Political Quotes

“Mr. Speaker, let me start by thanking the thousands of firefighters who, each year, put their lives at risk to battle wildfires like those that have plagued California and other western States. We owe it to them, as well as to the American people, to use every measure available to fight fires in ways that reduce the risk to those firefighters and the risk of losing lives and property among our population. Just in the last year, and that is in 2018, wildfires in California burned 1,117,000 acres. Nationally, there was 6.5 million acres burned. In California, we had six fatalities. Nationally, there were 16 fatalities. California property losses were 2,356 houses--those are people's homes--and 1,239 nonresidential buildings. On that note, today, I would like to draw the attention of my colleagues and the American people to what I consider to be an inexcusable roadblock that is stopping the implementation of new, innovative, and tested effective firefighting technology. In 2008, I helped secure funding for research and testing of the technology that ultimately became Precision Containerized Aerial Delivery System, or PCADS. {time} 1030 It was designed specifically for military aircraft, including the C- 17s and the C-130s and others as well. It has been tested over the years and proven to deliver massive amounts of water or fire retardant onto fires using GPS and other expertise. It is safer, more accurate, and much more effective than traditional aerial firefighting.…”