E 1080 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD — Extensions of Remarks May 19, 1995

TRIBUTE TO THE JACKIE ROBINSON AMERICAN LEGION AUXILIARY UNIT NO. 252

HON. JULIAN C. DIXON OF CALIFORNIA

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

Thursday, May 18, 1995

Mr. DIXON. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to pay

special tribute to the members of the Jackie

Robinson American Legion Auxiliary Unit No.

252 for their hard work and compassion in

helping homeless and need veterans. The 145

auxiliary members, Legionnaires, and Sons of

the American Legion [SAL] members of the

Jackie Robinson American Legion family volunteered over 3,000 hours organizing and preparing South Central Homeless Veterans Care

Day 1995. On March 11, 1995, the auxiliary

opened its home, Post No. 252, for Care Day

1995 which successfully assisted over 200

veterans and their families.

South Central Homeless Veterans Care Day

1995 provided needy veterans and their families with clothing, food, showers, and haircuts.

The auxiliary collected over $5,000 worth of

donated clothing and distributed 200 care

bags with food, blankets, comfort kits, and

extra clothing to veterans. Veterans were provided with transportation to the post and other

off-site facilities. Seventeen service organizations participated in Care Day 1995 providing

medical, social, legal, and other veteran-related services and benefits. As a part of Care

Day 1995, the auxiliary volunteered their assistance to other communities and organizations who provided homeless veterans a

weekend retreat from the streets.

The success of Care Day 1995 was further

enhanced by the fact that this was the first

event of its kind in the South Central Los Angeles community. Usually, events of this magnitude require at least 1 year of preparations.

Remarkably, this event’s success came after

only 3 months of preparations. It is a pleasure

to recognize the diligence and dedication of

Auxiliary Unit No. 252 in quickly organizing

South Central Homeless Veterans Care Day

1995.

Mr. Speaker, I am extremely proud of the

members of Jackie Robinson American Legion

Auxiliary Unit No. 252, and ask my colleagues

in the House of Representatives to join me in

commending their commitment to helping our

needy veterans. In a time when many forget

about those who have so bravely served to

protect our country and democracy, the efforts

of the Jackie Robinson American Legion Auxiliary Unit No. 252 stand as a shining example

of how we should assist those needy veterans

who fought for our country.

STEWARDSHIP ACT OF 1995

THE FOREST ECOSYSTEM

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HON. PAT WILLIAMS OF MONTANA

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

Thursday, May 18, 1995

Mr. WILLIAMS. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to

introduce the Forest Ecosystem Stewardship

Demonstration Act of 1995. This legislation

represents countless hours of work by folks in

my district. It is based on the work done in the

last Congress on the Forest Ecosystem Stewardship Demonstration Act of 1995. Folks in

my district took that concept and incorporated

the concerns of Forest Service officials, the

comments of the American Foresters organization and the comments of business and

conservationist leaders in Montana.

The result of this hard work has been to

produce a blue print of how we should go

about assuring the health of the both our local

forest and our local communities. This legislation is also a blueprint for those who are tired

of the constant polarization that has become

the hallmark of public lands debate. The entire

process is based on the belief that through cooperation we can have wood for our mills and

protection of our wild lands, but we can have

neither unless we find ways to come together

as friends and neighbors and agree on how to

proceed.

This legislation establishes a stewardship

contracts process, under the guidance of a

local stewardship council, that would identify

opportunities for logging in areas of poor forest health. The legislation sets up both a

standard and a recognition system to allow for

logging to go forward and for the industry to

gain credit for when its done right. This type

of local involvement helps assure that appeals

will not be filed and that when problems arise

there is a process to get past the rhetoric that

has so typified the discussion up till now.

This proposal is only a demonstration

project because we all agree that some confidence in our mutual goals must be demonstrated for this approach to achieve wide

acceptance. This type of proposal sets on its

head the old charge forward mentality that

public planning has become and was raised to

a new level in this sessions debate on salvage

timber. Those approaches have produced no

stability and no wood for the mills, this legislation prepared by traditional enemies will show

us the way to a future of better harvest and

stronger communities.

Attached is a list of the advantages this type

of approach affords the debate on the management of our national forest lands.

Stewardship: Restoring the connections between the community and the land; recognizing that healthy forests are more likely in

areas with healthy economies and healthy

societies; focusing on what’s left in the forest, not what’s taken out; recognition of the

logger/forest professional as more than

someone just taking trees of the forest—encouraging ‘‘ownership’’—doing your work

out there like you would do it on your own

land; and Montana Logging Association has

establish Accredited Logger Program (ALP)

to make available stewardship training to

loggers who wish to upgrade and expand

their skills.

Collaboration: People from all points of

view working together to find solutions. This

bill was brought to Pat by Montana loggers,

mills owners/operators, environmentalists,

interested citizens, etc. all coming together

to find local solutions to forest management

issues; breath of fresh air—takes us beyond

the age-old and very tiresome ‘‘environment

vs. jobs’’ rhetoric. Focussing on our common

concerns, not our differences.

For whatever reason, there is a real lack of

trust between large segments of the public

and public land managers. This trust has to

be rebuilt from the bottom up. There are no

quick fix solutions. This is just a start.

Continuing dialogue at the local level is

necessary to rebuild that trust. That is one

of the important reasons for the local stewardship councils proposed.

Flexibility: Local solutions are needed for

local problems. We have ample evidence that

‘‘one size fits all’’ management doesn’t work.

Local conditions vary as much as forests

vary.

Stewardship contracts done under this legislation would still have to comply with all

federal environmental and other legislation.

The key is rewarding excellence. Incentives for loggers now are based on doing a job

at least cost, which encourages the cutting

of corners. By separating the stewardship activity from the selling of logs, and compensating stewardship contractors based on

how well they treat the resources, we are

building in an incentive to do the best work

possible.

The accountability factor is very high.

Lots of accountability factors are included

in the legislation, and public involvement in

stewardship project planning and monitoring

is encouraged and facilitated.

THE 100TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE

NEW YORK PUBLIC LIBRARY

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HON. CAROLYN B. MALONEY OF NEW YORK

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

Thursday, May 18, 1995

Mrs. MALONEY. Mr. Speaker, I rise today

to pay tribute to the 100th birthday of the New

York Public Library.

The New York Public Library was started

during the latter part of the 19th century when

several of the city’s citizens had the foresight

to realize that it was imperative that New York

have a great library if it was to become a

prominent urban cultural center.

Many eminent New Yorkers played an important role in getting the library started, but

three in particular stand out: Governor Samuel

J. Tilden, John Jacob Astor, and James

Lenox. Samuel Tilden bequeathed the bulk of

his fortune, approximately $2.4 million to ‘‘establish and maintain a free library and reading

room in the city of New York.’’ John Jacob

Astor left $400,000 in his will to establish a

reference library in New York. The Astor Library opened its doors in 1849, becoming a

major source for reference and research.

James Lenox founded the Lenox Library, consisting primarily of his personal collection of

rare books, which included the first Gutenberg

Bible to come to the New World.

In 1892 the Astor and Lenox Libraries were

both experiencing financial difficulties. A trustee of the Tilden Trust, John Bigelow, devised

a plan whereby the resources of the Tilden

Trust, the Astor Library, and the Lenox Library

would be combined to form the Astor, Lenox,

and Tilden Foundations—what would become

known as the New York Public Library.

Dr. John Shaw Billings, considered one of

the most brilliant librarians of his day, was

named director of this new library. Billings goal

was to get the library’s resources into the

hands of all those who requested them as

quickly as possible. He designed what has

now become a landmark building, with its

Beaux-Arts design and the largest marble

structure ever attempted in the United States.

The Cornerstone for the library was laid in

May 1902, at the same location where this

landmark library now stands.

In February 1901, the library consolidated

with the New York Free Circulating Library

and established its circulating department. In