On the recordFebruary 18, 2011
Mr. Chairman, the map you see in front of you is not the coverage area for Verizon. Everything that is red on this map is land that is owned by the Federal Government. One in every 3 acres in America is owned by the Federal Government and as you can clearly see it is disproportionate here in the West. This of course is the gentlewoman from Ohio's region. This is my district. And until such time as my district resembles her district, in the ability of us to control our future and our resources, payment in lieu of taxes is not welfare to the West, it is simply rent on the land that you control; until such time as the Secretary of the Interior's decision--which the Inspector General said was capricious and arbitrary--does not destroy 3,000 jobs in a county with only 31,000 inhabitants; until such time as $1.9 billion in investment leaves the West to go to the East where there are fewer regulations; until such time as somebody from the East who comes to frolic in the public lands of the West and consumes the entire county's search and rescue budget in 1 day, until that is changed, PILT is not welfare, it is rent on the land you control. I want you to look carefully at this map. See where the red is. Then I also want you to look at this particular map. States in red are the States that have the hardest time funding their education system. That is the slowest growth in education. I hope you realize there is a similarity between the two particular maps.…





