[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 152 (2006), Part 12]
[Senate]
[Page 16948]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                           NOMINATIONS HOLDS

  Mr. WYDEN. Mr. President, the plight of countless rural communities 
in Oregon and across the country may take a turn for the worse due to 
the impending expiration of the county payments legislation. For this 
reason, I am putting a hold on the following two Bush nominees to 
express my continuing dissatisfaction with the administration's lack of 
attention to the needs of people in more than 700 rural counties in 
over 40 States: John Ray Correll, Director of the Office of Surface 
Mining, Interior Department and Mark Myers, Director of the U.S. 
Geological Services, Interior Department.
  In addition, I would also object to any unanimous consent allowing 
Mr. Correll, Mr. Myers, and Mr. Bernhardt to remain on the calendar. 
Instead, I request that these three nominations be returned to the 
White House during the congressional August recess. Rule 31 paragraph 6 
of the Senate Rules provides that when the Senate will be in recess for 
more than 30 days, any nomination in committee or on the Senate 
Calendar must be returned to the White House unless the Senate, by 
unanimous consent, allows a nominee to remain on the calendar.
  To date, the administration has proposed only one solution to funding 
county payments, and it is one that many of us find unacceptable. The 
county payments law, which provides a stable revenue source for 
education, roads and other county services in rural areas, is due to 
expire at the end of this year. In early 2005, I cosponsored a 
bipartisan bill, S. 267, to reauthorize county payments for another 7 
years. In February, the administration proposed reauthorizing the law 
for only 5 years while cutting funding by 60 percent and funding that 
reduced portion with a controversial Federal land sale scheme.
  Senator Baucus and I have proposed a sensible, alternative funding 
source for county payments. Our legislation fully funds county payments 
by ensuring that a portion of Federal taxes are withheld from payments 
by the Federal government to government contractors. The Federal 
Government currently does not withhold taxes when it pays government 
contractors. In May, the Republican-led Congress approved a major tax 
bill that uses our funding provision to instead provide tax cuts for 
the most fortunate Americans, leaving rural counties with fewer options 
and growing fiscal concerns.
  As I have said before, I will hold these nominees and every nominee 
coming after them, if necessary, until the administration steps to the 
plate and delivers some leadership in finding a way to fund county 
payments.

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