The ability to provide affordable housing options for our Forest Service workers, for our wildland firefighters, for first responders is very important.

I think this is a program worth supporting and extending, so I am hopeful that my colleagues will support it.

I am delighted to see that one of my bills is included in today's agenda, the Forest Service Flexible Housing Partnership Act of 2023.

I am proud to introduce the Continued Rapid Ohia Death Response Act of 2023, alongside Senator Hirono.

I have been beating the drum here in Congress, of course, for years with respect to the comprehensive reforms that I think we need to get done, as described and articulated in my bill, the Tim's Act.

Ensuring that wildland firefighters, who put their lives at risk each and every day to protect our constituents, are paid a fair salary, receive lifesaving benefits, and have access to affordable housing should be at the top of our list.

I am thankful for this opportunity, and look forward to your questions.

We have to recognize the need to do everything that we can to promote healthy and resilient forests and prioritize community safety.

I think the Forest Service has the ability today to do this work, which is precisely why they have launched their 10-year landscape project plan.

I thank the Chairman. And I see Mr. Curtis is back, so hopefully he can defend the propriety of that goatee I was challenging earlier.

As has been repeated often in this Committee, we no longer have fire seasons, we have fire years in the Rocky Mountain West.

I appreciate that answer and I would encourage the agency, I think, to be nimble and explore alternative criterion that can be applied as you determine the best way to allocate these resources.

I hope that I can convince one of my Republican colleagues here on the other side of the aisle to support us on this legislation again, which is common sense and would honor wildland firefighters across the country.

And hearts and thoughts go out to you and to Mr. LaMalfa's community as they continue to recover years later.

I couldn't agree with you more, and a lot more for us to do, so excited to get the CFLRP reauthorization across the finish line and continue to build on that work.

Wildfire has become a major focus for many of us here in Congress, myself included.

Republicans put forward a budget, and they bragged about how this budget is cutting spending, aggressively cutting spending.

we have to do more on firefighter pay.

I urge everybody interested in this, let's push back against those funding cuts.

Neguse, Hon. Joe, a Representative in Congress from the State of Colorado.

I also represent, or my district, rather, includes many other national forests.

I am very pleased to see the Forest Service has taken a comprehensive approach to wildfire management.

The moment, the moment, there begins to be an outcry from the public about a variety of the different draconian cuts that this budget imposes, they disclaim that their budget does anything of the sort.

I am as incredulous this morning as I guess I was yesterday when this happened, because they will put forward a budget that cuts the Forest Service, and then tell you that it doesn't.

This bill, it is dead on arrival in the House, certainly dead on arrival in the Senate, it won't be signed by the President.