[Congressional Record Volume 154, Number 112 (Wednesday, July 9, 2008)]
[House]
[Pages H6291-H6293]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




 COMMENDING THE FIREFIGHTERS FROM CALIFORNIA AND THROUGHOUT THE UNITED 
  STATES FOR THEIR COURAGEOUS ACTIONS AND SACRIFICES IN FIGHTING THE 
                          CALIFORNIA WILDFIRES

  Mr. RAHALL. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and agree to the 
resolution (H. Res. 1322) commending the firefighters from California 
and throughout the United States for their courageous actions and 
sacrifices in fighting the California wildfires.
  The Clerk read the title of the resolution.
  The text of the resolution is as follows:

                              H. Res. 1322

       Whereas, since June 20, 2008, there have been 1,781 
     wildfires in California started by natural causes, including 
     lightning, or by human activity;
       Whereas 630,886 acres of land have burned in these 
     wildfires, and, as of July 8, 2008, there are 323 wildfires 
     still burning in California;
       Whereas significant portions of National Forest System land 
     and wilderness areas continue to burn in the Los Padres, 
     Klamath, Shasta, Trinity, Mendocino, Plumas, Eldorado, Tahoe, 
     Six Rivers, and Lassen National Forests;
       Whereas areas of Butte, Monterey, Santa Barbara, and Shasta 
     counties are under evacuation orders, and precautionary 
     evacuation orders currently exist in areas of Kern, 
     Mendocino, Monterey, Santa Barbara, and Plumas counties;
       Whereas the wildfires are threatening 8,874 residences, 168 
     commercial buildings, and 2,085 outbuildings, but the heroic 
     efforts of firefighters have limited the destruction to 40 
     residences, 1 commercial building, and 61 outbuildings;
       Whereas firefighters have already been working for weeks on 
     the front lines of a fire season that is just beginning;
       Whereas firefighters have risked their lives and endured 
     great hardship to protect life, property, and the 
     environment;
       Whereas there are currently 18,415 personnel committed, as 
     well as 1,403 fire engines, 388 hand crews, 269 bulldozers, 
     392 water tenders, 31 air tankers, 30 incident management 
     teams, and 95 helicopters;
       Whereas 40 States and the District of Columbia have 
     provided assistance to fight the wildfires:
       Whereas the cooperative, unified approach to addressing 
     wildland fires by Federal, State, local, tribal, and 
     volunteer agencies have worked as one team under California's 
     innovative incident command system;
       Whereas the wildfires have been fought in a manner 
     consistent with wilderness and wildlife protection, including 
     protection of endangered species such as the Southern Sea 
     Otter;
       Whereas the people of California and the United States 
     recognize that the dedication of the firefighters will remain 
     steadfast throughout the ongoing suppression, repair, and 
     rebuilding efforts;
       Whereas firefighters continue to make progress in 
     containing wildfires throughout California, and, as of July 
     8, 2008, more than 1,400 fires have been contained due to the 
     diligent and tireless efforts of firefighters from California 
     and throughout the United States, and
       Whereas several firefighters have been injured and one 
     firefighter has given his life while fighting the wildfires: 
     Now, therefore, be it
       Resolved, That the House of Representatives--
       (1) commends firefighters from California and throughout 
     the United States for their courageous actions and sacrifices 
     in fighting wildfires on National Forest System land and 
     other public lands in California;
       (2) acknowledges the continued work of firefighters to 
     protect National Forest System land, other public lands, and 
     private property from further damage;
       (3) praises the people of California for their great 
     courage in this time of crisis; and
       (4) extends its heartfelt sympathies to the families of 
     those who have lost loved ones or their homes, businesses, or 
     other property in the wildfires.

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from 
West Virginia (Mr. Rahall) and the gentleman from Idaho (Mr. Sali) each 
will control 20 minutes.
  The Chair recognizes the gentleman from West Virginia.


                             General Leave

  Mr. RAHALL. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may 
have 5 legislative days in which to revise and extend their remarks and 
include extraneous material on the resolution under consideration.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the 
gentleman from West Virginia?
  There was no objection.
  Mr. RAHALL. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
  Mr. Speaker, since June 20, 2008, as we have heard the distinguished 
Speaker tell us, there have been 1,781 wildfires in the State of 
California, over 600,000 acres of land have burned, and there are 323 
fires still burning in the State. Firefighters have been working for 
weeks on the front lines of these fires, risking their lives and 
enduring great hardship. These firefighters are making progress in 
containing California's wildfires. As to date, over 1,400 fires have 
been contained.
  Sadly, several firefighters have been injured and one firefighter has 
given his life in fighting these devastating wildfires in California.
  This resolution commends these firefighters for their courageous 
actions and sacrifices in fighting the wildfires in California. The 
resolution also extends heartfelt sympathies to the families of those 
who have lost their homes, businesses, or loved ones in this tragedy.
  I ask my colleagues to support this resolution.
  Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. SALI. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
  I too rise today to commend the heroic efforts of firefighters 
throughout our Nation. At times they are called to pay the ultimate 
sacrifice to save the life and property of others. I have had the honor 
of meeting the men and women who fight these wildfires in my State of 
Idaho, and there is no greater example of courage than these folks.
  I understand how important it is to provide firefighters who battle 
wildfires with the right tools they need to do their job. Threats to 
human life are compounded by the fact that more and more people are 
living in homes near the fire-prone forests, placing themselves and the 
firefighters who try to protect them at greater risk.
  In April of this year, I offered an amendment to the United States 
Fire Administration Reauthorization Act of 2008 that allowed the 
Administrator of the United States Fire Administration to develop and 
distribute information on the importance of clearing biomass from 
Federal lands. This commonsense amendment will require USFA to work in 
consultation with other Federal agencies, such as the U.S. Forest 
Service and the Bureau of Land Management, to ensure that the USFA 
provides the best possible recommendation. As we come upon another 
deadly

[[Page H6292]]

and costly fire season, this information is as vital as ever. We must 
provide our Federal employees, who are the best in the world, all of 
the tools they need to keep our communities and themselves safe from 
catastrophic wildfires.
  I urge the chairman of the Natural Resources Committee to hold more 
hearings on the crisis situation in our Nation's forests. We have had 
just one hearing this year on the wildfire problem compared to six last 
Congress. I urge Members on both sides of the aisle to continue to work 
on providing firefighters and our public land management officials with 
the necessary tools they need to do their job. As firefighters risk 
life and limb to protect us, the least we can do is to provide them 
with everything they need.
  With that, Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

                              {time}  1515

  Mr. RAHALL. Mr. Speaker, I am very happy to yield such time as he may 
consume to the author of this resolution commending our firefighters, 
the gentleman from California (Mr. Farr).
  Mr. FARR. Thank you, Mr. Chairman, for yielding. I rise, supporting 
this resolution, with the backing of almost all the Members of Congress 
and certainly many co-authors that are on here.
  This resolution commends the firefighters who are fighting. On this 
incredible map, you can just see what the extent of fires are in 
California. Having come off the fire in the Big Sur region that I 
represent, you can't help but have an incredible amount of pride for 
the ability to call to order firemen and women from all over the United 
States, and in this case, because we are so over strapped, we are now 
asking help from Mexico with both crews and equipment. We have had 
firefighters come down from Canada and, as I understand, CAL FIRE is 
negotiating now with New Zealand and Australia to even bring in more 
personnel.
  These firefighters work nonstop. They are on 12 hours and then off 12 
hours. But they have to work every day. They don't stop on weekends. 
They just keep going out of the camps and into the fire lines. As was 
pointed out by the Speaker just a moment ago, the tragedy for two of 
those workers, one a volunteer fireman from Anderson Valley Fire 
Department, Robert Roland, died on the fire line of heart failure. John 
Hermo, who is a firefighter, full-time professional firefighter from 
Oregon, came down to fight the California fires and got some time off 
after so many days on the fire, and during his rest, just not being on 
the fire line, drowned in the river there, in the Kern River. It's 
really a tragedy. Here, these families have sent off these young folks 
to help us to respond as first responders, as emergency responders.
  So this resolution is a profound debt of gratitude to them. I know 
that those firefighters can't see this on their C-SPAN at home, but 
certainly the parents and relatives of all of those who have sent loved 
ones to these fires.
  Fires have threatened 9,000 homes and businesses. There are still 223 
wildland fires burning in California. More than 14,000 fires have 
already been contained because of the work of the firefighters. There 
are 18,000 personnel, firefighters on the lines right now, and there 
have been evacuation orders in Kern, Mendocino, Santa Barbara, Plumas, 
and in my county, and I'd like to personally thank our sheriff, Mike 
Kanalakis, for lifting the mandatory evacuation, which made people 
leave their homes in the rural area, many of whom felt that they were 
best suited to protect those homes. That evacuation order has been 
lifted and now the Big Sur Highway, Highway 1, is back in order for 
local personnel.
  So our firefighters are working nonstop, and some for 4 weeks without 
rest. They are going to need rest. You can't stop the fire burnings. 
You're going to have to bring in more personnel. That's why we are 
reaching out to other countries.
  So I want to thank those who I saw on the lines, the people I talked 
to, the communities that rallied around them. This is a heartfelt 
thanks from the Congress of the United States of America to the 
personnel in this country who respond on a basis to keep our cities and 
rural areas safe during wildfires. Thank you very much.
  Mr. SALI. I yield such time as he may consume to the gentleman from 
Tennessee (Mr. Wamp).
  Mr. WAMP. I thank the gentleman for yielding. I especially thank the 
author of the resolution, Mr. Farr of California, for his leadership 
and insight here in the Congress. It's a privilege to serve alongside 
him. A very thoughtful man.
  I want to join the chorus in praising these firefighters and 
encouraging others to answer this extraordinarily difficult call to 
public service every time that one of these fires encroaches on areas 
where people live and work. But I do find it ironic, having been here 
for 14 years, from time to time these issues cross over with each other 
because, frankly, the nexus between the environment, which is a part of 
these fires; energy, which is also a piece of this; and national 
security is the most important challenge of our generation, this nexus. 
And they are connected.
  Over the last 14 years I have had the privilege, even with Mr. Farr, 
to travel to places like Yellowstone and Yosemite Valley and the 
Olympics in Washington State and actually see with the stewards of our 
public lands, which represent over one-third of the land mass of the 
continental United States, is government-owned land, and actually be 
there with the Forest Service, the Park Service, the Bureau of Land 
Management personnel, many of whom are registered foresters, who will 
say that one of the biggest problems with the creation of these fires 
is the dead and dying timber which we have refused to clean out in 
terms of our stewardship of the forest. You can't just leave this 
forest alone and let all of this timber become just a matchbox on the 
ground without huge problems with the fires.
  So the mindset that says leave all forests alone and do not touch 
them, even to the point of not cleaning up the dead and dying timber, 
which creates with any kind of a spark these out-of-control fires that 
come into California into the areas where people live, the mindset that 
says, for whatever reason, do not touch these forests, is a flawed 
mindset that causes these fires.
  The best thing we can do for the firefighters is to try to mitigate 
the fires with good forestry practices, good stewardship, and logical 
environmental response. I consider myself a very logical and rational 
lawmaker on issues of the environment. But that is the same mindset 
that says under no circumstance do you take a piece of land in the 
middle of the Arctic tundra and not explore for oil and gas there.
  That is the same mindset. It's a flawed mindset. That is why we have 
the energy pinch. It's a mindset that says States cannot even go into 
the Outer Continental Shelf, if they want to, and explore oil and gas 
resources, when in fact we should leave that up to the States.
  So here we are, kind of feeling the pinch and the adverse 
consequences of extremist environmental policy, whether it's fires, 
whether it's energy sources. We have to come back to a rational, 
logical modern approach.
  Now I am very much part Cherokee Indian. The Cherokee National Forest 
is in my district. The Cherokee used to intentionally burn the forest. 
Why? Because it helped the nutrients in the ground. It became more 
robust. It's a natural cycle. They intentionally did it.
  Speaking of good forestry practices, they were not only not afraid of 
fire, they used fire for the right purposes so that the forest wouldn't 
get out of control and just burn wildly.
  It's that kind of thinking, long-term stewardship, that we need to 
get back to so that the political winds of the day do not stymie us on 
good management practices with our forests or good energy policy as a 
Nation so that everything is not off-limits to the point that the 
lights go out in California or we are paying $4.50 for a gallon of gas.
  These are unacceptable outcomes when all we have to do is take a 
reasonable, responsible approach from the center of America, 
representing average people, and saying, We are all for stewardship, we 
are all for participating in global warming, but we don't want to do it 
at the expense of our future. Our economic future, our quality of life, 
all these issues come together.
  So I would implore the leadership--I understand the Speaker of the 
House yesterday said in fact the SPR, the Strategic Petroleum Reserve, 
does need to be released so that we can increase some supply of oil. I 
am glad to

[[Page H6293]]

see these steps are taken finally to recognize that supply and demand 
are at stake here, they are at work here, and that we need to increase 
the supply of oil and gas in this country. Not that that is the cure-
all, end-all, but it's one of many things that we need to do in an all-
of-the-above approach to energy, which is connected to the environment 
and good long-term stewardship for our country.
  I thank the gentleman for the time.
  Mr. RAHALL. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentlelady from 
California (Mrs. Capps).
  Mrs. CAPPS. I thank my committee chairman for yielding time.
  Mr. Speaker, as a representative of areas affected by the recent 
wildfires and as a cosponsor of House Resolution 1322, I rise in strong 
support of this legislation, and I thank my colleague and my 
neighboring Member of Congress, Congressman Farr, for introducing this 
resolution.
  In the last 3 weeks, more than 1,700 wildfires have burned hundreds 
of thousands of acres in our home State of California. In my district 
alone, the Gap Fire, one of the State's highest priorities now, has 
burned nearly 10,000 acres and threatened several hundred homes in the 
city of Goleta. Yet, despite high winds and temperatures, our 
incredible firefighters and emergency personnel have limited the 
destruction, have saved hundreds of homes, hundreds of lives.
  I am so proud to say that California's emergency preparedness system 
and procedures are among the best in the Nation. My constituents in 
Goleta are the most recent beneficiaries of this system. I have to 
admit that I am a little biased toward our firefighters as well. Years 
ago, as a school nurse, they taught me CPR, they taught me first aid, 
they helped me train our school personnel. They are a wonderful asset 
to safety and preparedness in our communities.
  From their base at Dos Pueblos High School, State and local officials 
have worked together to move resources from across the State to areas 
that needed them most. They're masters at doing this. If not for this 
organized and swift effort, many more acres, homes, and lives could 
have been lost.
  As we speak here today on the floor of this House, in this well, 
thousands of men and women are putting their lives on the line, 
enduring great hardships to protect our wildlife, our property; indeed, 
our lives. Today, we commend these amazing individuals and we express 
our gratitude at their sacrifice and their service.
  I urge my colleagues to join Mr. Farr, to join all of us in thanking 
and honoring these courageous individuals by supporting this 
legislation.
  Mr. SALI. Mr. Speaker, I have no further speakers, so I would yield 
back the balance of my time.
  Mr. RAHALL. I yield back the balance of my time.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The question is on the motion offered by the 
gentleman from West Virginia (Mr. Rahall) that the House suspend the 
rules and agree to the resolution, H. Res. 1322.
  The question was taken; and (two-thirds being in the affirmative) the 
rules were suspended and the resolution was agreed to.
  A motion to reconsider was laid on the table.

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