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80–456 PDF 2002

TORT LIABILITY UNDER THE TEMPORARY

EMERGENCY WILDFIRE SUPPRESSION ACT

HEARING

BEFORE THE

SUBCOMMITTEE ON IMMIGRATION, 

BORDER SECURITY, AND CLAIMS

OF THE

COMMITTEE ON THE JUDICIARY 

HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

ONE HUNDRED SEVENTH CONGRESS

SECOND SESSION

ON

H.R. 5017

JUNE 28, 2002

Serial No. 87

Printed for the use of the Committee on the Judiciary

(

Available via the World Wide Web: http://www.house.gov/judiciary 

(II)

COMMITTEE ON THE JUDICIARY 

F. JAMES SENSENBRENNER, JR., WISCONSIN, Chairman 

HENRY J. HYDE, Illinois 

GEORGE W. GEKAS, Pennsylvania 

HOWARD COBLE, North Carolina 

LAMAR SMITH, Texas 

ELTON GALLEGLY, California 

BOB GOODLATTE, Virginia 

STEVE CHABOT, Ohio 

BOB BARR, Georgia 

WILLIAM L. JENKINS, Tennessee 

CHRIS CANNON, Utah 

LINDSEY O. GRAHAM, South Carolina 

SPENCER BACHUS, Alabama 

JOHN N. HOSTETTLER, Indiana 

MARK GREEN, Wisconsin 

RIC KELLER, Florida 

DARRELL E. ISSA, California 

MELISSA A. HART, Pennsylvania 

JEFF FLAKE, Arizona 

MIKE PENCE, Indiana 

J. RANDY FORBES, Virginia 

JOHN CONYERS, JR., Michigan 

BARNEY FRANK, Massachusetts 

HOWARD L. BERMAN, California 

RICK BOUCHER, Virginia 

JERROLD NADLER, New York 

ROBERT C. SCOTT, Virginia 

MELVIN L. WATT, North Carolina 

ZOE LOFGREN, California 

SHEILA JACKSON LEE, Texas 

MAXINE WATERS, California 

MARTIN T. MEEHAN, Massachusetts 

WILLIAM D. DELAHUNT, Massachusetts 

ROBERT WEXLER, Florida 

TAMMY BALDWIN, Wisconsin 

ANTHONY D. WEINER, New York 

ADAM B. SCHIFF, California

PHILIP G. KIKO, Chief of Staff-General Counsel 

PERRY H. APELBAUM, Minority Chief Counsel 

SUBCOMMITTEE ON IMMIGRATION, BORDER SECURITY, AND CLAIMS

GEORGE W. GEKAS, Pennsylvania, Chairman

DARRELL E. ISSA, California 

MELISSA A. HART, Pennsylvania 

LAMAR SMITH, Texas 

ELTON GALLEGLY, California 

CHRIS CANNON, Utah, Vice Chair

JEFF FLAKE, Arizona 

J. RANDY FORBES, Virginia 

SHEILA JACKSON LEE, Texas 

BARNEY FRANK, Massachusetts 

HOWARD L. BERMAN, California 

ZOE LOFGREN, California 

MARTIN T. MEEHAN, Massachusetts

GEORGE FISHMAN, Chief Counsel 

LORA RIES, Counsel 

ART ARTHUR, Full Committee Counsel 

CINDY BLACKSTON, Professional Staff 

LEON BUCK, Minority Counsel 

(III)

C O N T E N T S 

JUNE 28, 2002

OPENING STATEMENT 

Page 

The Honorable George W. Gekas, a Representative in Congress From the 

State of Pennsylvania, and Chairman, Subcommittee on Immigration, Border Security, and Claims ..................................................................................... 1

WITNESSES 

Paul Clinton Harris, Jr., Esq., Deputy Associate Attorney General, United 

States Department of Justice 

Oral Testimony ..................................................................................................... 3

Prepared Statement ............................................................................................. 3

Mr. Tim Hartzell, Director for the Office of Wildland Fire Policy, United 

States Department of the Interior, accompanied by Denny Truesdale, USDA 

Forest Service 

Oral Testimony ..................................................................................................... 4

Prepared Statement ............................................................................................. 5

(1)

TORT LIABILITY UNDER THE TEMPORARY 

EMERGENCY WILDFIRE SUPPRESSION ACT 

FRIDAY, JUNE 28, 2002

HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, 

SUBCOMMITTEE ON IMMIGRATION,

BORDER SECURITY, AND CLAIMS, 

COMMITTEE ON THE JUDICIARY, 

Washington, DC. 

The Subcommittee met, pursuant to call, at 11 a.m., in Room 

2237, Rayburn House Office Building, Hon. George W. Gekas 

[Chairman of the Subcommittee] presiding. 

Mr. GEKAS. The hour of 11 o’clock having arrived, the Committee 

will come to order. 

Pursuant to our custom and usage as to this Committee, we have 

again for the umpteenth time started a meeting exactly on time. 

The rules of the House, though, and they seep down to the rules 

of the Committees, are such that a hearing cannot be held unless 

two Members are present and participating, and so although I am 

true to my own principle of starting on time, I must now declare 

a recess until the next Member appears. And we have solid indication that a Member will be appearing shortly, so we will recess 

until that time. 

You have the choice, as I always give the audience the choice, of 

hearing a Shakespearean sonnet from me, or two verses of Amazing Grace. Take a poll and let me know which you prefer. 

We will be in recess. The time of the recess has expired. And we 

acknowledge the presence of the lady from Pennsylvania Ms. Hart, 

who has helped the Chair constitute a quorum for today’s hearing. 

It is an all-Pennsylvania panel thus far, and so you will have Pittsburgh and Philadelphia in mind as you proceed with your testimony, I am sure. 

And the Ranking Member Sheila Jackson Lee has notified me 

that she will not be here. Without objection, we will enter her opening statement into the record, and we will proceed with the hearing 

as we have it set. 

This, of course, comes about because of a series of things that 

have happened, including the phenomenon of welcoming to our 

country international firefighters, and then finding out that in 

some cases, although they are willing to come to our shores and 

willing to help in the mammoth job that firefighters do in such situations, there is a murky area remaining on the question of liability and propriety in who performs what duties and who would be 

subject to any claims, if any there be. Whether the Federal Tort 

2

Claims Act would apply, or other features, we cannot finally determine. 

The other phenomenon in this is that our comrade from Colorado, Scott McInnis, Congressman Scott McInnis, who, by the way, 

was on CNN just this morning, I saw him standing among a group 

of firefighters back in his home State talking about the very same 

thing that we are contemplating here, some accommodation for 

those who would come to help us, and, of course, on a counterpoint, 

have some kind of sense and standards for American firefighters 

when they go to a foreign country. So Mr. McInnis, using legislative innovativeness, shall we say, was able to get a line item in an 

appropriations bill to accomplish these purposes, but Congressman 

Jim Sensenbrenner, the Chairman of the Committee on the Judiciary, felt that we ought to create a record to substantiate the line 

item that Mr. McInnis was able to employ. 

That is the basic purpose of the hearing, and, of course, the 

record will serve many other purposes, but it will serve as the 

foundation for the employment of the Government facilities and the 

agencies to make sure that everyone comes out right in this serious 

problem. Every day now we see a—we hear about a new fire, and 

we hear about new endangerment for our firefighters or the firefighters from wherever they come, so it is an appropriate time to 

spread our comments on the record and be up to snuff on the entire 

situation. 

The witnesses are—yes, we have Paul Clinton Harris, Sr., the 

Deputy Associate Attorney General from the Justice Department 

who has provided a thorough resume: In the administration of 

President George W. Bush as a Presidential appointee; served as 

Deputy Assistant Attorney General, U.S. Department of Justice, 

July 2, 2001; Deputy Associate Attorney General, U.S. Department 

of Justice, May 28, 2002. Paul is married to Monica Lamont of 

Washington, D.C. They have three children. They live in Manassas, 

Virginia. 

The second witness is Tim Hartzell, Director of the Office of 

Wildland Fire Coordination, Department of the Interior. And before 

moving to the Department, Tim worked for 28 years with the Bureau of Land Management with assignments in four States and the 

Washington office. He has served as a Peace Corps volunteer in 

central Africa, where he was a member of the government’s land 

husbandry staff. During this time he assisted in the preparation of 

regional watershed plans, wildlife inventories, and development of 

a conservation education training for teacher training colleges. Tim 

and his wife Nancy, a middle school math teacher, also reside in 

Manassas, Virginia. Did you come in a car pool? 

And with that we will begin directly with the testimony of Mr. 

Harris. As per custom, we will entertain your written statements 

for the record, and they will be reprinted in their entirety, and we 

ask you to try to confine your oral review to about 5 minutes. 

With that, we will start with Mr. Harris. 

3

STATEMENT OF PAUL CLINTON HARRIS, JR., ESQ., DEPUTY ASSOCIATE ATTORNEY GENERAL, UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE 

Mr. HARRIS. Thank you. Good morning, Mr. Chairman. I am 

pleased to appear before you today to present the views of the Department of Justice on H.R. 5017, which would eliminate the risk 

of tort liability to foreign firefighters and their governments while 

foreign personnel are providing assistance to the United States. It 

requires that foreign countries or states extend a reciprocal benefit 

to United States firefighters in the event the United States provides assistance to them. 

The proposed legislation would also deem foreign firefighters to 

be Federal employees for the limited purpose of securing them coverage under the Federal Tort Claims Act for their firefighting activities. It would also make the laws of the host country the only 

source of remedies available for acts and omissions in firefighting 

activities in the host country. 

The proposed legislation further provides that neither the firefighter, the sending country, nor any organization associated with 

the firefighter shall be liable for any action resulting from fighting 

fires. 

Two points bear special emphasis. First, this legislation meets a 

specific need: Protecting firefighters who go to a different country 

from being sued in that host country for any alleged errors in their 

firefighting activities, while providing a remedy for any firefighting 

negligence through suit against the host country under the laws 

and procedures of that host country. Thus, if a foreign firefighter 

were sued for firefighting negligence in the United States, under 

the procedures of the Federal Tort Claims Act the Justice Department would move to substitute the United States as a defendant 

and dismiss the firefighter from the case. 

Second, the legislation is reciprocal. It will provide the same protection to American firefighters who go to other countries as is provided to foreign firefighters who come here to help us. In neither 

event will the visiting firefighters or their home governments be 

subject to suit for alleged firefighting negligence in a foreign country. 

I appreciate the opportunity to present the Department’s views 

on H.R. 5017 and would be happy to answer any questions. 

Mr. GEKAS. Thank you. 

[The prepared statement of Mr. Harris follows:]

PREPARED STATEMENT OF PAUL CLINTON HARRIS, SR. 

Good morning, Mr. Chairman and Members of the Subcommittee, I am pleased 

to appear before you today to present the views of the Department of Justice on 

H.R. 5017 which would eliminate the risk of tort liability to foreign firefighters and 

their governments while foreign personnel are providing assistance to the United 

States. It requires that foreign countries or states extend a reciprocal benefit to 

United States firefighters in the event the United States provides assistance to 

them. The proposed legislation would also deem foreign firefighters to be federal employees for the limited purpose of securing them coverage under the Federal Tort 

Claims Act for their firefighting activities. It would make the laws of the host country the only source of remedies available for acts and omissions in firefighting activities in the host country. The proposed legislation further provides that neither the 

firefighter, the sending country, nor any organization associated with the firefighter 

shall be liable for any action resulting from fighting fires. 

4

Two points bear special emphasis. First, this legislation meets a specific need; 

protecting firefighters who go to a different country from being sued in that host 

country for any alleged errors in their firefighting activities, while providing a remedy for any firefighting negligence through suit against the host country under the 

laws and procedures of that host country. Thus, if a foreign firefighter were sued 

for firefighting negligence in the United States, under the procedures of the Federal 

Tort Claims Act, the Department of Justice would move to substitute the United 

States as defendant and to dismiss the firefighter from the case. 

Second, the legislation is reciprocal. It will provide the same protection to American firefighters who go to other countries as is provided to foreign firefighters who 

come here to help us. In neither event will the visiting firefighters or their home 

governments be subject to suit for alleged firefighting negligence in a foreign country. 

I appreciate the opportunity to present the Department’s views on H.R. 5017 and 

would be happy to answer any questions.

Mr. GEKAS. We will turn to Mr. Hartzell. 

STATEMENT OF TIM HARTZELL, DIRECTOR FOR THE OFFICE 

OF WILDLAND FIRE POLICY, UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT 

OF THE INTERIOR, ACCOMPANIED BY DENNY TRUESDALE, 

USDA FOREST SERVICE 

Mr. HARTZELL. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Mr. Chairman, my 

name is Tim Hartzell. I am Director of the Office of Wildland Fire 

Coordination, and we thank you for this opportunity. 

I would like to begin by saying that the Department of Interior 

and Agriculture work very closely together on firefighting issues. 

As a result, we are presenting one uniform testimony that expresses our strong desire to see this problem resolved. I have 

brought with me Mr. Denny Truesdale. Mr. Truesdale is assistant 

to the Deputy Chief for State and Private Forestry, and he has a 

longstanding relationship in working with the Australian and New 

Zealand firefighters and would be happy to answer any question 

should that arise. 

I would like to set the stage by talking about increased severity 

of wild fires in the Western United States. We are presently at 

what is called preparedness level 5, which means we are at the 

greatest risk from wildfire. I would like to place this year in perspective quickly so that you understand the gravity or seriousness 

of this situation. 

The 2000 fire season was kind of a benchmark. It was considered 

to be the worst fire season in 50 years. Two years ago we burnt 

nearly 81⁄2 million acres from wildfire in this country. That is more 

than twice the 10-year annual average of acres that are destroyed 

by fire. But I would like the Committee and the Chair to be aware 

of the situation this year. This year to date, compared to 2000, we 

have burned twice as many acres as the prior worst fire season. In 

the year 2000, on June 27, we had 81 crews, 144 fire engines and 

83 helicopters on the fire line. This year on June 27 we had 327 

crews, 775 engines and 116 helicopters. The long-term outlook, because of drought and weather forecasts and heavy fuel load in our 

forests, does not bode well for the remainder of the fire season. 

With that as the backdrop, there is clearly a pressing need for 

approximately 100 seasonal firefighters, senior firefighters with 

technical expertise in midlevel supervisory positions. The Australian States and New Zealand have these resources. They are 

available, and they are willing to help us. 

5

By way of background, the Wildfire Suppression Assistance Act 

of 1989 affords the Secretary of Interior and Secretary of Agriculture the opportunity to enter into reciprocal agreements with 

foreign organizations for mutual aid and wildfire protection. So 

back in 2000, we used that authority. We brought 97 mid- or 

upper-level fire supervisors from Australia and New Zealand to assist us in the Western United States with our firefighting efforts. 

Because of these 97 increased—these 97 supervisory personnel, we 

were able to train and use an additional 1,000 front-line firefighters. 

We have very strict safety standards in our fire program, and we 

are limited in our ability to put more people in harm’s way on the 

front line if they cannot be adequately supervised. After the devastating fires from 2000, where Australia and New Zealand provided fire managers and significant assistance to us, longer-term 

agreements with Australia and New Zealand were negotiated. 

Agreements, however, have not been formally implemented due to 

concerns about liability that foreign firefighting personnel would 

face for alleged tort claims committed while their personnel were 

furnishing assistance to the United States while on the fire line. 

We believe this proposed legislation would eliminate that risk of 

tort liability to foreign firefighters and their governments while 

these personnel were providing assistance to the United States. 

The legislation would not offer unique or special protection. Those 

firefighters would be afforded the same liability protection afforded 

firefighters from States, counties or local fire departments when 

used on Federal fires to assist the Federal agencies. The legislation 

would require that foreign countries or states extend the same reciprocal benefit to United States firefighters in the event that the 

United States provides assistance to them. It would make the laws 

of the host country the only source of remedies available for acts 

and omissions in firefighting activities in the host country. 

Our National Interagency Fire Center in Boise, Idaho, is continuing to work to secure assistance from Australia and New Zealand to assist our firefighting organizations. The same conditions 

will apply to the—to Australian and New Zealand firefighters as 

would apply to any other countries or the military. We can only utilize these personnel when we have exhausted all sources of domestic resources. The proposed legislation would make it possible for 

the United States to receive very critical and needed mid- and senior-level fire management assistance from the Australian States 

and from New Zealand for what appears to be a long and arduous 

wildland fire season. 

Mr. Chairman, that concludes my statement. I would be happy 

to answer questions. 

Mr. GEKAS. Yes. Thank you. 

[The prepared statement of Mr. Hartzell follows:]

PREPARED STATEMENT OF TIM HARTZELL

Mr. Chairman and Members of the Committee, I am Tim Hartzell, Director of the 

Office of Wildland Fire Coordination at the U.S. Department of the Interior. I thank 

you for providing me the opportunity to meet with you to discuss this very important issue. 

Let me begin by saying that, because the Department of the Interior and the Department of Agriculture work closely together in wildland fire management, both 

6

agencies believe it is appropriate to use one statement to express our strong desire 

to see this problem addressed as quickly as possible. 

Due to the increasing severity of the wildfires in the Western United States, the 

National Interagency Fire Center (NIFC) has declared a state of ‘‘Preparedness 

Level 5’’—indicating the highest level of risk and the need for the greatest degree 

of preparedness. With this in mind, there is a pressing need for approximately 100 

seasonal firefighters with technical expertise in middle-level supervisory positions. 

The Australian states and New Zealand have these resources available and are willing to help. 

By way of background, under the Wildfire Suppression Assistance Act of 1988, as 

amended, 42 U.S.C. § 1856m, the Secretary of the Interior and the Secretary of Agriculture are authorized to enter into reciprocal agreements with foreign fire organizations for mutual aid in wildfire protection. After the devastating wildfires of 2000, 

where Australia and New Zealand provided significant assistance to the United 

States, longer-term agreements were negotiated with those countries. These agreements have not been implemented, however, due to concerns that the foreign firefighting personnel and their governments would face liability for alleged torts committed while their personnel were furnishing assistance to the United States. The 

Wildfire Suppression Assistance Act currently provides, at 42 U.S.C. § 1856n(d), that 

foreign firefighting personnel are not considered employees of the United States 

when providing firefighting assistance. Thus, foreign firefighting personnel would 

not have the protections accorded by the Federal Tort Claims Act when providing 

assistance to the United States. 

The proposed legislation would eliminate the risk of tort liability to foreign firefighters and their governments while foreign personnel are providing assistance to 

the United States by deeming foreign firefighters to be federal employees for the 

limited purpose of securing them coverage under the Federal Tort Claims Act. It 

would also require that foreign countries or states extend a reciprocal benefit to 

United States firefighters in the event the United States provides assistance to 

them, and it would make the laws of the host country the only source of remedies 

available for acts and omissions in firefighting activities in the host country. The 

proposed legislation further provides that neither the firefighter, the sending country, nor any organization associated with the firefighter shall be liable for any action 

resulting from fighting fires. 

NIFC is continuing to work to secure assistance from the Australian and New 

Zealand government firefighting organizations. The proposed legislation will make 

it possible for the United States to receive the needed assistance from the Australian states and from New Zealand for the 2002 wildfire season, and beyond. 

Mr. Chairman, this concludes my statement and I am happy to answer any questions you might have.

Mr. GEKAS. Mr. Harris, you mentioned that the Justice Department, in effect, substitutes under the aegis of this bill—substitutes 

the language of this bill for what? That wasn’t clear to me. 

Mr. HARRIS. When a Federal employee——

Mr. GEKAS. Yes. 

Mr. HARRIS [continuing]. Is sued in his or her capacity as a Federal employee, for negligent acts, the Federal Government substitutes itself for the employee so that the suit is not against the 

individual, it is against the United States. Once that takes place, 

the provisions of the Federal Tort Claims Act kick into place. An 

administrative claim first has to be filed by the claimant, and 

pending the resolution of the administrative claim, then the individual can pursue perhaps suit against the United States. But then 

all of the exceptions to the FTCA also apply. 

Mr. GEKAS. But this would apply whether or not there is a reciprocity agreement; is that correct? 

Mr. HARRIS. As to foreign firefighters, this bill would ensure that 

FTCA coverage does apply to foreign firefighters. As it stands 

today, that is not the case. 

Mr. GEKAS. Yes, that is what I mean. Right now that wouldn’t 

occur under the—well, actually, there are no reciprocal agreements 

in place, are there? Mr. Hartzell? The agreements that you were 

7

talking about, it seemed to me, were prospective. In other words, 

the New Zealand and Australian help came to us even before an 

agreement could have been reached; is that correct? 

Mr. HARTZELL. We used the emergency provisions of the Wildfire 

Suppression Assistance Act of 1988. We have entered into what we 

call a wildfire arrangement with Australia and New Zealand where 

we have a document that lays out the responsibilities of the participants both from the United States should we assist Australia and 

New Zealand and Australian and New Zealand firefighters should 

they assist us. The importance of that agreement is to normalize 

a longstanding and formal arrangement that we have had with 

these countries for some time where we share expertise on training 

and equipment, and we have been able to train and learn from 

each other. 

Now, the wildfire—that wildfire arrangement that formalizes our 

relationship cannot be signed by all of the Australian States until 

there is some arrangement made to protect them from tort liability. 

Mr. GEKAS. Yes. So the passage of this bill will facilitate what 

you are describing as the long-term arrangement. 

Mr. HARTZELL. Mr. Chairman, if this bill is passed, all of the 

Australian States will formally sign the agreement on how they 

would agree to operate, the rules of conduct when assisting the 

United States, and we would sign the agreement to reciprocate on 

the roles and responsibilities and conduct that we would act under 

in providing fire assistance should we be called on in Australia or 

New Zealand. 

Mr. GEKAS. One thing that puzzles me, maybe I am missing a 

piece of logic here. The whole thrust of this is to consider our foreign friends who come into our country to help in these mammoth 

fires—to consider them as Federal employees for the time being of 

their service; is that correct? 

Mr. HARRIS. Correct. 

Mr. GEKAS. Question: If a volunteer fire company becomes involved, our own domestic fire companies become involved in a fire, 

and not one of them is a paid firefighter, we don’t consider them 

or treat them as Federal employees, do we? Or do we? It seems to 

me that you should. 

Mr. HARRIS. Actually, we, in certain circumstances, do extend 

coverage to firefighters under the scenario you just described, 

under the borrowed servant doctrine where we get volunteers from 

States to help in fighting or suppressing fires in Federal lands. 

Mr. GEKAS. So what we are doing is extending that standard to 

the foreign firefighters that come in as we already do so in the domestic view of the firefighter on duty; is that correct? 

Mr. HARRIS. That is roughly correct. When volunteers from a fire 

company in Pennsylvania, for example, would pitch in to help fight 

a fire, in some cases, any injuries to the person, the firefighter himself might be covered under the State’s laws for Workers’ Compensation. For example, where the firefighter is alleged to have 

caused some sort of negligence, the United States Government 

would be liable only to the extent that an individual in that particular State where the negligence occurs would also be held liable. 

So this coverage—the advantages of this bill were it to pass 

would be to make sure that foreign firefighters get the same protecVerDate Jan 17 2002 11:20 Aug 14, 2002 Jkt 000000 PO 00000 Frm 00011 Fmt 6633 Sfmt 6601 G:\WORK\IMMIG\062802\80456.000 HJUD1 PsN: 80456
8

tions that firefighters get here in the United States in terms of 

processes and fairness that are extended under the Federal Tort 

Claims Act. So it is not any special grant of privileges that we are 

extending to foreign firefighters in this legislation. 

Mr. GEKAS. Do our New Zealand and Australian friends know 

about this pending legislation or what we intend to try to do, or 

it doesn’t matter at the moment? 

Mr. HARTZELL. Mr. Chairman, I don’t know if they are aware of 

the legislation. I mean, they know that we are trying to resolve the 

issue. 

Mr. GEKAS. Mr. Truesdale is nodding his head. Either he was hit 

by a bug or—you may come up and answer, Mr. Truesdale. 

Mr. TRUESDALE. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. 

They do. They are aware of it. There attorneys have looked at 

it for adequacy for Australian law. I don’t know that New Zealand 

attorneys or solicitors have looked at it, but the attorney that negotiated the original arrangement with them that we used is aware 

of it and feels that it would be adequate coverage for Australian 

firefighters. 

Mr. GEKAS. Would you state your name and title so that the stenographer can have a full description of Mr. Truesdale? 

Mr. TRUESDALE. Sure. My apologies. I am Denny Truesdale. I am 

an assistant to the Deputy Chief for State and Private Forestry for 

the Forest Service. 

Mr. GEKAS. Well, the Chair is satisfied that we have prepared 

and entered into the record a full description of what the bill intends, and we have taken full notice of the help that Australian 

and New Zealand in these circumstances have offered in the past. 

I want the record to show that the Members of this Committee, by 

virtue of acting on this bill, will also convey their gratitude to our 

foreign firefighters for participating in helping solve some of our 

forests problems. 

With that, I wish to express my gratitude to the witnesses and 

to the staff of the Committee, and I bring this hearing to a close 

expressing that gratitude. The Committee stands adjourned. 

[Whereupon, at 11:30 a.m., the Subcommittee was adjourned.]

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