[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 163 (2017), Part 14]
[House]
[Pages 19786-19787]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                          CALIFORNIA WILDFIRES

  (Mr. PANETTA asked and was given permission to address the House for 
1 minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. PANETTA. Mr. Speaker, in California, wildfires have become a 
year-round threat. Because of these fires, communities across our great 
State have suffered devastating loss of life and property.
  Last year, in my district on the central coast of California, we had 
the most expensive fire in United States history, the Soberanes fire. 
This year, we have had some of the deadliest and costliest fires in 
California history in Napa and Sonoma. This week, we watch fires burn 
in the hills from Los Angeles and Santa Barbara to Oakland and Big Sur.
  Governor Jerry Brown calls this ``the new normal.'' We should call it 
unacceptable, and we must do something.

[[Page 19787]]

We must fully fund the cost of fire suppression. We must include 
California fire relief in this year's disaster package. We must think 
outside the box when it comes to fire prevention and focus our efforts 
to better manage our forests in the future.

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