mr. chairman , i rise today to speak in favor of the cubin-rahall-cannon-udall amendment . 
in 1976 , congress passed the payment in lieu of taxes act in an effort to compensate counties for the loss of property tax revenue that comes with having large tracts of federal lands within their jurisdiction . 
these important funds help local governments meet the needs for schools , road construction and other infrastructure projects for their residents . 
in my district alone , there are over 17 million acres of land eligible for pilt payments ; accounting for $ 11 million in fiscal year 2004 . 
in the recent past , congress has failed to fund pilt to its authorized level , leaving local governments with the burden of answering painful budget decisions . 
we have seen a great discrepancy between authorized funding levels and the appropriated amounts . 
in fy 2004 , pilt was funded to only 67 percent of its authorized level ; falling over $ 100 million dollars short of what the bureau of land management found to be the authorized level . 
mr. chairman , this amendment will get us closer to reaching the goal of 100 percent pilt appropriation . 
if adopted , this congress will fund pilt to its highest level in a decade . 
the bipartisan pilt amendment would add $ 12 million to pilt by redirecting funds from interior department overhead . 
this will help local governments by providing approximately 80 percent of the authorized level for pilt while still allowing the interior department to spend $ 10 million more for administrative costs than in fiscal year 2005 . 
we will provide small rural counties with the resources necessary to provide basic services to their residents . 
this congress owes it to rural america to fully fund pilt . 
i ask my colleagues to support the cubin-rahall-cannon-udall amendment to the interior appropriations bill . 
