[Congressional Record Volume 168, Number 4 (Thursday, January 6, 2022)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E8-E9]
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, January 6, 2022

  Ms. NORTON. Madam Speaker, I rise to introduce the McIntire-Stennis 
Act District of Columbia Equality Act, which would correct an apparent 
oversight in the exclusion of the District of Columbia from eligibility 
for funding under the McIntire-Stennis Act (Act).

[[Page E9]]

  The Act provides the states and certain territories with formula 
funding to support state-designated institutions' cooperative forestry 
research programs. The funding available under this Act assists the 
states and territories in carrying out forestry research programs at 
state forestry schools and colleges and developing a trained pool of 
forest scientists capable of conducting needed forestry research.
  District of Columbia residents pay full federal taxes, and with few 
exceptions, the District is treated as a state under federal programs. 
This Act defines ``State'' to include Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands 
and Guam, whose residents do not pay full federal taxes. The District's 
absence from the Act makes it ineligible for federal funding that would 
support research at the District's public university, the University of 
the District of Columbia (UDC). The College of Agriculture, Urban 
Sustainability and Environmental Sciences at UDC, the nation's only 
urban land-grant university, offers programs that complement D.C.'s 
ongoing forestry efforts and serve individuals in my district and 
beyond. Rectifying the District's exclusion from this Act would ensure 
its equitable treatment and provide UDC a fair share of resources.
  The District should be eligible under this Act just like the states 
and territories. This bill would allow students and researchers in the 
nation's capital to benefit from this important forestry program. I 
urge support for this bill.

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