Angie Craig: “I appreciate Senator Lott coming to the Chamber this morning to speak on the role the timber industry plays in the…”

“I appreciate Senator Lott coming to the Chamber this morning to speak on the role the timber industry plays in the economy of Mississippi and how important it is. It is important to rural Mississippi, to rural Idaho, to rural America, where we struggle mightily to keep a viable productive job base. Clearly over the last decade, the economy of this country flourished. And while all of that was going on, it was rural Idaho that felt much of the pain and shared not in that new growth economy, in part because of the very problem both Senator Lott and I and Senator Baucus and others are addressing. This is a relatively simple adjustment in trade law, but it could have a substantial impact on the Canadians and the current practices in which they are involved, practices we believe are not in the best interest of both governments and both countries. To have a nearly 'cut at will' policy, both in provincial and crown timber in Canada, is at best frustrating to some of us who believe not only is that bad policy but, from an environmental point of view, it is not an effectively balanced policy.”