Political Quotes

“Mr. Chairman, I believe the bill before us today is a well-intentioned attempt to create a process which would minimize the risk of fire along electrical utilities' rights-of-way. Yes, there are some problems with the bill, but my most significant objection is that this bill, our Natural Resources Committee, and this Congress refuse to act on the urgent need to address how our U.S. Forest Service deals with wildfires. The Forest Service burned through more than half of its budget last year fighting wildfires. Yet our leadership won't bring to the floor for a vote a bipartisan legislation that deals with the problem of ``fire borrowing.'' In the 114th Congress, just such a bill, the Wildfire Disaster Funding Act had 151 cosponsors--67 Republicans, 84 Democrats--but it never even got a committee hearing. So that is disappointing, and even irresponsible. So, once again, the Forest Service and the Bureau of Land Management are going to go into this fire season knowing that they don't have the resources to do the work necessary to mitigate wildfire damage on U.S. public lands. In a recent report on fire suppression costs, the Forest Service reported that funding available for recreation, heritage, and wilderness had fallen 15 percent; funding for roads is down 46 percent; facility spending, off 68 percent; deferred maintenance outlays have been slashed by a disastrous 95 percent. Mr.…”