westerman: i thank the gentleman from montana. i would like to add that when we passed this bill in the house, we put amendments on it that were offered by democrats, we were open, we listened, we wanted to do what's best for the forest and i encourage the senate to take up this bill, if there's something you don't like, let's talk about it. but let's do what's best for the forest. let's make this bill the law of the land. with that, i yield to the gentlewoman from wyoming, mrs. lummis. mrs. lummis: i join and thank representative westerman for this legislation and this special order tonight, explaining the extent to which these catastrophic wildfires are destroying the west and other areas of our country. this year, over nine million acres have burned in the west. it's a new record. for catastrophic fires. now this year, most of the damage has been in washington, oregon, idaho and northern california. you heard the gentleman from northern california earlier talk about the number of houses that have been destroyed, the live that w

royce: i yield two minutes to the the gentleman from westerman. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized for two minutes. mr. westerman: thank you, mr. speaker, i rise tonight in strong disagreement with the president's deal. tonight is the eve of the 14th anniversary of the attacks on america by islamic terrorists. these were direct and premeditated attacks on our soil that targeted and murdered thousands of americans just because they were americans. t was a dirty and cowardly act that reflects least values. those who finance terror and plan terrorist attacks and those who carry them out. who would have thought we would be here at this time debating whether to approve an agreement with the number one state sponsor of terrorism in the world. a deal with a country that chants "death to america." a bill that removes sanctions dollars billions of to a regime that wants to kill us. deal that a deal that allows them to make nuclear fuel that most likely will be used in nuclear weapons. there is a better way to deal with this regime by not

royce: i yield two minutes to the the gentleman from westerman. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized for two minutes. mr. westerman: thank you, mr. speaker, i rise tonight in strong disagreement with the president's deal. tonight is the eve of the 14th anniversary of the attacks on america by islamic terrorists. these were direct and premeditated attacks on our soil that targeted and murdered thousands of americans just because they were americans. t was a dirty and cowardly act that reflects least values. those who finance terror and plan terrorist attacks and those who carry them out. who would have thought we would be here at this time debating whether to approve an agreement with the number one state sponsor of terrorism in the world. a deal with a country that chants "death to america." a bill that removes sanctions dollars billions of to a regime that wants to kill us. deal that a deal that allows them to make nuclear fuel that most likely will be used in nuclear weapons. there is a better way to deal with this regime by not

westerman, mr. pearce, you're saying you're going to get back to people, that's the frustration of the committee. we hear "we'll get back to you." >> sir, i haven't seen it and i don't want to give you a date that i have to explain away. >> well, terrific if you can get back to us on that we would appreciate it. in regards to transparency you said that epa was examining different sites that could suffer an epa meltdown as we saw at the gold keaton mine. you'd identified ten different mines now but that did not come forward until such time as there was an a.p. report. how is that feeding in with transparnsy? >> i'm sorry, i don't exactly know the context in which you're referring. >> the context of the question is you've identified ten mines out of the potential to have a spill. >> what we did was -- when this happened i issued a memo about a hiatus on all mining operations, mining recovery or -- what's the word i'm looking for, cleanups that we were involved in and as a result of that, those cleanup

westerman? >> thank you, mr. chairman.pite efforts to try to minimize the significance of this spill, the facts can't be ignored that 3 million gallons of acidic heavy metal laden water were released into the animas river, not because of an accident, but because of mistakes made by the epa, mistakes caused by neglect, because of a culture of arrogance where the epa assumes they can operate outside the rules and regulations that others must adhere to. and quite simply, the epa did not have those in responsible charged with the education, professional experience, licensure, and continuing education required to do this job properly, to safeguard life, health, and property, and to promote general welfare. administrator mccarthy, we can't put this water back in the hole. but i hope we can hold everyone accountable who negligently let it out. along with that, i hope you will make procedural changes, taking competence out of the equation, and prevent future spills. under current procedures and practices, i have concern about your