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Mr. CANNON. Reclaiming my time and finishing up here, it occurs to me that there is some confusion on your side. I would assume that it is not a matter of distortion or petty fighting here; but the degradation that the gentleman is concerned about has been dealt with in the most dramatic fashion. It has already been done. Under the Boehlert amendment, the Secretary of the Department of the Interior continues to have the authority to monitor what is happening on those remaining roads and see if there is going to be degradation. But the degradation he is concerned about, what he is saying essentially is we want not only no
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Mr. HOLT. If the gentleman will yield further, these are roadless wildnerness study areas . This has not been dealt with in the most dramatic fashion. The most dramatic fashion would put an end to this.
Mr. CANNON. Reclaiming my time, when he says these are roadless wilderness areas , what does he mean? Is he talking about where the pictures are?
Mr. GEORGE MILLER of California. Mr. Chairman, will the gentleman yield?
Mr. CANNON. I yield to the gentleman from California.
Mr. GEORGE MILLER of California. Mr. Chairman, the gentleman is referring to his amendment. This is not about precluding that as the gentleman characterized. The gentleman's amendment goes to wildnerness study areas and to roadless areas . There is obviously a reason for that. One, you should not be punching into these roadless areas ; and, two, the other one is that the reason it is a wildnerness study area is because it is under study as to whether or not Congress in the future will so designate it. If you are running around it on ORVs, it is never going to be designated.
Mr. CANNON. Reclaiming my time, the problem we have here is that we have wildnerness study areas around roaded areas .
Mr. GEORGE MILLER of California. That is right.
Mr. CANNON. The access by those roaded areas , these thousands of miles of roaded areas means that people can get off those roads and into areas where they cause degradation. That is what his pictures are of. What the BLM has already done is closed the vast majority of those roads so that the remaining roads, the major roads in the area can now be policed.
Mr. GEORGE MILLER of California. Mr. Chairman, I move to strike the requisite number of words. The point being, the gentleman from Utah is quite correct. This is the problem. This is why we worry. When we reject all these amendments and accept the bill or accept the bill with the Boehlert amendments, we are allowing additional wilderness areas to continue to suffer degradation by what goes on around them. As the gentleman points out, people go off, because this is not a place where it is clearly signed or it is fenced or it is any of these other things. People will go off sometimes because they innocently leave an area and sometimes because they are just simply irresponsible. But the fact of the matter is we know how this goes. I ride ORVs. My sons have done it. We race motorcycles. A trail becomes a road pretty soon. There is a new area and away people go.
The fact of the matter is if we are going to prevent that, we have got to have a policy. At least then people can see you designate it on the lands, on the maps that they are wildnerness study areas , you cannot go in there. Because while the Secretary precluded and closed some roads in the wildnerness study areas , what he did not do was close the wildnerness study areas to future activity. That is not what these regulations do. The Boehlert amendment with all due respect is the current law. It is the current law that has got us into this situation.
This Secretary, this BLM is the reason we are here today because for 10 years they have not figured out how to do this. Now they are saying trust us. We are saying, fine, we will trust you; but we are not going to trust you in terms of continuing to degrade the wildnerness study areas . What the gentleman from New Jersey's amendment does is take those wildnerness study areas and say you can ride ORVs everywhere else that the Secretary will agree to and the BLM in the other adjoining areas that are not protected; but stay out of here until Congress makes the determination. The same is true with roadless areas .
I think that that is a fair compromise. It is a fair compromise because it allows for the protection of these areas and allows for responsible continued ORV activities. That is why we should accept this amendment. With all due respect, the Boehlert amendment is the bill. The bill is the law, the current law. So we have not progressed at all except to leave it in the hands of the BLM, leave it in the hands of the Secretary; and with all due respect, it is that 10 years that has given us these photographs that have taken place.
Mr. CANNON. Mr. Chairman, will the gentleman yield?
Mr. GEORGE MILLER of California. I yield to the gentleman from Utah.
Mr. CANNON. Mr. Chairman, the gentleman understands that part of the reason that the BLM has not been able to avoid this kind of degradation is because there is some very clear claim. Granted it is obfuscated by the county as to the ownership of those roads and that whether or not you agree to every road, many of those roads are RS-2477 roads and the county has the right to them.
The gentleman would agree further, would he not, that in fact many of these roads have been shut down appropriately in conjunction with the county. The key factor here being that the county has worked with the BLM to solve the problem. Does the gentleman understand my question? In other words, the BLM has not been able to avoid this because of the rights of the county and the argument over that.
Mr. GEORGE MILLER of California. These are not designated wilderness. These are study areas . They can be withdrawn from study areas . That is how we resolve the conflict. But right now we leave those areas open and that is unacceptable.
Mr. CANNON. But we are not talking about new roads here, as the gentleman has alluded to several times. These are roads, many of these roads, especially the ones that have been closed, are roads that have been there for a very long time.
Mr. GEORGE MILLER of California. In all cases we are not talking about roads. We are talking about ORV activity that does not in all due respect rise to the occasion of a road, but it rises to the occasion of degrading the area. This is not a fight over the county roads and who owns these roads. This is about a lot of activity that takes place like in the term off-road vehicle.
Mr. CANNON. We are not talking about asphalted roads here. We are talking about county right of ways.
Mr. GEORGE MILLER of California. I understand what the gentleman is talking about, but there is a clear distinction. We can go back to the photographs. The gentleman has seen it. I have been out in the area. I have witnessed it. This does not rise to the occasion of a trail or road. This rises to the occasion of random activities and riding through areas that are repeated time and again. That is the kind of protection that we are trying to provide in this amendment.
The CHAIRMAN pro tempore. The question is on the amendment offered by the gentleman from New York (Mr. BOEHLERT) as a substitute for the amendment offered by the gentleman from New Jersey (Mr. HOLT).
The question was taken; and the Chairman pro tempore announced that the ayes appeared to have it.
Mr. HOLT. Mr. Chairman, I demand a recorded vote.
The CHAIRMAN pro tempore. Pursuant to House Resolution 516, further proceedings on the amendment offered by the gentleman from New York (Mr. BOEHLERT) as a substitute for the amendment offered by the gentleman from New Jersey (Mr. HOLT) will be postponed.
AMENDMENT OFFERED BY MR. COOK
Mr. COOK. Mr. Chairman, I offer an amendment.
The Clerk read as follows:
Amendment offered by Mr. COOK:
In section 101(E)(2), before the period insert ``, but shall not be used for commercial advertising and/or commercial bill boards''.
Mr. COOK. Mr. Chairman, H.R. 3605, the San Rafael Western Legacy District and National Conservation Act as currently written could inappropriately spend Federal funds. The bill would appropriate Federal funding for various activities and administration for a total of $1 million a year, not to exceed $10 million total over the life of the project.
[Time: 13:30]
My fellow colleagues, I am concerned that the broad and loosely defined language in section 101 would allow for money to be used to purchase commercial billboards and other commercial advertising. Federal taxpayer money should not be used to subsidize commercial advertising, commercial billboards that will benefit only a small area.
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I realize that by voice vote and on suspension this Congress has supported similar measures in the past; but appropriators will tell you that despite our prosperous economy, we are still faced with tight budgets and tight budget caps and we need to be very diligent as we appropriate these Federal funds and make sure they are managed properly. Therefore, I am offering an amendment that would prohibit any funds being used to promote commercial advertising or commercial billboards.
Mr. Chairman, Americans deserve better management of Federal funds used on the Nation's public lands, and H.R. 3605 can be made, I think, a sound conservation measure without any unnecessary Federal funding of these kinds of commercial promotions. To do otherwise, I think, would be poor economics and a bad usage of taxpayer money. I urge my colleagues to support my amendment.
Mr. HANSEN. Mr. Chairman, this side has reviewed the amendment of the gentleman from Utah (Mr. COOK) and has no problem with it. This side would accept the amendment.
Mr. GEORGE MILLER of California. Mr. Chairman, we have problems, but they do not rise to this occasion, so we support the amendment.
The CHAIRMAN pro tempore (Mr. SHIMKUS). The question is on the amendment offered by the gentleman from Utah (Mr. COOK).
The amendment was agreed to.
AMENDMENT OFFERED BY MR. TRAFICANT
Mr. TRAFICANT. Mr. Chairman, I offer an amendment.
The Clerk read as follows:
Amendment offered by Mr. TRAFICANT:
At the end of the bill, add the following new section;
SEC. X. SENSE OF CONGRESS; REQUIREMENT REGARDING NOTICE.
(a) PURCHASE OF AMERICAN-MADE EQUIPMENT AND PRODUCTS.--In the case of any equipment or products that may be authorized to be purchased with financial assistance provided under this Act (including any amendment made by this Act), it is the sense of the Congress that entities receiving such assistance should, in expending the assistance, purchase only American-made equipment and products.
(b) NOTICE TO RECIPIENTS OF ASSISTANCE.--In providing financial assistance under this Act (including any amendment made by this Act), the head of each Federal agency shall provide to each recipient of the assistance a notice describing the statement made in subsection (a) by the Congress.
(c) NOTICE OF REPORT.--Any entity which receives funds under this Act shall report any expenditures on foreign-made items to the Congress within 180 days of the expenditure.
Mr. TRAFICANT. Mr. Chairman, it is a buy-American amendment. It is the sense of the Congress that any money expended be used where possible to buy American-made goods, there be a notice made to the people who get this money, and after it's all over and they do the buying, they tell us what they bought. Finally, one last provision I am adding that is new, if they violate the law, they will get a rare bird disease that is ``untweetable.''
Mr. HANSEN. Mr. Chairman, will the gentleman yield?
Mr. TRAFICANT. I yield to the gentleman from Utah (Mr. HANSEN).
Mr. HANSEN. Mr. Chairman, we accept the amendment of the gentleman from Ohio (Mr. TRAFICANT). We feel it is a good amendment. We accept it.
Mr. GEORGE MILLER of California. Mr. Chairman, will the gentleman yield?
Mr. TRAFICANT. I yield to the gentleman from California, the ranking member.
Mr. GEORGE MILLER of California. Mr. Chairman, we accept the amendment, tweetable or not.
The CHAIRMAN pro tempore. The question is on the amendment offered by the gentleman from Ohio (Mr. TRAFICANT).
The amendment was agreed to.
SEQUENTIAL VOTES POSTPONED IN COMMITTEE OF THE WHOLE
The CHAIRMAN pro tempore. Pursuant to House Resolution 516, proceedings will now resume on those amendments on which further proceedings were postponed in the following order: substitute amendment offered by the gentleman from New York (Mr. BOEHLERT); the underlying amendment offered by the gentleman from Colorado (Mr. UDALL); amendment offered by the gentleman from Washington (Mr. INSLEE); substitute amendment offered by the gentleman from New York (Mr. BOEHLERT); and the underlying amendment offered by the gentleman from New Jersey (Mr. HOLT).
The Chair will reduce to 5 minutes the time for any electronic vote after the first vote in this series.
AMENDMENT OFFERED BY MR. BOEHLERT AS A SUBSTITUTE FOR THE AMENDMENT OFFERED BY MR. UDALL OF COLORADO
The CHAIRMAN pro tempore. The pending business is the demand for a recorded vote on the amendment offered by the gentleman from New York (Mr. BOEHLERT) as a substitute for the amendment offered by the gentleman from Colorado (Mr. UDALL) on which further proceedings were postponed and on which the ayes prevailed by voice vote.
The Clerk will designate the amendment offered as a substitute for the amendment.
The Clerk designated the amendment offered as a substitute for the amendment.
RECORDED VOTE
The CHAIRMAN pro tempore. A recorded vote has been demanded.
A recorded vote was ordered.
The vote was taken by electronic device, and there were--ayes 212, noes 211, not voting 12, as follows:
Aderholt
Archer
Armey
Bachus
Baker
Ballenger
Barr
Barrett (NE)
Bartlett
Barton
Bass
Bateman
Bereuter
Biggert
Bilbray
Bilirakis
Bliley
Blunt
Boehlert
Boehner
Bonilla
Bono
Brady (TX)
Bryant
Burr
Burton
Buyer
Callahan
Calvert
Camp
Canady
Cannon
Castle
Chabot
Chambliss
Chenoweth-Hage
Coble
Coburn
Collins
Combest
Cook
Cooksey
Cox
Crane
Cubin
Cunningham
Davis (VA)
Deal
DeLay
DeMint
Diaz-Balart
Dickey
Doolittle
Dreier
Duncan
Dunn
Ehlers
Ehrlich
Emerson
Everett
Ewing
Fletcher
Foley
Fossella
Fowler
Frelinghuysen
Gallegly
Ganske
Gekas
Gibbons
Gilchrest
Gillmor
Gilman
Goode
Goodlatte
Goodling
Goss
Graham
Granger
Green (WI)
Gutknecht
Hansen
Hastert
Hastings (WA)
Hayes
Hayworth
Hefley
Herger
Hill (MT)
Hilleary
Hobson
Hoekstra
Horn
Hostettler
Hulshof
Hunter
Hutchinson
Hyde
Isakson
Istook
Jenkins
Johnson (CT)
Johnson, Sam
Jones (NC)
Kasich
Kelly
King (NY)
Kingston
Knollenberg
Kolbe
Kuykendall
LaHood
Largent
Latham
LaTourette
Lazio
Leach
Lewis (CA)
Lewis (KY)
Linder
LoBiondo
Lucas (OK)
Manzullo
Martinez
McCollum
McCrery
McHugh
McInnis
McIntosh
McKeon
Metcalf
Mica
Miller (FL)
Miller, Gary
Moran (KS)
Murtha
Myrick
Ney
Northup
Norwood
Nussle
Ose
Oxley
Packard
Paul
Pease
Peterson (PA)
Petri
Pickering
Pitts
Pombo
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