Richard Pombo: “Mr. Speaker, H.R. 1658 would amendment the Railroad Right-of-Way Conveyance Validation Act to legalize, validate, and…”

“Mr. Speaker, H.R. 1658 would amendment the Railroad Right-of-Way Conveyance Validation Act to legalize, validate, and confirm as far as any interest of the United States is concerned two additional conveyances in San Joaquin County, California. These conveyances involve lands forming part of a right-of-way granted by the U.S. to the Central Pacific Railroad Company under previous law. This bill would declare the conveyances to be between the railroad company and the Bank of America recorded in September, 1945, and between the railroad company, the Southern Pacific Transportation, and the Tri-Valley Packing Association recorded in November of 1957. In short, this bill would lift the cloud over the title to these lands. This bill passed the House of Representatives by unanimous consent on November 18, 2003. It has been returned to the House for further consideration due to a technical change made by the other body. I support this change, as do the majority and minority of the Committee on Resources and the administration.”