Thanks, WaterDragon. Even some Members of Congress may not yet be aware of Daschle's private policy of "let 'em burn," in every state except South Dakota, that is.
It would be a terrific outcome if the Conference Committtee (where the defense appropriations bill is right now) kept the Daschle stealth amendment, but broadened it to cover ALL the fire-prone states.
And if the Conference Committtee fails to act, the House or the Senate could accomplish the same change by rejecting the Conference Committee Report in favor of the broader coverage of all fire states.
It would have several fringe benefits --
1. It would make fire-fighting much easier in all those states.
2. It would reveal Daschle as a sneaky little weasel.
3. It would be the tree-huggers made at the Democrats.
Sounds like a win-win-win propositon to me.
Billybob / John
I'm in Oregon too. And I sent this to our Senators as well. Last week when the story first broke in the Washington Times, I contacted Smith's office in Portland. They hadn't even heard of the 'story'.....but the woman I talked to had me send the story and my concerns directly to Smith's legislative aide in D.C.
I am betting that the GOP sponsored legislation making the Daschle exemption the rule of the land in all nat'l forests, that is supposedly somewhere in the pipeline at this point, will die a quiet death. Fire season will be over and the urgency to act will have disappeared. And next year, we will be addressing this same issue AGAIN while our forests burn.