[Congressional Record Volume 170, Number 32 (Tuesday, February 20, 2024)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E164]
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

                       Tuesday, February 20, 2024

  Ms. NORTON. Mr. Speaker, today, I 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.
  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 therefore 
District of Columbia is treated as a state under federal programs, with 
limited exceptions. The Act defines ``State'' to include Puerto Rico, 
the Virgin Islands and Guam, whose residents do not pay full federal 
taxes. D.C.'s exclusion from the Act makes it ineligible for federal 
funding that would support research at D.C.'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 
D.C. and beyond. Rectifying D.C.'s exclusion from the Act would ensure 
equal treatment for D.C. and provide UDC a fair share of resources.
  I urge my colleagues to support this bill.

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