Rep Andrews Fights Taxpayer Waste in the Tongass

This week, the House passed the Andrews/Chabot amendment to the Interior appropriations bill  by a wide margin of 283-145.  The amendment, which has twice passed on the floor of the House, is simple:  it stops the Forest Service from throwing good money at the timber program in the Tongass National Forest in Alaska by prohibiting the construction of new taxpayer-subsidized logging roads. 

Below is the statement I made on the House Floor.

Mr. ANDREWS. Mr. Chairman, the gentleman from Alaska, who no doubt will oppose this amendment, is a principled and fierce advocate for his constituents. And over the years, the taxpayers of the country have financed the construction of 5,000 miles of roads which facilitate industrial and community activity in his district which he strongly and understandably believes in.
  I respectfully submit, Mr. Chairman, that we have financed this enough. Since 1982, the taxpayers of the country have expended over $1 billion to finance the construction and maintenance of these 5,000 miles of roads. The economic result of this investment has been an average annual net loss of $40 million a year. I believe that this is not sustainable. Yes, jobs have been created, and this is very important for anyone in anyone's district. But the average cost of this job creation has been $200,000 per job.
  Now, this amendment does not say that the existing roads cannot be used. It does not say that the existing roads cannot be maintained. It does not say that the existing roads cannot be used for the purposes for which they were originally intended, for development and commerce.
What this amendment does say, Mr. Chairman, is that we will not invest more money in more roads. We will not invest more money at a rate of $40 million a year to extend this system.
  For reasons of fiscal good sense, for reasons of environmental good sense, for a precious national resource, I believe that this House should revert to the language which is included in last year's bill and prevent the expenditure of more funds for the extension of this 5,000- mile road system in order to save the public money and in order to preserve this important national treasure.
  This is a bipartisan amendment. I am pleased that my friend from Ohio (Mr. Chabot) is my cosponsor. It has received bipartisan support in the past. I would respectfully ask my colleagues to vote ``yes.''
  Mr. Chairman, I reserve the balance of my time.
 

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