[Congressional Record Volume 170, Number 140 (Tuesday, September 10, 2024)]
[House]
[Pages H5146-H5149]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
WILDFIRE FIREFIGHTER PAY
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under the Speaker's announced policy of
January 9, 2023, the gentlewoman from Washington (Ms. Schrier) is
recognized for 60 minutes as the designee of the minority leader.
General Leave
Ms. SCHRIER. Madam Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members
may have 5 legislative days in which to revise and extend their remarks
and to submit extraneous material into the Record.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the
gentlewoman from Washington?
There was no objection.
Ms. SCHRIER. Madam Speaker, I just want to say that I am really
honored to be here today to talk about wildfires and our firefighters,
how noble they are, how much support they need, and how grateful we are
to them. That is why we are devoting this hour to the topic of
wildfires.
Let me just start by thanking our brave firefighters and first
responders for the work they do to keep us safe in all sorts of
emergencies.
The last few years in Washington State and, frankly, the whole West
of the United States have shown that as climate change accelerates
making for hotter days and weakened trees in overcrowded forests, so
does the risk of catastrophic wildfires.
All across the West, we are seeing wildfires that have grown in
intensity and frequency, and our State has some of the highest risk of
what we call firesheds in the entire country.
We have all felt the impact of wildfires through the damage they have
caused in our communities, the smoke in the air that we all breathe and
choke on every summer, and for some of us, our homes. This is
especially true in places like Stehekin and Lake Chelan where the
Pioneer fire just burnt for months in my district, threatening an
entire community and causing evacuations. I am so grateful to the
firefighters on the ground in Lake Chelan who worked tirelessly and put
themselves at risk to stop the spread of that devastating fire wherever
they could and to protect the residents who needed to be evacuated.
Because wildfires are an ever-increasing threat, I worked in Congress
with Members of both parties to address this issue. I will talk about a
couple of examples.
In Congress I am proud to have recently introduced the National
Prescribed Fire Act. I introduced this bipartisan, bicameral bill along
with Senator Ron Wyden from Oregon and David Valadao from California.
This legislation would invest in hazardous fuels management, including
prescribed fire, which is an effective, underutilized method of forest
management that helps to reduce the risk of catastrophic fires and
choking on smoke in the summer.
More specifically, this bill would authorize $300 million in total
for the Forest Service and the Department of the Interior to plan,
prepare, and conduct prescribed burns on Federal, State, and private
lands.
It would require the Forest Service and the Department of the
Interior to increase the number of acres treated each year with
prescribed fire.
It would establish a $10 million collaborative program based on the
successful collaborative forest landscape restoration program to
implement prescribed burns on county, State, and private land at high
risk of burning in a wildfire.
This bill would also establish a workforce development program at the
Forest Service and the Department of the Interior to develop, train,
and hire prescribed fire practitioners, because not all firefighters do
this. It would establish employment programs for Tribes, for veterans,
for women, and for those formerly incarcerated.
It would also require State air quality agencies to use current and
often more relaxed, as in our State of Washington, Federal laws and
regulations to allow larger prescribed burns and give States a bit more
flexibility in the winter months when there is low risk of catastrophic
fire to conduct these prescribed burns that reduce the risk of choking
on smoke all summer.
It would also prescribe direction for setting clear standards for
prescribed fire practitioner liability and studying the merits of a
claims fund to aid with cross-jurisdictional wildfire efforts.
I have also worked on some other legislation that goes hand in hand
with this.
One is the Forest Data Modernization Act.
This bill simply lets us know data about our forests and which ones
are at the highest risk for catastrophic fire. I have also voted for
landmark legislation like the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law which
incorporated many elements of the previously discussed National
Prescribed Fire Act, like historic investments to remove underbrush and
use prescribed fire to reduce these risks of catastrophic wildfire.
As an achievement in my own district, just last year the Kittitas
County Conservation District received $10 million through these
infrastructure funds.
Investments like this in firesheds like those in my district make
tangible differences and allow communities throughout the Eighth
District to be better prepared for wildfires.
However, I have to say that even with these steps, wildfires are a
reality now and in the future that we are going to have to grapple
with. I also want to note that in addition to doing prevention, we have
a shortage of these first responders, both career and volunteer
firefighters, right now. They are our heroes, and we need to take care
of them the way that they take care of us.
That is why I voted for several bills to increase firefighter pay and
benefits to make firefighting a year-round job and to get grants to
local fire departments so that they can hire and retain new
firefighters.
Wildfires aren't just an issue east of the Cascades in Washington
State anymore, a notoriously wet State west of the Cascades, we are
seeing these fires in the wet part of our State, including in Olympic
National Forest which is a rain forest.
So I will continue to work with my colleagues on both sides of the
aisle to push forward meaningful legislation that will keep the Eighth
District and the entire Western United States safe.
Madam Speaker, I yield to the gentleman from California (Mr.
[[Page H5147]]
Carbajal). He is from one of our Western States. Santa Barbara has
suffered some dramatic wildfires, as well.
Mr. CARBAJAL. Madam Speaker, I rise today to stand with our Nation's
firefighters, including our Federal and wildland firefighters and to
thank them for the tireless and dangerous work they are doing in
California at this very moment.
In the past week alone, there have been more than a dozen new
wildfires in California totaling nearly 50,000 acres across our State.
In San Bernardino, the Line fire has burned and has forced thousands
to evacuate. The Bridge fire, the Davis fire, the Boyles fire, the
Airport fire, and the Chimineas fire in my region near the Carrizo
Plain is, thankfully, nearly contained.
However, consider this: as Californians have been baking this week in
an extreme heat wave, our brave Federal firefighters choose to put on
heavy gear and head into that heat.
They spend these scorching months cutting down trees, digging lines,
and sleeping yards away from these deadly wildfires to keep us safe. If
we don't act soon, Congress is going to thank these brave firefighters
for their service with a pay cut.
We took a great step in 2021 with our Bipartisan Infrastructure Law
which provided a 50 percent pay raise to these heroes, but we cannot
let that vital provision expire now.
The Forest Service predicts that this pay cut and loss of benefits
could lead to one-half of our Federal and wildland firefighters leaving
their jobs, leaving the entire American West at risk.
In closing, Madam Speaker, I thank my friend, Assistant Leader
Neguse, for hosting this critical session tonight. Our firefighters
have an exceptional champion in the gentleman. Let's get this done for
our heroes who put their lives on the line every single day.
Ms. SCHRIER. Madam Speaker, I yield to the gentlewoman from New
Mexico (Ms. Stansbury) to speak about the Southwest of our country
where they also have suffered devastating fires.
Ms. STANSBURY. Madam Speaker, wildfires are devastating our
communities across the country. In fact, just 3 months ago, one of the
largest and most destructive fires in New Mexico's history tore through
Lincoln and Otero Counties, over 24,000 acres were burned, 1,400
structures were lost, over 900 homes were burnt to the ground, and
hundreds more were lost in devastating floods that have torn through
Ruidoso and Mescalero Apache in the months since.
These fires will change forever the fabric of our communities. Homes
and businesses were lost costing millions in damages and there will be
years of recovery to come.
There is no question that climate change is here, and climate change
is intensifying these fires. They are linked. Their intensity, their
frequency, and the events are coming in the aftermath. We must support
our communities. We must support them as they recover from these
devastating fires, and we must support them as they chart a future to a
more resilient future.
That is why I have been working with State leadership to help secure
$100 million to recover from the Salt and South Fork fires, why we are
fighting to make sure that our communities do not get left behind in
the disaster relief funds that we must pass this session here on this
House floor this month with the CR.
It is why I am leading and cosponsoring legislation for wildfire
recovery and resilience, why I am leading and cosponsoring legislation
to protect and restore our watersheds, and, of course, to support our
firefighters and first responders.
It is why we are working to ensure that FEMA, the Forest Service, and
other Federal agencies are held to account and have the tools and
resources they need to support our communities. It is why my staff and
all the people in our communities who are leading are on the ground
serving our communities and helping the families who have been impacted
by these fires every day because our communities and their future
literally depend on it.
The time to act is now, so let's do this.
{time} 1915
Ms. SCHRIER. Madam Speaker, I am so glad that my colleague,
Representative Stansbury, mentioned the aftereffects of these
wildfires. We all think about smoke and about forests, but we don't
think about what happens when the rain comes and the mudslides that
follow that cause so much destruction, as well.
Madam Speaker, I yield to the gentleman from Arizona (Mr. Stanton).
Mr. STANTON. Madam Speaker, I thank Dr. Schrier for her leadership on
this critically important issue to her State, my State of Arizona, and
the entire United States of America. I also thank Assistant Leader
Neguse for hosting this special hour.
Prolonged drought and extreme heat are causing wildfires across the
West. In my home State of Arizona, things are only getting worse. Last
year, more than 150,000 acres burned in Arizona. This year, it is more
than 250,000 acres, and the fire season is not yet over.
This isn't and shouldn't become the new normal, but wildfires are now
breaking records every year, becoming more frequent and more
destructive. We need a bold approach to protect lives and livelihoods.
That is why I am proud to support the bipartisan Modernizing Wildfire
Safety and Prevention Act, legislation to combat firefighter shortages,
including retaining expert wildland firefighters and improving fire
response times with updated technology. It also takes steps to address
the public health crisis caused by wildfire smoke by establishing a
nationwide, real-time air quality monitoring and alert system.
Containing wildfires is priority number one, but post-fire risks are
incredibly dangerous, as well. Burn scars after a blaze can lead to
life-threatening mudslides and flooding, particularly in rural
communities and on Tribal lands.
One Northern Arizona University study predicted devastating economic
losses from post-fire flooding. Even a small fire, when coupled with a
typical summer thunderstorm, could cost local governments and the
Federal Government more than $500 million and, under severe weather
events, up to $3 billion in evacuation costs and lost property values.
That is why I worked with Congressman Doug LaMalfa from northern
California to introduce the bipartisan Wildfire Response Improvement
Act. This bill would update FEMA's fire management assistance grant and
help communities responding to and recovering from wildfires.
Ms. SCHRIER. Madam Speaker, I yield to the gentlewoman from
California (Mrs. Torres), another Western State. We have a theme here.
Mrs. TORRES of California. Madam Speaker, I thank my colleague, Dr.
Schrier, and also Assistant Leader Joe Neguse for holding this
wildfire Special Order tonight.
I rise to speak on the devastating impact that wildfires have in my
district, in the Inland Empire, southern California.
Right now, there are two devastating wildfires surrounding my entire
district: the Bridge fire that has burned over 4,000 acres so far, and
the Line fire that has burned over 27,000 acres to date. My heart goes
out to the families and all the communities affected.
I thank our firefighters and first responders for their selfless
sacrifice, putting themselves in harm's way to save lives. I also thank
the city of Fontana and all of their employees helping to evacuate as
they host families at the Jessie Turner Health & Fitness Community
Center.
As our region continues to experience record-breaking heat waves,
extremely dry conditions, and other unprecedented weather, it is so
important to ensure the public has the resources necessary to prepare
for these disasters.
In 2005, I lost my own home to a fire. I had to live in a hotel in
temporary housing for 14 months with my husband, my three sons, and my
pets, all while running to be the mayor of my home city of Pomona. I
know all too well the great financial, physical, and emotional impacts
of losing your home in a fire.
It is my goal that by raising awareness and providing the appropriate
tools and resources to prepare for and recover from fires, we can help
people adequately prepare and avoid similar devastation.
[[Page H5148]]
That is why I have introduced multiple wildfire and mudslide bills,
including my annual Wildfire Preparedness Week resolution to protect
and evacuate our communities and to educate our communities on the
impacts of wildfires.
Our Federal firefighters do increasingly dangerous work to save lives
and protect property, and many of them sleep in cars, tents, and man-
made holes when they are responding to wildfires. These shelters fail
to adequately protect them or provide the necessary rest and
nourishment needed when responding to wildfires.
We need to do more to support these local heroes, and I urge my
colleagues to provide more resources to support these Americans. Since
January, there have been over 6,000 wildfires in California with our
firefighters on the front lines. We cannot over-prepare or be overly
cautious when it comes to wildfires.
Ms. SCHRIER. Madam Speaker, I thank the gentlewoman. I am so sorry to
hear that she lost her own home in a wildfire, and I thank her for
pointing out firewise and things that people can do to at least
mitigate their own risk, although these fires are out of control.
Madam Speaker, I yield to my colleague from Nevada (Ms. Titus),
another State with record hot temperatures.
Ms. TITUS. Madam Speaker, you are so right that, since Saturday,
multiple agencies from several States have been coordinating just south
of Reno to fight the Davis fire.
Among those on the front line is the Silver State Interagency Hotshot
Crew. Just as it sounds, the hotshot crew is a group of brave wildland
firefighters who, day in and day out, put their lives on the line to
fight and suppress wildfires.
Certainly, we know that climate change, including increased heat,
extended drought, and a thirsty atmosphere, is what has been the key
driver in increasing the risk and intensity of wildfires in the West,
at least over the last two decades when fires have gotten more
frequent, more intense, more expensive, and more difficult to put out.
That is true in Nevada, where we have been experiencing record
extreme heat. We hit 120 degrees just last month. That is a record for
Nevada, which is always hot but certainly not 120 degrees, and we have
ongoing drought.
Now, these conditions have a significant impact on the surrounding
environment, and as hotter temperatures increase, they dry out moisture
from leaves and branches, and they provide kindling to fuel these more
intense wildfires.
When many of these wildfires occur, we rely on a response from the
Federal wildland firefighters, but they are paid, as you have heard,
significantly less than their counterparts at State and local agencies.
It is obvious that we need to do more to remedy this situation so we
cannot only retain the firefighters who are in the force but can also
recruit more to their ranks.
That is why I am proud to join my colleague, Representative Neguse,
on legislation to increase the base pay and retirement benefits for
wildland firefighters, as well as provide greater access to mental
health and wellness services as they put themselves on the line for us.
We owe a great debt of gratitude to these heroes, and the reforms
that are in this legislation are the least that we can do in response
and in return for their service and sacrifice.
I thank our Nevada hotshot crew, all the firefighting agencies at the
Federal level who are working together to try to keep our community
safe, and Representative Neguse for his leadership on this important
issue.
Ms. SCHRIER. Madam Speaker, I thank the gentlewoman for sharing her
experiences, and I hope those fires are extinguished soon.
Madam Speaker, I yield to the gentleman from Colorado (Mr. Neguse),
one of my colleagues who has been an incredible partner when it comes
to managing our forests, protecting them from catastrophic wildfire, to
really thinking forward about how we use prescribed fire. I believe
that is because Colorado and Washington State face very similar risks.
Mr. NEGUSE. Madam Speaker, I thank my distinguished colleague and
classmate from the great State of Washington. Dr. Schrier has been a
tireless advocate for our wildland firefighters, effective forest
management, and ensuring that we make the necessary investments that we
know must be made for wildfire resiliency and mitigation.
Of course, all of those issues are incredibly important to the people
of her great State and, as she mentioned, certainly incredibly
important to the people of Colorado, the State that I am privileged to
represent in the United States Congress.
In particular, I thank Representative Schrier for hosting and
facilitating this opportunity on the House floor. Madam Speaker, you
heard from so many of our colleagues, each of whom are leaders in their
own right, particularly from the Rocky Mountain West and the Western
United States, from Nevada, California, Arizona, of course, and many
other States in the Intermountain West, all of which are grappling with
these challenges that have become so prevalent and pernicious in our
part of the country.
I am grateful that House Democrats are working really hard across
party lines because, of course, none of these issues are partisan in
nature. Wildfires don't respect political boundaries or jurisdictional
limitations. They impact every citizen of the West and every citizen of
our country. It is critical for us to marshal the necessary resources
to ultimately address those challenges.
The particular challenge that I want to call attention to tonight,
Madam Speaker, is one, of course, that you are familiar with and one
that you have heard from many other of my colleagues this evening: The
way in which Federal wildland firefighters are treated, in my view, by
the Federal Government is patently unfair and unconscionable.
For years, we have relied on these first responders, these brave
public servants, these courageous individuals, to protect our homes,
our small businesses, our communities, and our States. They risk life
and limb to protect us.
I say that having had multiple historic wildfires in my district back
home in Colorado. The largest wildfire in the history of our State, the
second largest wildfire in history of our State, the most destructive
wildfire in the history of our State all happened within the last 4
years in the congressional district that I call home.
I have seen firsthand the sacrifices made by these wildland
firefighters, and it is unconscionable that we don't pay them a living
wage.
Now, we made a lot of progress because of Dr. Schrier's work leading
the way with others, myself included, to ensure that, in the bipartisan
infrastructure law, we finally provided a holistic pay structure that
compensates our wildland firefighters. Not a panacea, didn't solve the
problem, but it made progress, progress that we could build on.
Instead, unfortunately, right now we are poised to potentially go
backward because, as you know, Madam Speaker, those core provisions of
the bipartisan infrastructure law that largely codify the executive
order that President Biden had issued previously to increase wildland
firefighter pay, those provisions which were enhanced by a variety of
other statutory provisions that we were able to enact through the NDAA
last year to provide, as I said, more comprehensive pay scales for our
wildland firefighters, are set to expire at the end of the month.
{time} 1930
The clock is ticking, Madam Speaker, and it is incumbent upon every
Member of this august body to come together, to work together, to find
common ground, and do what is right by these wildland firefighters.
They deserve it. They have earned it. The time for excuses, in my view,
is long past gone.
I am committed, Madam Speaker, to working in good faith with anyone
of either party to address this challenge and to ensure that our
wildland firefighters are paid what they are owed. I am going to keep
at it, working with Dr. Schrier and my many colleagues, and hope
springs eternal that we will get this done because, of course, the
stakes are too high for us not to get it done.
Madam Speaker, I give my gratitude to Representative Schrier for her
leadership.
[[Page H5149]]
Ms. SCHRIER. Madam Speaker, I thank Representative Neguse. I cannot
overstate what an excellent partner the gentleman has been to work with
and to fight for managing our forests and for our firefighters.
Madam Speaker, we feel that appreciation for our first responders in
our hearts, but that is just not enough. We need to find that in our
appropriations as well. As my colleague, Mr. Neguse, just pointed out,
the pay isn't high enough. These are high-risk jobs.
We have turned them into year-round jobs for forest management. That
is helpful. We have gotten pensions and Federal benefits. That is
helpful. Yet think about what they do. Think about what their families
go through. Think about housing. How are they supposed to find housing
when they don't know where the next fire is going to be and when they
don't have a salary to support themselves.
There is a way to combine all of these efforts of higher pay, more
recognition, and better benefits. Frankly, we should have a path to
allow firefighters to buy into Medicare early, and I have cosponsored
this. We can't expect people to fight fires until they are 65 years
old. It just doesn't make sense. Just like we did for veterans, we also
need to have some presumption that illnesses later in life likely came
from inhalation of smoke.
I also mention that there is a real need to sort of complete the
cycle. It is one thing to pull underbrush out, to bring small-diameter
trees out of our forests in order to protect the forests, but then
there are all kinds of uses for those. We need more small-diameter
mills. We need guarantees from the Forest Service that those small-
diameter, 8 inches or less, trees will go and be processed.
We can create cross-laminated timber that is strong enough that we
could build housing and build it more affordably with materials grown
right here at home. There is a cycle there.
We can use it for biochar. All of these Western States, they are dry,
too. Biochar will hold moisture in the ground and can help complete
this cycle. I have a business in my district that creates something
called wood straw. It works better than regular hay or straw in
stabilizing a hillside because it kind of sticks into that mud and
allows seeds to germinate more quickly. We can use these products and
complete that cycle and make it pencil out financially.
I also give a nod to a community in my district, the community of
Roslyn. Roslyn, a small town, absolutely adorable, sits surrounded by
forest. It is one road in, one road out. That is it.
This community is really just waiting for a disaster to happen, but
they didn't just sit back and wait. They put in for community project
funding and got a good chunk of Federal dollars so that they could
manage the forests surrounding their town. That means that there could
be a catastrophic wildfire, but it would slow or, hopefully, stop by
the time it got near the town.
The community got so involved and excited about this, the forest
management, that they each took it upon themselves to firewise their
homes, and this has become part of the culture, and it is what we need
to do throughout the West to protect our forests and to protect our
communities.
I don't believe I have any speakers left, and so I just emphasize
that gratitude to our firefighters and my commitment to continuing to
work for healthier forests, for the wood products industry, for good
environmental stewardship, and for protecting the West and the entire
planet from escalating and accelerating climate change.
Madam Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.
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