[Congressional Record Volume 164, Number 94 (Thursday, June 7, 2018)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E797]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




INTRODUCTION OF THE McINTIRE-STENNIS ACT DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA EQUALITY 
                                  ACT

                                 ______
                                 

                       HON. ELEANOR HOLMES NORTON

                      of the district of columbia

                    in the house of representatives

                         Thursday, June 7, 2018

  Ms. NORTON. Mr. Speaker, today, I rise to introduce the McIntire-
Stennis Act District of Columbia Equality Act, which would amend the 
McIntire-Stennis Cooperative Forestry Act (Act) to make the District of 
Columbia eligible for funding. The District is treated as a state under 
federal programs with a few exceptions, most of them simply oversights 
or failures to update. This legislation would rectify the exception in 
the Act, ensuring equitable treatment for the District and allowing the 
District to benefit from the important funding opportunities available 
under the Act.
  The Act provides U.S. states and territories with formula funds to 
support state-designated institutions' cooperative forestry research 
programs. The Act defines ``State'' to include Puerto Rico, the Virgin 
Islands, and Guam. The District's notable, but faulty, absence from 
this definition makes it ineligible for grant funds that would support 
research at the University of the District of Columbia's (UDC) College 
of Agriculture, Urban Stability, and Environmental Science, a program 
that complements the city's ongoing forestry efforts. UDC is the 
nation's only urban land-grant university.
  We appreciate that Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands, and Guam are 
included under the definition of ``State,'' though, unlike the District 
of Columbia, their residents do not pay federal income taxes. It would 
be particularly troubling if the District, whose residents pay the 
highest amount per capita in federal income taxes, which support farm 
and other federal programs, were to continue to be excluded.
  We have heard that the District may be excluded because of its lack 
of local timber production. However, the Act says, ``[i]n making such 
apportionments, consideration shall be given to pertinent factors 
including'' local timber production. Proximity to timber is, therefore, 
only one in a non-exclusive list of factors that are part of the larger 
analysis regarding the apportionments. Excluding the District from the 
definition of ``State'' merely because it is not located in an area 
with a timber industry runs counter to the intent of the Act. While 
timber production can be a factor in determining the amount of state 
allocations, there is no reason that the District should be excluded 
from the Act.
  We believe, therefore, that the omission of the District must have 
been the result of an oversight during the original drafting of the 
Act. However, as you can imagine, this omission has serious 
consequences for the District, rendering UDC ineligible for these 
formula grant funds. Passage of this bill would allow students and 
researchers in the nation's capital to take part in this important 
forestry program.
  I urge my colleagues to support this important bill.

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