Delegation Introduces the California FIRE Act to Protect Relief Funding

October 30, 2003

Washington, D.C. - Congresswoman Zoe Lofgren, with every member of the California Democratic Congressional Delegation as an original co-sponsor, introduced the California FIRE Act (Funding for Immediate Relief of wildfire Emergencies Act) today, to provide immediate disaster relief to the victims of the California fires without linking it to the $87 billion Iraq supplemental budget request.

In an effort to build greater support for the Iraq supplemental, House Republicans added $500 million dollars of relief funding for the California fires to the $87 billion Iraq supplemental funding bill. The California FIRE Act (H.R. 3407) would make an emergency supplemental appropriation for disaster relief activities associated with the California wildfires.

"While we unanimously support the funding for relief and assistance to the victims of the California fires, this funding should not be linked to the $87 billion for Iraq that so many thoughtful Members oppose because of the misguided Iraq policy and the lack of accountability," said Lofgren. "More than 600,000 acres in California have burned and the fires are not out. The lives of these families will never be the same and their loss is beyond words. We have a duty to assist without linking the $87 billion for Iraq to their recovery."

"We should not play politics when it comes to providing help to the victims of this terrible California fire disaster," Lofgren said. "California's 20 Republican House Members have all been invited to join as sponsors of this bill."

The funding appropriated in the California FIRE Act would be appropriated to the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) within the Department of Homeland Security.

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