Mike Crapo: “this is truly a historic day. As the Presiding Officer knows, we have worked literally for a decade or more to try to…”

“this is truly a historic day. As the Presiding Officer knows, we have worked literally for a decade or more to try to find a path forward in the area of finding a solution to the problems we face in our national forests. In recent years, we have seen an average of 4 million acres a year burn. We have seen devastating wildfires this year that have destroyed not only tremendous amounts of property and environment in our forests, but have also taken lives. We have seen insect infestations that have jeopardized the future of one of the most incredible environmental resources we have in America, our forests. All of it has occurred while we have been battling in the courts, trying to find a path forward simply to allow our forest managers the ability to implement their forest management decisions, to deal with insect infestation, to deal with the threat of catastrophic wildfire, and to help preserve the great legacy we have in America, in our forests. I stand today to thank those in our Senate conference who have worked with us to build and strengthen the bipartisan solution that has brought us to this point. Sitting here beside me is the Senator from Mississippi, Thad Cochran, chairman of the Agriculture Committee. Without Senator Cochran's able leadership, without his patience and his wisdom in guiding us through this process, we would not be here today. I want to personally thank him.…”