[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 153 (2007), Part 2]
[House]
[Page 1565]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                             COUNTY PAYMENT

  (Mr. WALDEN of Oregon asked and was given permission to address the 
House for 1 minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. WALDEN of Oregon. Mr. Speaker, this Congress and the last have 
failed to keep the Federal Government's commitment to the people who 
live near our national forests. This breach of faith means 100 
hardworking county employees in Jackson County, Oregon, will lose their 
jobs in June. That is 10 percent of the county's workforce.
  Within 3 months, Jackson County will close all 15 county libraries 
and slash their road budget.
  Remember the heart wrenching search for the Kim family lost in the 
national forest in southern Oregon? Jackson County used their equipment 
to help in that search, equipment and personnel paid for by the Secure 
Rural Schools and Community Self-Determination Act. As Jackson County 
Commissioner C.W. Smith said: ``Loss of this program is a national 
domestic funding crisis.''
  I call on the Democratic leadership to put H.R. 17 on your 100-hour 
legislative agenda. Keep faith with rural schools and counties. Keep 
the word of the Federal Government to timbered communities.

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