225 



Senator Hecht. Thank you very much for your indulgence with 

 the vote. Thanks again. 



Ms. Harris. You are welcome. 



Senator Hecht. The next panel, panel two, please come up. 



Okay, we will start off with Mr. Lenard Smith, Lincoln County 

 Commissioner from Pioche, Nevada. 



STATEMENT OF LENARD SMITH, COMMISSIONER, LINCOLN 



COUNTY, PIOCHE, NV 



Mr. Smith. Thank you, Senator Hecht. It is a pleasure seeing you 

 again. 



Senator Hecht. Thank you. 



Mr. Smith. I appreciate the opportunity to come here today. 



I also have been a land planner for the last 35 years before I 

 became Lincoln County Commissioner for the Soil Conservation 

 Service, and most of it in Lincoln County. So I feel like I have had 

 a bit of experience in this county. 



I believe that this Aerojet proposal, S. 854 is one of the greatest 

 opportunities for Lincoln County in this century, and may indeed 

 save our county. We feel very strongly about this in the economic 

 puddle that we are in right now. 



I would like to go on with several segments of my testimony. The 

 government without taxing authority, I and my colleagues are 

 striving to run a government of 6.8 million acres, with a taxing au- 

 thority of only about 1 percent of the area. 



I ask how many governments can survive under these circum- 

 stances. This year the only way we could avoid a deficit situation 

 was to reduce budgets of many of our departments and suspending 

 spending last month because of a cash flow problem. 



Private land and tax base is a primary ingredient to successful 

 administration and economic growth. For economic growth, our 

 people need jobs. And jobs, for jobs we need private land and indus- 

 try. 



What is a job worth? A newspaper article under the heading 

 "Alarm" said that Nevada is getting nothing out of the Aerojet 

 land exchange but the potential for maybe 1,000 jobs. 



This statement which scoffs that jobs for people are not impor- 

 tant is a twist of irony that their northern friends cannot compre- 

 hend. Their communities do not have a large percentage of their 

 homes, school rooms and places of business empty. 



Their children do not have to move away to find a job. A job is of 

 course an essential part of our existence. I do not know how to 

 measure its worth in dollars and cents, but to a family it is of great 

 worth. 



I can only tell you that from the standpoint of local government, 

 it means less welfare, indigent, and law enforcement problems. It 

 means a healthy society, and that is what I believe that we are all 

 striving for. 



Environment, humans, and reality. The planet we live on is 

 being encroached by humans. Some people question and actively 

 object to this fact of life. Rights of humans are questioned. Rights 

 of lower forms of life are held on a pedestal and in many ways are 

 revered in an almost fanatical frenzy. 



