Bruce Westerman: “I thank the gentlewoman for reminding us that we do need to have our priorities in order, that there are important…”

“I thank the gentlewoman for reminding us that we do need to have our priorities in order, that there are important things that we are failing to address here in Congress. We are getting ready to break for the August break, and nothing will have been done to address wildfires or drought. I don't think that is what the American people deserve, nor what they want. It is a lack of priorities and a lack of leadership. Madam Speaker, I yield to the gentleman from California (Mr. LaMalfa), who understands agriculture because he is a farmer. He understands drought because he lives in California. He understands abundant water supplies because of where he lives in California. And he also understands catastrophic wildfire and how that is related to lack of management. Mr. LaMALFA. Madam Speaker, I thank Mr. Westerman for his work on the Natural Resources Committee where I was for several years, as well as working with the Western Caucus on this, as well. Obviously, it has been underlined during this time tonight that we are in a severe drought situation. The darker the color on the map the more severe that area is. So my part of California is the portion right here at the border here. Oregon is in that corner. So you see the dark brown is the Klamath Basin. My colleague, Cliff Bentz, spoke about that a little bit also on how dire that situation is.…”