[Congressional Record Volume 158, Number 56 (Wednesday, April 18, 2012)]
[Senate]
[Pages S2495-S2496]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                        PETITIONS AND MEMORIALS

  The following petitions and memorials were laid before the Senate and 
were referred or ordered to lie on the table as indicated:

       POM 70. A resolution adopted by the Legislature of the 
     State of Arizona urging Congress to adopt the measures and 
     policies contained in the Save Arizona's Forest Environment 
     (SAFE) Plan and provide for a temporary emergency suspension 
     of the requirement to perform National Environmental Policy 
     Act studies; to the Committee on Energy and Natural 
     Resources.

                  Senate Concurrent Memorial No. 1001

       To the Congress of the United States of America:
       Your memorialist respectfully represents:
       Whereas, the State of Arizona, its citizens and its 
     communities have drastically suffered from catastrophic 
     wildfires that devastated more than 850,000 acres of wildlife 
     habitat, watersheds, timber, livestock forage and private 
     property; and
       Whereas, the water and air pollution from these 
     catastrophic wildfires have negatively impacted human health 
     and have endangered species and the human environment; and
       Whereas, millions more acres of Arizona's forest lands face 
     the threat of future catastrophic wildfires.
       Wherefore your memorialist, the Senate of the State of 
     Arizona, the House of Representatives concurring, prays:
       1. That the United States Congress adopt the measures and 
     policies contained in the Save Arizona's Forest Environment 
     (SAFE) Plan and provide for a temporary emergency suspension 
     of the requirement to perform National Environment Policy Act 
     studies on forest thinning and timber and forage management 
     activities in Arizona's forest lands that have suffered from 
     or are threatened by future catastrophic wildfires.
       2. That the Secretary of State of the State of Arizona 
     transmit a copy of this Memorial to the President of the 
     United States, the President of the United States Senate, the 
     Speaker of the United States House of Representatives and 
     each Member of Congress from the State of Arizona.
                                  ____

       POM 71. A resolution adopted by the Legislature of the 
     State of Arizona urging Congress to adequately fund the 
     United States Forest Service in order to properly manage 
     forests and grasslands and prohibit the Forest Service from 
     acquiring and managing additional lands until the Forest 
     Service demonstrates its ability to properly manage and 
     protect forests; to the Committee on Energy and Natural 
     Resources.

                  Senate Concurrent Memorial No. 1003

       To the Congress of the United States of America:
       Your memorialist respectfully represents:
       Whereas, the United States Congress established the United 
     States Forest Service in 1905 to provide quality water and 
     timber for the nation's benefit; and
       Whereas, over the years, the United States Congress has 
     directed the United States Forest Service to manage more 
     national forests and grasslands; and
       Whereas, the President's fiscal year 2012 budget increased 
     funding for land acquisition by $26,360,000; and
       Whereas, the President's fiscal year 2012 budget reduced 
     funding for the Wildland Fire Management by $396,675,000; and
       Whereas, the President's fiscal year 2012 budget reduced 
     budgeting for the FLAME Wildfire Suppression Reserve Fund by 
     $97,114,000; and
       Whereas, in 2011, the total number of acres consumed by 
     wildland fires on Arizona lands that are managed by the 
     United States Forest Service was 878,540 out of the total of 
     981,189 acres that were burned in Arizona that year; and
       Whereas, the United States Forest Service has existed for 
     more than 100 years with the express purpose of managing 
     public forests and grasslands; and
       Whereas, the mission of the United States Forest Service is 
     to sustain the health, diversity and productivity of the 
     nation's forests and grassland.
       Wherefore your memorialist, the Senate of the State of 
     Arizona, the House of Representatives concurring, prays:
       1. That the United States Congress adequately fund the 
     United States Forest Service in order to properly manage 
     forests and grasslands.
       2. That the United States Congress prohibit the United 
     States Forest Service from acquiring and managing additional 
     lands until the Forest Service demonstrates its ability to 
     properly manage and protect forests.
       3. That the Secretary of State of the State of Arizona 
     transmit copies of this Memorial to the President of the 
     United States, the Chief of the United States Forest Service, 
     the President of the United States Senate, the Speaker of the 
     United States House of Representatives and each Member of 
     Congress from the State of Arizona.
                                  ____

       POM 72. A resolution adopted by the Legislature of the 
     State of Arizona urging Congress to enact legislation making 
     monies collected under the federal gas tax immediately 
     available to the individual states to fund their 
     transportation needs; to the Committee on Finance.

                   House Concurrent Memorial No. 2004

       To the Congress of the United States and the Secretary of 
     the United States Department of Transportation:
       Your memorialist respectfully represents:
       Whereas, the United States Department of Transportation was 
     established by an act of Congress on October 15, 1966, and 
     the department's first official day of operation was April 1, 
     1967; and
       Whereas, the mission of the department is to ``serve the 
     United States by ensuring a fast, safe, efficient, accessible 
     and convenient transportation system that meets our vital 
     national interests and enhances the quality of life of the 
     American people, today and into the future''; and
       Whereas, the main mission of the department has largely 
     been fulfilled by the completion of the federal interstate 
     highway system; and
       Whereas, state and local governments are faced with 
     difficult decisions regarding local transportation needs on a 
     continuing and ever-increasing basis; and
       Whereas, the federal motor fuel taxes charged to the 
     citizens of Arizona are needlessly sent to the federal 
     government before being returned to the state government; and
       Whereas, federal restrictions, mandates and spending 
     requirements prevent the citizens of Arizona from setting 
     their own transportation priorities.
       Wherefore your memorialist, the House of Representatives of 
     the State of Arizona, the Senate concurring, prays:
       1. That the United States Congress enact legislation making 
     monies collected under the federal gas tax immediately 
     available to the individual states to fund their 
     transportation needs.
       2. That the United States Congress enact legislation to 
     cease the collection of motor fuel taxes in Arizona so that 
     this state can collect and distribute the taxes without the 
     delay caused by federal collection and disbursement.
       3. That the Secretary of State of the State of Arizona 
     transmit copies of this Memorial to the President of the 
     United States Senate, the Speaker of the United States House 
     of Representatives, the Secretary of the United States 
     Department of Transportation and each Member of Congress from 
     the State of Arizona.
                                  ____

       POM 73. A joint memorial adopted by the Legislature of the 
     State of New Mexico requesting a Congressional resolution 
     requesting the United States postal service issue a 
     commemorative stamp honoring the sesquicentennial anniversary 
     of the battle of Glorieta pass in New Mexico and recognizing 
     the importance of the battle; to the Committee on Homeland 
     Security and Governmental Affairs.

                          House Joint Memorial

       Whereas, in January 1862, confederate General Henry Hopkins 
     Sibley, with a brigade of two thousand six hundred Texans, 
     invaded the territory of New Mexico with the intention of 
     claiming the territory and the west for the confederacy; and
       Whereas, the volunteers of the Texas confederate forces 
     were victorious in defeating the union forces at the battle 
     of Valverde on February 21, 1862, and shortly afterwards, on 
     February 25, 1862, they captured Socorro, and on March 7, 
     1862, Albuquerque was captured; and
       Whereas, the confederate forces captured Santa Fe on March 
     10, 1862, the capital having been moved earlier by the New 
     Mexico territorial governor, the honorable Henry Connelly, to 
     Las Vegas, New Mexico; and
       Whereas, following these battlefield successes, the Texas 
     confederate forces planned to conquer Fort Union and then 
     march to Colorado to take over the mines located there; and
       Whereas, from there, the forces intended to form an 
     alliance with the Mormons and together take over the gold 
     fields of California, which would have provided much needed 
     capital for the confederacy; and
       Whereas, the conquest of California would have additionally 
     provided two sorely needed ports, free of union blockades; 
     and
       Whereas, the fulfillment of their plans would have severed 
     the western territories

[[Page S2496]]

     from the Union and strengthened the position of the 
     confederacy; and
       Whereas, they next planned to take over the Mexican states 
     of lower California, Sonora and Chihuahua, which had the 
     potential to gain much needed recognition by foreign 
     countries; and
       Whereas, the Texas confederate forces were met in a 
     skirmish and fought two battles with the union forces at 
     Glorieta Pass on March 26 to 28, 1862; and
       Whereas, even though the confederate forces were victorious 
     in these two battles, they were forced to abandon their dream 
     of taking over Fort Union and conquering the west when their 
     supply of sixty to eighty wagons, loaded with weapons, 
     medical supplies, food and blankets, was burned and four 
     hundred mules and horses were captured by a contingent of 
     United States regular army forces from Fort Union and 
     volunteers from Colorado and New Mexico; and
       Whereas, after this tremendous loss, the confederate Texans 
     had no other choice but to abandon General Sibley's dream and 
     retreat back to Santa Fe, then to Albuquerque and eventually 
     out of New Mexico and back to Texas; and
       Whereas, this turning point in the confederate campaign in 
     New Mexico, the ``battle of Glorieta pass'', is referred to 
     by some historians as ``the Gettysburg of the west''; and
       Whereas, although the loss of men killed, wounded or 
     missing in the Civil War battles fought in New Mexico may 
     seem insignificant compared to the carnage of the Civil War 
     battles that were fought in the east and south, the 
     importance and significance of this battle cannot be 
     overstated, as the ultimate outcome helped hold the union 
     together and assured its survival in what we now know as the 
     United States of America; Now, therefore, be it
       Resolved by the legislature of the State of New Mexico, 
     That the New Mexico congressional delegation be requested to 
     introduce a congressional resolution requesting the United 
     States postal service to issue a commemorative stamp honoring 
     the sesquicentennial anniversary of the battle of Glorieta 
     pass in New Mexico and recognizing the importance of the 
     battle of Glorieta pass; and be it further
       Resolved, that copies of this memorial be transmitted to 
     the president of the United States, the speaker of the United 
     States house of representatives, the president of the United 
     States senate, the members of the New Mexico congressional 
     delegation, the secretary of the United States department of 
     the interior, the postmaster general of the United States 
     postal service and the nonprofit organization, the friends of 
     the Pecos national historical park.
                                  ____

       POM 74. A resolution adopted by the Lauderdale Lakes City 
     Commission, Lauderdale Lakes, Florida urging the public 
     condemnation of President Bashar al-Assad of Syria and 
     renouncing all genocidal regimes and the use of genocidal 
     methods on civilian populations, including women, children 
     and the elderly, in order to retain dictatorial power against 
     repeated cries for freedom; to the Committee on Foreign 
     Relations.

                          ____________________