On the recordSeptember 5, 2017
I support my friend from California in urging that this body focus on this crisis in the West. With the outrage that has happened with the DACA students and with the tragedy in Houston, there are lots of things to occupy our time. But the firefighting in the West has impacted thousands of people. I have people who are forced to evacuate in my community. We have 24 large fires in Montana, 19 in Oregon, and 17 in California. But what is really outrageous is that the Republican leadership in the House refuses to treat these disasters the same way we would treat Hurricane Harvey or Hurricane Katrina being able to put disaster funding on the table. We are going to completely exhaust those resources in a matter of days, and then we are going to cannibalize the Forest Service budget that could be used to strengthen forest protections, put people to work, and avoid problems in the future. That is outrageous. We have bipartisan legislation that would pass if the Republican leadership would allow it on the floor of the House. But at a minimum, we should not have any disaster relief that doesn't have money for these tragic fires in the West. ____________________
