Statements on Introduced Bills and Joint Resolutions
Floor Speech
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Ms. COLLINS. Madam President, I rise to introduce a bill with my colleague, Senator King, that will help the hard-working loggers across this country affected by severe storms and natural disasters. In Maine alone, logging has a roughly $582 million annual economic impact and is the backbone of the forest products economy.
In Maine and in many places across the country, the logging industry has felt the effects of severe weather events and warmer than normal winters. This past winter, Maine experienced many storms, including two December and January that were designated Federal disasters. These storms were detrimental to many industries but especially logging, as the winter months are usually the best months for loggers to harvest timber when the frozen ground makes access easier. The rainstorms saturated the ground, and the mud made it much more difficult to operate and transport heavy logging equipment without disturbing the soil underneath.
These storms also closed bridges and roads on vital trucking routes, hindering the movement of equipment and employees to logging sites. For example, the December 18 storm washed out a bridge on a vital trucking route that forced an 80-mile detour for wood being distributed to both northern and southern markets. According to the Professional Logging Contractors of the Northeast, this December wind and rainstorm in Maine resulted in more than $2.5 million in losses.
Despite these documented losses, there is currently no Federal program to assist loggers who have been affected by federally declared disasters. That is why I am introducing the Logger Economic Assistance and Relief Act, which would authorize income replacement for logging contractors equal to 10 percent of eligible gross lost revenue from the previous calendar year. Funds received under this program can only be used for operating expenses. Our legislation is modeled off of the successful Pandemic Assistance for Timber Harvesters and Haulers Program, which I created during the COVID pandemic to provide much needed aid to our timber harvesters.
I am grateful for the Professional Logging Council of the Northeast and the American Logging Council's support of our legislation, and I urge my colleagues to join in this effort to support one of our country's core economic drivers. ______
By Mr. THUNE (for himself, Mrs. Blackburn, Mr. Cassidy, Mr. Daines, and Mr. Tillis):
S. 4257. A bill to prohibit the Internal Revenue Service from allowing IRS personnel to use a personal device, including a mobile device, to access, process, transmit, or store taxpayer information; to the Committee on Finance.
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