Political Quotes

“I thank the chairman of the Agriculture Committee for the opportunity to be here and for his leadership on this amendment, and also Congressman Jared Polis from Colorado. We worked together on this Emergency Watershed Protection Program. Over the past couple of years, we've seen incredible wildfires ravage the West in New Mexico, in Colorado, in Wyoming, in Montana, and the Northwest. Millions of acres have been lost. Just this past month alone, over 500 homes have been lost in Colorado in the Black Forest fire. We know one thing occurs as a result of wildfires, and it's not just the event that occurs during the fire, and it's not just the impact of the burning itself of the fire to the homes, but it's what happens in the days, months and years following a forest fire that leads to millions of dollars worth of damage from a single incident. In the case of the Hyde Park fire last year, in the case of the Waldo Canyon fire last year and indeed in the case of the Black Forest fire coming up in the coming weeks, we know that when there's moisture, when there's rain and when there's snow, erosion will occur. I'm holding a vial of sediment from a river. It looks like dirt. It's black. But it actually came from a river after a forest fire in Colorado. Millions of dollars of damage has been done to the ecosystem as a result of a fire making runoff destroy transportation systems, clog culverts and impact drinking water systems.…”