[Congressional Record Volume 164, Number 195 (Tuesday, December 11, 2018)]
[Senate]
[Page S7431]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                        PETITIONS AND MEMORIALS

  The following petition or memorial was laid before the Senate and was 
referred or ordered to lie on the table as indicated:

       POM-312. A joint resolution adopted by the Legislature of 
     the State of Alaska urging the United States Congress to 
     reauthorize the Secure Rural Schools and Community Self-
     Determination Act of 2000; to the Committee on Energy and 
     Natural Resources.

                     House Joint Resolution No. 29

       Whereas, in 1908, the United States Congress enacted 16 
     U.S.C. 500 (National Forest Receipts Program), which required 
     25 percent of annual income earned from activities on 
     national forest land to be shared with states for 
     distribution to cities and boroughs in which the land is 
     located for the benefit of education and roads; and
       Whereas, in 1986, changes in the approach to managing our 
     national forests seriously curtailed the ability of forest 
     communities to harvest forest products and resulted in steep 
     declines in forest revenue paid to affected communities; and
       Whereas, in the early 1990s, the United States Congress 
     recognized that the decision to secure and retain land in 
     federal ownership would deprive the communities in which the 
     land is located of revenue otherwise received if the land 
     were in private ownership; and
       Whereas the enactment of P.L. 106-393, 16 U.S.C. 500 note 
     (Secure Rural Schools and Community Self-Determination Act of 
     2000), temporarily stabilized national forest revenue 
     payments to forest communities and replaced much needed 
     financial support for education and roads; and
       Whereas the National Forest Service controls approximately 
     22,000,000 acres of land in the state; and
       Whereas many of the state's rural communities are nestled 
     in the Tongass National Forest and the Chugach National 
     Forest; and
       Whereas there continues to be little privately owned land 
     in those forest communities on which to pursue economic 
     development activities, and the communities therefore remain 
     largely dependent on revenue generated from national forests; 
     and
       Whereas the Secure Rural Schools and Community Self-
     Determination Act of 2000 expired on September 3, 2015, and 
     has not been permanently reauthorized; and
       Whereas the United States Congress temporarily extended the 
     Secure Rural Schools and Community Self-Determination Act of 
     2000 for federal fiscal years 2017 and 2018; and
       Whereas education is one of the critical services supported 
     by the Secure Rural Schools and Community Self-Determination 
     Act of 2000; and
       Whereas failure to permanently reauthorize the Secure Rural 
     Schools and Community Self-Determination Act of 2000 will 
     have a devastating effect on many forest communities across 
     America, especially communities in this state, and will 
     severely affect the public education of students living in 
     those forest communities; be it
       Resolved, That the Alaska State Legislature respectfully 
     requests that the United States Congress pass and the 
     President sign into law a long-term reauthorization of the 
     Secure Rural Schools and Community Self-Determination Act of 
     2000; and be it further
       Resolved, That the Alaska State Legislature encourages the 
     United States Congress to pass H.R. 2340 or S. 1027 to 
     extend, or legislation to permanently reauthorize, the Secure 
     Rural Schools and Community Self-Determination Act of 2000.
       Copies of this resolution shall be sent to the Honorable 
     Donald J. Trump, President of the United States; the 
     Honorable Sonny Perdue, United States Secretary of 
     Agriculture; the Honorable Betsy DeVos, United States 
     Secretary of Education; the Honorable Lisa Murkowski, Chair 
     of the Energy and Natural Resources Committee of the U.S. 
     Senate; the Honorable Dan Sullivan, U.S. Senator, and the 
     Honorable Don Young, U.S. Representative, members of the 
     Alaska delegation in Congress; and all other members of the 
     115th United States Congress.

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