Political Quotes

“in recent months, Americans have been hit by a string of natural disasters--from devastating hurricanes in Puerto Rico, Florida, and Texas, to catastrophic wildfires in Oregon, Montana, and California. Earlier this week, the Senate voted to provide urgent relief to our communities in need. Although Colorado was fortunate this year--we could have easily had fires, but we were very fortunate, unlike Montana, this year--we know the devastation of wildfires all too well. In 2012, the Waldo Canyon fire raged for 16 days, incinerating 18,000 acres, destroying over 300 homes, and forcing the evacuation of more than 32,000 Coloradans. Years later, our communities are still recovering from the damage. Out West, wildfires can be catastrophic events. Yet Washington continues to fund them differently than other major disasters, such as hurricanes, tornadoes, or floods. When those disasters strike, we pay for emergency response from an entirely separate account. When a wildfire catches, that cost falls entirely on the U.S. Forest Service. If it is a catastrophic fire, as we see now in Montana and Northern California, those costs can easily exceed the Forest Service budget for fire suppression. That forces the Forest Service to borrow funds from other accounts to make up the difference. That is something no one has to do for any other disaster in America. This is often at the expense of efforts to prevent the next catastrophic fire.…”