[Congressional Record Volume 169, Number 20 (Tuesday, January 31, 2023)]
[House]
[Page H557]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                 WILDLAND FIREFIGHTERS DESERVE SUPPORT

  (Mr. ZINKE asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 
minute.)
  Mr. ZINKE. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in defense of our Nation's 
wildland firefighters.
  In my role as Secretary of the Interior, as Congressman, and as a 
Montanan, I have seen the devastation that mismanagement and 
overregulation has brought to our forests.
  Every year, we bear witness to our forests and homes burning in 
catastrophic wildfires, wildfires that will be made worse by frivolous 
and potentially deadly litigation that seeks to prevent firefighters 
from doing their job.
  Last year, I was at a fire camp in Elmo, Montana. While I watched 
scoopers from Bridger Aerospace do their work on the ridge, I also 
noticed the red stripe where retardant was dropped to protect homes, 
ranches, and lives.
  In many ways, wildland firefighting is a lot like serving on the 
battlefield. The men and women are dropped behind enemy lines, 
surrounded on all fronts, and the only resources they have next to them 
are those men and women who fight fires and the air support above. If 
they call in air support, it is because they need it.
  We would never think of denying our troops in battle the lifesaving 
air support they need, so why would anyone think that our firefighters 
doing their job deserve any less?

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