Mark Udall: “this is a good bill. I support it, and urge its passage by the House. This bill is important for the whole country, of…”

“this is a good bill. I support it, and urge its passage by the House. This bill is important for the whole country, of course, but it is particularly important for Colorado and other states that include large amounts of federal lands. So, I am very appreciative of the hard work of Chairman Joe Skeen, ranking Member Norm Dicks, and the other members of the Interior Subcommittee as well as Chairman Young and ranking Member Obey of the full Appropriations Committee. In particular, I want to thank them for including in the bill $700 million in Fiscal Year 2002 emergency firefighting funds. As we in Colorado are all too aware, the combination of serious drought conditions and the results of a century's policy of suppressing all fires on federal lands has produced a series of extreme wildfires that have threatened the lives and property of thousands of people in our state and elsewhere. As a result, the Forest Service, Bureau of Land Management, and other federal land-managing agencies have exhausted the funds budget for firefighting and have had to divert money from other important purposes to respond to the emergency conditions.”