Fire Improvement and Reforming Exceptional Events Act

Floor Speech

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Ms. DEXTER. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in strong opposition to the FIRE Act, a bill that undermines the protections that keeps our air safe to breathe.

In 1970, Democrats and Republicans came together to pass the Clean Air Act and put public health at the center of our national policymaking. That was a promise to the American people, and it is a promise we cannot forget. That law has delivered cleaner air and longer lives, but our work is not finished.

More than 100 million Americans live in counties with unhealthy levels of pollution. Our children, our seniors, low-income communities, and communities of color continue to carry the heaviest burden. The public has been clear with us. Nearly 70 percent of Americans believe everyone should be held to the standards set by the Clean Air Act.

The question before us is simple: Why would we disregard the commonsense policy that protects the very communities we are here to serve?

The FIRE Act undermines a centerpiece of the Clean Air Act: the National Ambient Air Quality Standards program. Right now, there are narrow exceptions to the rules that set limits on how polluted our air can be. Republicans want to blow those exceptions wide open, so even routine conditions like hot weather or drought could be used as an excuse to ignore pollution limits.

I represent Oregon, where wildfires are a constant and defining challenge. We manage wildfires and conduct prescribed burns every year to protect our forests and communities. I have spoken directly with the people doing that work, and this is not a bill they want.

They have asked for clarity and precision. This bill offers neither. Instead, it creates a vague, sweeping policy that risks turning ``exceptional'' into ``routine.''

As a physician and lung doctor, I know exactly what that means. It means more asthma attacks, more heart attacks, more strokes, and more cancer diagnoses.

We know better than this, and it is not why my constituents sent me here. They sent me here to fight for clean air, for healthy communities, and for a future where public health is not compromised.

For these reasons, at the appropriate time, I will offer a motion to recommit this bill to committee. If the House rules permitted, I would have offered the motion with an important amendment to this bill. My amendment would ensure this bill does not take effect until EPA and CASAC certify that it will not increase health harms or the cost of treating them.

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Ms. DEXTER. Mr. Speaker, I hope my colleagues will join me in voting for the motion to recommit.

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Ms. DEXTER. Madam Speaker, I have a motion to recommit at the desk.

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Ms. DEXTER. Madam Speaker, on that I demand the yeas and nays.

The yeas and nays were ordered.

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