Johnnie Bryan Hunt, "J.B."
JOHNNIE BRYAN HUNT, ``J.B.'' -- (Senate - December 08, 2006)
Mr. PRYOR. Mr. President, Johnnie Bryan Hunt died a couple of days ago in Arkansas. I just spoke with his wife a few moments ago. As always, she was delightful, and she was very upbeat and very positive and really appreciated all the prayers and all the well-wishes she has received from Arkansas and from around the country over the last couple of days.
Yesterday, we lost a great American and a great Arkansan and a great example to us all. Johnnie Bryan Hunt was born in Cleburne County, AK, in 1927 during the Great Depression. He left school at the age of 12 and went to work for his uncle in the sawmill. We were just talking about the timber industry in our State. He went to work for his uncle in the sawmill just to help the family get by, as many Americans did back in those days.
He served in the U.S. Army.
During his early career, he was a farmer, he was a lumber salesman, he was an auctioneer, and a truckdriver. Then he invented his own business. It was called a rice hull business. He got the rice hulls over in the eastern part of the State and trucked them over to the western part of the State to make ``poultry bedding,'' as he called it, out of the rice hulls. That venture did not work out exactly the way he wanted it to.
His first trucking company, which he formed as part of that and shortly thereafter, failed. He lost about $19,000 in that first venture. But like many Americans, J.B. Hunt didn't quit. He went back to the drawing board. He kept working. He knew he had the ability. He knew he had the gift of problem-solving.
A few years later, he founded the trucking company which today is the largest publicly held truckload transportation company in North America, J.B. Hunt Trucking. Even though he started with 5 trucks and 7 trailers, today he has over 16,000 employees, 11,000 trucks, and 47,000 trailers and containers. He did this with hard work, he did this with a lot of dedication and with a lot of focus.
But one thing they say about J.B. Hunt the man and the company he founded is they are smart. They use technology, they are very innovative, and they work very hard to get on the cutting edge of that industry. In fact, J.B. Hunt is really a poster child for the American success story. We know that through hard work and opportunity, things can happen for you in this country. And he is proof that can happen in a very big way.
During the course of his life, he was director of the American Trucking Association, the American Studies Institute Advisory Board, the Intermodal Transportation Institute, which he was innovative in, the University of Arkansas Campaign for the 21st Century, and the Northwest Arkansas Business Council. In addition to those boards and those industry groups on which he served, he also was extremely giving with his resources. Two of his favorite charities are the Arkansas Easter Seals and the March of Dimes.
I know he will be sorely missed in his hometown of Lowell.
People always associated Arkansas with J.B. Hunt the man and the trucking company because he really did put it on the map. He came to northwest Arkansas and ended up in northwest Arkansas before this period of exceptional growth started there. These two counties up in the northern corner of our State are two of the fastest growing counties in America. The companies that are there are companies such as Wal-Mart, Tyson Foods, J.B. Hunt, and, of course, the University of Arkansas is in that corner of the State as well.
People ask me: Is there something in the water up there? What is it about this little area of your State? Is it the great quality of life? It is the great work ethic? Yes and yes. More than anything, it is about great leadership, and J.B. Hunt was part of that great leadership. He was on the team of men and women who moved their communities forward and in many ways not only changed those communities but changed the State and changed the world.
I join Arkansans and Americans in offering my condolences and prayers to J.B. Hunt's family and his friends, including his wife Johnelle and their children Jane and Bryan.
I yield the floor.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Texas is recognized.
Mr. CORNYN. Mr. President, while both of my distinguished colleagues from Arkansas are on the Senate floor, let me tell them how much I appreciate their leadership in dealing with this last item of business relative to this Congress and which is particularly important in my home State of Texas, as it is in other timber-growing regions of the United States.
As we find ourselves in global competition for jobs and work, there are certain things we need to keep our eyes on to help make America more competitive and to make sure we continue to create the jobs and opportunities which have always been the key to our prosperity. Of course, the present occupant of the chair knows that having a qualified workforce is one of the key elements of our ability to compete in a global economy, as is our tax policy and our health care system, which is a factor in the ability of American businesses to be competitive, our regulatory environment, and our civil justice or litigation system.
I wish to focus specifically on our tax policy. The fact is that in many industries our tax policy in this country makes certain aspects of our economy less than competitive. Certainly that is true when it applies to the timber tax issue.
The timber tax provision I am speaking about would lower the capital gains tax for owners of timberland, both individuals and corporate owners, but mainly it is small business community members and farmers. The great thing about this is we are not talking about a tax increase on anybody; we are talking about reducing the tax on this element of our economy, of our workforce, mainly small business owners and farmers, to help make them more competitive in a global economy.
It was my sincere hope that this provision would be included with the so-called tax extenders package that I hope is ultimately passed by the Senate today or tomorrow, but, as the Senators from Arkansas have already pointed out, I know we are all disappointed that it has not been included. I think that is a shame. My hope is that, having left this work undone, Congress, when we return in January, will take up this issue again and attempt to pass it.
The U.S. forestry industry and its workers are at the heart of a vibrant economy that has produced the highest living standards in the world. As the jobs report released just today indicates, job creation continues apace across this big economy here at home. But there are sectors of the economy that are struggling because of the disadvantages they have, particularly with regard to our tax policy. The forest products industry and its workers, including those in Texas and across America, are facing significant challenges which, if not overcome, will lead to reduced economic growth, lost jobs, and ultimately the decline of living standards for future generations.
Although job growth continues here at home, as we saw by today's report, it is important to highlight that American paper mills and wood product mills are permanently closing their doors, resulting in a loss of those good-paying jobs. At the same time, our foreign competitors, facing generally lower taxes, are expanding their capacity.
As has already been pointed out by the senior Senator from Arkansas, the Price Waterhouse Coopers & Lybrand report in April of 2005 examined the effect of the U.S. tax system and found that our tax rules consistently disadvantage U.S. companies and workers relative to the tax rules in most nations with which we have to compete. By reducing the cost disadvantage faced by practicing sustainable forestry here in United States, this proposal can help reverse the trend of decreasing U.S. competitiveness in the forest products industry and maintain those manufacturing jobs of U.S. workers.
Simply put, this proposal is about creating more good-paying jobs here at home, not by conferring any additional benefits on our American employers and job creators but by reducing the impediments and the obstacles that Government puts in the way to job creation and competition in the global economy.
I wish to especially express my appreciation to Senator Lincoln, the senior Senator from Arkansas, for her strong advocacy for this issue. I look forward to working with her in our next Congress to try to do everything we can to remedy this wrong and to help make America and particularly the forest products industry more competitive in a global economy.
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