David Valadao: “I thank Chairman Westerman and his staff at the Natural Resources Committee for their work on this very important bill.…”

“I thank Chairman Westerman and his staff at the Natural Resources Committee for their work on this very important bill. I appreciate his partnership and work to ensure my amendment was included today. Mr. Chair, I urge my colleagues to support my amendment, which would dramatically increase the number of airlift assets available for wildfire emergencies. Containerized Aerial Firefighting Systems, or CAFFS, are airdrop- capable disposable containers for water or fire retardant, which can be dropped from much higher altitudes and with less visibility than current aerial firefighting operations. Current aerial firefighting operations depend on single-mission aircraft, but CAFFS can be used by any standard cargo plane. The use of CAFFS provides more coverage for firefighters on the ground and allows teams to quickly respond to prevent smaller fires from becoming uncontrollable. These systems are being used in other countries, but not here in the United States. We have the technology that we can deploy to stop the devastation these fires cause, and we should be using it. Mr. Chair, I urge all of my colleagues to support the passage of this amendment to help combat and contain wildfires in a quicker and more efficient way. Mr. Chair, I reserve the balance of my time.”