[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 150 (2004), Part 14]
[House]
[Page 18796]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




        RAILROAD RIGHT-OF-WAY CONVEYANCE VALIDATION ACT OF 2003

  Mr. PEARCE. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and concur in 
the Senate amendment to the bill (H.R. 1658) to amend the Railroad 
Right-of-Way Conveyance Validation Act to validate additional 
conveyances of certain lands in the State of California that form part 
of the right-of-way granted by the United States to facilitate the 
construction of the transcontinental railway, and for other purposes.
  The Clerk read as follows:

       Senate amendment:
       Page 2, line 12, strike out ``104'' and insert ``401''.

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from New 
Mexico (Mr. Pearce) and the gentlewoman from the Virgin Islands (Mrs. 
Christensen) each will control 20 minutes.
  The Chair recognizes the gentleman from New Mexico (Mr. Pearce).


                             General Leave

  Mr. PEARCE. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may 
have 5 legislative days within which to revise and extend their remarks 
and include extraneous material on the bill under consideration.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the 
gentleman from New Mexico?
  There was no objection.
  Mr. PEARCE. Mr. Speaker, I yield such time as he may consume to the 
gentleman from California (Chairman Pombo).
  Mr. POMBO. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman for yielding me this 
time.
  Mr. Speaker, H.R. 1658 would amendment the Railroad Right-of-Way 
Conveyance Validation Act to legalize, validate, and confirm as far as 
any interest of the United States is concerned two additional 
conveyances in San Joaquin County, California. These conveyances 
involve lands forming part of a right-of-way granted by the U.S. to the 
Central Pacific Railroad Company under previous law. This bill would 
declare the conveyances to be between the railroad company and the Bank 
of America recorded in September, 1945, and between the railroad 
company, the Southern Pacific Transportation, and the Tri-Valley 
Packing Association recorded in November of 1957. In short, this bill 
would lift the cloud over the title to these lands.
  This bill passed the House of Representatives by unanimous consent on 
November 18, 2003. It has been returned to the House for further 
consideration due to a technical change made by the other body. I 
support this change, as do the majority and minority of the Committee 
on Resources and the administration.
  Mr. Speaker, I understand the Senate amendment has a technical error. 
It references line 17, but it should be line 15. We are very clear that 
we are correcting a page reference to a deed book in the underlying 
bill. Rather than send the House bill back to the other body, we will 
pass it today and make any technical changes later in the session the 
Senate enrolling Clerk determines necessary.
  I urge my colleagues to support this legislation.
  Mrs. CHRISTENSEN. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may 
consume.
  Mr. Speaker, this is a technical matter that will clear title to 
property owned by several of the gentleman from California's (Chairman 
Pombo) constituents. The cloud on their title arises out of Federal 
rights-of-way granted more than a century ago. It is unfortunate that 
Federal legislation is required to resolve this issue, but there is no 
other solution.
  I join the gentleman from West Virginia (Mr. Rahall), ranking 
Democrat, in commending the gentleman from California (Chairman Pombo) 
for his work on this bill. While this is a simply technical matter, 
working to address the problems facing our districts one constituent at 
a time is the essence of our job as Representatives. We urge our 
colleagues to support the gentleman from California (Chairman Pombo) as 
he works on behalf of these land owners.
  Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.
  Mr. PEARCE. Mr. Speaker, I have no further requests for time, and I 
yield back the balance of my time.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The question is on the motion offered by the 
gentleman from New Mexico (Mr. Pearce) that the House suspend the rules 
and concur in the Senate amendment to the bill, H.R. 1658.
  The question was taken; and (two-thirds having voted in favor 
thereof) the rules were suspended and the Senate amendment was 
concurred in.
  A motion to reconsider was laid on the table.

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