July 31, 2008
Obey and Dicks Call on President to Act on Fire Funds
WASHINGTON - Today, Dave Obey (D-WI), Chairman of the House Appropriations Committee, and Norm Dicks (D-WA), Chairman of the Interior and the Environment Appropriations Subcommittee, sent the following/attached letter to the President requesting immediate action on funding for fighting fires.
July 31, 2008
The Honorable George W. Bush President of the United States of America 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW Washington, DC 20500
Dear Mr. President:
We are writing to ask for your immediate attention to the problem of providing critically needed additional funding for fighting forest fires. As you saw personally during your recent visit to California, the 2008 fire season is shaping up to be among the worst in history. Based on reports submitted to the Committee on July 29th, more than 8,000 separate fires have burned almost 4 million acres of forestlands. California has been particularly hard hit. Unfortunately, August and September are typically the most active months in the fire season, and we can expect a continuing fire emergency that will likely spread to other states and regions.
We now know that existing appropriations for fiscal year 2008 fire suppression costs will be inadequate. We urge you to submit a fiscal year 2008 supplemental request for the additional funding which the senior officials of your Administration have said are critically needed.
Sincerely,
/s Norm Dicks Chairman Subcommittee on Interior, Environment and Related Agencies |
/s David Obey Chairman Chairman House Committee on Appropriations
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