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[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
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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.
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