Political Quotes

“Madam President, I thank my colleagues for their prompt consideration and passage of H.R. 862, a bill that would authorize the conveyance of 2.67 acres within the Coconino National Forest to landowners who built on those parcels in reliance on an erroneous survey. On Tuesday, a relatively small 4-acre wildfire started just north of Sedona, AZ, near the Slide Rock State Park. It took less than 24 hours for the Slide Fire, as it is being called, to explode through the overgrown and dry vegetation and make its way up Oak Creek Canyon. In less than 2 days, estimates put the fire at 4,800 acres. Unfortunately, it appears poised to grow larger. Some areas have already been evacuated and an estimated 3,200 people in the Kachina Village and Forest Highland communities were put on pre- evacuation notice last night. Nearby, the Mountainaire community sits approximately five miles from the fire line. As they watch smoke fill the sky near their homes, residents are preparing for the possibility of having to evacuate. For some of those residents, the imminent fire threat brings added uncertainly due to a longstanding boundary dispute. The problem stems from an incorrect survey that was completed in 1960. Unbeknownst to the landowners, homes and other improvements were built based on that errant work. In 2007, a subsequent survey revealed the error and a number of landowners were alerted to the fact that portions of their property are within the Coconino National Forest boundary.…”