Political Quotes

“I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Speaker, the Cabin Fee Act, which I have sponsored for several Congresses, sets a new fee schedule for the 14,000 privately owned cabins in our national forests. It creates a simple, straightforward, and predictable fee schedule that is fair to cabin owners, the Forest Service, and the American taxpayer. H.R. 3397 would replace the current complex and unfair payment system by assigning cabin fees to tiers based on the cabin lot's appraised value. The fees would rise with inflation, but otherwise would be a fixed fee. This means that families would no longer face sudden, unexpected jumps to unaffordable levels, and the maximum fees are kept from going above $5,000 a year. As considered on the House floor today, the Cabin Fee Act is revenue neutral. The CBO score is zero. Many of the private cabins on Forest Service land are simple, rustic structures hand-built by the grandparents of current owners early in the last century and passed down from generation to generation. The overwhelming majority of these cabins are modest family retreats. The purpose of this bill is to keep the fees affordable for people such as teachers, factory workers, and retirees, and not just millionaires, which is what would result if we do not make the change in the law. The cabin owners affected by this bill are charged an annual fee for the use of their land on which their cabin sits. They do not get any ownership rights to the land.…”