Providing for Consideration of H.R. Fix Our Forests Act, and Providing for Consideration of S. Laken Riley Act

Floor Speech

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Mr. HURD of Colorado. Mr. Speaker, I thank Chairman Westerman for his commonsense piece of legislation that we are discussing this afternoon.

This is a new day in America. The days of forestry mismanagement are coming to an end. For far too along, our national forests and the communities that surround them have been at the mercy of unelected Federal bureaucrats who have become beholden to misguided environmental policies.

My district in Colorado is home to 6 of the State's 11 national forests. We have witnessed the destructive force of poor forestry management firsthand. The Multiple-Use Sustained-Yield Act of 1960 mandates that national forests be managed for multiple use. This includes outdoor recreation and timber management.

Washington, D.C., has turned our national forests into national parks by bringing timber management to a standstill and setting the stage for the terrible disasters like those we have seen in California. We can no longer afford to ignore the safety and well-being of our communities.

The Fix Our Forests Act lets the Forest Service do its job to restore forest health, increase wildfire resiliency, and protect communities like those in Colorado's Third District.

Mr. Speaker, I am proud to be an original cosponsor of this legislation, and I ask my colleagues to vote ``yes'' on the rule and on final passage.

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