Nita Lowey: “this is not about raising taxes. It is not often that we have an opportunity to enhance environmental protection, reduce…”

“this is not about raising taxes. It is not often that we have an opportunity to enhance environmental protection, reduce the deficit and end corporate tax subsidies in one single vote. But that is exactly what this amendment offers us today. For years the Forest Service has provided taxpayer-funded subsidies to timber companies to construct nearly 400,000 miles of logging roads through our national forests. These subsidies not only provide a handout to the timber industry for costs they should be paying on their own, they also underwrite activities that take a serious toll on our forests' fragile ecology. These are the habitats for a diverse array of fish and wildlife, including many threatened and endangered species. Logging roads fragment habitats, increase erosion and siltation into rivers and streams. As for the expense to taxpayers, the General Accounting Office estimates that between 1992 and 1994, the logging road program cost the Treasury more than $245 million. And just for a point of reference, that is almost three times the cost of the entire budget for the National Endowment for the Arts. This amendment is plain common sense. Trout Unlimited, hardly a bastion of environmental extremism, is among the many groups supporting this measure. Let us be very clear. This amendment will not prohibit timber companies from building new logging roads.”