REPRESENTATIVES ELIZABETH FURSE AND JIM MCDERMOTT INTRODUCE LEGISLATION TO
REPEAL THE "LOGGING WITHOUT LAWS" RIDER

CALLS NEEDED TO PRESIDENT CLINTON, YOUR SENATORS AND REPRESENTATIVE TO
SUPPORT THIS EFFORT


12/7/95: Today Representatives Elizabeth Furse (D-OR) took the lead, and
along with Jim McDermott (D-WA) and 30 other Representatives, introduced
legislation to repeal the timber rider attached to the Rescissions Act of
1995 (Public Law 104-19). The "Logging without Laws" rider has suspended all
environmental laws protecting public forests, and under the guise of a forest
health crisis, led to the logging of green healthy Ancient Forests.

In her press release, Rep. Furse explained her reasons for introducing this
important legislation.

"The reason that I and other Members of Congress are here today advocating
repeal of the "lawless logging" rider is that the rider was a sham. Congress
was misled when it approved the rider.

We were misled in six major ways:

1. We were told over and over that the rider was an emergency measure to
remove dead and dying trees. But instead...the "lawless logging" rider is
being used to clearcut healthy forests, some as old as 500 years....

2. We were told that the rider would make money for the federal treasury.
But instead, the "lawless logging" rider will end up costing American
taxpayers billions of dollars by requiring them to subsidize bargain basement
logging of our National Forests by special timber interests. When we're
slashing vital programs like Medicare and school lunches, it's unfair to ask
the American taxpayers to subsidize corporate welfare programs like this.

3. We were told that the rider would help out small businesses and
landowners. But instead, through government intrusion into the private
marketplace, the "lawless logging" rider is damaging the property rights of
private timberlands by driving down timber prices.

4. We were told that the rider wouldn't harm threatened wildlife or the
Northwest's effort to revive our fast-dwindling salmon runs and the
billion-dollar fishing industry they once supported. But instead, timber is
being clearcut on steep slopes next to streams in forests that are home to
salmon, marbled murrelets and other rare wildlife....

5. We were told that the rider would speed up implementation of President
Clinton's Forest Plan. But instead, the "lawless logging" rider has pulled
the rug out from under the Forest Plan by mandating the cutting of the old
growth reserves it protected.....

6. We were told that the secretive "Section 318" sale provision in the rider
would just speed the harvest of a small number of old sales. But instead, a
day after the rider passed, the timber industry rushed to court. A federal
judge interpreted the rider to require the immediate logging of every timber
sale EVER OFFERED in Washington or Oregon. As a result, the Forest Service
must dust off old sales they've shelved for environmental reasons and sell
them without any changes....

We had no congressional hearings on the rider. It was sneaked into a bill to
provide disaster aid to victims of the Oklahoma City bombing and the
California earthquake. The health of America's national forests is too
important to be handled in such a stealth manner. So today I join....my
congressional colleagues and more than 300 organizations from across this
country in calling upon Congress and President Clinton to do a very simple
thing: repeal the lawless logging rider and OBEY THE LAW.


WHAT YOU CAN DO NOW!

Call President Clinton, your Senators and Representative. CALLS TO SENATOR
MURRAY ARE VERY IMPORTANT! Tell them to support legislation to repeal the
rider.

President Bill Clinton, The White House (202) 456-1111
president at whitehouse.gov
Sen. Patty Murray (202) 224 2621