Political Quotes

“Mr. Speaker, I rise today as thousands of Utahans in my district are returning to their homes after being evacuated due to wildfires that came within blocks of their homes. The Pole Creek fire and the Bald Mountain fire have engulfed over 100,000 acres of land and are still burning strong. It is a testament to our brave firefighters and our incredible community of volunteers that not a single life has been lost and property has been protected. Although this fire season has been one of the worst our State has ever seen, it has brought out the best in Utah. During the height of the Pole Creek and Bald Mountain fires, the Red Cross was overwhelmed. Now, Mr. Speaker, you might assume that that being overwhelmed came because of the 6,000 evacuees who needed a home. But, in reality, the Red Cross was overwhelmed because the list of people coming into the shelter offering homes was longer than the list of people needing homes. The Red Cross had to close shop. As a matter of fact, Mr. Speaker, I visited the Red Cross shelter and found a sign on the door that said, ``Please, no more donations.'' They had too many donations from Utahans. This is not the first time the Red Cross has had to close shop early. The people of Utah go out of their way to help others. As usual, Utah stepped up in the face of tragedy, and I plan to work to prevent future catastrophic events like this. Before I came to Congress, I was mayor for 8 years.…”