[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 152 (2006), Part 18]
[Senate]
[Pages 23486-23487]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                      JOHNNIE BRYAN HUNT, ``J.B.''

  Mr. PRYOR. Mr. President, Johnnie Bryan Hunt died a couple of days 
ago in Arkansas. I just spoke with his wife a few moments ago. As 
always, she was delightful, and she was very upbeat and very positive 
and really appreciated all the prayers and all the well-wishes she has 
received from Arkansas and from around the country over the last couple 
of days.
  Yesterday, we lost a great American and a great Arkansan and a great 
example to us all. Johnnie Bryan Hunt was born in Cleburne County, AR, 
in 1927 during the Great Depression. He left school at the age of 12 
and went to work for his uncle in the sawmill. We were just talking 
about the timber industry in our State. He went to work for his uncle 
in the sawmill just to help the family get by, as many Americans did 
back in those days.
  He served in the U.S. Army.
  During his early career, he was a farmer, he was a lumber salesman, 
he was an auctioneer, and a truckdriver. Then he invented his own 
business. It was called a rice hull business. He got the rice hulls 
over in the eastern part of the State and trucked them over to the 
western part of the State to make ``poultry bedding,'' as he called it, 
out of the rice hulls. That venture did not work out exactly the way he 
wanted it to.
  His first trucking company, which he formed as part of that and 
shortly thereafter, failed. He lost about $19,000 in that first 
venture. But like many Americans, J.B. Hunt didn't quit. He went back 
to the drawing board. He kept working. He knew he had the ability. He 
knew he had the gift of problem-solving.
  A few years later, he founded the trucking company which today is the 
largest publicly held truckload transportation company in North 
America, J.B. Hunt Trucking. Even though he started with 5 trucks and 7 
trailers, today he has over 16,000 employees, 11,000 trucks, and 47,000 
trailers and containers. He did this with hard work, he did this with a 
lot of dedication and with a lot of focus.
  But one thing they say about J.B. Hunt the man and the company he 
founded is they are smart. They use technology, they are very 
innovative, and they work very hard to get on the cutting edge of that 
industry. In fact, J.B. Hunt is really a poster child for the American 
success story. We know that through hard work and opportunity, things 
can happen for you in this country. And he is proof that can happen in 
a very big way.
  During the course of his life, he was director of the American 
Trucking Association, the American Studies Institute Advisory Board, 
the Intermodal Transportation Institute, which he was innovative in, 
the University of Arkansas Campaign for the 21st Century, and the 
Northwest Arkansas Business Council. In addition to those boards and 
those industry groups on which he served, he also was extremely giving 
with his resources. Two of his favorite charities are the Arkansas 
Easter Seals and the March of Dimes.
  I know he will be sorely missed in his hometown of Lowell.
  People always associated Arkansas with J.B. Hunt the man and the 
trucking company because he really did put it on the map. He came to 
northwest Arkansas and ended up in northwest Arkansas before this 
period of exceptional growth started there. These two counties up in 
the northern corner of our State are two of the fastest growing 
counties in America. The companies that are there are companies such as 
Wal-Mart, Tyson Foods, J.B. Hunt, and, of course, the University of 
Arkansas is in that corner of the State as well.
  People ask me: Is there something in the water up there? What is it 
about this little area of your State? Is it the great quality of life? 
It is the great work ethic? Yes and yes. More than anything, it is 
about great leadership, and J.B. Hunt was part of that great 
leadership. He was on the team of men and women who moved their 
communities forward and in many ways not only changed those communities 
but changed the State and changed the world.
  I join Arkansans and Americans in offering my condolences and prayers 
to J.B. Hunt's family and his friends, including his wife Johnelle and 
their children Jane and Bryan.
  I yield the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Texas is recognized.
  Mr. CORNYN. Mr. President, while both of my distinguished colleagues 
from Arkansas are on the Senate floor, let me tell them how much I 
appreciate their leadership in dealing with this last item of business 
relative to this Congress and which is particularly important in my 
home State of Texas, as it is in other timber-growing regions of the 
United States.
  As we find ourselves in global competition for jobs and work, there 
are certain things we need to keep our eyes on to help make America 
more competitive and to make sure we continue to create the jobs and 
opportunities which have always been the key to our prosperity. Of 
course, the present occupant of the chair knows that having a qualified 
workforce is one of the key elements of our ability to compete in a 
global economy, as is our tax policy and our health care system, which 
is a factor in the ability of American businesses to be competitive, 
our regulatory environment, and our civil justice or litigation system.
  I wish to focus specifically on our tax policy. The fact is that in 
many industries our tax policy in this country makes certain aspects of 
our economy less than competitive. Certainly that is true when it 
applies to the timber tax issue.
  The timber tax provision I am speaking about would lower the capital 
gains tax for owners of timberland, both individuals and corporate 
owners, but mainly it is small business community members and farmers. 
The great thing about this is we are not talking about a tax increase 
on anybody; we are talking about reducing the tax on this element of 
our economy, of our workforce, mainly small business owners and 
farmers, to help make them more competitive in a global economy.
  It was my sincere hope that this provision would be included with the 
so-called tax extenders package that I hope is ultimately passed by the 
Senate today or tomorrow, but, as the Senators from Arkansas have 
already pointed out, I know we are all disappointed that it has not 
been included. I think that is a shame. My

[[Page 23487]]

hope is that, having left this work undone, Congress, when we return in 
January, will take up this issue again and attempt to pass it.
  The U.S. forestry industry and its workers are at the heart of a 
vibrant economy that has produced the highest living standards in the 
world. As the jobs report released just today indicates, job creation 
continues apace across this big economy here at home. But there are 
sectors of the economy that are struggling because of the disadvantages 
they have, particularly with regard to our tax policy. The forest 
products industry and its workers, including those in Texas and across 
America, are facing significant challenges which, if not overcome, will 
lead to reduced economic growth, lost jobs, and ultimately the decline 
of living standards for future generations.
  Although job growth continues here at home, as we saw by today's 
report, it is important to highlight that American paper mills and wood 
product mills are permanently closing their doors, resulting in a loss 
of those good-paying jobs. At the same time, our foreign competitors, 
facing generally lower taxes, are expanding their capacity.
  As has already been pointed out by the senior Senator from Arkansas, 
the Price Waterhouse Coopers & Lybrand report in April of 2005 examined 
the effect of the U.S. tax system and found that our tax rules 
consistently disadvantage U.S. companies and workers relative to the 
tax rules in most nations with which we have to compete. By reducing 
the cost disadvantage faced by practicing sustainable forestry here in 
United States, this proposal can help reverse the trend of decreasing 
U.S. competitiveness in the forest products industry and maintain those 
manufacturing jobs of U.S. workers.
  Simply put, this proposal is about creating more good-paying jobs 
here at home, not by conferring any additional benefits on our American 
employers and job creators but by reducing the impediments and the 
obstacles that Government puts in the way to job creation and 
competition in the global economy.
  I wish to especially express my appreciation to Senator Lincoln, the 
senior Senator from Arkansas, for her strong advocacy for this issue. I 
look forward to working with her in our next Congress to try to do 
everything we can to remedy this wrong and to help make America and 
particularly the forest products industry more competitive in a global 
economy.
  I yield the floor. I suggest the absence of a quorum.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER (Mr. Cornyn). The clerk will call the roll.
  The assistant legislative clerk proceeded to call the roll.
  Mr. ALEXANDER. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order 
for the quorum call be rescinded.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
  Mr. ALEXANDER. Mr. President, the Senator from Illinois had the next 
15 minutes. I don't see him. I was to follow him, but to conserve time 
I will go ahead and take my 15 minutes now and then ask unanimous 
consent he be allowed to follow me when he arrives.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.

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