Political Quotes

“last year more acreage in our forests burned than ever before. I know the Presiding Officer understands what this has been like in the West over the last few years. Senator Crapo and I have dedicated something like 5 years of our professional lives to coming up with practical approaches to deal with this mushrooming problem. There are a whole host of issues that go into making a sensible forestry policy to make sure that we can protect our treasures in the West, have jobs in the woods that are sustainable, and keep our forests healthy. In order to do that, one of the most important reforms that are necessary is the one that Senator Crapo and I have been working on. I really began on this before I was the chairman of the Energy and Natural Resources Committee. Senator Crapo and I literally have teamed up now for half a decade to end a particularly inefficient and harmful economic and environmental policy that we call fire borrowing. Fire borrowing takes place when Congress fails to budget enough money to fight wildfires, forcing agencies to raid their other accounts, including accounts to prevent wildfires. Obviously, there may be some listening in who don't represent western communities. But what Senator Crapo and I have tried to convey to our colleagues is that fire borrowing doesn't just threaten fire prevention and suppression.…”