[Congressional Record Volume 170, Number 185 (Thursday, December 12, 2024)]
[Senate]
[Page S7004]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

      By Mr. PADILLA:
  S. 5532. A bill to establish a Wildfire Intelligence Center, and for 
other purposes; to the Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and 
Forestry.
  Mr. PADILLA. Madam President, I rise to introduce the Wildfire 
Intelligence Collaboration and Coordination Act of 2024. This 
legislation would establish a joint wildfire intelligence center in the 
Department of Agriculture, the Department of Commerce, and the 
Department of the Interior to foster collaboration to respond to 
wildfires. This center would study, plan, coordinate, and implement 
issues of joint concern among the three Departments. This would include 
providing comprehensive assessment and modeling of wildfires to inform 
response, land and fuels management, risk reduction, post-wildfire 
recovery, and rehabilitation.
  Increasingly severe and frequent wildfires pose a significant risk to 
the health of our environment and communities across our country. In 
recent years, huge wildfires have struck Alaska, Colorado, my home 
State of California, Nevada, New Mexico, Hawaii, and beyond. Whether 
the fire was burning in your State or whether the smoke traveled and 
covered the skies of your State, the impacts or wildfires cannot be 
ignored. Currently, the Franklin Fire is raging in Malibu, CA, and has 
burned more than 4,037 acres and destroyed several homes.
  As the West continues to suffer from devastating wildfires year after 
year, we must be proactive instead of solely reactive to the wildfire 
crisis, and that includes coordinating across the Federal Government to 
meet the current challenge.
  I look forward to working with my colleagues to pass this bill as 
soon as possible.

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