To direct the Secretary of Agriculture to convey certain land to Lander County, Nevada, and the Secretary of the Interior to convey certain land to Eureka County, Nevada, for continued use as cemeteries.

Madam Speaker, I thank my good friend and colleague from Tennessee (Mr. Duncan) for allowing me time to speak on this bill, and I would also like to thank my good friend from California (Mrs. Napolitano) for her support of this bill as well.

Madam Speaker, I rise in strong support of H.R. 541, a bill I introduced in the 108th Congress. The purpose of H.R. 541 is to direct the Secretary of Agriculture to convey certain land to Lander County, Nevada, and the Secretary of the Interior to convey certain land to Eureka County, Nevada, for continued use, as was said by my friend, for public cemeteries. This same legislation passed under suspension of the rules in the House in the 108th Congress. Unfortunately, the legislation was not acted upon in a timely manner by the other body; and I am pleased, Madam Speaker, to have the opportunity to revisit this issue now in the 109th Congress.

With over 90 percent of our State's land being owned by the Federal Government, Nevada has the highest percentage of public-land ownership of all the States in the Union. There are many challenges that come with such a high share of public lands. One that may surprise my colleagues is that even the burial of our loved ones and the preservation of the grave sites of our ancestors are impacted by Federal land ownership.

H.R. 541 authorizes the conveyance of public land to the respective control of Lander and Eureka counties for continued use as public cemeteries. My bill is designed to return these cemeteries to the local communities and eliminate the red tape and uncertainty associated with the Federal permitting process the cemeteries are currently required to go through in order to operate today.

Specifically, the town of Kingston, Nevada, needs an additional 8.75 acres to be added to the town's cemetery in order to protect unmarked graves and make space available for future grave sites. The bill also authorizes the conveyance of 10 acres of disposable land to Eureka County, Nevada, for continued use as the Maiden's Grave Cemetery.

Both of these parcels, Madam Speaker, have been historically used as cemeteries since the 1800s, well before either the Forest Service or the BLM was ever created. However, the land the cemeteries reside on is owned by the Federal Government today. Ninety percent of the land mass in both Eureka and Lander counties is owned by the Federal Government; 90 percent. To give my colleagues an idea of the scale of this conveyance, the acres requested by Lander County represent a mere two- thousandths of a percent of the total land owned by the Federal Government in just that county. In Eureka County, the size of the conveyance is four-thousandths of a percent of the Federal Government's holdings in that county.

As my colleagues can see, the size of the conveyance is minuscule, but the impact on the communities and those who have loved ones buried in these cemeteries is large. Relying on the Federal permitting process to ensure that these cemeteries remain used as cemeteries has been a source of uncertainty to the residents of these communities for many years. It is our intention through this bill to convey a small amount of Federal land to provide for the preservation and access to the residents of these communities with respect to the graves of their ancestors. These land conveyances to the local governments will preserve these historic sites that are not only a part of America's and Nevada's history but part of Nevada's families.

I urge my colleagues to unanimously support this legislation that means so much to these two communities. I want to again thank you, Madam Speaker, for the opportunity to speak in support of this important legislation, and I urge an ``aye'' vote on it.

Madam Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 541) to direct the Secretary of Agriculture to convey certain land to Lander County, Nevada, and the Secretary of the Interior to convey certain land to Eureka County, Nevada, for continued use as cemeteries.

Madam Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may have 5 legislative days within which to revise and extend their remarks and include extraneous material on the bill under consideration.

Madam Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

H.R. 541 directs the Secretary of Agriculture to convey certain land to Lander County, Nevada, and the Secretary of the Interior to convey certain land to Eureka County, Nevada, for continued use as public cemeteries. Specifically, the town of Kingston, Nevada, requires an additional 8.75 acres of Forest Service land to supplement the 1.25 acres of Forest Service land conveyed to it in 2000 for the town's cemetery. The additional acreage would ensure that areas of unmarked graves are included in the town's cemetery and that space is available for future graves in Kingston Cemetery. In addition, H.R. 541 would authorize the Bureau of Land Management to convey 10 acres of disposable land to Eureka County, Nevada, for continued use at Maiden's Grave Cemetery.

H.R. 541 is supported by the majority and the minority of the Committee on Resources and is identical to legislation that passed the House of Representatives by voice vote during the 108th Congress. I urge adoption of the bill.

Madam Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Madam Speaker, I yield such time as he may consume to the very distinguished gentleman from Nevada (Mr. Gibbons).

Madam Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

The land involved here is approximately 20 acres. Many of us believe that the Federal Government owns far too much land in the State of Nevada

already. Frankly, as our colleague from Nevada pointed out, this makes two one-thousandths of 1 percent, which is a minuscule part of the State of Nevada, and so I think this is very worthwhile legislation. I commend the gentleman from Nevada for bringing this to the attention of the House, and I urge the passage of this legislation.

Madam Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.

Madam Speaker, on that I demand the yeas and nays.

Madam Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

(Mrs. NAPOLITANO asked and was given permission to revise and extend her remarks.)

Madam Speaker, as a general rule, when Congress transfers Federal lands into other hands, the United States taxpayers should be compensated for the fair market value of the lands being transferred. In this instance, however, the locations of these parcels as well as the fact that they are currently in use as local cemeteries, and I have no idea how long it has been used as cemeteries but I am assuming it has been a while, justify the making of these transfers free of charge. As a result, we will not oppose H.R. 541.

Madam Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Madam Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

I certainly want to add my support of the bill. My understanding is there were 1.2 acres allocated to the same group back in 2000 and now this additional land. I realize it is minuscule, but certainly be it far from us to be in denial of a proper respect of those who are buried there in the unmarked graves. I concur and urge support.

Madam Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I was absent from the House on Tuesday, April 12, attending a funeral for a soldier in my district who died heroically last week in the effort to liberate Iraq. Had I been present, I would have voted the following way:

H.R. 135: To establish the Twenty-First Century Water Commission to study and develop recommendations for a comprehensive water strategy to address future water needs, ``yea.''

H.R. 541: To direct the Secretary of Agriculture to convey certain land to Lander County, NV, and the Secretary of the Interior to convey certain land to Eureka County, NV, for continued use as cemeteries, ``yea.''

Mr. Speaker, on April 12, 2005, during voting on H.R. 135, the Twenty-First Century Water Commission Act and H.R. 541, the Lander County and Eureka County, Nevada land conveyance, I was unavoidably detained due to matters in my Congressional District. If I had been present, I would have voted yea on both votes.