Calling for Wildfire Recovery Aid with No Strings Attached

Floor Speech

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Ms. BARRAGAN. Mr. Speaker, I rise today with a heavy heart for the thousands of California families who have been devastated by the recent wildfires in and around the Los Angeles area.

Homes have been burned to the ground. Lives have been lost. Family pets are gone. Precious family photos and sentimental belongings have been charred, damaged, and, in many cases, totally destroyed.

The fires didn't just destroy personal possessions. The fires took away the safe place we gather with family and call home, and it took out entire communities.

What I saw, what I witnessed on my tours of the fire-damaged areas, was heartbreaking, devastating, just unreal. It was like being in a war zone. There was a smell of burnt trees and homes, with smoke still in the air, as firefighters continue to put out smoldering fires. The ash irritates your eyes.

What was equally heartbreaking was the evidence of a desperate panic to evacuate, shown by the abandoned cars left in the middle of the streets, many charred, as I imagine people started to run to safety.

Yet, I also saw our brave firefighters. I say thank you to them and our first responders for being on the front lines and for all that they are doing.

There will be a long road to recovery. We must stand with our neighbors, with our friends, with humankind. It is the right thing to do. It is the compassionate thing to do. It is what we have done repeatedly when communities face natural disasters.

It does not matter if you are in Louisiana, Florida, Georgia, or California. When our communities suffer, we must pull together as one to help communities with the aid they need to rebuild.

When hurricanes hit Florida, Georgia, and North Carolina over the years, we didn't say, ``Don't send aid because of politics.'' When the Speaker's home State of Louisiana suffered losses and devastation, we didn't say, ``Let's attach strings to the aid.''

We don't do that because, above all, we help our fellow Americans. We don't turn tragic situations caused by natural disasters into political fights. Let's not start now.

I implore my colleagues to put politics aside, to love thy neighbor as yourself, to support a bipartisan recovery effort with no strings attached that builds a safer, more resilient future for our communities harmed by the wildfires.

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