WATCH: Vasquez Holds U.S. Forest Service Accountable in House Agriculture Committee Hearing
After more than 400 days of delaying the payment to New Mexicans, Vasquez calls out the disconnect between federal agencies, which has not provided the relief that was promised.
WASHINGTON, D.C. – On Tuesday, May 16, 2023, Representative Gabe Vasquez (NM-02) questioned U.S. Forest Service Chief Randy Moore in a House Agriculture Forestry Subcommittee hearing on confronting wildfire crises. Earlier this year, Vasquez sent a letter to the U.S. Forest Service to demand an updated action plan for prescribed burns to ensure New Mexicans’ safety. After two months of no response, Vasquez pressed Chief Moore for an update on U.S. Forest Service’s methods.
WATCH: Vasquez Holds U.S. Forest Service Accountable
“We are already seeing fires across our state, including the Las Tusas fire outside Las Vegas, a community that is still recovering from last year’s devastating fire,” said Vasquez. “We need to rebuild trust with the Forest Service’s prescribed burn program, but after sending a letter more than two months ago to Chief Moore, I have yet to receive a written response with the changes the Forest Service plans to implement to ensure our communities are safe.”
Many of the displaced New Mexicans have yet to see any compensation they were promised by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA). As of April 19, only thirteen of the 140 eligible households had received FEMA housing.
After U.S. Forest Service Chief Moore said the Representative should direct his question to FEMA, Vasquez responded, “I’m glad that you said that because this is where the disconnect comes from and this is where I believe the distrust from constituents in New Mexico comes from–there’s a disconnect here between federal agencies. If one federal agency causes a catastrophic fire that causes 400 people to lose their home and say now it's FEMA’s problem then people, rightfully so, [they] are not going to have a trust in the government.”
As a member of the House Agriculture’s Forestry and Conservation, Research and Biotechnology Subcommittees, Vasquez is committed to holding the federal government accountable for its delayed response to New Mexicans still recovering from last year’s fires.
Vasquez concluded, “A problem caused by the federal government must be fixed by the federal government.”