Political Quotes

“Mr. Chairman, I rise today in support of H.R. 1526. I want to thank Chairman Hastings and the ranking member for all of the work that they have done on this bill. And today I specifically rise in support of title IV of H.R. 1526, which I originally introduced as H.R. 1294, the Self-Sufficient Community Lands Act. I thank Chairman Hastings for recognizing the importance of this issue and including it in the bill. In Idaho and much of the West, the economies of rural communities once relied upon the timber industry for job creation and tax revenues. Over the last several decades, extreme environmentalists have hindered the ability to develop timber from our public lands through litigation. In fact, timber harvests have declined more than 80 percent over the last 30 years. Counties that were once dependent on timber receipts to fund schools, roads, and daily operations find themselves desolate and broke. In 2000, when the Federal Government operated with a budget surplus, and in order to compensate for the decline in timber receipts, as everybody knows, Congress passed the Secure Rural Schools and Communities Self-Determination Act. These payments were supposed to be phased out over time to allow counties to diversify their local economies. However, last year alone, 35 of Idaho's 44 counties received SRS payments totaling over $26 million.…”