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[Page H5113]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
RECOGNIZING FIRE PREVENTION WEEK
The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair recognizes the gentleman from
Pennsylvania (Mr. Thompson) for 5 minutes.
Mr. THOMPSON of Pennsylvania. Mr. Speaker, I rise as a former State
certified firefighter one from Pennsylvania. As we kick off the month
of October, I mention that next week is Fire Prevention Week.
In 1925, President Calvin Coolidge established Fire Prevention Week,
and today it is the longest running public health observance in the
Nation. It is celebrated each year during the week of October 9 to
commemorate the devastating Great Chicago Fire.
This is an opportunity to educate one another on simple measures we
can all take to prevent fires at home. You can bolster your family's
safety by testing your fire alarms monthly, giving home heaters
appropriate space, and having an escape plan if, God forbid, your home
does catch fire.
We must also do more to prevent wildfires. As former chairman of the
Subcommittee on Conservation and Forestry, I have been a part of many
conversations, meetings, and hearings about how we can better prevent
forest devastation as a result of wildfires.
We continue to see devastating wildfires on the West Coast. Homes,
businesses, and forests are burning to the ground. The air quality is
dangerous, and millions of Americans are at risk.
For decades, the health and resiliency of our national forests have
been in decline due to a lack of management and, more recently, extreme
environmental policies.
With nearly 90 million acres of forestland in need of urgent
treatment, Congress needs to finally act and provide the tools and
authorities to enable the Forest Service to proactively manage. Doing
so will directly help prevent wildfire outbreaks, support our local
communities, and restore the health of our Nation's forests. And a
healthy forest is one of the largest carbon sinks in the world.
The 2018 House-passed farm bill contained bipartisan, commonsense
forest management provisions to help prevent loss of life and property
from these fires. These bipartisan authorities were created with input
from the U.S. Forest Service under both the Obama and Trump
administrations. These were ideas that were well vetted through
hearings and markups and supported by the House Agriculture Committee
and on the floor.
However, Senate Democrats have refused to even discuss these needed
reforms. Since these provisions were rejected, 3.5 million acres of
Forest Service land have burned.
Wildfire response and recovery efforts should not be a partisan
issue. We are blessed as a nation to have hundreds of millions of acres
of beautiful forestlands, and the best way to prevent forest fires is
through a well-managed forest.
Mr. Speaker, well-managed forests, again, are the largest carbon
sinks in the world and the greatest filters for our watersheds that
originate in those forests. Our forests provide great opportunities for
outdoor recreation, but they are also unparalleled environmental tools.
Our national forests serve as some of the Nation's largest carbon
sinks.
This Fire Prevention Week, I would like to encourage everyone to
brush up on their fire safety measures, and I reiterate just how
crucial healthy forests are in preventing wildfires.
I thank the brave men and women who are on the front lines fighting
those devastating fires out West.
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