[Congressional Record Volume 164, Number 144 (Tuesday, August 28, 2018)]
[Senate]
[Page S5993]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

       By Mr. WYDEN:
   S. 3403. A bill to authorize transitional sheltering assistance for 
individuals who live in areas with unhealthy air quality caused by 
wildfires, and for other purposes; to the Committee on Homeland 
Security and Governmental Affairs.
  Mr. WYDEN. Mr. President, today I am introducing the Clean Air 
Refugee Assistance Act of 2018 to help Americans who have been driven 
away from their homes by choking, hazardous wildfire smoke. Western 
wildfires are getting bigger, hotter, and more difficult to fight and 
scientists says it's only likely to get worse.
  Folks back home in Oregon and across the Pacific Northwest already 
know what I'm talking about because they're on the front lines of these 
disasters. With dryer summers and lower snow packs, wildfires rage 
across the West. They're threatening lives, homes, and businesses and 
generating so much smoke that they're creating what I call clean air 
refugees.
  These are people who can't go outside and, in some cases, who must 
flee their homes and communities to find pockets of fresh air.
  I'm talking about children suffering from asthma and other conditions 
and seniors who need a respirator to breathe.
  In some cases, Oregonians lacking access to safe, clean air are being 
told to seek shelter in public places like libraries and government 
buildings.
  My legislation would help provide some relief by opening the Federal 
Emergency Management Agency's (FEMA) Transitional Sheltering Assistance 
program to people seeking temporary shelter from wildfire smoke.
  This program already permits FEMA to pay for temporary lodging for 
people who can't immediately return home following a disaster.
  My bill would permit clean air refugees to apply if they live in an 
area where the air quality index is determined to be unhealthy for at 
least three consecutive days as the result of a wildfire declared to be 
a major disaster by the President or Governor of the affected state.
  FEMA-approved applicants would pick from a list of participating 
hotels and motels and FEMA would pay the lodging costs.
  Mr. President, the Federal government needs to step up and be a 
better partner on these wildfires and it can start by helping Americans 
who have been driven from their homes find some refuge.
  Passing the Clean Air Refugee Assistance Act would be a breath of 
fresh air for folks struggling to escape the choking smoke, and I urge 
my colleagues to support this important bill.
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