These companies and more, including comcast. Do you think this is just a Community Center . No, its way more than that. Comcast is partnering with a thousand Community Centers to create wifi enabling listening so students from low income families can get the tools they need for ything. Comcast supports cspan as a Public Service along with these other Television Providers giving you a front row seat to democracy. And this morning, Senate Lawmakers continue work on a shortterm spending bill to avert a Government Shutdown on saturday at midnight. Nell vote at 11 45 a. M. Eastern time to debate the measure. Take you to the floor of the senate on cspan2. The president pro tempore the senate will come to order. The chaplain, dr. Barry black, will lead the senate in prayer. The chaplain let us pray. Immortal, invisible, god only wise, you still work wonders in the earth. Teach us to do your will. Teach us that prayer still brings results. Teach us that we need not fear what the future holds, for your mercies endure forever. Teach us that your blessings come new every day. Teach us to number our days, to appreciate lifes precious moments. Lord, teach us that you are able to do immeasurably, abundantly above all that we can ask or imagine according to your power working and through us. As our lawmakers continue to attempt to avert a Government Shutdowns, give them courage and wisdom for the living of these days. We pray in your sovereign name. Amen. The president pro tempore please join me in reciting the pledge of allegiance to our flag. I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of america, and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under god, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. President pro tempore under the previous order, leadership time is reserve. The president pro tempore morning business is closed and the senate will resume consideration of the motion to proceed h. R. 3935. The presiding officer the clerk motion to proceed to h. R. 3935, an act to reauthorize and improve the federal Aviation Administration and other Civil Aviation programs, and for other aviation programs, and for other and its general jurisdiction over power utilities will focus today on that aspect of the disaster. Today what we learned today while the vote efforts at the federal, state, local and utility level to protect constituents and ratepayers and reduce the chances of preventable losses of life and property for wildfires in the future. That said, i will also tell you that we have another hearing going on downstairs where we look at the electric grid, and so youll see members move in and out although some members are on both subcommittees. I think the witnesses for being here and participating in our efforts learned from this horrible event and to prevent summer disaster from unfolding. With that i get back in the recognize the Ranking Member of the subcommittee for her fiveminute opening statement. Thank you, mr. Chairman. Good morning, everyone. Just over seven weeks ago horrible wildfires devastated the town of lahaina on the island of maui and why. This was and horrific tragedy and on behalf of of the democratic side we extend our sincere condolences. Nearly 100 people died, many more, more have lost their homes and businesses. The first hand accounts of how quickly the fire spread in the chaos and confusion the resulted are horrendous. Many hawaiian neighbors military service and coast guard members raced to rescue people that day. They worked through the smoke, flames and pollution to save lives. They are heroes. Many other spot respond in the immediate aftermath and more are on the ground now dedicated to recovery and relief. Understand over 27 federal partners including fema, epa, u. S. Army and the Small Business administration are helping the people of maui get back on their feet. I appreciate the handson approach, represented and senators in and how their supporting and advocating for their neighbors. Top of mine for the congress at this moment of a threatened Government Shutdown must be to ensure that the recovery work continues uninterrupted for the people of maui. Today i hope we can learn more about the conditions that cause the fire and what Else Congress can do for the island. There are things that we do know already. We know that strong winds from a nearby hurricane combined with Drought Conditions and dry vegetation led to advanced warning of fire on maui we know that the fire started on the edge of town in lahaina on the west coast and quickly grew out of control. Ultimately devastating account and claiming the lives of too many neighbors. Fire crews were deal with another fire miles away. We know that people are still suffering from the losses of their friends, family and homes, and the firefighters are still working to contain wildfires elsewhere. What we do not know is exact cause of the fire and what more if anything could have done to the it from starting or spreading. Hawaiian electric said that one of its power lines ignited an earlier fire in lahaina the morning of august 8. The Maui Fire Department said it had extinguished that fire within i i was report again ie same location and it quickly spread. While the National Weather service in honolulu begin issuing alerts days before the lahaina fire began, important questions remain about whether more couldve been done to notify residents or deacon adjust powerlines sooner. There are also critical questions about the steps local officials took in the five years since wildfires struck maui in 2018. These are important questions that are already being investigated, and while i strongly believe that we and congress have an important oversight role to play, i do think it would have been helpful to have the benefit of the on the ground finding from the authorities before pulling the intention of her witnesses away from Recovery Efforts to appear before us. Nonetheless, i appreciate your willingness to be a today and hope we can learn more about this tragedy. Whether an help mightve been prevented, luckily done to prevent future tragedies like this. Including, including ensuring that investments made for great hardening under the 5 infrastructure law and Inflation Reduction Act are delivered quickly and effectively. I would also like to learn more about how electric and other infrastructure can be rebuilt any more resilient way. Its only been seven weeks since the lahaina fire and emergency is not over. Investigators deserve time to do their work thoroughly and present their findings to present their funny. Can we get a clear picture our focus must continue to be on relief and Recovery Efforts for the people of maui. And that includes keeping government open and ensuring that federal resources are available to them. Thank you, mr. Chairman. I yield back. Gentle idiots back. Now reckon its a chairwoman, chair of the full committee ms. Mcmorris rodgers for five minutes. Thank you, chair. [inaudible] critical one. When examining the tragic events that unfolded on the Hawaiian Island of maui last month. On august 7 and 8th a series of fires broke out on the island including one that destroyed the town of lahaina. Our deepest condolences to the people of maui as as a face a daunting task of rebuilding their community, mourned the loss 11 dash with loved ones and grapple with the memories of that terrifying day. The pain of seeing your home and your neighbors home destroyed within a matter of hours or even minutes is get ranging. Of these 97 lives were lost to this disaster. We continue to pray that god provides straight and comfort to their loved ones. Many are still missing. According to investment from the university of Hawaii PacificDisaster Center at least 2200 buildings were destroyed, with about 86 of those building being residential. We must do everything we can to minimize the chance that such a destructive and deadly disaster will occur again on maui or anywhere else in the country. And, unfortunately, if we fail to learn from this event it very well could. The hawaii Wildlife Management associate, organization report that each year the percentage of total land burned by wildfire in hawaii is equal to or greater than any other state in the nation. And according to the wildfire experts, from the university of hawaii, the area burned across all four counties in hawaii each year has increased by 300 within the last several decades. Eastern washingtonians are no strangers to the disaster, disastrous consequences of wildfires either. Last month the great and oregon road fires destroyed hundreds of homes, forced evacuations and have been linked to two deaths. How did your still recovering from and coping with the destruction of these wildfires. While its difficult revisit the disaster that occurred on maui we must examine any factors that could cause or worsen the emergency. Identify any unnecessary hazards that were allowed to persist, and pin point any additional precautions that could have been taken. I understand debate about the factors behind the cause and spread of the fires continue, but that Hawaiian Electric acknowledged that an Early Morning fire on august 8 appears to have been caused by power lines that fell in high winds. What happened after that, particularly concerning the second fight us went through lahaina that afternoon and destroyed lives and the town remains open to an investigation. Part of our job here in congress to ensure that every american has access to affordable and Reliable Energy and the responsibility includes making sure that energy comes from safe, wellmaintained infrastructure. Theres been a lot of emphasis on some of the competing priorities when it comes to modernizing our electric grid in recent years. However, we must make sure that safety remains a top priority. A grid that is not prepared for extreme weather or isnt adequately maintained is not only unreliable but also unacceptable, unacceptable safety hazard that could potentially cost billions and endanger lives. While we cannot prevent and control every hazards such as the high winds that struck maui, leading up to the fire, we must harden our grid to have, address wildfire risk such as education, overgrowth and implement appropriate precautions for extreme weather. We appreciate all the witnesses traveling across the country to be here today. You have a difficult road ahead of you in rebuilding after this tragic event. I hope that today we can learn how congress can be a Strong Partner for utilities and state agencies and addressing great safety concerns. While theres other investigations ongoing we hope this hearing provides some clarity on how and why this disaster unfolded in such a catastrophic manner and what steps can be taken to minimize the likelihood of it occurring again. I yield back, mr. Chairman. Gentlelady yields back. Recognize a ranking of the full committee, mr. Pallone for his fiveminute opening statement. Thank you, mr. Chairman. The wildfires that swept through the town of lahaina on august 8 were catastrophic disaster, and i want to offer my deepest sympathies to all those affected. Its a devastating tragedy and we must ensure that congress, of course supports and anyway we can. There are many Unanswered Questions about how this terrible tragedy happened, and im not going to go through all the things that already been mentioned by my colleagues in terms of what actually happened or what we know. But he know that first respos tried to contain the blaze and some residents were able to evacuate but tragically wasnt enough and the fire went completely out of control. I also want to say that we cant overestimate over overstate the enormity of the disaster and the destruction it brought and the fact that so many people died and are still missing, and many of the deceased have not been identified, and many residents are living in temporary shelters because their homes are gone. Officials estimate that over 2000 structures were damaged or destroyed. Its going to be a very long road to rebuild, and Emergency Responders as has been mentioned are still working day and night to fight the ongoing fires in remote areas of the island. Many factors appear to have contributed to the catastrophic scale of this fire. Extremely high winds pushing flames through dry vegetation, rapidly escalated the fire spread and prevented successful firefighting efforts. Evacuation routes were blocked by police due to downed trees and power lines which resulted in bottlenecks and grid locks on the few roads in and out of lahaina. And Power Outages damaged cell towers exacerbated medication problems and created for the confusion. We do not know what emergency sirens were not activated to one resident or what role electric grid may have played in sparking the private ultimate destroyed lahaina. In terms of a government response the acting government declared a state of emergency the day the fire started and two days later governor green requested the disaster declaration which was immediately granted by the Biden Administration. Within 48 hours fema was on the ground in maui assembling crews for search and rescue and survivor assistance. Several official investigations are underway to get to the bottom of this disaster. The Hawaii Attorney joe has commissioned the Fire Safety Research institute to conduct a thorough examination causes, is expected to make multiple inner reports before issuing a final report and recommendations around next year. Those on the ground with the most information and experience, appropriate authorities to examine the causes of the fire and i look forward hearing from our witnesses but i am concerned this hearing is shifting intention and resources away from ongoing relief efforts on maui and the official investigations are still in the early stages. Congress should focus on mr. Schumer mr. President. The presiding officer the majority leader. Mr. Schumer mr. President , today, the u. S. Senate will continue its pursuit of a bipartisan, bridge c. R. , to avoid a devastating Government Shutdown. In a little over an hour, well vote on the motion to proceed to the faa reauthorization, which will serve as a vehicle for the c. R. I announced, with leader mcconnell, two days ago. Once were on the bill, i will be introducing the substitute amendment, which will contain the legislative text of the bipartisan bridge c. R. , which both which the Appropriations Committee worked so hard on. Again, i salute senators murray and collins for the good job they have done. I will file cloture on the substitute and underlying bill. So members can expect to vote for cloture on saturday, if not sooner. Things are coming down to the wire. As ive said for months, congress has only one option one option to avoid a shutdown, bipartisanship. It was true yesterday. It is true today. It will be true tomorrow. With bipartisanship, we can responsibly fund the government and avoid the sharp and unnecessary pain for the American People and the economy that a shutdown will bring. With bipartisanship we can speed along this process here in the senate, we can come to an agreement on voting on amendments, and allow the senate to work its will in a timely fashion. With bipartisanship, we can make good on the deal reached earlier this summer to avoid default. Remember, mr. President , remember, bipartisan majorities agreed to funding levels back in june. The leaders of the house, the senate, the white house, we all shook hands on this deal. But now the speaker, and only the speaker, is going back on his word. He is the only one of the five to go back on his word. What he is saying, by being the only one to go back on his word, Speaker Mccarthy is saying he cares more about the whims of the hard right, the hard, hard right, than avoiding a shutdown. We cannot have that. We need bipartisanship. If her with sists in partisan if he persists in partisan, which hes doing now by always looking over his hardright shoulder, he will create a shutdown. Sadly, every move the speaker has taken since the bipartisan deal in june has been to shred any prospects of bipartisanship. By focusing on the views of the radical few, instead of the many, Speaker Mccarthy has made a shutdown far more likely. Let me say that again. Let me say that again. By focusing on the views of the radical few, instead of the many, Speaker Mccarthy has made a shutdown far more likely. Despite the fact that many on both sides want to Work Together, despite the fact that here in the senate were pursuing bipartisanship, the speaker has chosen to elevate the whims and desires of a handful of hardright extremists, and has nothing to show for it. We saw glaring examples last night. Last night, on the floor of the house, the house voted twice, with overwhelming bipartisan majorities, to keep ukraine funding in the house defense appropriations bill. Each time, with over 330 votes, a majority of both democratic and republican members. And yet, after the vote, the house leader, Republican Leadership in the house, subverted the are of the the will of the house by going to the rules committee and cut the aid to ukraine anyway. Can you believe that . Ten or so extremists, who dont care at all about governing, about preserving democracy or americas strength in the world, hold more sway in Speaker Mccarthys mind than the majority of his party and t