WALLY HERGER: “I am appalled by the incredible misinformation that we are hearing this evening. I represent a district in northern…”

“I am appalled by the incredible misinformation that we are hearing this evening. I represent a district in northern California that is probably one of the most productive tree-growing areas in the world, and we have eight national forests in our district. I would like to state a few facts and compare it with policy, if I could. As the gentleman from Ohio pointed out earlier, this is a 2-by-4. This very 2-by-4 we could buy for 22 cents in 1989. Now this builds homes in each of our districts, those of my colleagues who have homes in the big cities that are out trying to support the Kennedy amendment now. In 1997 this same 2-by-4 sells for 44 cents, double the price. Double the price it was. Now let us go through some facts. We have heard a number of points that were mentioned tonight. One was that only 5 percent of the timber comes off Federal land. Well, guess what? Here is a fact: 50 percent of all soft wood grown in the United States today is grown on Federal land, but because of present policy we have the doubling of wood price. Oppose the Kennedy amendment.”