Political Quotes

“I want to speak for a moment on something I think has great importance--the need to provide additional funds to the Forest Service and the Department of the Interior to pay for the cost of fighting this year's wildfires. Nationwide, the numbers are staggering. Once again, we have suffered a terrible fire season. Little does America know, 27 firefighters lost their lives this year in the line of duty. Over 789 homes and other structures have been destroyed, and 2.8 million acres have burned. During the recent Labor Day weekend, 25,000 firefighters were working on fires in every State in the West. As in 2000, my home State of Montana has been hit by the largest share of the damage. In fact, for much of the summer, half of the total acres burning in the whole Nation were burning in Montana. So far we have lost 600,000 acres, and the fire continues today.”