To direct the Secretary of the Interior to allow for prepayment of repayment contracts between the United States and the Uintah Water Conservancy District.

Mr. Speaker, I would really like to thank Chairman Rahall for moving this bill so quickly, and folks on both sides of the aisle on the Resources Committee have been very helpful in moving this bill.

As was discussed, this legislation will allow the Uintah Water Conservancy District to better use its resources to prepay its debt to the Federal Government.

Rural counties in Utah--the second-most arid State in the Nation-- have a significant need for water that has only increased over time. The water in Uintah County is utilized by both municipalities, irrigators, and manufacturing industries. This bill will move us towards greater assurance of the development of water supplies in that part of our State.

I will just point out the Uintah Water Conservancy District has operated and maintained both the Vernal and Jensen units of the Central Utah Project since 1956. It has been around for a long time, and the debt that the county would like to prepay, which is the subject of this legislation, was incurred to construct a water project that is part of the original Central Utah Project.

Now, the district has always made its payments on time, but we have a circumstance now where its capability and its financing create a situation where it makes economic sense for it to prepay its debt; and, interestingly enough, at the same time, the CBO scores this as a positive for the Federal Government as well. So this is one of those classic win-wins, where a local water conservancy district can prepay its debt and do right by its constituents, and it also assists the Federal Government in terms of a positive score from CBO in terms of how it affects the Federal finances as well.

As was mentioned, the bill has broad bipartisan support. I do want to thank everyone on both sides of the aisle--both members and staff on the Resources Committee--for helping us with this.

I would add one other point that the gentleman from Virginia mentioned. It is unfortunate that we have to do a bill every time to allow for this type of prepayment. This is pretty common sense, and a decision in the private sector gets made all the time. And so I would encourage the effort to try to come up with a broader piece of legislation that will allow us to look at this issue in a more extensive way.

I encourage passage of the bill.

Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 2950) to direct the Secretary of the Interior to allow for prepayment of repayment contracts between the United States and the Uintah Water Conservancy District, as amended.

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

Mr. Speaker, H.R. 2950, as amended, would allow a water district in central Utah to pay off the debt it owes to the Federal Government early. The bill, sponsored by Congressman Jim Matheson of Utah, has broad bipartisan support.

I ask my colleagues to support passage of this important legislation.

I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I yield to the gentleman from Utah (Mr. Matheson), the author of this legislation, such time as he may consume.

Mr. Speaker, I again urge Members to support this very important piece of legislation.

I yield back the balance of my time.

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

Mr. Speaker, today I rise in support of this legislation. This bill would allow the Uintah Water Conservancy District to prepay its contractual commitment to the U.S. Treasury. This prepayment will bring much-needed funds to the Federal Treasury over a 10-year period.

Unfortunately, current Federal law does not allow most water districts with Federal water contracts to prepay their balances. This is similar to prohibiting a homeowner from prepaying a mortgage loan. Congress must enact a law each time a water district wants to prepay its balance on a Bureau of Reclamation project.

For this reason, Water and Power Subcommittee Ranking Member Tom McClintock has indicated that he may author general legislation to allow more water districts to prepay their contracts without congressional approval. That would mean that water districts are not saddled with longer-term debts and taxpayers will benefit.

With that, I yield back the balance of my time.