ms. murkowski: mr. president. the presiding officer: the senator from alaska. ms. murkowski: i ask the proceedings under the quorum call be dispensed with. the presiding officer: without objection. ms. murkowski: mr. president, we are beginning to wrap up, beginning to wrap up the appropriation package which includes the f.y. 2019 bills for the subcommittee on interior and environment and related agencies, the financial services and general government, agriculture, rural development, food and drug administration, and related agencies, as well as transportation, housing, and urban development and related agencies. or thud, interior, financial services, and ag. this is really quite an accomplishment this morning. perhaps not necessarily noted in the -- in the trade press out there, but the fact of the matter is, mr. president, we're doing our business here. we are doing the business of lawmakers, legislators when it comes to our annual spending bills. the fact that this is august 1 and we will be wrapping

ms. murkowski: madam president, reserving the right to object, i do stand reluctantly and in the unenviable position, as my friend from north carolina has noted, as the chairman of the authorizing committee, the energy committee, i will be objecting at this time. but i want to acknowledge not only the work of the senator from north carolina, but the passion with which he has put himself into this issue which is one that i would think that all of us, whether we're from north carolina or alaska or points in between, coastal, inland, we care about our nation's environment. we care about the land that supports us. at our heart i would think that we are all conservationists. and when you think about the purposes for which land and water conservation fund was established, it is to do just exactly what senator burr has outlined, some of the good work that you see in north carolina, some of the good work you see with state side lwcf in my state and all of our states, i think we have seen that role. what the senator has laid out here today, i think is, in fairness, very right. it is a very popular p

ms. christiansen worked with the states, they work with local committees can they work with senator cantwell and i and senator murkowski. so that is what we are seeing today, a real game plan for reducing the 80 million acres of hazardous fuel that constitutes the backlog on fourth service lane. that's what this is all about and that's what senator cantwell and i hear about every single time we have a community meeting at home, which is what is being done to reduce the hazardous fuel backlog? when asked the chief about it at the meeting, she said were going to step up. she worked with the secretary. that is what is really being launched today. given the fact that people in the west and oregonians are choking on smoke, and farmers are watching their crops burn, and families are fleeing from these potentially mega blazes, i'm going home to town meetings over this weekend and people are going to say, what are you guys doing to create a strategy where you're not just talking about 1,000,000,000 pounds but you're playing offense? what are the next steps reducing hazardous fuels are clearly the next steps. i want to close wi