| | 9/18/14 U.S. House passes historic forestry bill for second time; Walden calls for immediate Senate action House also passes Central Oregon Jobs and Water Security Act for third time in three years |
WASHINGTON, D.C. — The U.S. House of Representatives has again passed a historic forestry bill championed by Rep. Greg Walden (R-Hood River), the Restoring Healthy Forests for Healthy Communities Act. The bill fixes broken federal forest policy to create jobs in the woods, improve forest health, reduce the risk of catastrophic wildfire, and generate revenue for local communities to provide essential local services like schools and law enforcement.
This bill was originally passed in the House nearly one year ago, but the Senate has refused to act on it. Today, the House passed it again as part of a package of jobs bills to encourage Senate action.
“This forestry legislation passed this House 363 days ago. The legislation in this package that we are going to send over to the Senate one more time would allow us to put people back to work in the woods, reduce fires, and produce revenue for schools teachers, sheriffs and sheriff’s deputies, search and rescue, for all these basic fundamental services that matter in rural communities across the West,” Walden said during debate on this measure before the House.
“You want to do something about poverty? Create a job! You want to get America back on track? Pass these bills! And then get the Senate to pass them. We’ll create jobs, generate revenue, and have positive cash flow in this country for once. It doesn’t have to be this way. We can put people back to work,” Walden continued.
“We are at the end of our legislative sessions. It is time to pass this one more time so we can get it into law. To wake up the Senate. To get them to do the right thing. Let’s move forward! We don’t need more partisan rhetoric here. We need to help America get on its feet. We need to take better care of our forests and our watersheds. We need to put people back to work in America, and that’s what these bills do,” Walden concluded.
The bill contains the O&C Trust, Conservation and Jobs Act, a plan offered by Walden and fellow Oregon Reps. Peter DeFazio and Kurt Schrader to deal with Oregon’s unique O&C lands. Their proposal would put people back to work in the woods and generate revenues to failing Oregon counties.
For more information on the Restoring Healthy Forests for Healthy Communities Act (H.R. 1526), click here. For information on the O&C Trust, Conservation, and Jobs Act, click here.
The House also passed the Central Oregon Jobs and Water Security Act, a bill authored by Walden to deliver much needed water to Prineville for job creation and pave the way for clean energy generation at Bowman Dam in Crook County. This is the third time in three years that the House has passed this bill. It passed the House unanimously in June 2012 and October 2013, but the Senate has not taken a vote on it so far.
This bill was originally passed in the House nearly one year ago, but the Senate has refused to act on it. Today, the House passed it again as part of a package of jobs bills to encourage Senate action.
“This forestry legislation passed this House 363 days ago. The legislation in this package that we are going to send over to the Senate one more time would allow us to put people back to work in the woods, reduce fires, and produce revenue for schools teachers, sheriffs and sheriff’s deputies, search and rescue, for all these basic fundamental services that matter in rural communities across the West,” Walden said during debate on this measure before the House.
“You want to do something about poverty? Create a job! You want to get America back on track? Pass these bills! And then get the Senate to pass them. We’ll create jobs, generate revenue, and have positive cash flow in this country for once. It doesn’t have to be this way. We can put people back to work,” Walden continued.
“We are at the end of our legislative sessions. It is time to pass this one more time so we can get it into law. To wake up the Senate. To get them to do the right thing. Let’s move forward! We don’t need more partisan rhetoric here. We need to help America get on its feet. We need to take better care of our forests and our watersheds. We need to put people back to work in America, and that’s what these bills do,” Walden concluded.
The bill contains the O&C Trust, Conservation and Jobs Act, a plan offered by Walden and fellow Oregon Reps. Peter DeFazio and Kurt Schrader to deal with Oregon’s unique O&C lands. Their proposal would put people back to work in the woods and generate revenues to failing Oregon counties.
For more information on the Restoring Healthy Forests for Healthy Communities Act (H.R. 1526), click here. For information on the O&C Trust, Conservation, and Jobs Act, click here.
The House also passed the Central Oregon Jobs and Water Security Act, a bill authored by Walden to deliver much needed water to Prineville for job creation and pave the way for clean energy generation at Bowman Dam in Crook County. This is the third time in three years that the House has passed this bill. It passed the House unanimously in June 2012 and October 2013, but the Senate has not taken a vote on it so far.
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