Thomas Daschle: “Today the Senate is passing S. 1608, the Secure Rural Schools and Community Self-Determination Act of 2000. This…”

“Today the Senate is passing S. 1608, the Secure Rural Schools and Community Self-Determination Act of 2000. This legislation will provide counties dependent upon the federal timber program with critically-needed funding to support education, road-building and other county programs. I want to commend Senator Wyden in particular for his leadership and hard work on this legislation. He tirelessly engaged in months of discussions with our Republican counterparts, the administration and fellow Democrats to develop a bipartisan, compromise piece of legislation that will provide stability to timber-dependent counties for years to come. Since early in the last century, counties with significant federal land-holdings have received 25 percent of the revenue earned from timber sales on those lands. Since federal lands cannot be taxed, these funds provide counties with a critical source of revenue to maintain schools and roads. Over the past decade, it has become clear that counties can no longer depend upon these funds. In many areas, the timber program has declined or ceased altogether, reducing revenue that counties depend up to make ends meet. As a result, many counties have had to cut educational programs for children significantly.”