Douglas Alexander: “I salute the Senators from Arkansas and Texas on their comments about the timber tax. That is not my subject today…”

“I salute the Senators from Arkansas and Texas on their comments about the timber tax. That is not my subject today, although I intend to talk about competitiveness, jobs, but this is something we do need to pay attention to, not just for the jobs but for conservation in our country. That was mentioned eloquently by Senator Lincoln. I was in Waverly, TN, in Humphreys County the other day, and people are very upset because the timber company--I guess partly because of the Tax Code--has sold thousands of acres to an organization that doesn't care anything about the forest. That organization is cutting all the trees and going about their way. The people in that county, for a long time, have enjoyed having that forest properly managed--not just the jobs; they like the jobs, as well, but they like the trees. What we may be doing in an unanticipated way is having a tremendous negative impact upon the beauty and the forests of the United States by our tax policy even though we don't intend to do that. I am glad the Senators from Texas and Arkansas and others are interested in this issue. I would like to work with them in the new Congress to try to be of some help. I am here today to suggest, especially to my colleagues on the other side of the aisle who will be in the majority starting next month, that we, all of us together, have a remarkable opportunity to start the new year with a truly bipartisan piece of legislation critical to the future of the United States.”