[Congressional Record Volume 149, Number 152 (Monday, October 27, 2003)]
[Senate]
[Pages S13253-S13256]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                        CALIFORNIA FOREST FIRES

  Mrs. BOXER. Mr. President, I rise today with great anxiety about what 
is happening in my State. You can see here behind me the view of one of 
the fires that is burning from the vantage point of a fireman. These 
fires have become the worst wildfires Californians have seen in 
decades. In less than 1 week they burned nearly twice as many acres as 
are burned statewide in the average fire year.
  The numbers in my statement today may already be obsolete. Things are 
moving that fast in terms of property damage, homes destroyed, and so 
on. The wildfires range from as far south as the Mexican border to as 
far north as Los Angeles and Ventura Counties. They have consumed a 
total of more than 400,000 acres or 625 square miles. To put that in 
perspective, that is three times the size of Chicago. The fires are 
devouring businesses and homes and sometimes entire neighborhoods. More 
than 900 homes have already been destroyed and perhaps 30,000 more are 
in danger. I know people are without electricity in areas throughout 
the State. Many are escaping with only the clothes on their backs, and 
families have had no time to gather anything other than their loved 
ones as they flee from an inferno that engulfs everything it touches.
  More than 50,000 people have been evacuated and the numbers continue 
to climb. Thirty-six evacuation centers have already been set up in the 
five county areas. I spent pretty much all of yesterday speaking to 
mayors and council members and county supervisors and to Governor 
Davis. I talked three times to the head of FEMA, and I spoke with 
Andrew Card, the President's chief of staff, who was most helpful. The 
message I had for the President, through Mr. Card, was: Please, move 
quickly, as quickly as you can, to declare a national disaster because 
without that, we simply cannot get these fires under control. It has 
taken a while, but in the last couple of hours we had our declaration.
  This is very important because it means the Forest Service can now go 
beyond its budget, because its budget is limited, and contract with 
departments all over the country to bring in the help we need.
  I have been through a lot of disasters in my State. I served on the 
board of supervisors of Marin County. I have seen fires and floods and 
earthquakes, and then, as a 10-year Congresswoman, I have seen all 
this. I have not seen anything to this degree where we still don't have 
our arms wrapped around this problem. We don't have the problem 
contained, whereas usually when we have these disasters, we are up here 
saying we need to set up the FEMA agencies where we can now go and have 
people get repaid and get loans for their businesses and homes, and we 
will do that in time. That is very important. But right now we need to 
put out the fires.
  I thank Nevada and Arizona. They have helped. They have sent between 
25 and 50 firetrucks with personnel to our State.
  I will give you another look at San Diego. This is the harbor. You 
can see it just has the eeriest look to it. You can see the flames in 
the background.
  We also want to say that we have received 50 tanker trucks, and 12 
air tankers are coming tomorrow. This is all good news for the people 
of San Diego. Supervisor Jacob was at her wit's end yesterday because 
she was not getting enough help. The other areas, the mutual aid, seem 
to be working better, but San Diego came along afterwards, and I have 
been very worried about them.

  The crown jewels of California's beautiful landscape, our beautiful 
forests, have been hurt. We are going to have legislation that will in 
fact allow us to do fuel reduction close to communities. It is very 
important, when we have a bill that relates to our forests, that we put 
the money where it is needed, which is near the communities, and that 
we make sure that what we do will in fact help the communities.
  The bill we are talking about is the Forestry and Community 
Assistance Act, written by Senator Leahy and myself. There are other 
proposals. I hope we can come to an agreement that the time is now to 
help our communities and to provide the resources to help them, not the 
big logging people, because that is the fight we are always waging.
  Air traffic across the Nation has been disrupted by these fires. 
Hundreds of flights in and out of southern California have been 
canceled or suspended. Our brave firefighters, more than 7,000, are 
frantically working in conjunction with the California Department of 
Forestry, the U.S. Forest Service, California Highway Patrol, the Red 
Cross, and now, happily, FEMA, which are very much involved to contain 
these fires.
  Many are still raging out of control. I want to be back here as soon 
as I can to talk about how we can rebuild our communities. But today we 
are talking about fires that are raging out of control.
  I thank White House Chief of Staff Andrew Card. I thank FEMA Director 
Michael Brown. I did try to call Tom Ridge. Unfortunately, he was out 
of the country, but I spoke with his people and again with many of the 
local people.
  In closing, let me say that my heart is with the people of San 
Bernardino County where two major fires are burning: The Old fire--by 
the way, we think arson was to blame for that fire. I have written to 
the Attorney General and will call him in the hope that he will invite 
in the FBI to get to the bottom of who would do such a deed. The other 
fire in San Bernardino is the Old Fire, 24,000 acres. The Grand Prix is 
52,000 acres. In San Diego, there were three major fires. Everyone is 
struggling to make sure they don't merge.
  We do have 48,000 customers without power in San Diego. In Otay, 
35,000 acres are burning. The Cedar Fire in San Diego has been the 
deadliest one: 9 deaths, 300 homes destroyed, 150 in Scripps Ranch. The 
Paradise Fire in San Diego: 160 structures were destroyed, 75 cars, 2 
deaths, and so far not contained. In Los Angeles County, it is the 
Verdale Fire, 9,000 acres. In Ventura, there are two major fires, Simi 
Valley and Piru. We are very worried about those. And at Riverside, 
there is one major fire. The Governor has not yet asked for an 
emergency declaration in Riverside, but it may come to that. If it 
does, I am very hopeful that the President will act on that request as 
well because we have lost six homes in Riverside, and the size of the 
fire there is 11,000 acres.
  This declaration by the President is welcome news for us.
  We need to put aside all politics now. We have an outgoing Governor. 
We have an incoming Governor. We all have to just join hands in this 
because our people are scared. They are filled with anxiety. They want 
this over. They want to go on and rebuild their lives. I join with my 
colleague in expressing my condolences to those who

[[Page S13254]]

have lost family. My deep hope is that we will contain these fires. We 
will save additional lives, we will shelter those who have been 
displaced, and we will rebuild.
  I thank the Chair and yield the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from California is recognized.
  Mrs. FEINSTEIN. Mr. President, I join with my colleague, Senator 
Boxer, with some remarks about the fire. This fire is actually far more 
serious than any fire I have seen, and I have spent some time now 
becoming familiar with forestry practices and fires.
  Before a fire is under control, it has to be contained, and virtually 
no aspect of these 10 fires are contained tonight. As my colleague 
said, they have taken 13 lives; they have destroyed 1,100 homes; they 
have burned over 400,000 acres, and that is two-thirds the size of 
Rhode Island. Virtually no fire is contained and firefighters must 
conduct an evacuation to move people out.
  Senator Boxer gave you the latest figures on some of these fires. But 
there is one fire I wish to point out and that is the fire heading 
toward San Diego. Mayor Murphy of San Diego said to me last night that 
the fire is pointed like a spear into the heart of San Diego. It is 
running through housing projects, crossing freeways, and it is 
extremely dangerous. These fires are virtually all over--from Los 
Angeles down to the Mexican border. I will soon print in the Record the 
specific statistics about each one.
  Like my colleague, I spoke four times with Mike Brown. He was in 
Albuquerque. I am pleased that he is headed to southern California. He 
has cut redtape, brought in 22 additional engines, 3 strike teams, 
firefighters from northern California are headed to the south, and 
teams coming in from surrounding States. We are very grateful for that.
  I am also grateful to the President for declaring a Federal state of 
emergency for San Bernardino, San Diego, Ventura, and Los Angeles 
Counties.
  The State declaration has also been called by Governor Davis, and 
Federal disaster assistance will now include aid to individuals and 
households, aid to public agencies for emergency services, and repair 
or replacement of disaster-damaged public facilities, and funding for 
measures designed to reduce losses to property. The Federal Government 
has already provided fire management assistance grants for at least 
eight wildfires in southern California. These grants reimburse the 
State for 75 percent of the cost of fighting the fire.
  My sadness and concern about these wildfires are not confined to 
those who lost their lives and their properties, but it is also the 
reality that they were entirely predictable, and new ones will also 
burn across my State.
  I believe we must take steps now to reduce the harm of forest fires. 
These conditions are all familiar to us--drought, densely packed 
forests, unhealthily crowded with little trees. For decades, we have 
put out the ground fires that would otherwise clear out the brush. The 
result is huge fuel loads of small trees and brush, which is perfect 
kindling for a catastrophic fire. In areas such as San Diego County, 
where there is more brush than forests, fire suppression has likewise 
created such a tangle of brush that fires often cannot be stopped.
  The Santa Ana winds are another factor. These hot, dry winds blow 
often in the fall, and they don't just occur in southern California. 
The 1991 fire in Oakland and Berkley was fanned by similar devastating 
winds. They come every year. We know they are coming, yet we have not 
adjusted our forest practices to deal with them.
  Hundreds of thousands of dead and dying trees from infestation, such 
as the bark beetle, remain untreated, trees unremoved, with as many as 
90,000 people living in bark beetle-infested forests in San Bernardino 
County, with only one-leg roads to get them out in case of catastrophe.
  With all these conditions for disaster in place, I have feared for 
some time now that California could face a devastating season of 
wildfires, and that seems to be just what is happening right now. So I 
believe we need to take action now, not just to correct our 
mismanagement of the forests and the brush but for a more basic reason.
  We need to act in advance because of the terrible fact that most of 
the deaths that occurred in these fires did so because people had too 
little time to escape. At least seven people, so far, have died as they 
tried to escape the cedar fire in the narrow Wildcat Canyon area near 
the Barona Ranch Indian Reservation in San Diego County. People died on 
foot, people died in their cars, people died still trapped in their 
homes. At least two children died while trying to escape with their 
parents.
  The fires travel just too quickly, and hillside roads are too narrow 
and too winding to count on people being able to get out.
  Let me give you one story. Violet Ingrum lived in San Diego's Scripps 
Ranch neighborhood. She went to bed Saturday night worried mainly about 
her daughter, who lives in Hollywood, and the danger of potential 
wildfires to her daughter's home. Only a few hours later, she woke up 
to a howling wind and the horrifying sight of flames beyond her back 
fence and debris falling into her swimming pool. She only had time to 
grab her two cats and two photo albums, and one of her cats jumped out 
of the car before she could get away. But she was a lucky one. So I 
believe very deeply that we need to act now to reduce the threat from 
these wildfires and to give our firefighters a better chance to defend 
our communities.
  We were able to get Congress to approve $30 million last month in 
fiscal 2003 funds to help battle the bark beetle, and I am urging the 
Forest Service to put those funds to work immediately. That is an 
important step forward, but we need broader measures to reduce the 
threat from our forests.
  I am delighted that the chairman of the Agriculture Committee is on 
the floor tonight, Senator Thad Cochran, because we have worked with 
him to produce a compromise bill that I hope will be on the floor of 
the Senate soon. I hope it will be passed because this bill, which can 
get 60 votes, is the only chance that this Congress has an opportunity 
to pass a hazard fuels mitigation program this year.
  The fact is, there are 57 million acres of Federal land at the 
highest risk of catastrophic fire, including 8.5 million acres in 
California alone. In the past 5 years, wildfires like the ones going on 
today have raged through 26.9 million acres, including over 2 million 
acres in California.
  In response to these threats, an agreement has been reached by a 
bipartisan group of 10 Senators to protect our forests from 
catastrophic fire by expediting the thinning of hazardous fuels and, at 
the same time, provide the first legal protection for old-growth trees 
in our Nation's history. Those who have participated, along with 
myself, in the lengthy negotiations--2 years now--leading up to this 
agreement include Senators Thad Cochran, Ron Wyden, Larry Craig, Mike 
Crapo, Pete Domenici, Jon Kyl, Blanche Lincoln, John McCain, and Max 
Baucus.
  Legislation implementing the agreement as a proposed substitute 
amendment to title I of H.R. 1904, the House-passed Healthy Forest 
bill, was filed by Senator Cochran, chairman of the Agriculture 
Committee, on October 2. Yet there have been objections raised to 
proceeding with this bipartisan substitute amendment.
  I urge my colleagues in the strongest possible terms to support this 
legislation so we can defend our communities and protect our forests.
  I wish to take a few moments because if ever there is a time to look 
at this kind of legislation it is now. I wish to spend a few moments 
and describe exactly what the legislation would do.
  It would establish an expedited process so the Forest Service and the 
Department of Interior can get to work on brush-clearing projects to 
minimize the risk of catastrophic wildfire. Up to 20 million acres of 
lands near communities, municipal watersheds, and other high-risk areas 
are included in our project. This includes lands that have suffered 
from serious wind damage or insect infestations, such as the bark 
beetle.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator has used 10 minutes.
  Mrs. FEINSTEIN. I ask unanimous consent for another 8 minutes.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
  Mrs. FEINSTEIN. A total of $760 million is authorized. That is a $340 
million increase over current funding. At least 50 percent of the funds 
would be

[[Page S13255]]

used for fuels reduction near communities. That is what we do not have 
in this catastrophic wildfire that is taking place right now.
  The legislation also requires that large fire-resilient old-growth 
trees be protected from logging immediately. It mandates that forest 
plans that are more than 10 years old and most in need of updating be 
updated with old-growth protection consistent with the national 
standard within 2 to 3 years. Without this provision in the amendment, 
we would have to wait a decade or more to see improved old-growth 
protection. Even then, there would be no guarantee that this protection 
against the threat of both logging and catastrophic fire would be very 
strong.
  In California, the amendment to the Sierra Nevada framework that is 
currently in progress will have to comply with the new national 
standard for old-growth protection. We have also tried to expedite, 
shorten, and improve the administrative review process to make it more 
collaborative and less confrontational.
  It is critical that the Forest Service spend its scarce dollars by 
doing work on the ground rather than being mired in endless paperwork. 
The legislation we submitted preserves multiple opportunities for 
meaningful public involvement. People can attend a public meeting on 
every project. They can submit comments during both the preparation of 
the environmental impact statement and during the administrative review 
process. I guarantee that the public will have a meaningful say in 
these projects.
  It does change the environmental review process so that the Forest 
Service still considers the effects of a project in detail but can 
focus its analysis on the proposal, one reasonable alternative that 
meets the project goals and the alternative of not doing the project, 
instead of the five or nine alternatives that are now often required.

  This is not the siting of a freeway where one may want five or nine 
alternative projects. We know where the project is going to take place. 
The question is, Should it be mechanical? Should it be by burning? What 
are the problems with the area? Is there a better way of doing it?
  So this legislation replaces the current Forest Service 
administrative appeals with a review process that will occur after the 
Forest Service finishes its environmental review of a project but 
before it reaches its decision. This new approach is similar to a 
process adopted by the Clinton administration in 2000 for a review of 
forest plans and amendments to those plans. The process will be 
speedier and less confrontational than the current administrative 
appeal process.
  There is a great deal of misconception both about the appeals process 
and the judicial review process. I will quickly take a minute and tell 
my colleagues what we have recommended with respect to judicial review. 
First, parties can sue in Federal court only on issues raised in the 
administrative review process. This is common sense that allows 
agencies the opportunity to correct their own mistakes before 
everything gets litigated. Lawsuits must be filed in the same 
jurisdiction as the proposed project. This also makes common sense. 
Courts are encouraged to resolve the case as soon as possible, and 
preliminary injunctions are limited to 60 days. They can be extended, 
but the individuals making the claim have to go back to court and 
justify why they need another preliminary injunction.
  The court must weigh the environmental benefit of performing a given 
project against its environmental risk as it reviews the case. This is 
the balance-of-harms language.
  I deeply believe this amendment is much preferable to the House bill 
which has passed. There are many ways in which we improve on the House-
passed bill. First, we focus on the highest priority lands, where we 
need to undertake brush-clearing projects to restore forest health and 
prevent forest fire. These include the wildland urban interface as 
defined by the communities needing protection. It includes lands where 
fires would threaten municipal water supplies and lands significantly 
harmed by insects.
  Secondly, we have protected both old-growth stands and large trees 
across the landscape. The projects expedited by this act will restore 
forest health.
  Finally, the Senate agreement removed a provision of the House-passed 
bill that could have threatened the fair and impartial judicial review 
of Forest Service actions. This provision would have tilted the playing 
field in forestry litigation by requiring a court to defer to the 
Federal Agency's views in deciding whether to issue an injunction. So 
we have seriously improved the House bill.
  In closing, I say to my colleagues that if ever there is a case in 
point as to why we have to spend more time on the ground with forest 
actions rather than debating them here, it is the 10 fires that are now 
taking place in California. They are catastrophic. In fact, they are 
wreaking human devastation and degradation on a level seldom seen. It 
is time for this body and this Congress to act.
  Both Senator Wyden and I, and Senator Cochran as well, have asked the 
administration for a statement of administrative policy that they will, 
in effect, support this legislation in conference. This is critical to 
our agreement. I have written to the White House. We have called the 
White House. We have not had a response.
  So the action and the ball is really in the White House's court at 
this time. We need to hear from them. We need to know whether, in fact, 
this bill, which we believe can garner 60 votes in the Senate, will, in 
fact, have strong White House and administration support when it goes 
to conference, because if it does not, and if the vehicle is not this 
bill, there will not be a bill. I think that is the truth as many find 
it.
  So to all of those in California who have suffered such grievous 
loss, I join my colleague in sending our deepest condolences. I have 
asked all my staff to go to southern California to be available to 
receive calls from people to try to hook them up with whatever help or 
aid they need. FEMA will shortly be making announcements as to what 
numbers to call, where to go to fill out the applications, and we will 
do everything we can to help facilitate that process.
  This is truly one of the great tragedies of human life. Can my 
colleagues imagine children and parents being burned fleeing from this 
kind of a fire and over 1,000 families losing everything they have 
worked a lifetime to build?
  I yield the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Mississippi.
  Mr. COCHRAN. I ask unanimous consent that I may proceed for 1 minute 
as in morning business.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
  Mr. COCHRAN. Mr. President, I rise to commend my friend, the 
distinguished Senator from California, for her active involvement and 
effective work in reaching this agreement that has been reported out of 
the Senate Agriculture Committee, the Healthy Forest Restoration Act. 
It is the vehicle that we can use to truly bring relief to the citizens 
of America from disasters like this one that has befallen the citizens 
of California.
  I must say I have been worried, as has she and others in the Senate, 
that this kind of tragedy could happen. It could happen in many other 
States. It is time for the Senate to act now. The only thing I disagree 
with about the remarks of the Senator is she says the ball is in the 
White House's court.

  The ball is in the Senate's court. This bill is pending here in the 
Senate. We have asked unanimous consent to go to the bill and that 
amendments be limited to those that are relevant to the bill and that 
amendments to the amendments be relevant to those amendments to which 
they are offered. That is the only condition under which the Senate has 
asked to proceed to consideration of this bill, and objections have 
been raised on the Democratic side of the aisle to proceeding.
  It is time for those who are obstructing the consideration of this 
bill to reconsider their position, particularly in light of the 
destruction in California. It is unconscionable that the Senate will 
not take action on this matter and pass the bill. Let's go to 
conference with the House. Let's try to prevail in conference. Then it 
is the turn of the White House to sign or veto the bill. I predict the 
White House would sign the bill and we will get a good bill in 
conference that the White House can sign.

[[Page S13256]]

  Mrs. FEINSTEIN. Will the Senator yield?
  Mr. COCHRAN. I am happy to yield to my friend if I have any time.
  Mrs. FEINSTEIN. I thank the Senator for those comments. I have just 
been told we are clear on our side. We can go to the bill. Obviously, 
there is a request to have amendments and I think we should hear the 
amendments out and vote on them. I think those of us who participated 
in this are really dedicated to get this bill passed. We worked for 2 
years with your help----
  Mr. COCHRAN. Mr. President, let me reclaim the time. I asked 
unanimous consent on this floor to do just that and there was an 
objection by the acting leader for the Democratic side, Mr. Harry Reid. 
If there has been a change in position, that ought to be communicated 
to the leader. That would be good to know.
  Mrs. FEINSTEIN. As a point of clarification, Senator, if I may, I am 
told there is no objection to going to the bill. There was an objection 
on the limitation of amendments.
  Mr. COCHRAN. Mr. President, there was no limitation of amendments. 
The provision in the unanimous consent request was that any amendment 
offered to the bill would be relevant to the bill and any amendment to 
an amendment be relevant to the amendment to which it was offered. 
There was no limitation requested in that unanimous consent request.
  Mrs. FEINSTEIN. If I may say, through the Chair, for just a moment to 
the Senator, then I believe we can move to the bill. Because, as I 
understand it, what you have just stated is exactly the position of 
this side.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER (Mr. Sununu). The Senator from Alabama.

                          ____________________