Washington, D.C. — House Energy and Commerce Committee Chair Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R-WA) issued the following statement today on the ongoing forest fires in Canada and the importance of proactive forest management to reduce the risks of forest fires.  

“The wildfire smoke blanketing the East Coast of the United States is an unfortunate reminder of what we have dealt with in Eastern Washington—every single summer—for decades. With this issue getting more national attention, it is a call to work together on solutions like supporting proactive and collaborative forest management, which I've led on for years, to prevent catastrophic wildfires in the United States. Ensuring our forests are healthy is the key to keeping our communities safe and helping shield everyone from the harms of poor air quality.”