republican
Governor of California, to the Republican Governor of Florida, and many
others. It is a nonstarter. Come on, guys, let's get real. This is your
choice. This is it.
There are 6,312 nonproducing leases on the OCS. This bill would make
those companies begin to produce, or pay a fee for not producing. If
you want to help provide more supply, which is what a lot of the debate
has been about today, let's impose a fee on those 6,312 wells. And, in
the meantime, let's get some good of that money for the American
people. Help 7,000 teachers, help the kids in rural schools, help our
deputy sheriffs, help our people who do corrections, help the people
who have a backlog of road and bridge projects all across rural
America. Help 42 States. Help 600 counties.
This is your only vote. This is your time. Sometimes you have to make
tough choices. I urge an ``aye'' vote on this bill.
Mr. BARTON of Texas. Mr. Speaker, the bill before us today, H.R.
3058, represents a thinly veiled attempt to create a partisan fight
over a nonpartisan issue. For several years now, Members from both
sides of the aisle have struggled to find a way to pay for the
reauthorization of the Secure Rural Schools program.
[[Page H4927]]
We have found such a compromise in Congressman Walden's substitute to
H.R. 3058. But that is not what we are voting on today.
The Walden compromise that has been approved by the stakeholder
organizations contains reauthorization of both Payments in Lieu of
Taxes and the Secure Rural Schools program which are so vital for
people whose counties are majority owned by the Federal Government, and
thus don't have the property tax base to support education. But that is
not the bill we are voting on today.
The proposed Walden compromise addresses our growing energy crisis by
expanding state control and protection of the outer continental shelf,
and by producing new energy in the deep ocean. It provides funding for
front-end engineering and design grants for coal-to-liquids, oil shale,
tar sands, carbon sequestration, and enhanced oil recovery.
Congressman Walden's compromise proposal contains provisions that
have been previously debated on this floor, passed by this body, and
approved by the administration. But that is not the bill we are voting
on today.
The bill we are voting on today breaks contracts that were negotiated
in good faith between the previous administration and American energy
providers. The bill we are voting on today has prompted a veto threat,
and will probably not even make it through the House today. If the
majority wants to make this a partisan vote, so be it. That is their
prerogative. But let me make one thing clear; the superintendents of
Groveton, Crockett, Latexo, Grapeland, Lovelady, and Kennard
Independent School Districts do not care about partisanship. The
reality of what we are doing today is that these, and thousands of
other school administrators, are going to have to cut jobs and programs
as they see their revenues shrink drastically. All for the sake of
making a political statement.
When Congress decided to take land out of the tax base of thousands
of rural counties in order to create our National Forest System, we
made a promise to help cover the cost of education. We have a chance to
fulfill this promise by taking up the Walden compromise for Secure
Rural Schools and PILT reauthorization. I urge my colleagues to vote no
on the political stab before us today, and I urge majority to bring to
the floor Congressman Walden's proposal as soon as possible. Our rural
communities depend on it.
Mr. RUSH. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in strong support for H.R. 3058,
the Public Lands Communities Transition Act. This legislation will
provide crucial funding to school districts located in Federal forest
counties. Without these funds, these school districts will have to make
large cuts to their educational services and programs.
It is imperative to address the fact that these counties have little
to no local tax base to levy for their school districts. Therefore, any
assistance from the Federal Government is essential.
Mr. Speaker, with the passage of this bill, we will ensure that the
education of our children will not fall victim to devastating cuts in
these areas. Adequate education should be provided to all of our
children, regardless of where they live. I urge all of my colleagues to
join me in supporting this bill with bipartisan support.
Mr. DeFazio. I yield back the balance of my time.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. The question is on the motion offered by the
gentleman from Oregon (Mr. DeFazio) that the House suspend the rules
and pass the bill, H.R. 3058, as amended.
The question was taken.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. In the opinion of the Chair, two-thirds
being in the affirmative, the ayes have it.
Mr. BISHOP of Utah. Mr. Speaker, on that I demand the yeas and nays.
The yeas and nays were ordered.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to clause 8 of rule XX and the
Chair's prior announcement, further proceedings on this motion will be
postponed.
____________________