Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, Agriculture, Rural Development, Energy and Water Development, Financial Services and General Government, Interior, Environment, Military Construction, Veterans Affairs, Transportation, and Housing and Urban Development Appropriations Act, 2022

Floor Speech

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Ms. SCHRIER. Mr. Speaker, wildfires in Washington State have been increasing in intensity and scale every year for the past few years, and our State and local fire departments are being called to respond like never before.

Last year, Kittitas County, a county in my district, worked together with a neighboring district, closely together, to put out the Evans Creek fire. And both counties joined forces, they prevented tremendous damage, stopped the fire.

However, only one county received Federal reimbursement money to help them pay the expenses; the other one is now left almost destitute having blown out their budget. So the money followed the county lines, not the fire lines.

So my amendment ensures that small municipalities can get Federal reimbursement funds after fighting wildfires, regardless of where those county lines are. It will direct the Wildland Fire Leadership Council to provide recommendations on addressing interjurisdictional fire reimbursement challenges like this one and provide some clarity.

As we face increasingly catastrophic wildfire seasons each year, stepping up to help a neighboring county should be encouraged. And a fairer distribution of Federal reimbursement distribution dollars would do just that.

This is a commonsense amendment, and I urge my colleagues to support its adoption.

For months, exporters in my district have struggled to get their crops overseas because foreign-owned carriers are taking empty containers back to China rather than waiting for our growers to load their crops. This is threatening decades-long trade relationships across the Pacific.

These large multination corporations control all overseas transportation, and exporters really have no power. My amendment directs the Federal Maritime Commission to enhance assistance to U.S. exporters and importers both informally and affordably and without the need to hire lawyers.

Getting U.S. goods to market in a timely fashion can affect the success of an entire growing season for farmers and for producers. This issue affects not just Washington State, it affects farmers across the country and the lack of shipping container availability is an issue at all U.S. ports.

It is time to give exporters more support to ensure their goods can get to market in time.

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