Chris Cannon

Mr. CANNON

Mr. CANNON. Mr. Chairman, I demand a recorded vote.

Mr. CANNON. Mr. Chairman, I have an amendment at the desk.

Mr. CANNON. Mr. Chairman, I rise today to offer an amendment that would limit the effects of the amendment by my colleagues from Colorado to Colorado. I am deeply troubled by my colleagues' zeal to stop oil shale leasing and development in the West. Oil shale is not a new idea. In fact, the lands in question were once part of a strategic reserve. Rather than limiting our energy resources, I am offering this amendment in an attempt to make sure that Americans have the opportunity to be energy independent and to create more American jobs. Utah, Colorado, and Wyoming hold a conservative estimate of 2 trillion barrels of recoverable oil in the Green River Formation. We have one or two times the total crude oil reserves of the whole world and triple the amount of oil reserves in Saudi Arabia. Two trillion barrels of oil is enough to meet current U.S. demands for hundreds of years. At a time when the price of consumer goods and services are soaring in large part because of the cost of energy resources, why would we intentionally hinder our ability to develop our most promising resource? It is no secret that the environmental community does not want shale development to succeed in this Nation, but we have environmental laws that are designed to protect our Federal lands. If those laws are not sufficient, let's talk about those issues as opposed to simply putting up roadblocks to this promising resource. Increased global demands, skyrocketing energy prices, geopolitical instability, concerns about peak oil production and supplies are all economic factors that we believe make oil shale an attractive natural resource to help solve our country's dependency problems. The U.S. and world demand for oil is increasing, and we will not be able to conserve our way out of this dilemma. We must as a country look to other sources of energy. Many experts agree that oil shale in Utah can be a major part of the solution. Issues regarding environmental and community impact will need to be addressed at a local, State and Federal level and also by private industry. I believe Utah and the region can look to Canada's oil sands to see what other countries have done to develop their resources and the benefits that come with such development. Canada has invested vastly in oil sands and has seen a huge return in royalties. Oil sands are now a $20 billion-per-year industry in a remote area of Canada. We cannot leave our constituents holding the bag on higher energy prices. Development of oil shale as well as oil, gas and renewable energy technologies will lighten the load of our constituents. Successful development of oil shale can help solve the Nation's energy dilemma and also bring millions and eventually billions of dollars to the Federal Treasury, Utah, Colorado, and Wyoming through royalties and mineral lease moneys. We have heard that we need to be energy independent. How, then, can we criticize the BLM for moving forward in helping us achieve this goal? We should be encouraging the responsible development of oil shale so that we can in part fulfill our desire to keep from relying on foreign and often unstable nations for our energy resources. These are nations that hate us and who use our American dollars to hurt our interests. I would encourage my colleagues to support the amendment and resist the urge to destroy the potential of oil shale before it is developed. I would encourage my colleagues to support my amendment to allow States that want to develop oil shale, that they be allowed to develop that oil shale. Mr. Chairman, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. CANNON. I thank the gentleman for withdrawing his point of order and would point out, I understand that the Governor of Colorado, a Democrat, has decided that he doesn't want oil shale development in Colorado and my Democratic colleagues have opposed oil shale development in Colorado. It is true that in Colorado there are major projects that are underway and that have begun with some small-scale demonstration projects. That is fine for Colorado. It does not make sense for America to impose on Utah and Wyoming the same concerns that the Democratic leadership of Colorado wants to have in Colorado. And so I would urge my colleagues to support this amendment. The fact is I think, having looked at the industry, the likelihood of significant oil shale development, oil coming out of shale, is more likely to be from entrepreneurial sources that are not dependent upon these vast, vast projects that are being done in Colorado.

Mr. CANNON. I yield to the gentleman from Washington.

Mr. CANNON. No, no. If the Udall amendment passes, then my amendment would become irrelevant. But I think under the rules of the body today, we were not able to do a second-degree amendment which is what I would have preferred. That being the case, the fact is Colorado has expressed itself I think pretty clearly here today that they don't want this development and, in fact, the case is different in Colorado than it is in Utah. I think that the opportunity for entrepreneurial development of oil shale should not be inhibited by frivolous government regulations. We have laws in place. In Utah, we are not going to do things that don't make sense environmentally.

Mr. CANNON. That is true. This would delay the development of oil shale. The Udall amendment would delay it in Colorado, Utah and Wyoming. My amendment would limit that effect to just Colorado and allow Wyoming and Utah to develop their shale as they wish.

Mr. CANNON. Mr. Chairman, I demand a recorded vote.

Mr. CANNON. Mr. Speaker, I demand a separate vote on the Udall amendment.

Mr. CANNON. Mr. Speaker, on that I demand the yeas and nays.

Mr. CANNON

Mr. CANNON. Madam Chairman, I offer an amendment.

Mr. CANNON. Madam Chairman, I rise in support of this amendment that I offered on behalf of myself, Mr. Mark Udall, Mr. Rob Bishop, Mr. Matheson, Mr. Heller, Mr. Salazar, and Mrs. Musgrave. This bipartisan amendment will redirect roughly $20 million in departmental salaries and expenses to the Payment in Lieu of Taxes program to bring the total appropriation to nearly $253 million. I am pleased to be working with this bipartisan group and thank my colleagues for their support. All of us have something in common. We represent some of the 1,900 counties spread across every State but Rhode Island that have public lands that rely on the Payment in Lieu of Taxes program to mitigate the impact of the lost tax revenue resulting from Federal land ownership. The Federal Government owns nearly 650 million acres of land, mostly in the West. We have a map here that shows all the land owned or held in the trust by the government in red. It is important to see exactly how much of the land in the West is owned by the Federal Government. In fact, the amount of land owned by the Federal Government is amazing. This is an amazing amount of Federal ownership and control by the Federal Government. That means that we do not tax those lands and that means that in the Western United States we pay less per child for education, but we tax our people more per family because we are supporting the Federal Government. In other words, we don't tax these lands; we tax ourselves more. As the chairman of the Western Caucus, I know all too well that my fellow colleagues throughout the West are struggling with these issues, and also in many districts in the East, where there is a great deal of public lands. It is only fair that we pay a reasonable amount in lieu of taxes to cover this shortfall. The Payment in Lieu of Taxes program was created in 1976 to provide payments to counties to make up for property taxes they were prevented from collecting on Federal lands located within their boundaries. This year, the administration's budget proposal proposed to cut PILT by $34 million, to a paltry 56 percent of the authorized level. The past few years have seen Congress achieve historic levels of PILT funding. We are grateful to Chairman Dicks and Ranking Member Tiahrt for their efforts to restore PILT to the fiscal year 2007 enacted level. While the appropriation currently in the bill is significantly above the administration's recommendation, it is far from what it should be, and our counties are bearing the brunt of it. While the Department's administrative budget has nearly doubled since 2001, PILT funding levels have not kept pace, and this is not acceptable. It is imperative that we raise funding so that our rural counties won't have to continue to foot the bill for lands owned by the Federal Government. I urge all my colleagues to support this bipartisan amendment to bring PILT funding levels to nearly 70 percent of the authorized amount and to support the counties that host public lands. Although I will continue to fight for full funding for PILT, this amendment is a step in the right direction and adds a modest sum to the PILT program, a sum that is important to Americans who live in public lands communities, as well as to all the visitors who visit our public lands.

Mr. CANNON. Madam Chairman, reclaiming my time, I very much appreciate the gentleman's point. The fact is, this is much higher than the President's proposal. I appreciate that. Our job here is to balance how we fund these various programs. The inequity that has been perpetrated on Western counties, where you see these massive amounts, including in your State, of public lands that are not adequately supported by a tax base is very important. I thank the gentleman very much for his support thus far.

Mr. CANNON. Madam Chairman, I thank the gentleman, and urge support of my amendment.

Mr. CANNON

Mr. CANNON. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume and rise in support of House Resolution 401. House Resolution 401 has been adequately explained by the majority. I thank the gentlelady, and urge adoption of this resolution. Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. CANNON

Mr. CANNON. Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of House Concurrent Resolution 116, and yield myself as much time as I may consume. House Concurrent Resolution 116 has been adequately explained by the majority. The only thing I would add is I would like to commend Congresswoman Cubin for her work on this resolution to designate the National Museum of Wildlife Art of the United States in Jackson, Wyoming. This designation places the National Museum of Wildlife Art of the United States in a prestigious class of less than 20 museums to earn such a designation. I urge adoption of the resolution. Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. CANNON

Mr. CANNON. Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of House Concurrent Resolution 94, and yield myself such time as I may consume. House Concurrent Resolution 94 has been adequately explained by the majority, and I urge adoption of the resolution.

Mr. CANNON. Mr. Speaker, I have no additional speakers, and therefore, I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. CANNON

Mr. CANNON. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. I rise in support of House Resolution 341 which endorses the goals and ideals of American Eagle Day. Two hundred and twenty-five years ago, the Second Continental Congress decided to use the image of the American bald eagle on the Great Seal of the United States. Since that time, the image of this majestic bird has graced American art, our culture, currency and stamps. It has been the subject of more than 2,500 books, making the bald eagle the most extensively studied bird in North America. While there were nearly 500,000 on this continent prior to European settlement, this species was particularly devastated by various chemical compounds that caused widespread reproductive failure. In response, the Congress enacted the Bald and Golden Eagle Protection Act and the bird was listed on our Endangered Species Act. From its all-time low of 417 nesting pairs in the continental United States in 1963, extraordinary conservation efforts have saved the bald eagle, and we have witnessed a significant population increase. Today, there are 9,789 breeding pairs, not including the more than 30,000 bald eagles living in Alaska. By any objective standard, recovery of the bald eagle has been remarkable, but sadly, it is one of only a handful of species that have been recovered under the Endangered Species Act. While it is likely that the Secretary of the Interior will soon make a decision to remove the bald eagle from the Federal list of threatened and endangered species, there is no question that the bald eagle will continue to inspire millions of Americans because it symbolizes the fundamental values of this country of courage, freedom and patriotic spirit. Under the terms of House Resolution 341, the people of the United States are encouraged to observe American Eagle Day on June 20 and to provide educational information on the value of conserving our Nation's wildlife resources. I urge an ``aye'' vote and want to compliment the author of this resolution, freshman Congressman David Davis of Tennessee, for his effective leadership in proposing this celebration of American Eagle Day. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. CANNON. Mr. Speaker, I yield so such time as he may consume to the gentleman from Tennessee (Mr. David Davis), who is the author of the bill.

Mr. CANNON. Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. CANNON

Mr. CANNON. Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of House Concurrent Resolution 54 and yield myself such time as I may consume. House Concurrent Resolution 54 has been adequately explained by the majority. I would like to commend Congressman Boustany for his work on this resolution to create the National Hurricane Museum and Science Center. I urge adoption of the resolution. Mr. Speaker, I yield 5 minutes to the gentleman from Louisiana (Mr. Boustany).

Mr. CANNON. Mr. Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Poe).

Mr. CANNON. Mr. Speaker, I have no further speakers, and I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. CANNON

Mr. CANNON. Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of House Resolution 390, and yield myself such time as I may consume. House Resolution 390 has been adequately explained by the majority, and I urge its adoption. I reserve the balance of my time.