John Thune: “I hope my amendment will be included as part of the final bill. I know the managers intend to offer a managers'…”

“I hope my amendment will be included as part of the final bill. I know the managers intend to offer a managers' amendment. I want my colleagues to know I have been working with the chairman, the Senator from Oklahoma, the ranking member, Senator Jeffords from Vermont, of the Committee on Environment and Public Works concerning this issue since we marked up the underlying bill in committee last month. While Chairman Inhofe and Ranking Member Jeffords, Subcommittee Chair Bond, and Ranking Subcommittee Member Baucus initially had questions regarding my amendment in committee, I understand now the staff has been able to work through all of those concerns. Simply put, my amendment seeks to allow Native American tribes the ability to nominate roads to the Secretary of Transportation for designation as scenic byways, All-American Roads, or America's Byways. Currently, Indian tribes are only allowed to nominate roads for designation under the Scenic Byways Program if they first go through their respective State Department of Transportation or Federal land management agencies such as the National Park Service or the Bureau of Indian Affairs. My amendment allows tribes to designate those roads over which they have jurisdiction or management responsibility as tribal scenic byways which then allows them to directly nominate the road for national designation with the Secretary of Transportation.…”