Bruce Westerman

Mr. WESTERMAN

Mr. WESTERMAN. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members have 5 legislative days to revise and extend their remarks and to include extraneous material on H.R. 5490, the bill now under consideration.

Mr. WESTERMAN. Mr. Speaker, I yield 5 minutes to the gentlewoman from Virginia (Mrs. Kiggans), who is the sponsor of the bill.

Mr. WESTERMAN. Mr. Speaker, I have no further requests for time, I am prepared to close, and I continue to reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. WESTERMAN. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of Mrs. Kiggans' bill, the BEACH Act, which would reauthorize and amend the Coastal Barrier Resources Act, or CBRA. Congress passed CBRA in 1982 to restrict the use of new Federal funding that may encourage development on or around certain coastal barriers. The intention of these restrictions is to minimize the loss of human life, wasteful expenditure of Federal revenues, and the damage to fish, wildlife, and other natural resources associated with the coastal barriers. H.R. 5490 would reauthorize CBRA and codify new maps that were recently proposed by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. In addition, H.R. 5490 makes critical reforms to the underlying CBRA statute that will benefit coastal home buyers. Specifically, the bill would require owners who are selling or leasing property in a CBRA zone to disclose that the property is in a CBRA zone to the buyer or lessee. This is a much-needed transparency measure that is long overdue. Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to support this bill, and I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. WESTERMAN. Mr. Speaker, coastal barriers are important for the protection of coastal communities and for wildlife habitat. The BEACH Act balances these two needs by reauthorizing and amending CBRA to recognize the changes to coastal barriers that have taken place over time. The bill would also benefit coastal communities by providing much-needed transparency. Mr. Speaker, I commend my colleague, Mrs. Kiggans, for her great work on the bill. I urge my colleagues to support the legislation, and I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. WESTERMAN

Mr. WESTERMAN. Mr. Chair, I yield 3 minutes to the gentlewoman from California (Mrs. Kim).

Mr. WESTERMAN. Mr. Chair, this is a good amendment that allows for good use of our resources. It allows Tribes and local communities to take care of the roads that are necessary to access, to be able to do these forest management projects, and also to be able to fight fires when they break out and stop them before they get too big. Mr. Chair, I support the amendment.

Mr. WESTERMAN. Mr. Chair, I ask unanimous consent to claim the time in opposition, although I am not opposed to the amendment.

Mr. WESTERMAN. Mr. Chair, I ask unanimous consent to claim the time in opposition, although I am not opposed to the amendment.

Mr. WESTERMAN. Mr. Chair, I rise today in support of this amendment, which seeks to expand nursery and seed capacity, support reforestation efforts by State, Tribal, and local governments, as well as institutions of higher education on lands managed by the Department of the Interior. I thank the amendment's sponsor for her engagement on this important issue. I greatly appreciate her and her staff's willingness to work with us on some revisions to the amendment. This amendment will help improve badly needed reforestation and restoration activities across the Nation by engaging non-Federal partners, including Tribes, who are critical partners as we seek to improve the health of our Nation's forests. The magnitude of our wildfire and forest health crisis demands an all-hands-on-deck approach. I am encouraged that this amendment will empower non-Federal partners to assist in vital work. The Department of the Interior has identified a reforestation backlog of roughly 2.4 million acres across their land management agencies. This total is likely to grow considering the massive numbers of acres lost to wildfires in recent years. This is a good amendment and will help tackle the enormous reforestation and restoration backlog affecting Department of the Interior lands. I urge my colleagues to support the amendment, and I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. WESTERMAN. Mr. Chair, I thank the gentleman for yielding, and I rise in strong support of his amendment. This amendment will add to the underlying legislation key pieces of Representative Barr's bipartisan White Oak Resilience Act, which passed out of the Natural Resources Committee unanimously this year. While the Fix Our Forests Act primarily addresses the dire state of our overgrown and fire-prone forests in the West, this amendment addresses an urgent challenge confronting our Eastern forests. At current trends, we face an imminent shortage of white oak trees throughout their native range of the Eastern United States. Because of a lack of necessary forest management practices and shifts in the forest environment, we have created a situation where white oak seedlings and saplings are not growing at a sustainable rate. Presently, roughly 75 percent of white oaks in the U.S. are classified as mature. The lack of younger trees is very troubling. Without intervention, the white oak population will drastically decline in the next 10 to 15 years. White oaks are a keystone species that provide immense ecosystem benefits to the many forests within the species' 104- million-acre range. This iconic American tree is especially important for wildlife that is both a preferred food source and habitat for many species. As Representative Barr mentioned, there are many uses for white oak, many uses that are especially important to the great State of Kentucky. This is a good amendment that will help restore the long-term viability of this beautiful and important tree. I urge my colleagues to support the amendment.

Mr. WESTERMAN. Mr. Chair, I ask unanimous consent to claim the time in opposition, although I am not opposed to it.

Mr. WESTERMAN. Mr. Chair, I thank the gentleman for yielding. Mr. Chair, I rise today in support of the amendment offered by Mr. Valadao of California. This amendment does require the Secretary of the Interior and the Secretary of Agriculture to conduct an evaluation of the container aerial firefighting system to assess the use of such a system to mitigate and suppress wildfires. The Secretaries must conduct this evaluation in consultation with the National Interagency Aviation Committee and the Interagency Airtanker Board. As we attempt to combat the devastating wildfire crisis, it is essential that agencies like the U.S. Forest Service are utilizing all available technologies to suppress wildfires. The technology supported by this amendment involves disposable containers that are dropped with water or fire retardant, which could potentially decrease the response time to fires and increase the number of aircraft available for firefighting duties. While the technology is not new, the wildland firefighting agencies have not actively studied it. This amendment, therefore, would ensure that our wildland firefighting agencies are fully informed about both the effectiveness and potential cost savings of this important technology. Mr. Chair, again, I thank Representative Valadao for his work on this amendment. Throughout the drafting process, he has continually advocated for the interests of those in his district and correctly emphasized the importance of leveraging all available technology and resources to better protect vulnerable communities. Mr. Chair, I urge my colleagues to support the legislation.

Mr. WESTERMAN. Mr. Chair, I ask unanimous consent to claim the time in opposition, although I am not opposed to it.

Mr. WESTERMAN. Mr. Chair, I join my colleague, Mr. Peters, rising in support today of Representative Harder's amendment, which does authorize the Department of the Interior to create a Casualty Assistance Program to provide support for wildland firefighters and the families of the firefighters who have been critically injured or killed in the line of duty. As was mentioned, the Forest Service already has a Casualty Assistance Program, which provides travel expenses for next of kin to visit a wildland firefighter hospitalized due to a line-of-duty injury, or worse, killed in action. It also provides directions for short- and long-term case management procedures for casualty assistance. This commonsense amendment will make the same services available to wildland firefighters at the Department of the Interior, providing critical support to the families of these firefighters. As wildfire seasons have grown in both length and severity, the job of wildland firefighter has become increasingly dangerous. Between 2013 and 2022, 96 wildland firefighter fatalities occurred. While Congress works to address the forest conditions that are putting wildland firefighters into increasingly dire situations, we must also ensure that we are providing adequate support to them and their families. Mr. Chair, I urge my colleagues to support the amendment, and I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. WESTERMAN. Mr. Chair, I rise today in support of this amendment, which would clarify that the Fireshed Center created by this legislation can use artificial intelligence and other decision support tools to assess fire risk to communities and landscapes. The Fix Our Forests Act establishes a new Fireshed Center for relevant land management and science-focused agencies to comprehensively assess and predict fire across the landscape and in the wildland-urban interface. This will reduce fragmentation and create a one-stop shop for predictive services that can help inform suppression and management decisions across jurisdictional landscapes. Mr. Chair, I urge my colleagues to support the amendment, and I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. WESTERMAN. Madam Chair, I ask unanimous consent to claim the time in opposition, although I am not opposed to it.

Mr. WESTERMAN. Mr. Chair, I rise in support of this bipartisan amendment offered by my colleague from New York (Mr. Molinaro), and the gentleman from California (Mr. Harder). This amendment ensures that each fireshed assessment required by the bill also includes consideration of a strategy to reduce the threat that wildfires pose to wildfire firefighters' health and safety. Specifically, the amendment requires that fireshed assessments analyze the effectiveness of fuel treatments that would improve both the efficacy of wildland firefighting and the safety of wildland firefighters. Fireshed assessments are a strategic tool for gauging or reducing the risk of wildfire in high-risk areas. By targeting treatments in the right areas, we can protect communities and put firefighters into winnable situations where they can effectively battle wildfires. This amendment focuses on a crucial dimension of the wildfire crisis; namely, the safety of the brave men and women who regularly put themselves in danger to combat raging wildfires. The amendment correctly identifies fuel treatments as a meaningful way to accomplish this goal, as proactively treated areas can slow the advancing wildfires and give firefighters precious time to safely combat an approaching blaze. Mr. Chair, I appreciate the bipartisan collaboration reflected in this amendment. I urge my colleagues to support the amendment, and I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. WESTERMAN. Mr. Chair, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. WESTERMAN. Mr. Chair, I yield myself the balance of my time to close. Mr. Chair, what we are doing is not working. Our forests are not getting healthier. Our environment is not getting better. The climate is not getting better. Wildlife habitats are not getting better. Water quality is not getting better. It is all getting worse from the things that we have been doing the last 30 years. If that is not enough evidence to say it is time for a change, I don't know what is. The time to fix our forests is now. This is a good, commonsense, bipartisan bill for our forest health and our Nation's benefit. The Fix Our Forests Act will end the status quo of overgrown, fire-prone tinderboxes. Mr. Chair, again, this bill will make our forests healthier and more resilient. It will protect our communities, save taxpayer money, and cut red tape. I urge the adoption of this bill, and I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. WESTERMAN. Mr. Chair, I ask unanimous consent to claim the time in opposition, although I am not opposed to the amendment.

Mr. WESTERMAN

Mr. WESTERMAN. Mr. Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to the gentlewoman from Puerto Rico (Mrs. Gonzalez-Colon).

Mr. WESTERMAN

Mr. WESTERMAN. Mr. Speaker, I have no further requests for time, and I am prepared to close. I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. WESTERMAN

Mr. WESTERMAN. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of Representative Owens' bill, the Mountain View Corridor Completion Act. This legislation would expedite the completion of the Mountain View Corridor by transferring roughly 200 acres from the Bureau of Land Management to the State of Utah to complete the final segment of this large and urgently needed transportation project in Utah. Finishing the Mountain View Corridor will improve road safety and reduce traffic congestion, results that Utah residents will readily welcome. Over 60 percent of Utah's land is federally owned. Without these types of conveyances, Western States have limited land they can develop into the homes, schools, and roads that growing communities demand. H.R. 2468 is an example of Federal agencies, local stakeholders, and Congress successfully collaborating productively to address the problems of a growing population. I hope this kind of collaboration will continue with all Federal land management issues in Utah and across the West. Mr. Speaker, I commend Representative Owens for leading this effort, which will finally deliver the Mountain View Corridor to the growing populations of Salt Lake and Utah Counties. He worked with local communities and stakeholders, including the Utah Department of Transportation, to address this need. Mr. Speaker, I support the bill, and I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. WESTERMAN. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 2468) to require the Secretary of the Interior to convey to the State of Utah certain Federal land under the administrative jurisdiction of the Bureau of Land Management within the boundaries of Camp Williams, Utah, and for other purposes, as amended.