Nominations Holds

NOMINATIONS HOLDS -- (Senate - August 03, 2006)

Mr. WYDEN. Mr. President, the plight of countless rural communities in Oregon and across the country may take a turn for the worse due to the impending expiration of the county payments legislation. For this reason, I am putting a hold on the following two Bush nominees to express my continuing dissatisfaction with the administration's lack of attention to the needs of people in more than 700 rural counties in over 40 States: John Ray Correll, Director of the Office of Surface Mining, Interior Department and Mark Myers, Director of the U.S. Geological Services, Interior Department.

In addition, I would also object to any unanimous consent allowing Mr. Correll, Mr. Myers, and Mr. Bernhardt to remain on the calendar. Instead, I request that these three nominations be returned to the White House during the congressional August recess. Rule 31 paragraph 6 of the Senate Rules provides that when the Senate will be in recess for more than 30 days, any nomination in committee or on the Senate Calendar must be returned to the White House unless the Senate, by unanimous consent, allows a nominee to remain on the calendar.

To date, the administration has proposed only one solution to funding county payments, and it is one that many of us find unacceptable. The county payments law, which provides a stable revenue source for education, roads and other county services in rural areas, is due to expire at the end of this year. In early 2005, I cosponsored a bipartisan bill, S. 267, to reauthorize county payments for another 7

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years. In February, the administration proposed reauthorizing the law for only 5 years while cutting funding by 60 percent and funding that reduced portion with a controversial Federal land sale scheme.

Senator Baucus and I have proposed a sensible, alternative funding source for county payments. Our legislation fully funds county payments by ensuring that a portion of Federal taxes are withheld from payments by the Federal government to government contractors. The Federal Government currently does not withhold taxes when it pays government contractors. In May, the Republican-led Congress approved a major tax bill that uses our funding provision to instead provide tax cuts for the most fortunate Americans, leaving rural counties with fewer options and growing fiscal concerns.

As I have said before, I will hold these nominees and every nominee coming after them, if necessary, until the administration steps to the plate and delivers some leadership in finding a way to fund county payments.

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