Political Quotes

“Mr. Speaker, first of all, I thank the gentleman from Arkansas (Mr. Westerman), my friend, for organizing this Special Order and for his leadership and expertise on forestry issues. The events of the last month and the last decade plus show how poorly our current forest management policies are and that they are broken and in drastic need of reform. Nearly every corner of the West has been touched by catastrophic wildfire. My district has been home to several major fires this year, including the Bush fire that burned over 193,000 acres. 700,000 acres of land has been burned across my State. Even before this year's fire season, the evidence of our forest management practices being broken are clear. In the last 10 years alone, wildfires have burned over 74 million acres of land in the West, and our Federal Government's reaction to this has been extremely lacking. These catastrophic fires have devastating impacts on the environment and human health. For example, one large wildfire is roughly the equivalent of a major volcanic eruption, releasing large amounts of dangerous particles into the air. This increase of air pollution exacerbates respiratory illnesses, such as COVID-19. Because of this, earlier this year, I wrote a letter to Agriculture Secretary Perdue and Interior Secretary Bernhardt.…”