820

I am withholding my approval from 

H.R. 4386 because it would provide 

compensation to individuals who have 

occupied Federal lands without authority. Approval of this legislation 

would set a precedent of rewarding unauthorized users of Federal lands. It 

would not only undermine ongoing efforts by all Federal land management 

agencies to eliminate such uses but 

could also invite additional unauthorized use.

While I sympathize with the plight 

of the Ovesons, I cannot support the 

payment of taxpayers’ funds to them 

to remedy a problem they have with 

other private individuals in a situation 

in which the United States Government was in no way at fault. I understand that there may be legal remedies available to the Ovesons against 

the person who improperly sold them 

land to which he did not have clear 

title.

J i m m y C a r t e r.

D ecem ber 24, 1980.

On December 28, 1980:

FOR THE RELIEF OF MR. ISAAC HULVER

I am withholding my approval of S. 

442, a bill which would provide for the 

private relief of Mr. Isaac Hulver of 

Kansas City, Missouri. The United 

States court of appeals ruled against 

the claim of Mr. Hulver on the basis 

that the 2-year statute had expired 

before suit was filed, thus barring any 

tort action against the United States. 

Application for review was made to 

the United States Supreme Court, 

which declined, without comment, to 

hear the case.

Objection to this bill is two-fold, as 

expressed to me by the Department of 

Justice and the Veterans Administration. First, in 1979 the Supreme Court 

held that the statute of limitations 

was not merely a technicality, but that 

it was one of the conditions on which 

the traditional sovereign immunity of 

the United States has been waived to 

suit in tort, and that the period of

JOURNAL OF THE SENATE

limitations is as important to operation of the Federal Tort Claims Act 

as are the substantive rights created 

by that law. Second, this bill constitutes unwarranted preferential treatment which would defeat the goal of 

uniform application of the law. The 

federal courts have determined that 

this claim is forever barred as a tort 

claim against the United States. 

Having been afforded due process of 

the law in the courts, it would be 

unwise for Mr. Hulver to be singled 

out for special consideration beyond 

what the law provides for all persons 

in similar circumstances.

I am not unmindful of the significant contributions made by Mr. 

Hulver to his country in wartime, or 

the seriousness of his injuries, for 

which service connected disability 

compensation has been awarded since 

his discharge from the armed forces in 

1945. These considerations do not justify preferential treatment in this 

case.

J i m m y C a r t e r .

T h e W h it e H o u s e , December 28, 1980.

AUTHORIZING CONVEYANCE OF CERTAIN

NATIONAL FOREST SYSTEM LANDS

I am withholding my approval of 

H.R. 6257, a bill to authorize the Secretary of Agriculture to convey certain 

National Forest System lands and for 

other purposes. As originally introduced in Congress, this was a noneontroversial bill providing a simplified 

procedure for conveying small parcels 

of land within the National Forest 

System. Sections one through seven of 

the bill would accomplish this purpose. However, during the closing 

hours of the 96th Congress, a new section 8 was added that would adversely 

affect the Alaska Railroad, an agency 

of the Department of Transportation.

Section 8 would require the Secretary of Transportation to issue regulations for the rental of Alaska Railroad 

lands under terms that would result in 

a loss of revenue to the Railroad, provide for inequitable treatment of difDecember 16, 1980

ferent tenants, and create a complicated method for determining rents that 

would be extremely difficult to administer. It would further delay the Railroad’s effort to raise its lease land 

rents to fair market value, and it 

would lock into statute past practices 

that have been criticized by the General Accounting Office and the Department of Transportation. It would 

also inhibit the Railroad’s ability to 

establish a modern lease land development program consistent with normal 

commercial practice.

The Railroad is operated as a selfsustaining business by the Federal 

Government, to the benefit of the 

State of Alaska and its citizens. Rental 

income from rail lands is used to pay 

part of its operating costs. The loss of 

revenue resulting from this bill may 

force the Railroad to curtail service or 

require a new federal operating subsidy to make up the difference. A curtailment of service would injure those 

shippers and residents of Alaska who 

use the Railroad, and an increase in 

federal funds for the Railroad is unacceptable.

For these reasons, I am vetoing H.R. 

6257. However, I support those provisions in the bill that would give the 

Secretary of Agriculture authority to 

dispose of small tracts of National 

Forest lands that have become difficult to administer efficiently. This authority, which the Department of Agriculture has been seeking for several 

years, would greatly facilitate the disposal of approximately 200,000 acres 

of National Forest lands that present 

special management problems and 

would eliminate the need for a caseby-case authorization from the Congress before such lands can be sold or 

exchanged. Therefore, I urge the 97th 

Congress to enact similar authority 

early next year.

J im m y Carter.

T h e W h i t e H o u s e , December 28,1980.