[Congressional Record Volume 172, Number 35 (Monday, February 23, 2026)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E155]
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

                       Monday, February 23, 2026

  Ms. NORTON. Mr. Speaker, today, I introduce the McIntire-Stennis Act 
District of Columbia Equality Act, which would make the District of 
Columbia eligible for funding under the McIntire-Stennis Cooperative 
Forestry Act (Act) in the same manner as states.
  The Act provides funding to states and certain territories for 
forestry research programs. The funding assists 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 forestry research.
  D.C. residents pay the same federal taxes as residents of states and 
therefore D.C. is almost always treated as a state under federal 
programs. 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 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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