Date: 1989-07-13
Speaker: DE LA GARZA (democrat)
Chamber: H

Mr. Chairman. I thank both gentlemen for yielding me this time. Mr. Chairman. let me say that both committees. and I am sure all the Members involved in this endeavor. have one thing in common and that is that we are looking toward the conservation. the preservation. and the protection of our national forests. We would like those forests to remain as much in their primative stage as we can with caution utilize them and leave them so that they will be there beyond our lifetimes. our children and their childrens lifetimes. but then beyond that. this issue also brings up great emotion. In such an emotional stage. many Members and any individual will have a tendency to give his or her own version. This has happened here today. Regretfully. I must say that it seems like every speaker has used his own figures. and the figures do not jibe. even being hundreds of dollars apart. so I would say disregard the figures and look at what we have before us. One thing that has been noted and I repeat. that a bill was approved by this House 300 and some to 47 last year. That bill is basically what the Agriculture Committee substitute is. with some changes. not identical. although I have the identical bill that I would be prepared to offer as a substitute so that we might again vote for what we passed last year. that everyone has said what a great thing we did. So if that is what we want to do. I have that amendment available. What we need now is to see where we are. What does the Agriculture bill do? It makes needed changes in the management of the Tongass. protects old growth forests. preserves 1.8 million acres of new wilderness. eliminate automatic funding to sell timber. require fair market value for timber. limit timber sold on the forest. Members have now heard the figures and have heard different amounts quoted. but the fact is. let me say. we need to address this. we need to address this issue. because we need to go to the depth and the breadth of it. and it needs to be addressed but in a separate area than what we are dealing with now. because the Forest Service is losing money in the northern region. region 1. It is losing money in the Rocky Mountain region. region 2. It is losing money in the intermountan region. region 4. It is losing money in the eastern region. region 9. and it is losing money in Alaska. region 8. It is not only like it is only losing money in Alaska. It is making some money in the largest amount. in the Pacific Northwest that was mentioned here. But yellow timber is selling in Alaska for actually more than what is quoted here in the Northwest. so do not be confused with that issue. The Forest Senice is losing money in more than half of the regions. and that is a fact. What would the Agriculture bill not do? It would not break contracts. and I do not care whether it is Japanese. from Timbuktu or Mars. the fact is that that is American forest that belongs to the people of the United States. and those in the world that come. but there are those who want to preserve and protect in its pristine stage. but if we have no Jobs. then we have no people there. and we would have only the wildlife. yes. the tourists would come. I say this respectfully. I went to the Kenai River in Alaska. and there were the tourists. and one could not walk after the plastic bottles and the tin cans. the bottles. What the tourists do is they come and flip their matches and burn our forests. That is what they do. They do not leave all of these millions of dollars. But we cannot have it in its pristine stage unless man is there. and what we are saying is that man should be there in an environment deserving the protection. but the careful utilization. and we can do both. and this bill does both. That is the beauty of the Agriculture bill. We keep the integrity. the word. of the U.S. Government. We do not go and abridge contracts. Yes. we can do it if it is for the public interest. I do not think this is for the public interest when we lose 6.000 jobs. badly needed in America. That is not the public interest. If it were to preserve it in its pristine stage forever. fine. but the Interior bill does not do that. We do it better. balancing. Everything we do. my colleagues. is a balancing act. Legislation is the art of the possible. what is possible this day this hour. this minute. and we need to balance. We need to. Yes. many times we have to legislate with the heart. We cannot leave it solely to the emotion. We cannot deal in a vacuum solely with fact. but even as to fact. as to one of my colleagues earlier today. we said. "The figures are wrong." He said. "I got it from the report." "Who wrote the report?" "I do not know who wrote the report." It was not written by the Members. Usually it is done by staff in cooperation with the Members. That is the system here. and that is the way all of us write our reports. but reports echo the thinking of the authors. and if the author had wrong figures. the report will have wrong figures. No question about that. I am not challenging that. That is Just fact. because we have heard from A to Z. and if someone was not here and he would read the transcript. he could not figure out heads or tails on this debate. what is the timber selling for. I do not know. I have heard from 40 cents to 600some dollars that a Japanese group owns. one of the companies. and that should be of no consequence to us. Who gets the Jobs? We have managed so the contracts have been renegotiated. It has been said. and I heard it. that there has been no renegotiation. There has been renegotiation. One has been renegotiated. Price has gone up. It is going better. One is Just about to be culminated. and that. again. will give better prices. Did the negotiators do a good Job? I do not know. They may have or they may not have. but the word and the integrity of the Government of the United States should be worth something on the floor of this House. The Agriculture bill protects that. but yet protects the interest. the economic interest. of the people of the United States. of the taxpayers. We do that. It does that. It protects the interest of those who want to preserve as best we can that area. It protects that. When we put it all together. the agriculture bill protects the integrity and the word of the Government of the United States. it commands the Forest Service to adhere to certain standards for the conservation and the preservation. it commands the Forest Service to work with the renegotiation. and it keeps in mind what all of us are trying to do. that as best we can within the human frailties and the failure of the mind now and then when it comes to figures in debate. that we do as best we can what we all intend to do. which is to preserve the Integrity of this great forest. It can be done. but it cannot and should not be done on the backs of 6.000 people who make their living there. That they work for a Japanese owner is of no consequence. It is the 6.000 Americans who make their living. and I would dare say who love that forest. who would not go flipping a match. who would not go throwing a plastic bottle. who would not be littering tin cans. Mr. Chairman. I would say that anyone who works in the forest works like farmers. farmers on the land. because he loves that land. I come from the land. and there is a saying in south Texas. an old Spanish saying. "You go on the land. you do not feel the vibration. forget it. It is not going to grow for you. You are not a farmer." That is what the great forests do to people and those who work with them and those who manage them. If one does not feel the vibration when awed by the majesty of those trees. one does not belong there. That is why people work there. That is why I am telling the Members to support the Agriculture bill. so those who feel the vibration and the love for those majestic trees and want to work them and harvest. but with care and with responsibility. which can be done. and the Committee on Agriculture version does that. harvest in a responsible way. protect for the best interests of the future. keep American Jobs and yet that we do something. as it says up there. worthy that we might be remembered by. that we preserve Jobs. that we allow the Member representing the area to speak for his people. that we protected and kept the word of the Government of the United States. and that we kept the faith and kept that great forest for our children and their children to enjoy in the years to come.