John Kerry: “today I join Senator Bill Bradley in introducing legislation to repeal the timber salvage rider, a law that has…”

“today I join Senator Bill Bradley in introducing legislation to repeal the timber salvage rider, a law that has permitted destructive logging of ancient forests because it waives important environmental safeguards. Let me first say that I do not oppose responsible logging on public or private lands, as long as it is done in compliance with our environmental statutes. The fundamental problem with the timber salvage provision as it is currently written, is that it does not comply with current Federal protection laws. During debate of the 1995 Rescissions Act, proponents of the emergency timber measure stressed the need to remove dead and dying trees to protect the health of our forests in the Pacific Northwest. We were told that the rider would not cost the federal treasury one dime; in fact it would make money. We were told that the measure would not harm fish and wildlife and that it was needed only to expedite a small number of outstanding timber sales. In other words, we were told that this rider would be a simple fix to a small problem and should be added without a congressional hearing or review to an entirely unrelated bill that was moving quickly through congress. As are all too aware, this was the way many anti-environmental statutes were being sold by the Republican leadership during the 1995 congressional term. Regrettably, we know of the severe environmental damage that this statute has wrought on some of our most beautiful and oldest forest lands.”