Charles Taylor

Mr. TAYLOR of North Carolina

Mr. TAYLOR of North Carolina. Mr. Chairman, I claim the time in opposition to the amendment.

Mr. TAYLOR of North Carolina. Mr. Chairman, I yield myself such time as I may consume. I rise in opposition to the amendment. I appreciate the gentleman's tireless effort in trying to work in the areas of budget control. I know yesterday the announcement was made that we are in a deficit of $450 billion. We must work to solve that this year and in future years as we move forward. That is why, Mr. Chairman, we have opposed a number of much larger amendments, of over $100 million or $500 million that have been proposed here yesterday and this morning. We have worked the best we can to balance this bill. We think it is a good bill. There are 13 subcommittees. We work with one, with the Interior and Energy. We hope that we can convince the Senate to go with us and we will come out with a balanced appropriations bill that will be conservative as well as meet the needs of our Interior Department. Mr. Chairman, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. TAYLOR of North Carolina. Mr. Chairman, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from Washington (Mr. Dicks), the ranking member.

Mr. TAYLOR of North Carolina. Mr. Chairman, while I oppose the amendment, I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from Colorado (Mr. Hefley) in opposition.

Mr. TAYLOR of North Carolina. Mr. Chairman, I yield the balance of my time to the gentleman from Washington (Mr. Dicks).

Mr. TAYLOR of North Carolina. Mr. Chairman, I ask unanimous consent that all debate on this amendment and all amendments thereto be limited to 10 minutes to be equally divided between the proponent and an opponent.

Mr. TAYLOR of North Carolina. Mr. Chairman, will the gentleman yield?

Mr. TAYLOR of North Carolina. Mr. Chairman, I ask unanimous consent that all debate on this amendment and all amendments thereto to be limited to 30 minutes to be divided as follows: 10 minutes to the proponent, 15 minutes to the chairman of the Committee on Appropriations, and 5 minutes to the ranking member.

Mr. TAYLOR of North Carolina. Mr. Chairman, I yield 5\1/2\ minutes to the gentleman from Oregon (Mr. Walden). (Mr. WALDEN of Oregon asked and was given permission to revise and extend his remarks.)

Mr. TAYLOR of North Carolina. Mr. Chairman, I yield 4 minutes to the gentleman from California (Mr. Herger).

Mr. TAYLOR of North Carolina. Mr. Chairman, I yield 4 minutes to the gentleman from California (Mr. Doolittle. (Mr. DOOLITTLE asked and was given permission to revise and extend his remarks.)

Mr. TAYLOR of North Carolina. Mr. Chairman, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. TAYLOR of North Carolina

Mr. TAYLOR of North Carolina. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that during consideration of H.R. 2691 in the Committee of the Whole pursuant to House Resolution 319, no further amendment to the bill may be offered except: pro forma amendments offered by the chairman or ranking minority member of the Committee on Appropriations or their designees for the purpose of debate and, the amendments printed in the Congressional Record and numbered 6, 15 and 16, each of which shall be debatable for 10 minutes; The amendments printed in the Congressional Record and numbered 4 and 12, each of which shall be debatable for 20 minutes; The amendment printed in the Congressional Record and numbered 1, which shall be debatable for 30 minutes to be allocated as follows: 10 minutes to the proponent, 15 minutes to the chairman of the Committee on Appropriations, and 5 minutes to the ranking minority member; A substitute amendment by the gentleman from Utah (Mr. Matheson) to the amendment numbered 1, which shall be debatable for 20 minutes; An amendment by the gentleman from North Carolina (Mr. Taylor) to the amendment numbered 1, which shall be debatable for 10 minutes; The amendments printed in the Congressional Record and numbered 2 and 9, each of which shall be debatable for 50 minutes to be allocated as follows: 15 minutes to the proponent, 25 minutes to the chairman of the Committee on Appropriations, and 10 minutes to the ranking minority member; An amendment by the gentleman from California (Mr. Gallegly) regarding bear feeding, which shall be debatable for 10 minutes; An amendment by the gentleman from Washington (Mr. Inslee) regarding Forest Service regulations on roadless areas, which shall be debatable for 50 minutes; and An amendment by the gentleman from Arizona (Mr. Shadegg) regarding Forest Service land acquisition, which shall be debatable for 10 minutes. Each such amendment may be offered only by the Member designated in this request, or a designee, or the Member who caused it to be printed, or a designee, shall be considered as read, shall not be subject to amendment, except as specified, and shall not be subject to a demand for a division of the question in the House or in the Committee of the Whole. Each amendment shall be debatable for the time specified, and time on each amendment shall be equally divided and controlled by the proponent and an opponent, except as specified. All points of order against each amendment shall be considered as reserved pending completion of debate thereon, and each amendment may be withdrawn by its proponent after debate thereon.

Mr. TAYLOR of North Carolina. Mr. Speaker, will the gentleman yield?

Mr. TAYLOR of North Carolina. Mr. Speaker, I would like to thank the ranking member for his cooperation and also the ranking member of the subcommittee for the cooperation he has shown in drafting this bill and on the floor of debate.

Mr. TAYLOR of North Carolina

Mr. TAYLOR of North Carolina. Mr. Chairman, I rise to claim the time in opposition.

Mr. TAYLOR of North Carolina. Mr. Chairman, I yield myself such time as I may consume. I reluctantly rise to oppose the gentleman's amendment. I know he has been a leader in trying to provide funds in this project, and I would say that he has been successful in many ways. The decision was made to make sure sufficient funds were made available for forest health and backlog maintenance. At the same time, limited land acquisition funds are available for the most critical inholdings and to manage the projects that are currently underway. We provided $20 million above the President's request, and we hope to continue to work in this basic area of forest health and backlog maintenance. So I must oppose the gentleman's amendment. Mr. Chairman, I yield such time as he may consume to the gentleman from Washington (Mr. Dicks).

Mr. TAYLOR of North Carolina. Mr. Chairman, I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. TAYLOR of North Carolina. Mr. Chairman, I claim the time in opposition to the amendment.

Mr. TAYLOR of North Carolina. Mr. Chairman, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Chairman, none of us are comfortable with this issue, but let me provide Members with some facts. A record of decision was signed on December, 2000, by then Secretary of Interior Bruce Babbitt, the Secretary of Agriculture Dan Glickman, and the Governor of Montana. This document was a long-term plan for bison management in this region. The main objectives were to maintain a free-ranging bison population and manage the risk of transmission of diseases from bison to cattle. Both the State and the Park Service have specific responsibilities under this agreement. When we have bison outside the park, bison are captured, tested and some are shipped to slaughter. On occasion, bison resist the capture or hazing and are shot. During the winter of 2002, there was a dangerous situation of this kind involving one bison bull. At the request of Montana, an interagency team, including the Park Service, shot the bull. Mr. Chairman, I yield 3 minutes to the gentlewoman from Wyoming (Mrs. Cubin).

Mr. TAYLOR of North Carolina. Mr. Chairman, I yield 3 minutes to the gentleman from Montana (Mr. Rehberg).

Mr. TAYLOR of North Carolina. Mr. Chairman, I yield the balance of my time to the gentleman from Virginia (Mr. Goodlatte).

Mr. TAYLOR of North Carolina. Mr. Chairman, I move that the Committee do now rise.

Mr. TAYLOR of North Carolina

Mr. TAYLOR of North Carolina. Mr. Chairman, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Chairman, rise in opposition to this amendment. This funding limitation would stop changes to the National Forest Management Act planning regulations. This is a bad amendment, and that is the best thing I can say about it. National forest planning has become an endless gridlock which needs to be fixed. This administration is trying to make appropriate changes. If this amendment were adopted, the Forest Service would either continue to operate under the outdated 1982 planning regulations or begin to implement highly prescriptive and expensive 2000 planning regulations. The 1982 planning regulations require the Forest Service to use unnecessary analytical processes and implement outdated science requirements. Under the old forest planning regulations, it takes an average of 5 to 6 years to complete a forest plan at a cost of 5 to $6 million each. Now, this is much too long. And, in fact, it is not a plan effort. It is not a scientific move. It is an effort to stop all harvesting in the forest, and we know that this amendment would delay forest projects which are now needed to clean up our forests and reduce the danger of fire, the real problems with fire that has been exaggerated in many ways by the lack of scientific forest management throughout the country, especially in the West. This amendment would require national forests to be managed under plans that are clearly out of date, waste money on out-of-date planning methods, and are designed just to stop harvests altogether. So I certainly hope you will join me in defeating this amendment. Mr. Chairman, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. TAYLOR of North Carolina. Mr. Chairman, I yield 5 minutes to the gentleman from California (Mr. Pombo).