Rob Andrews: “I urge a bipartisan vote in favor of this amendment. Mr. Chairman, I know that it is a hotly debated topic as to whether…”

“I urge a bipartisan vote in favor of this amendment. Mr. Chairman, I know that it is a hotly debated topic as to whether there should be logging in this forest, and irrespective of how someone feels about this question, I think they should vote in favor of this amendment. If they feel, as I do, that logging is inappropriate in Tongass, then this amendment stops building the roads that will let people exploit that logging and preserves this priceless natural asset. But I know that there are many who believe that logging is appropriate in the Tongass forest; and, Mr. Chairman, I want to say even if they think it is appropriate, they should vote for this amendment, and they should vote for this amendment on several important fiscal grounds. The first fiscal ground is this is one of the worst investments the United States taxpayers have ever been asked to make. In fiscal year 2002, the American taxpayers put up $36 million to build these roads, and our revenue, our return on our investment, was slightly over $1 million. For every $36 we put up, we got $1 back.”