Alcee Hastings: “Mr. DeFAZIO. I thank the gentleman for yielding me this time. Mr. Speaker, it was just a little over a year ago that the…”

“Mr. DeFAZIO. I thank the gentleman for yielding me this time. Mr. Speaker, it was just a little over a year ago that the Biscuit fire was raging in southwest Oregon in an area shared by myself and the gentleman from Oregon (Mr. Walden). We held a hearing in the Committee on Resources during that fire about the issue of the fuel buildup in our forests. After I listened to a few of the witnesses, I really did not ask any questions, I gave a pretty impassioned speech about how I was tired of the fact that we all kind of went to our political corners on this issue when a real solution was warranted. Surprisingly after the hearing I was approached by a number of Members that people would be surprised could sit down in a room and work together on an issue like this, but notably the gentleman from Colorado (Mr. McInnis) came forward and said to me, I really agreed with a lot of what you said and I would like to try and work something out, as did the gentleman from Arizona (Mr. Shadegg), the gentleman from Oregon (Mr. Walden), and the gentleman from California (Mr. George Miller). We sat down and began some very difficult negotiations. Unfortunately, last year the clock ran out on us. We had an election year, so we did not get the bill done.”