Political Quotes

“Madam Speaker, I just want to say that I am really honored to be here today to talk about wildfires and our firefighters, how noble they are, how much support they need, and how grateful we are to them. That is why we are devoting this hour to the topic of wildfires. Let me just start by thanking our brave firefighters and first responders for the work they do to keep us safe in all sorts of emergencies. The last few years in Washington State and, frankly, the whole West of the United States have shown that as climate change accelerates making for hotter days and weakened trees in overcrowded forests, so does the risk of catastrophic wildfires. All across the West, we are seeing wildfires that have grown in intensity and frequency, and our State has some of the highest risk of what we call firesheds in the entire country. We have all felt the impact of wildfires through the damage they have caused in our communities, the smoke in the air that we all breathe and choke on every summer, and for some of us, our homes. This is especially true in places like Stehekin and Lake Chelan where the Pioneer fire just burnt for months in my district, threatening an entire community and causing evacuations. I am so grateful to the firefighters on the ground in Lake Chelan who worked tirelessly and put themselves at risk to stop the spread of that devastating fire wherever they could and to protect the residents who needed to be evacuated.…”