Of course, APHIS has two inspectors in Oregon. They are busy 

 with a few other things, such as our nursery crops, Christmas 

 trees, gypsy moths, et cetera, et cetera. But those two inspectors 

 will occasionally wander down to Coos Bay and look at a few logs, 

 take a few borings out of the many ship loads that come there. 



The borings will be analyzed within a few months, after the logs 

 have already gone to a mill site and been milled into lumber. And 

 if they find something alarming, they will ring the alarm bell after 

 the disease has begun to spread throughout our forests. 



This is absurd. It cannot be scientifically justified and I think the 

 potential for catastrophe is phenomenal. It would not be very much 

 more expensive to require more thorough heat treatment and other 

 things which would prevent such possible catastrophes. Very little 

 when you compare it to the current price of logs. And I would urge 

 that the committee listen critically today and hopefully commu- 

 nicate its concern to these agencies and get them to do their job 

 properly. 



I thank the Chair and would ask if the Chair would after my 

 questions allow, I would like to sit with the subcommittee. 



Mr. Rose. You certainly are welcome to sit with the subcommit- 

 tee. Are there any comments or questions? 



[The prepared statement of Mr. DeFazio appears at the conclu- 

 sion of the hearing.] 



Mr. Smith of Oregon. Mr. Chairman? 



Mr. Rose. Mr. Smith. 



OPENING STATEMENT OF HON. ROBERT F. (BOB) SMITH, A 

 REPRESENTATIVE IN CONGRESS FROM THE STATE OF OR- 

 EGON 



Mr. Smith of Oregon. Mr. Chairman, thank you again for allow- 

 ing me to sit with the 



Mr. Rose. I thought you were a Member of this subcommittee, 

 but go ahead. 



Mr. Smith of Oregon. I am here more than your Members, I 

 think, Mr. Chairman. The subject matter draws me, as you might 

 understand. 



Mr. Rose. I understand. 



Mr. Smith of Oregon. Thank you very much. Just to review with 

 Peter for a moment and then ask him a question, Mr. Chairman, 

 this whole question of harvested timber has pinched the North- 

 west, as you well know. This country came from 12 billion board 

 feet to production now of about 4 billion board feet. 



The Clinton administration's Option 9, as my friend from Oregon 

 knows, has shut down about 85 percent of the harvestable timber 

 in the Pacific Northwest, causing about a 68,000 job loss in Oregon 

 alone; causing, again, our mills, who are still alive, to reach out 

 across the world literally trying to find enough wood to sustain 

 their mills and the remaining employment. 



I have mills and mill people that are now in Russia. One of my 

 friends is in Lithuania building a mill. Others are reaching to New 

 Zealand and Chile and across the world, even into Indonesia, try- 

 ing to find wood products. 



We know the average cost of a house in America as a result of 

 this artificial shortage has raised by $5,000, eliminating the possi- 



