On the recordOctober 1, 2020
I thank the gentleman from Pennsylvania (Mr. Thompson) for being here tonight. Mr. Speaker, I just want to illustrate here that this isn't difficult. It is not rocket science. This is a control in the first picture. You see all the underbrush, the ladder fuels. This is on Federal land as well. You see the forest management in the middle where you thin it out, you do controlled burns. You do those every few years, and you get a resilient forest that looks like this. California and Oregon and Arizona and Washington State, Nevada, they could have forests that look like this. Now, it would be those species that are out there, and the management would be done accordingly, but there is no reason we can't do this. It is Speaker Pelosi's State that is on fire. It is Chairman Grijalva's State that is on fire. It is Chairman DeFazio's State that is on fire. I wish that Democrats would take time to do what is right, to address these fires, to quit playing politics with relief bills that are going nowhere and do something that could really help the people and their States. We want to help, but we can't do it on our own. We are in the minority. We will work together and offer suggestions, but it is going to take a bipartisan effort to change these rules so that management can take place. Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.
