Date: 1999-10-21
Speaker: GEORGE MILLER (democrat)
Chamber: H
State: California

Mr. Speaker. I rise in strong opposition to this conference report. This legislation defies- the will of the American people by severely underfunding our national effort to protect and preserve the national lands and because it contains antienvironmental riders that interfere with the proper management of the publics resources. This report drastically underfunds the Presidents land legacy initiative that is designed to protect the endangered lands and resources that are threatened by development. It is ironic that this legislation should take such an extreme and antienvironmental position on such an issue at a time when we are working mightily to fashion on a bipartisan basis a resource initiative. Throughout this country. hundreds of thousands of people from soccer moms to sporting goods manufacturers. from environmentalists to hunters to park professionals to innercity police organizations have come together to reach and support legislation that would expand. not constrict as this legislation does. the amount of investment we in Congress would make with the resources of this country. The President requested $413 million for his land legacy and the land water conservation fund for the year 2000. The conference report . provided less than $250 million. The administration sought $4 million for urban parks programs. The conference report provided half of that amount of money. We have to understand that the people of this country want these resources protected. They want the opportunities expanded. Ninetyfour percent of all Americans support more funding for the land and water conservation fund. That is a Republican pollster taking that poll.. Eightyeight percent of the American people agree we must act now or we will lose these special places. This bill does not act now. and it does so in the riders. In the riders it continues to give away public land for the mining companies to dispose of their waste and their toxic waste on these lands. and it overrides the limitations in the 1872 mining law. but they will not override those limitations to try to get the American people the royalties and rents for the use of those public lands. This land also continues to allow the oil companies to underpay the royalties that my colleague. the gentlewoman from New York . has worked so hard on. This continues to let them underpay $60 million in royalties that they owe the people of this country. $6 million in the State of California that goes to the education system in our State for young people. This report continues to let the oil companies have a royalty holiday on lands that they drill oil from. that they take from the American people. and they underpay the resources. That should not be allowed to continue. This bill also fails to provide the kind of support that is necessary so the Indian tribes of this Nation can continue to take over the functioning of those programs where the Government acted on their behalf in a most paternal manner. that the Indians can now run those programs of the Indian health service from the Bureau of Indian Affairs. and they can do it more efficiently. They do it with greater enrollment and greater care for the members of their tribes. and yet this legislation does not speak to those in a proper manner. This legislation is bad for the environment. It is bad for the taxpayers. It is bad for school children. It is bad for the public that supports our parks and public lands. and we ought to reject it.