[Congressional Record Volume 159, Number 9 (Thursday, January 24, 2013)]
[Senate]
[Pages S234-S236]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                            WILDFIRE RELIEF

  Mr. UDALL of Colorado. Mr. President, I rise to speak in favor of a 
critical issue for my State; that is, much needed wildfire relief.
  I wish to be more specific. Colorado has been in dire need of 
emergency watershed protection funds since fires raged in my State just 
6 months ago. Just 6 months ago we were in the news not only in our 
country but around the world because of fires in our State.
  This is an important issue, one of the most important issues 
confronting my State because the last fire season was the worst, 
literally, on record. Although the fires no longer burn, the threats 
they pose to entire communities persist long after the final embers are 
extinguished. Literally, hundreds of thousands of Coloradans remain 
vulnerable to flooding and tainted water supplies in the aftermath of 
these fires.
  To people not from the West, the reason why this is an emergency may 
not be immediately clear, so let me explain. In my State, the Hyde Park 
and the Waldo Canyon fires--these are two fires that were all over the 
news--tragically took lives, burned more than 100,000 acres, and led to 
catastrophic property loss. President Obama declared them national 
disasters, and he actually came to Colorado and joined me and the rest 
of the delegation to visit the scenes of destruction, where over 300 
homes were destroyed in Colorado's second largest city, Colorado 
Springs.
  But that initial impact in those initial scenes could pale in 
comparison to threats these communities will face in the coming days, 
months, and years. Why is that so? Because once a mountainside is 
stripped of all its trees and foliage and the soil is burned down to 
bedrock, there is nothing left to hold back the water and debris as it 
races downhill toward our communities.
  Without rehabilitation and restoration, the watersheds that provide 
municipal and agricultural water are at risk from landslides, flooding, 
and erosion. In turn, that could result in serious infrastructure 
damage, water supply disruptions, and even loss of life.
  Stabilizing and protecting these communities' watersheds is simply 
the right thing to do and, moreover--and this is important--taking 
action now is also fiscally responsible. Quite simply, if we do not do 
the repairs now, we will pay more later.
  When Coloradans came to Senator Bennet and me to share these needs 
confronting our State, we immediately went to work. We delivered on the 
promise of providing fire relief when the Senate passed the emergency 
supplemental spending bill in December of last year, which also 
provided much needed relief funds for Hurricane Sandy victims. That was 
a bipartisan bill supported by Senate Republicans and Democrats alike. 
But the Republicans in the House regrettably gutted the bill and sent 
back legislation that explicitly cut out wildfire relief.
  In that context, let me make one point absolutely clear. This is an 
emergency. Some people question the need for funding and have asked why 
we wouldn't limit dollars to just Hurricane Sandy areas, such as the 
bill does before us today. The short answer is it is a fiscally smart 
thing to do, the right thing to do, and the fair thing to do.
  This bill is an emergency appropriations bill for all national 
disasters, not just Hurricane Sandy. It is our best hope of seeing 
wildfire relief.
  I emphatically note the Colorado emergencies occurred before 
Hurricane Sandy, and the West should not have to continue to wait. Very 
few emergency supplemental bills pass Congress. This bill is passing 
now, and it should include aid for Colorado and other States across our 
country.
  We, as Americans, are in this together. When deadly disasters strike, 
we all support each other. I know the Presiding Officer's home State of 
Hawaii has experienced natural disasters. We stand together when we get 
into these situations. That is why I am so frustrated that the House of 
Representatives dismissed Colorado's needs and

[[Page S235]]

ruined our chances, the West's chances, of immediate wildfire relief 
when lawmakers there failed to include emergency watershed protection 
funding for Colorado in this disaster relief legislation.
  This neglect is particularly disappointing, because if the House had 
quickly taken up the Senate-passed disaster assistance bill at the end 
of last year, we would not be in this desperate position today. I say 
this somewhat reluctantly; I served in the House for 10 years. But I 
have to say the House is setting a dangerous precedent of arbitrarily 
legislating disaster relief funds. Communities across this country, and 
not just those affected by Hurricane Sandy, are at risk of catastrophic 
flooding and contaminated drinking water.
  But House Republicans are either sending a message that the West 
doesn't matter or saying they don't care about certain communities once 
the TV cameras are focused elsewhere.
  What is the latest development in this ongoing fight to help wildfire 
victims? Yesterday, I introduced an amendment to the House-passed 
disaster relief legislation that would help national disaster areas 
repair their drinking water supplies and the systems that back up those 
water supplies. This amendment would not add a single cent to the bill 
and instead simply reverses the House's decision to exclude all States 
other than those affected by Hurricane Sandy.
  No one questions that we need to help hurricane victims in the 
Northeast. But wildfire relief is not pork. I will say that again. 
Wildfire relief is not pork. Colorado's record-setting wildfires in 
2012 displaced tens of thousands, destroyed more than 600 homes 
statewide and tragically resulted in deaths. Wildfires destroy 
communities, and their devastation persists for decades.
  These restoration projects of which I speak must get started now 
before our spring snow melt sends tons of ash and sediment into our 
water supplies and buries homes and infrastructure under mudslides and 
floodwaters.
  As I said earlier, I know these fires may seem to be old news for 
some, but Coloradans are living under the ongoing threats every day. I 
wish to remind all of my colleagues that in the past the Natural 
Resources Conservation Services, the NRCS, had the flexibility to 
provide EWP assistance for earlier disasters before moving on to the 
needs created by subsequent events.
  As of December, 2012, an estimated $47 million was needed to mitigate 
damaged watersheds in the aftermath of other Presidentially declared 
Stafford Act disaster areas in Arizona, Colorado, Louisiana, Florida, 
Minnesota, Mississippi, New York, Utah, and Wisconsin, North, South, 
East, and West.
  Of the $180 million the House approved for Sandy-related emergency 
watershed protection relief, only $30 million has been requested. Yet 
the House bill is saying other communities cannot have access to these 
funds to protect their own people. It is senselessly wasteful to leave 
these other communities behind to suffer the effects of less-recent 
disasters, whether they faced wildfire, hurricane or flood.
  Mr. President, I am not being an alarmist. Coloradans unfortunately 
have already experienced some of these effects. For example, the 
usually crystal-clear Poudre River has been flowing black--literally 
flowing black due to ash and runoff from the fires. This forced the 
downstream city of Fort Collins to shut off its water intake for over 
100 days. Senator Bennet was on site just a week ago, and the pictures 
were tragic and they compel action.
  Further downstream on that important water course, the Poudre, the 
city of Greeley shut off its water intakes for 36 days and is still 
only able to take a small fraction of its normal intake.
  I have a photo here that shows a water main that supplies 75 percent 
of the backup drinking water supply for the city of Colorado Springs, 
our second largest city, south of Denver. This pipeline used to be 
buried 8 feet deep but is now exposed due to runoff. It has been 
exposed because of the runoff from the fire area, and, of course, it 
will be exposed to more runoff.
  You can see the effect of what is happening after these fires. How 
much more of an emergency do we need, when our most basic resource--
drinking water supplies for three of Colorado's largest cities and its 
families and businesses--is threatened?
  Let me share one more example. The flood potential in the burned 
areas is now 20 times higher than before the fire, which means that 
areas are experiencing 100-year floods from the same amount of rainfall 
that would have caused a 5-year flood before the wildfires.
  Look at this photo. This is Highway 14, which is the major east-west 
artery through northern Colorado. This mudslide is one of many that 
occurred during one very minor rainstorm after the High Park fire. 
These mudslides on our major roads put people, property, and commerce 
at risk. Already families in the Colorado Springs vicinity, which I 
mentioned earlier, have received at least four flash flood warnings 
since the Waldo Canyon fire. Stabilizing this ground and restoring the 
burned areas on both Federal and private land is critical to public 
safety, public health, and the prevention of another disaster.
  So as I begin to close, I would just say, don't get me wrong, I 
support the recovery of the communities devastated by Hurricane Sandy, 
but I want to ensure that my colleagues understand the gravity of the 
situation we are facing in Colorado and in other States that are 
confronting disaster needs. The Senate delivered when it came to 
providing fire relief, in part because of my colleague Senator Bennet's 
great work on the Agriculture Committee, but the House unwisely sent us 
a package that turns a blind eye to Colorado and the West. If we do not 
act soon, communities across this Nation will see unnecessary flood 
risks, contaminated water supplies, and the potential looms for tragic 
deaths caused by our inaction. That is simply not acceptable.
  So when someone asks whether the EWP--the emergency watershed 
protection provisions and program--is necessary, critical, or even an 
emergency, the answer is an emphatic yes. For many of our communities 
in Colorado, this is their No. 1 priority in Congress, and I, for one, 
am not going to let their critical needs go unmet. Mark my words. This 
is not an issue I am going to let die. It is not an issue Senator 
Bennet will let die. We are going to keep at it until we stabilize 
these soils, protect our water supplies, and stand up for the people of 
Colorado and the people of our country.
  I thank the Acting President pro tempore for his attention, and I 
yield the floor.
  The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. The Senator from Colorado.
  Mr. BENNET. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent to speak for 7 
minutes on the same topic as my colleague.
  The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. Without objection, it is so 
ordered.
  Mr. BENNET. Mr. President, I wish to thank my colleague, the senior 
Senator from Colorado, for his remarks and for his commitment to this 
important issue, and I rise today to speak briefly about the disaster 
bill that is in front of the Senate and to address an issue of enormous 
importance to the people of Colorado.
  We have in front of us a disaster bill to respond to the widespread 
damage caused by Hurricane Sandy along the east coast, and we should 
obviously pass this bill to help our fellow citizens in their time of 
need. It is in that exact same spirit that the Senate passed a disaster 
relief bill at the end of last year that helped victims of natural 
disasters all across this country--not just the victims of Hurricane 
Sandy but also the victims of the devastating wildfires in my home 
State of Colorado and other States across the West.
  We worked very hard to get that money into the bill the Senate passed 
in December. With the leadership of Mark Udall, we were able to 
successfully make the case that Colorado has a significant need for 
resources to help protect communities affected by the wildfires. We 
worked closely with the Senate Appropriations Committee, and they 
answered Colorado's call for help, and I thank those Members--Members 
from both sides of the aisle--who supported us. That was hard to do. It 
was hard to do, but in the end the idea that we are all in this 
together prevailed.
  The House, however, let that bipartisan bill die at the end of last 
session, and now Congress has to start anew. Now here we are, asked to 
consider a

[[Page S236]]

House-passed bill that leaves Colorado behind, a bill where the House 
arbitrarily stripped out the money that would help our struggling 
communities in Colorado, and we are told this bill is unamendable. We 
are told the House has drawn a line in the sand and won't take any 
changes. Like my senior Senator, I am stunned by this and profoundly 
disappointed.
  So let me tell my colleagues what this means for the people of 
Colorado. The Waldo Canyon and High Park fires in the summer of 2012 
were the first and second most destructive fires in Colorado's history. 
They tragically resulted in the loss of life for several Coloradans. 
The fires destroyed hundreds of homes and caused millions of dollars of 
damage to critical infrastructure and some of the worst and most 
lasting damage to our watersheds. As anyone from Colorado or the West 
knows, our watersheds and the clean water they provide are the 
lifeblood of our communities.
  Here is a hilltop that was completely devastated by the fires of 2012 
and a road near Fort Collins that was overrun with sediment and debris 
in a mudslide after the High Park fire.
  Here is the Poudre River after the fire, running completely black as 
the sediment, ash, and soot are washed off the singed hillsides into 
the water. This river provides drinking water for the cities of Fort 
Collins and Greeley, CO, home to one-quarter of a million people--home 
to 250,000 people--and home to agriculture and businesses that rely on 
having clean water to get through the day.
  I recently met with the water providers at the treatment plant for 
this area, situated just yards from the charred mountains. They showed 
me a mason jar of black water, just like this. It could have been 
pulled directly from the Poudre. That is, unfortunately, because of our 
inaction and our foolishness, our shortsightedness, and that is what 
communities can expect if we don't start recovery work in these 
watersheds.
  The resources provided under the USDA's emergency watershed 
protections--the EWP Program--would directly help these communities in 
Colorado. We fought for those resources, for the EWP Program, in the 
Senate bill last December, and reason prevailed. Republicans and 
Democrats came together and said: We understand the people of Colorado 
need this; they need our help. And I again thank our friends on the 
Senate Appropriations Committee for helping to make that happen. Yet we 
stand here today with a bill that doesn't include these funds, the 
funding stripped out, while an unmet need of $20 million persists in 
Colorado alone. And it is not just our State, there are 51 other 
projects across 19 other States that need these resources to recover 
from their disasters. This is a major national issue, and it is crazy 
that we are standing here in this position today. Lest anybody think 
this is a decision that somehow is fiscally disciplined, let me stand 
on this floor and guarantee you that as these hillsides wash into the 
river in the spring snowmelt, the cost of restoring these water 
treatment plants, the cost of making sure we have clean water will 
dwarf the $20 million we are talking about today.
  To conclude, it is incredibly unfortunate, given the history we have 
in this country of coming together after a disaster, that the House 
would not follow our lead in the Senate and provide us these resources. 
There are reasons we are the United States of America, and one of those 
reasons is that we come to each other's aid at moments of natural 
disasters and help our friends and neighbors in other States. We make 
sure they get through to the next year.
  Perhaps adding insult to injury is that funding for Colorado was 
stripped under the rationale, as I said, that the House was somehow 
being fiscally responsible, even though the exact opposite is true. The 
reality of this situation is that it is fiscally irresponsible because 
we can say with 100 percent certainty that the cost of fixing these 
problems later will be significantly more than it is now. So an ounce 
of prevention in this case is clearly worth a pound of cure. Any 
household or small business understands that making these investments 
today is the right move, instead of just waiting for the next disaster 
to happen, instead of waiting for matters to get worse, although that 
is the habit of this town, as the Acting President pro tempore will 
come to learn. The House just couldn't put rigid ideology aside and do 
something for the country as a whole.
  Mr. President, I am not going to oppose the Sandy bill. We need to 
help our fellow citizens on the east coast. But this is a real head-
scratcher for me and I know for the senior Senator from Colorado, even 
for this place. We are going to continue to work with our colleagues in 
the Senate to get these resources signed into law, but the fact is we 
had it done. We had it done in the Senate, in a bipartisan way, with 
the help of our friends on the Appropriations Committee and both 
Republicans and Democrats on this Senate floor. The House of 
Representatives let Colorado down, and now we are going to have to go 
back and find a way to make it right.
  With that, Mr. President, I yield the floor, and I suggest the 
absence of a quorum.
  The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. The clerk will call the roll.
  The legislative clerk proceeded to call the roll.
  Mr. CORNYN. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order for 
the quorum call be rescinded.
  The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. Without objection, it is so 
ordered.

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