The House Resources Subcommittee on Forests and Forest Health yesterday passed two bills sponsored by Congressman Bob Smith (R-OR), Chairman of the House Committee on Agriculture, designed to increase management efficiency of public lands in Oregon. Smith's first bill, H.R. 3796, would expand upon the cooperative working relationship between the Rogue River National Forest and Medford Bureau of La... Read more »
Congressman Bob Smith (R-Or), Chairman of the House Agriculture Committee, at a full committee oversight hearing today pressed Chief Mike Domback of the U.S. Forest Service (USFS) to produce a budget request that achieves his stated goals for improving forest managment. In testimony before the Agriculture Committee last Fall and again in his "Natural Resources Agenda for the 21st Century," Chief D... Read more »
Congressman Bob Smith (R-OR), Chairman of the House Committee on Agriculture, introduced legislation (H.R. 3765) yesterday which would gradually increase the fees paid by current holders of Forest Service Recreational Dwelling Permits while allowing for their transfer. Congress began authorizing permits to individuals to construct and maintain dwellings in the National Forests in 1915. These permi... Read more »
In testimony submitted to the House Resources Subcommittee on Forests and Forest Health Tuesday, Congressman Bob Smith (R-Or), Chairman of the House Committee on Agriculture, said he will work with the Forest Service on his legislation (H.R. 3187) to reform the strict liability policy as applied to not-for-profit rural electric cooperatives. Many Western states have not-for-profit cooperatives wit... Read more »
With agriculture trade constituting the largest positive item in the U.S. trade balance, the House Agriculture Committee, led by Chairman Bob Smith (R-OR), continued it's work toward reducing trade barriers and encouraging trade talks with officials representing the European Union. Smith, who represents Oregon's Second Congressional District, has made opening markets for American agricultural expo... Read more »
Congressman Bob Smith (R-OR), Chairman of the House Committee on Agriculture, yesterday intorduced legislation to bring fairness to the state water adjudication process by halting the federal government's exemption from state fees and costs related to processing federal agency water claims. Smith introduced "The Water Adjudication Fee Fairness Act," to reform a 1952 law that required Federal agenc... Read more »
After organizing a meeting of the Northwest Energy Caucus to discuss the future of Bonneville Power Administration (BPA) today, Congressman Bob Smith (R-OR), Chairman of the House Committee on Agriculture, criticized arguments against federal support of power marketing administrations for their lack of substance and accuracy in testimony submitted to the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Energy... Read more »
Congressman Bob Smith (R-OR), Chairman of the House Committee on Agriculture, today encouraged USDA Secretary Dan Glickman and other administration officials to expand upon the gains made in previous international trade agreements hearing to review 1999 World Trade Organization (WTO) multilateral negotiations on agricultural trade concerning Europe. "I do not believe that the 1999 WTO negotiations... Read more »
Congressman Bob Smith (R-Or), Chairman of the House Committee on Agriculture, and Senator Gordon Smith (R-OR), called on the United States Department of the Interior (DOI), to create a more flexible plan to resolve long-term water issues facing Oregon's Klamath Basin. In a March 12 letter to Patricia Beneke, DOI Assistant Secretary for Water and Science, the Oregon Congressmen criticized the DOI 1... Read more »
The House Judiciary Subcommittee on Immigration and Claims today passed Chairman Smith's guest worker legislation (H.R. 3410) by voice vote. The bill wil now go on to full committee consideration. A recent study by the federal General Accounting office (GAO) reported that more than 40 percent of the nation's agriculture labor pool consists of illegal aliens. While other estimates have gone as high... Read more »
