James Oberstar: “Mr. Speaker, I heard our colleagues from Oregon, from Idaho and Montana speak about the disasters that are striking…”

“Mr. Speaker, I heard our colleagues from Oregon, from Idaho and Montana speak about the disasters that are striking their area and the need for funding and assistance from this legislation. As we speak, there is a 22,000-acre segment of the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness in the Superior National Forest in the heart of my district on fire; 470 firefighters are out there trying to put the blaze out. We need help every bit as much as do the people in Iraq for water and sewer and infrastructure investment. We need that help right here at home. If we don't have a strong and vibrant economy at home, we can't support our troops overseas. We can't support other countries and their needs. We have got to rebuild America. We have got to protect our land here at home. And this is only today's fire. We had just a year-and-a-half ago a huge blaze that ripped through the Boundary Areas Canoe Area. We need this assistance, we need it now, and we need it in this bill.”