Political Quotes

“Mr. Chairman, I rise today in favor of H.R. 1873, the Electricity Reliability and Forest Protection Act, and I thank Mr. LaMalfa for his leadership on this issue. I would also like to commend the nonpartisan support for this bill, and associate my remarks with the gentleman from California (Mr. Costa) and the gentleman from Oregon (Mr. Schrader). This bill is a commonsense piece of legislation that will reduce the risk of wildfires and improve the safety and reliability of our electrical grid. How will this bill accomplish these objectives? It is really quite simple. When we remove overgrown vegetation near our electric grid on Federal lands, we remove the fuel component of wildfires. By reducing the risk of wildfire, we reduce the risk of an interruption of our electrical grid. Mr. Chairman, this is so much just plain common sense that it baffles me that we are having to debate it on the floor of the House of Representatives, but I think it is an example of how misguided some of our land management agencies have become, and the need for broader reforms. This bill would streamline the Federal review process for removal of trees and vegetation that pose a risk to our power grid and promotes consistency among Federal agencies tasked with the decisions on removal. If we want to move toward better protection of our forests on Federal lands and the electrical grid that moves through these locations, it is obvious that we should pass H.R. 1873.”