Copyright 1999 Federal Document Clearing House, Inc.
Federal Document Clearing House Congressional Testimony
February 23, 1999, Tuesday
SECTION: CAPITOL HILL HEARING TESTIMONY
LENGTH: 386 words
HEADLINE:
TESTIMONY February 23, 1999 HELEN CHENOWETH HOUSE RESOURCES
FORESTS AND FOREST HEALTH F 2000 FOREST SERVICE BUDGET
BODY:
STATEMENT OF THE HONORABLE HELEN CHENOWETH
CHAIRMAN SUBCOMMITTEE ON FORESTS AND FOREST HEALTH FOREST SERVICE BUDGET FOR
FISCAL YEAR 2000 February 23, 1999 Today we convene to discuss the President's
Fiscal Year 2000 budget request for the Forest Service. To paraphrase an old
saying, "same old tax and spend -- different fiscal year." It is obvious from
the President's budget request that the Era of Big Government is back with a
vengeance! And no where in the budget is this more apparent than the request for
the Forest Service which includes a laundry list of new spending initiatives.
What's even more mind-boggling is that the GAO and the IG have testified, time
and time again, that the Forest Service is incapable of managing their fiscal
and administrative affairs. And, yet, the Administration wants to increase their
budget, their staff, and their responsibilities. Where's the sense in that? The
Administration has proposed a program, the Lands Legacy
Initiative, to add tremendous amounts of land to the national forest
system at a time when there is a huge backlog of infrastructure and maintenance
needs on currently owned lands. Where's the sense in that? The Administration is
attempting to deprive the Forest Service of a valuable forest health management
tool -- timber sales. At a time when 1/3rd of the nation's federal forests are
at a high risk of catastrophic wildfire, the Administration is proposing to
dramatically decrease the budget for the timber sales program. Where's the sense
in that? I cannot, in good faith, support budgetary increases for an agency that
has, according to the GAO, an accountability crisis or that is concerned more
with political correctness than with correct management. Nevertheless, I am
willing to work with the Forest Service and the Appropriations Committee to
craft a common sense budget for the agency that responds aggressively to current
forest management -- and agency management -- needs. In light of the changes
from previous year's budget requests, I have asked Undersecretary Lyons and
Chief Dombeck to come before the Subcommittee to explain the Administration's
proposals and to answer questions. I hope that by the conclusion of this
hearing, we will have a better understanding of these proposals and the Agency's
funding needs.
LOAD-DATE: February 25, 1999
