[Congressional Record Volume 166, Number 160 (Wednesday, September 16, 2020)]
[Senate]
[Pages S5676-S5677]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                               WILDFIRES

  Ms. ROSEN. Mr. President, the West is on fire. At this very moment, 
historic wildfires are raging across our Western States. Communities 
have been devastated. Homes have been destroyed. Businesses have been 
turned to rubble. In the wake of these disasters, many families have 
been left with absolutely nothing.
  Nevadans are no strangers to seeing wildfires wreak havoc in our 
State. Just this year, Nevada has seen over 650 fires. Yet what is 
happening now is something different. These are some of the largest 
fires the West has ever seen. Already, in 2020, over 4.7 million acres 
of land have been burned across

[[Page S5677]]

our Nation, and we have already seen billions of dollars in economic 
losses and damage.
  Despite what you might hear from our President, these disasters are 
not blue State issues. That kind of partisan sentiment is just 
unconscionable. We must take a nonpartisan approach to saving lives and 
protecting property from fires that know no partisan affiliation. It 
doesn't matter that these fires are in the State of California or in 
the State of Oregon or in the State of Washington or in the State of 
Idaho. These disasters are happening in our United States. These fires 
are impacting our communities, and in this time of crisis, we have a 
responsibility to really help one another--to help our communities and 
to help our friends and our neighbors.
  People have died in these disasters, and some people are still 
missing. Over 30,000 courageous men and women are risking their lives 
to fight these fires and to save those families and save those 
properties. I am really proud to say that Nevada's firefighters have 
been deployed to assist in combating many of these disasters. I am so 
proud of them.
  As a result of these fires, the air quality in some of our 
communities is so poor and so unhealthy that it is exceeding 20-year 
records. This toxic haze has already impacted air quality in my own 
State of Nevada, and it is not just in Western States. This harmful 
smoke is spreading. It has been measured as far away as the east 
coast--in places like New York City and right here in Washington, DC. 
These fires put our collective health--all of ours--in jeopardy, 
especially now, during the pandemic.
  As I have said before, these fires impact every single one of us. Do 
you know why? It is because this is an environmental issue; this is an 
economic issue; this is a public health issue; and it is absolutely a 
climate issue.
  The science speaks for itself. Climate change and increased 
temperatures directly correlate to the growing intensity of these 
wildfires, and the longer we fail to address climate change, the more 
costly and more dangerous and deadly the impact is going to be for our 
friends, our neighbors, our States, and our communities.
  September is wildfire preparedness month, and make no mistake: We 
need to get a handle on these disasters. We need to provide resources 
to our local communities, to our firefighters, and to our land 
management agencies immediately. This is why I cosponsored my colleague 
Senator Harris' Wildfire Defense Act, which is legislation that would 
provide FEMA resources so that our local communities can develop 
wildfire defense plans and allow all of us to respond more effectively.
  We also need to address climate change, and we need to be proactive 
and practical, which is why, earlier this year, I cosponsored Senator 
Carper's climate change resolution. This resolution recognizes that 
climate change is real, that human activity is the primary cause, and 
that Congress must take immediate action to address one of the most 
pressing issues of our time.
  We need to act. Lives are on the line, and we need to act now. 
Nevada, the West, and Americans across the country are counting on all 
of us. So we need to get to work.
  I yield the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Oregon.

                          ____________________