Denny Rehberg: “I want to stand today in favor of the rule, I think it is a fair rule, but definitely in opposition to the Oberstar…”

“I want to stand today in favor of the rule, I think it is a fair rule, but definitely in opposition to the Oberstar amendment. Let me lay out a scenario for you. I do not know about the other 25 airports that are under consideration, but I can tell you about one in the State of Montana. Over the course of the years, and we can debate whether it is because of mismanagement of our forests or whatever you want, we have more forest fires than we ever had before. Starting in 1988, we have had practically a forest fire every single year, and, in fact, in the year 2000, we got up to 1 million acres of Montana burned. This last year Glacier Park was on fire. We have an airport called the Glacier International Airport near Glacier Park, it is in Kalispell, Montana, that has 100 airplanes that fly every day. We are not talking about small planes, we are talking about large planes, because it is a destination point. Unfortunately, during the fire season that increases to 200 a day. And what are the other 100? They are bombers, they are tankers, they are helicopters.”