Thank you, Chair Hageman, and thank you to the witnesses for being here today.
Bruce Westerman
The Public Record
Bruce Eugene Westerman is an American politician serving as the U.S. Representative for Arkansas's 4th congressional district since January 6, 2015. A member of the Republican Party, Westerman has focused on issues such as natural resources, forestry, and environmental policy during his time in office. He has been an advocate for sustainable forestry practices and has worked on legislation aimed at improving the management of public lands. Westerman has also been involved in discussions around economic development and job creation in Arkansas.
The key is, as hackers have been getting better about hacking into passwords, we have increased the complexity requirements on the passwords.
I think it is safe to say that we all recognize the power of technology in our day-to-day lives.
H.R. 2461 creates a new reservation within the boundaries of the Navajo Nation for the San Juan Southern Paiute Tribe.
No one is suggesting that right whales do not deserve protection. However, there are alternatives to shutting down the entire East Coast.
Time and again, the Biden administration has proven that they would rather use a sledge hammer than a scalpel.
This hearing goes much deeper and gets into the core of a problem in our system of government today, and that is where we have bureaucrats who are making laws that Congress never made.
There is a proper time and place for fire, but it is not when your forests are overgrown, overstocked, dried out, and bug-infested.
It is a great example of how you can have a healthy environment and a strong economy at the same time.
I just wanted to make the point that we do sacrifice some hydropower for renewables.
When we are in a world where we are wanting more carbon-free electricity on the grid, it seems to me that we would be trying to get every ounce of energy out of these hydro dams that we could.
We talked about using clean American energy, we talked about permitting reform so that we could build new distribution systems.
If you really claim to utilize the best science, why is BLM proposing to fundamentally change the way we manage these forests on flawed science?
If you go back to Teddy Roosevelt, he said that conservation means development as much as protection.
But it is really hard to come in here and talk about increased money for firefighting, when that is just putting a Band-Aid on the wound instead of going to the symptom of what is causing the problem.
I think the Forest Service has to create some credibility, and it has to be long-term commitments like the 20-year stewardship contract if you ever want to get that industry back.
If you care about clean air and clean water, you should care about forest management.
How many more of these Paradise, California-style fires must occur before we actually do the right thing and start taking preventative measures?
We should be looking at what is causing these fires, not just how do we spend more money to pay firefighters.





