[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 146 (2000), Part 16]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages 22839-22840]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]



   SECURE RURAL SCHOOLS AND COMMUNITY SELF-DETERMINATION ACT OF 2000

                                 ______
                                 

                               speech of

                         HON. PETER A. DeFAZIO

                               of oregon

                    in the house of representatives

                       Tuesday, October 10, 2000

  Mr. DeFAZIO. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in strong support of H.R. 
2389. Stabilizing county payments has been my top legislative priority 
for the past several years. Enactment of this legislation has been a 
long time coming. Almost exactly a year ago, I argued for the passage 
of H.R. 2389 on the floor of the House. Today, I am asking my 
colleagues in Congress to again support H.R. 2389. This bill is a 
significant improvement over what the House approved last November and 
is a product of long and difficult negotiations with the Senate and 
Administration.
  Counties in my district are suffering from declining federal timber 
payments. As a result, county governments are being forced to cut 
critical county services; work camps, juvenile justice programs, rural 
deputies and other essential county funded programs. The reduction in 
Forest Service receipts has also impacted rural road and school 
funding.
  Throughout most of the 20th Century, Western Oregon served as the 
timber basket for the United States. Oregon's fourth congressional 
district, for many years, had the highest public timber harvest of any 
congressional district. Its lumber and wood products industry was also 
the most public timber dependent in the nation. Many rural community 
economies revolved totally around forestry, lumber, and wood products.
  Today, timber output on public lands is at an all-time low. The costs 
to my district from changing public land management include lost high 
wage jobs, loss of economic infrastructure, and substantially reduced 
county budgets. I appreciate, and have worked with Members concerned 
with public land management. I believe a vote in favor of this 
legislation is a vote of support for better management of Federal 
forests because you are taking care of the communities which are most 
impacted.
  Last year many Democrats had concerns with the environmental impacts 
of H.R. 2389.

[[Page 22840]]

I want to directly address those concerns. This revised bill has 
absolutely no incentive for increased logging. The difficult 
negotiations over this bill resulted in compromise legislation 
affording counties increased flexibility for expending guaranteed 
payments. What was once a potentially controversial set-aside for 
forest management projects is now expanded to fund salmon restoration 
work, road decommissioning, forest-related educational training, after-
school programs, and critical emergency response activities, search and 
rescue, and forest work camps.
  Secondly, the revised legislation has been modified so that any 
proceeds from a county-funded timber sale are returned to the United 
States Treasury instead of back to the Forest Service region. While I 
supported the original House-passed version of H.R. 2389, the revisions 
address some outstanding concerns expressed by the environmental 
community and the Administration. Counties in my district have produced 
a list of non-controversial projects which will fund important 
activities such as salmon restoration.
  Finally, I want to thank the staff on both sides of the aisle and in 
both chambers who have put such long hours and hard work into this 
legislation. Penny Dodge, Kathie Eastman, my former staffer Jeff Stier, 
Amelia Jenkins, Chris Schloesser, Erica Rosenberg, Tom Pyle, Doug 
Crandall, Bill O'Conner, Troy Tidwell, Lindsay Slater, Dave Tenny, 
Sarah Bittleman, Mark Rey, Sara Barth, Kira Finkler, Brian Kuehl, and 
Eric Washburn. In addition, I want to thank staff from the 
Administration who worked in ensuring we could craft a bill President 
Clinton would feel proud of signing. Thanks to Anne Keys, Chris Wood, 
and Tom Tidwell. In closing, I want to commend my colleagues in the 
House and Senate--Representatives Boyd, Walden, Hooley and Goodlatte 
and Senators Wyden and Craig--who worked extremely hard. I truly 
appreciate their efforts.

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