[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 154 (2008), Part 7]
[House]
[Page 9045]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                   COUNTY PAYMENTS FOR HARNEY COUNTY

  (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, by refusing to renew the county 
payments program, Congress, this Congress, has broken its pledge to 
rural areas all across this country, such as Harney County, Oregon.
  County payments account for 70 percent of the road budget in Harney 
County, in part because 78 percent of Harney County is Federal land. 
That's an area nearly the size of New Jersey.
  Now, imagine if the tax revenue from 78 percent of the land in New 
Jersey suddenly dried up. It would be paralyzing, just as paralyzing as 
the loss of county payments is proving in the rural West.
  Harney County Judge Steve Grasty said, ``It is now so bad that we've 
got fewer road crew employees than snow removal equipment. Our road 
department is now 50 percent of its historic staffing level.''
  H.R. 3058 would give some relief to this problem and would help keep 
the roads open in Harney County and schools open across the West.
  Yet the Democratic leadership in the House has held this bill hostage 
on the Union Calendar since January 15. Today is day 120 that this bill 
could have been brought to the floor and voted on. It is a bipartisan 
bill. The lead sponsor is my colleague from Oregon (Mr. DeFazio).
  Keep the commitment to these rural communities. Pass H.R. 3058.

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