[Congressional Record Volume 149, Number 161 (Friday, November 7, 2003)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E2281]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




 APPOINTMENT OF CONFEREES ON H.R. 1904, HEALTHY FOREST RESTORATION ACT 
                                OF 2003

                                 ______
                                 

                               speech of

                          HON. SUSAN A. DAVIS

                             of california

                    in the house of representatives

                       Thursday, November 6, 2003

  Mrs. DAVIS of California. Mr. Speaker, I join my colleagues in 
support of the principle of open conference committee meetings that are 
bipartisan as well as bicameral, as required in H.R. 1904. It is past 
time that this body return to the basic principles of democracy in its 
own practices.
  Yesterday, I had the privilege of leading the entire bipartisan House 
delegation from California and many members from other states in 
honoring those firefighters and other public servants who worked so 
heroically to fight the devastating wildfires which we have just 
experienced in Southern California. That was the time to focus solely 
on the celebration of human courage and sacrifice.
  Today, it is time to come together to find the best possible 
legislation that will finally focus on how to protect our urban 
environments from wildfires--whether they are frequent seasonal fires 
or the massive, historically destructive fire we suffered last week.
  First, it is important for everyone to be clear that the Cedar fire 
in San Diego County was initially and primarily fueled by the chaparral 
which covers the mesas and foothills of Southern California. Later, it 
also moved into our national forest lands, where many of the trees had 
been affected by the beetle infestation.
  As I toured the Cedar Fire area in San Diego by helicopter, it was 
stunning to realize the speed with which the firestorm driven by the 
Santa Ana winds overtook hundreds of thousands of acres of our open 
lands, much of which are public not private lands.
  This fire was not about environmental laws preventing logging that 
would have prevented this fire. It was not about lack of roads that 
hindered fighting the fires.
  It was about the failure to prevent the build-up of fuel by using 
authorized funding for removal of hazardous material which is adjacent 
to urban areas and the failure of the federal government to supply 
funds to deal with the pest infestations in these forests, as the 
Governor requested last spring and FEMA declined to do.

  While it may or may not be possible to find the best legislation and 
also meet the deadline included in this bill, there are several basic 
principles that must be in the final conference bill. Many of them are 
found in the bill just passed by the Senate.
  First, we must prioritize the protection for urban areas.
  Second, there must be significant money authorized for this purpose. 
While there may be authorization in other bills for ``such sums'' as 
may be necessary to address hazardous fuel reduction, we in Congress 
have inadequately appropriated these funds because they are not 
specified.
  Instead, the funds which have been allocated for treatment and 
prevention have been required to fight the fires that result from 
inadequate protection. Real funding must be clearly identified and 
available to begin the needed protection. It must not be based solely 
on the sale of logged trees because so much of our land needing fuel 
reduction is covered with chaparral, which has no logging value. We 
must also be sure that this legislation will continue to protect old 
growth timber.
  I believe that the members of the committees going to conference can 
and will be able to fashion a conference report that can be a model for 
returning this Congress to open, bipartisan, bicameral conferences that 
reach appropriate, compromise legislation. I look forward to this 
result.

                          ____________________