Cuts to Forest Service Endanger Millions

Floor Speech

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Mr. WHITESIDES. Mr. Speaker, my name is George Whitesides, and I represent California's 27th Congressional District.

Just 3 days after I was sworn in to Congress to serve my first term this year, wildfires broke out across southern California, forcing 200,000 people to evacuate, burning over 57,000 acres of land, damaging or destroying 18,000 homes, and taking the lives of 30 individuals.

Two weeks later, the Hughes fire erupted in my own district near Castaic, right near where this picture behind me was taken. It forced over 30,000 people to evacuate.

Compared to most, we were relatively lucky. Given wind conditions and the brave work of our firefighters, many of whom were employed by the U.S. Forest Service, the fire was quickly contained.

As southern California began to emerge from the devastation and focus on rebuilding, firefighters and other fire service workers with the U.S. Forest Service were abruptly terminated by the Trump administration. Days or weeks after saving our lives, they were left out to dry with no explanation.

One of these employees in my own district was Jasmin Dominguez, a GIS technician, who literally mapped out the fires as they spread. I brought Jasmin as my guest to the State of the Union where we talked about how difficult it would be for local fire chiefs to control the fires without the maps that she provided.

Now, we are preparing to go into another bad fire season. People are scared. If you look at the conditions on the ground in the American West, they are very concerning. Fire scientists are concerned. Firefighters are concerned. Between the January fires and the extreme dryness that we have experienced this winter, we are poised to experience earlier and more intense wildfires than before.

The worst thing that we could do for our communities that have already suffered so much is to reduce our capacity to fight and contain these fires when, not if, they occur.

The unconscionable and, frankly, offensive decision to terminate our Forest Service workers will make us less safe and more vulnerable to the natural disasters that we are guaranteed to experience.

The administration may claim that firefighters were exempt from their cuts, but we know this is not true. I am in constant communication with Federal wildfire community members, and here is what they tell me. Their grants have been frozen; existing agreements with the Federal Government, frozen; purchasing cards that they use to buy lifesaving equipment, frozen.

Hiring for fire season is often cyclical, meaning the Trump administration's earlier decision to freeze Federal hiring left even our local fire stations understaffed and unprepared for the fire season that has already started.

For the safety of the families and the individuals across all of our districts, and for the brave work that so many of these Forest Service employees do every day, we must speak out against these unfair terminations.

To every Forest Service worker who is laid off and for everyone preparing to undergo even more of these so-called reductions in workforce, know that we hear you, are with you, and are fighting for you.

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