The U.S. House of Representatives failed to pass a bill that would have continued to pay rural counties devastated by federal cutbacks in logging. A majority of lawmakers voted for the bill, but under special House rules the bill was defeated.
Supporters had brought up the bill under rules that did not allow any amendments. The 218-193 vote in favor of the bill – largely along party lines – was well short of the required two-thirds majority needed.
The bill’s sponsor, Oregon Democratic Representative Peter DeFazio denounced Republicans who voted against the bill, saying the vote dealth a huge blow to rural counties in Oregon, Idaho and other Western states. DeFazio says many counties in southwestern Oregon are about to lay off employees by the hundreds – a scenario that could be repeated in rural counties across the country.
DeFazio accused Republicans of siding with “already profit-rich” oil companies instead of rural counties and schools. But Oregon Republican Representative Greg Walden believes DeFazio and majority Democrats are to blame for bringing up a flawed bill.
Walden and other Republicans criticized DeFazio’s plan to pay for the timber program by charging oil companies for royalties they should have paid the government but didn’t because of a government error on drilling leases in the late 1990’s.
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