Department of the Interior, Environment, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 2016

Floor Speech

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Madam Chair, we still see approximately 3,000 deaths, 17,000 injuries, and $3 billion spent annually as a result of wildfires across the country.

In many ways, wildfires lack parity with nearly every other natural disaster and are hugely underfunded when it comes to mitigation, prevention, and suppression.

Despite the fact the fires often occur in rural communities with smaller populations, wildfires demand intensive resources, equipment, and infrastructure.

The Volunteer Fire Assistance grant program is critical to moving the needle on wildfire management and supporting the men and women who serve in our volunteer fire agencies, including in my district in Colorado. Though this grant program is small and oriented towards lesser trafficked communities, its impact is incredible.

The Volunteer Fire Assistance program provides matching funds to volunteer fire departments protecting communities with 10,000 or fewer residents to purchase equipment and training for use in wildland fire suppression.

Volunteer fire departments provide nearly 80 percent of the initial attack on wildfires across the United States, but, unfortunately, these volunteer fire departments frequently lack the financial resources. And $1 million makes an enormous difference for our volunteer fire departments across the country.

Unfortunately, in recent years, Federal funding for volunteer fire departments to prepare for wildland fire suppression has dwindled. VFA has seen funding reduced from $16 million in FY 2010 to $15.6 million in 2011 and approximately $13 million in FY 2012-2015.

Additionally, the Rural Fire Assistance program, which has historically been funded at $7 to $10 million per year and provided matching grants to fire departments that agreed to assist in responding to wildland fires on Federal lands, hasn't been funded since FY 2010.

I reserve the balance of my time.

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Madam Chair, Federal support is critical to ensure volunteer fire departments are able to safely and effectively respond to wildland fires.

The bipartisan amendment I offer today with my colleagues, Representatives RUIZ of California and Peter King of New York, would help ensure that we have stronger support for our volunteer fire departments across our country.

I urge my colleagues to support this amendment that has been supported by the Congressional Fire Service Institute, the International Association of Fire Chiefs, and National Volunteer Fire Council.

I yield back the balance of my time.

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