Cord Byrd: “I am about to send to the desk an amendment. Before doing so, let me just briefly tell Senators what this amendment is…”

“I am about to send to the desk an amendment. Before doing so, let me just briefly tell Senators what this amendment is about. This amendment is being offered by myself, Senator Burns, Senator Stevens, and other Senators. It addresses the critical firefighting needs of the Forest Service and the Bureau of Land Management. As many of our colleagues know, 2002 is turning out to be one of the most devastating fire seasons on record. Therefore, our amendment provides $825 million in emergency funding to reimburse the various accounts from which these agencies are currently borrowing. Of the amount provided, $636 million is allocated to the Forest Service and $189 million is allocated to the Department of the Interior. These are the exact amounts requested by the President just last week. If anyone may think that this money is not needed, let me briefly state for the record, over the past 10 years the average number of acres burned by fire between January 1 and September 3 has been 3.2 million acres. This year--this year--however, the comparable number of acres burned is 6.3 million, almost twice the 10-year average. This problem is much more than just numbers of acres burned. The devastation and destruction resulting from these fires is almost too much to comprehend. More than $1 billion will be spent on fighting fires, nearly 2,300 structures have been destroyed, and 20 brave firefighters have lost their lives.…”