Speaker Pelosi Remarks at Press Event on Wildfire Prevention and Climate Investments in the Infrastructure Investments and Jobs Act  

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Santa Rosa, CA – Speaker Nancy Pelosi joined Congressman Mike Thompson and Congressman Jared Huffman to celebrate the vital investments in wildfire prevention and climate resiliency signed into law in the bipartisan Infrastructure Investments and Jobs Act. Below are the Speaker's remarks:

Speaker Pelosi. Thank you very much, Congressman Mike Thompson, for the invitation to be here today with you and with our colleague, Congressman Jared Huffman. But more importantly, to be here with the people here to thank you, to say congratulations to you for what you have accomplished.

It is a model for the nation. It is of national significance that you came together as a community. And that word ‘community' has the word ‘unity' in it. And, without that unity, you can't get everything done. I want to thank you. I know that, shortly, we'll be hearing from Annie Barbour, who is our VIP today.

[Applause]

But, until we hear from our VIP, let me share some thoughts with you about all of this. This Bipartisan Infrastructure Law is bipartisan, and that is part of its strength. But, the President said when he was advocating for this law: ‘This is great, it's bipartisan, but I will not confine my vision for the country to that bill.' So, there's much more in the Build Back Better legislation that is being negotiated in the Senate right now and will be, imminently, the law of the land, and so much more will spring from that.

But, understand this: your Congressmen have been real strong advocates for you, for what you are doing – meeting the needs, but also doing so in a way that is entrepreneurial, fresh in its thinking. Even from a grade-school young lady that we are all very, very proud of – forming this park in a new and different and special way to be respectful of the needs, the need for quiet, the need for festivities, the need for just unity, coming together.

Our distinguished Mr. Thompson, again, has been – let me say it the nice way: relentless, persistent –

[Laughter]

– dissatisfied until we can meet the needs. But, understand, what he talked about in this bill was just about California. This is about building the nation and building it back better. And, you are an example of Building Back Better. Not only did you Build Back Better, but listening, acting in unity and the rest.

And Jared Huffman is a real champion in the Congress on a subject that Mr. Thompson mentioned, in terms of the climate crisis. He's your advocate. He represents your views individually, as a group and all, but he also has the thinking personally, thinking locally, acting globally, in terms of the climate crisis, which is part of the reason for so much of the – so many of the natural disasters. So, I don't know where he is right now. Where is he? Oh, right here. He's the one on crutches.

[Laughter]

It's not unusual that he would be here today, because he's always there for the people of his district. Thank you, Jared Huffman.

Again, I come back [to] Mike Thompson, my personal friend for many, many years, even before he was in the Congress. But he, he can have a sternness about him. And he can have an impatience about timelines and the rest. So, understand what a great champion he is in the Congress for all of you, for our firefighters. I call our firefighters ‘our nobility' – they protect us with their courage.

Staff. Just a little closer to the mic, please.

Speaker Pelosi. Do you want me to start all over?

[Laughter]

No. Just, let's hear [for] Mike Thompson, our champion and all that.

[Laughter]

So, he mentioned that we came four years ago. It wasn't just me. It was Congresswoman Anna Eshoo, Congresswoman Zoe Lofgren, Congressman DeSaulnier, Congresswoman Matsui in addition to our joining Congressman Huffman and Congressman Thompson at that time, and that was heartbreaking. It was heartbreaking to see these pictures – every lot a story, every lot a story and now every, almost every lot a triumph. We saw them – that broke our hearts – homes destroyed, belongings incinerated, memories erased. It was so incredible just to see some places – just the chimney, some places one strong thing from the house. But, just so much devastation, and the melting down of so many things. I mean, it's obviously ingrained as to what the danger was. And, later, we'll hear from our VIP, a survivor of this fire, Annie Barbour, who will share her experience, which I'm sure is a shared experience – many.

Today, I just want to – I hope I don't reiterate too much of what Mike said, but it's very important for you to understand: the fast movement of this community's extraordinary resolve and the resilience, united in determination to rebuild from the ruins, has been, I'll say it again, an example to the country. You are of national significance. This is a celebration.

At the time, billboards in Sonoma County – I've said this on the Floor many times, as did my colleagues – said, ‘The love in the air is thicker than the smoke.' And you have really lived up to what we saw that day, when we came and saw those signs, ‘The love in the air is thicker than smoke.' Clearly, that is true here. That is true here. And that beautiful spirit, especially, is an inspiration to the rest of the country.

Yet, with more severe droughts and extreme weather and this long fire season, the climate crisis is fueling fires that are more – that are larger, fiercer and more destructive. In just the last five years, California has seen eight of the ten largest fires on record. Three of them – three of five of the deadliest. And in 2021 alone, more than 2.5 million acres in California burned: an area larger than the whole state of Delaware.

The fires have claimed too many lives – and I know that some were lost here, and our prayers are with their families – and too many livelihoods. They have leveled too many communities. Our families are suffering from the orange skies and smoke-filled air. And this crisis demands urgent action, not just to fight — firefighters, but to prevent them in the first place.

And that really comes back to our Members in Congress from this area. Mr. Thompson has been, again, relentless, persistent, dissatisfied. And that's why the California delegates, the two of them – not only in their own strength in persuasion, but encouraging other Members of the California delegation, as well as western region Members – have fought and won seven and a half billion dollars in the infrastructure bill to make our families safer and community strong. And some of that money's here for Coffey Park and across California.

The law directs, as I said before: prevention, response, restoration. It reduces the fuel that feed these fires by sending overcrowded forest areas, prescribe burns – and prescribed burns where appropriate, invests in new technologies, ecological diversity to make forests less prone to severe wildfires. And it does, in terms of our firefighters, as Mr. Thompson mentioned, does year-round permanent positions for federal firefighters and will help recruit and retain federal firefighters and raising their pay by up to $20,000 more. It also establishes a Wildfire Commission, which the President announced yesterday.

This is – just, we want the impression to give you – this is not just going to be too real, but, as you have given the example, to Build Back Better. And again, Mr. Thompson talked about the billions of dollars to enhance the resilience of our electric grid, $3.5 billion to help homeowners fireproof their homes in all of these ways and, again, to listen to science. Not to just say, ‘We wouldn't have these fires if we just raked the floors of the forest.'

[Laughter]

But to invest in science, in cutting-edge research – he who shall be nameless –

[Laughter]

And indigenous knowledge as we fight the fires. So – I'm sticking to notes, because I would be speaking longer if I just were not.

Because this is not – that's that bill. Now, Build Back Better – the next bill will have $30 billion more to fight, to combat forest fires and contribute to healthy and resilient forests. Thank you. Thank you very much for making sure that that was in the bill. The largest ever federal investment in fighting the climate crisis: over a half a trillion dollars to fight the climate crisis, the largest commitment to addressing the needs of fighting this climate crisis, to save the planet to pass it on to future generations responsibly, and many of those provisions are provisions that help.

Mr. Thompson was very instrumental in having GREEN Act tax incentives in the bill that are central to the success of the bill. Nobody did more than he did in terms of making this a true initiative to save the planet for our children. And Mr. Huffman serves on the Select Committee that has proposed, suggested these kinds of changes. So, we have on the, shall we say, the money side, and on the idea side, our two Members here, coming together to make the future better in a substantial, global way.

So, we're going to prevent wildfires before they strike, we're going to respond with every tool in our arsenal, including that wonderful firetruck, of which another is on the way I heard from the Fire Chief. And it's just quite, quite remarkable what is happening, and it all comes back to here. You suffered so much. You came together so beautifully. You listened to each other in terms of how to Build Back Better, which became an inspiration for the country. So, I congratulate you for that. I thank you for all that all of you have done in every aspect, whether it's in public service, in the nonprofit sector, in our security, our first responders and the rest.

But, I also come here as Speaker of the House to thank you for sending Mike Thompson and Jared Huffman to the Congress of the United States. And with that, I'm pleased to yield to the distinguished Member who shares the representation of Sonoma County, very proudly, the two of them – Congressman Jared Huffman. I yield to him. I yield the Floor to Jared.

***

Speaker Pelosi. Before they do, I just want to make one more comment in thanking all of you what for what you have done.

We're talking about tens of billions of dollars – to your $7 billion there. I want you to know that this is all paid for by making sure the wealthiest and corporate America pay their fair share.

[Applause]

You hear those numbers, and you wonder. No, it's paid for.

[Laughter]

And I also want to say that everything that we do – and this, there is nothing like this. As I was just saying – that when we came, when we came, not just that day, but on other occasions just to see how things were, it looked like a nuclear attack. It really was such total devastation. It was hard to comprehend.

So, to see you take the path because of your mobilization and your collaboration with each other from survival, to success, to transformation, just a path that is so excellent. And again, congratulations to you, and thank you for being a model to the nation. I hope the press' questions will be on this subject that we came to talk about today.

[Applause]

* * *

Q: Ariel with the Record-Bee, Lake County. The national press and NBC News just last week talked about the Build Back Better agenda and the fact that it's been shelved and pushed onto like maybe the spring or March. So, what are the likelihood or the chances that this legislation will actually move forward and not be sort of pushed or forgotten like so many others have in the past?

Congressman Mike Thompson. Well, I'm confident that it's going to pass. When that happen – we're negotiating it now. We are working on it now. There's been some changes made to make it more acceptable for those who have concerns. And I think the bill will pass.

And Madam Speaker, if you have anything you'd like to add to that.

It's an important piece of legislation. It's a large piece of legislation, and it takes time to, to work it through the system. There's a math problem that's associated with Build Back Better. And that is, we do not have a Majority. The U.S. Senate is a 50-50 tie, and makes it tougher to get tough bills passed.

Speaker Pelosi. If I just – I thank you for your question. Yesterday, the President made a statement that was very important. I refer you to it. He said that we are working on the legislation. We never stop. Although we – I would hope that we could have it by Christmas. Hopefully, we will have an agreement very soon. And the President – reference what it takes after that, CBO, Congressional Budget Office, Legislative Council, all of the things that go into making sure that the language is a correct, is a correct reflection of the purpose and that has clarity so that the money can get out there sooner.

But since I mentioned the word ‘Monday,' I want to say this to our local officials here, this is – Built Back Better, the BIF, the bipartisan infrastructure, are part of the vision of President, President Biden.

We started with the Rescue package. You can't ignore that COVID is with us and – started with that. And because of Mike Thompson, Jared Huffman, and some of us here, we insisted that money go directly to the localities, not just to the state to distribute. Although it was important for the state to get its resources – that we recognize as municipalities and counties and the responsibilities that they have.

So, we in that bill put money in people's pockets, shots in their arms, tried to get children safely back in school, and, and again, people back to work. But in doing so, a real recognition that education, transportation, safety issues, first responders are largely provided by the state and local government. And so, thank you all for the leadership that you provided and helped us to get those provisions in the legislation – not just to the states, as important as that is, but also to our state and local governments.

So, again, it makes a difference. There was revenue loss because of COVID. And there were expenses incurred because of COVID. And we wanted to be sure that the recognition for state local government was in the Rescue package as well.

Q: Speaker, Jeffrey Schaub CBS Radio News. Just briefly, as you know, within the Beltway, they're referring to him as President Manchin. And I wonder, from your perspective, whether this Senator is holding up this legislation – if it's appropriate for him to do that and discerning the party as well?

Speaker Pelosi. Well, let me just say, I wouldn't place too much credence on any ‘gotcha' statements coming out of the Beltway.

[Laughter]

That's the, that's what they do for a living.

But the President is the President of the United States. He is so strong, so – his vision is so about the people. It's about the people. It all springs from what is it that people care about. Cost their kitchen table – are they going to be able to pay their bills, afford their health care costs, afford the education of their children, paying the rent, the mortgage, whatever it happens to be? And that is what he springs from.

And in addition to that, again, he has a vision about fairness in our country so that people can reach their success, and transformative in addition to just surviving. He is knowledgeable about legislation. He's been a Senator for decades and the Vice President of the United States. So, he has a vision. He has knowledge. He has judgment. He has strategic thinking about how to pass legislation. And he is the President of the United States.

We are very respectful of all of our Members. They all represent their districts, and that's a good thing, but we all have a national responsibility as well. And I have confidence that Joe Manchin will understand. We will find the agreement that is there to be made.

But make no mistake, Joe Biden's in charge.

[Applause]

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