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Senate

Unanimous Consent Request--S. Res. 811 (Executive Calendar)

2026-07-22 Issue 120 Showing 1–6 of 6

Official Congressional Record ↗

John Hoeven

Republican

“I want Canada to do more to stop wildfires. The smoke comes to the United States. It is bad for people's health. Canada and the United States are friends. We help each other. But Canada needs to do more to stop the fires. I introduced a resolution. It says Canada should take responsibility. It says our countries should work together to stop the fires. I ask that the Senate pass this resolution.”

Official Congressional Record

Mr. President, I rise today to highlight and ask unanimous consent to pass a resolution I introduced to call for greater action from the Canadian Government to fight the almost annual wildfires that send smoke over the border, blanketing much of the United States. Over the past several days, more than 100 million people nationwide have been under air quality alerts due to the smoke from Canadian wildfires. This smoke has real impacts to the health and well-being of individuals and families. In my home State of North Dakota, this is an issue we are very familiar with. Unfortunately, over the past number of summers, we have been experiencing hazy skies from wildfires in Canada. The United States and Canada have a longstanding and close relationship based on our shared values and common interests. I know; I grew up 50 miles from the border. But with that shared border between the United States and Canada, we need to manage it to the benefit of the people that reside in both countries. I mean, we have water that flows up into Canada, and we are always working on water quality issues and all those kinds of things. We understand that what we do here in the United States affects our friends in Canada as well. So we feel for those in Canada whose homes and communities are directly impacted by the fires. We also recognize and thank the thousands of firefighters and emergency responders who are working to combat wildfires and protect lives and personal property under dangerous conditions. But at the same time, we need responsible forest management, including hazardous fuels reduction, timber harvesting, grazing, and other forest restoration practices that help reduce the severity and frequency of catastrophic wildfires. With more than 3,640 wildfires in Canada this year alone, it is clear that more action needs to be taken to prevent and stop these fires. And, in fact, in the United States, we have worked many years to help our friends in Canada battle these fires, but, clearly, more action needs to be taken. So the resolution I have introduced does three things: Specifically, it recognizes the significant impact that smoke from the Canadian wildfires has on the safety, health, and well-being of the American people, and it calls upon the Government of Canada to take responsibility for the cross-border impact of these wildfires, including immediate efforts to extinguish the fires and prevent their reoccurrence. And finally, the resolution urges President Trump to further discuss with Canadian Prime Minister Carney the importance of extinguishing these fires and finding ways to prevent their reoccurrence, something that we can do together and we should do together for the mutual benefit of both our great countries. So with that, as if in legislative session and notwithstanding rule XXII, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate proceed to the consideration of S. Res. 811, which is at the desk. I further ask that the resolution be agreed to, the preamble be agreed to, and that the motions to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table with no intervening action or debate.

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Patty Murray

Democrat

“I think Republicans are wrong. They want Canada to stop wildfires. I don't like that. It is not nice to Canada. Canada helps us with wildfires. The government should spend more money to fight wildfires here. Trump fired Forest Service workers. That was bad. He stopped money for fighting wildfires. I want more money for the Forest Service. I don't like that Trump fights with Canada. I object to this resolution.”

Official Congressional Record

Mr. President, reserving the right to object. I am going to ask pretty bluntly, what on earth are my colleagues doing here? I don't know why Republicans are focused on making a really petty and offensive statement to Canada, saying they need to do a better job of containing wildfire smoke as if the Canadian Government is letting their forest burn and its own citizens inhale wildfire smoke just to spite us. This is a joke. Maybe my colleagues across the aisle don't realize this, but Canadian firefighters cross that border to help us fight our wildfires right here all the time. And guess what. Our firefighters do the exact same when they are able. In fact, for the information of all Senators, a firefighter actually just passed away who was helping us fight a wildfire in Colorado; he was from British Columbia. Now, what we don't do is pass resolutions here telling our friends and our neighbors to do a better job of handling wildfire smoke. And also, maybe somebody should alert the President and my colleagues, but wildfire smoke from the United States often makes its way into Canada. It is happening right now where wildfires are burning in Oregon and in Washington. I think what this might be really about is telling Trump that, Mr. President, look how much we agree with you. This is a waste of everybody's time. So, respectfully, to my colleagues, understanding that time on the Senate floor is precious, here are my suggestions: Maybe we should pass legislation to rehire all of the red card holders that Trump fired. Those are the Forest Service employees who are trained here to help fight wildfires. Or how about we pass legislation to stop the Trump administration's so-called reorganization of the Forest Service, which would actually shutter offices across our country, including the research labs that helped us study the wildfires and pushed out even more Forest Service employees. Or maybe instead of entertaining Trump's outrageous requests for a $1.5 trillion war budget, Republicans could work with us to adequately fund our needs here at home. Our Forest Service, right here in the United States, is understaffed and underresourced. Maybe my colleagues don't realize it, but Trump's chaotic funding cuts and freezes, along with the chaotic mass layoffs, have actually hurt our public lands and leave us here less prepared to prevent and respond to wildfires here at home. I remember speaking with a Forest Service ranger last year. He was a longtime dedicated employee. He was a former marine. He served our country in more ways than one, and he did an incredible job. He literally saved people's lives on forest trails, and he fought wildfires here and even saved a small rural town in my State from being burned to the ground. Know what happened to him? Trump and DOGE fired him. No cause, just fired him. That was a huge loss for our State and for our country. So I do want my colleagues to get serious about the wildfires. And I will just say this, the President should actually apologize to our Canadian neighbors for the many threats and insults and, of course, drop those absurd tariffs he is imposing on these wildfires. I am not holding my breath, so enough with gimmicks, Mr. President. You want to work together to prevent wildfires? My door is wide open, and I hope we can all work together to do that. But I will tell you what I am not going to do: insult our Canadian friends to suck up to a President who does nothing but threaten our neighbors. Thank you, Mr. President, I object.

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John Hoeven

Republican

“I think you did not listen to my speech. I did not say what you think. I said that we want to work with Canada to stop wildfires. That will be good for both countries. I want more work on wildfires. You can say bad things about the President. But you should not mischaracterize my speech.”

Official Congressional Record

Mr. President, if I could, I am wondering if my colleague heard the speech I just gave. I guess I want to repeat it because maybe she might have missed it. The United States and Canada--this is what I said, so I can't think of a bigger mischaracterization of what I just said. And I am not even sure why. If she wanted to come down and criticize our President, that is fine. She can do that, I guess, whenever she wants if that is what she wants to do. But to completely mischaracterize what I said, I don't think is fair. So I am going to reiterate what I said just a minute ago for the record. I even referenced the fact that I grew up 50 miles from the Canadian border. I went back and forth to Canada so many times I couldn't even count. But, and I go on, with a shared border between the United States and Canada, we want to manage it to the benefit of people residing in both countries. I am reading from the speech I just wrote; I was listening to the mischaracterization. That is what I am calling for. And in the resolution itself, I make it very clear that this is something that is important to benefit both countries. So, again, you know, I think it would be--if my colleague wants to object, I understand she has that right. But I think it is unfair to characterize that other than I am saying we need more action on these wildfires. Now, if she feels we don't need more action on these wildfires, it is just fine, OK. But she shouldn't misrepresent what I am trying to do, which is call attention to the fact that we need more work done so we can avoid these wildfires in the future and that that is something that is mutually beneficial for both of our Nations. And with that, I would yield the floor to my colleague the good Senator from Ohio.

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Patty Murray

Democrat

“You are my friend. But I think your speech will insult Canadians. They will think that you say they don't fight fires. I work hard on wildfires. So do Canadians. They feel insulted by many things. This will make it worse. I want to help our country fight fires. I don't want to pass your bill now.”

Official Congressional Record

Mr. President, let me just say to my friend, and he is a friend, and I do hear his quiet, calm tone. I appreciate it. It is not something we all often hear here. But I will say this, in the words that you hear from this resolution, if you are a Canadian, it is that we are insulting them by saying you are not trying to fight your forest fires. And I will tell you this, I am working my tail off to help us fight our wildfires; our Canadian friends are as well. And I think, in this very heightened time--when I know I don't live far from the border either; we have a lot of trade with our Canadian friends; we go back and forth--they feel very insulted by a lot that is going on. So I think this adds fuel to that fire. So what I say to my friend, let's work on our country, making sure that we are fighting our forest fires, which I outlined in my response to you, of some of the things we can do, and I believe that our Canadian friends are doing the same. But that is why I object at this time.

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John Hoeven

Republican

“You are my friend. We work together on many things. We both know that our states are close to Canada. I respect Canada. I want to work together with Canada. This is about helping each other.”

Bernie Moreno

Republican

“This resolution is not about insulting Canadians. It is about calling out bad leaders in Canada. I respect the people of Canada. They are victims of bad leaders. Leaders in Canada dumped a year's worth of auto pollution on our states. It is man-made. It is not natural. Canadian leaders stopped our firefighters from helping them. This is a man-made disaster. It is not made by the people of Canada. It is made by the leaders of Canada. Shame on them. Shame on anyone who apologizes for what they are doing to our people.”

Official Congressional Record

Mr. President, very briefly, let me make a couple of things clear. This resolution isn't about insulting Canadians; this resolution is about calling out inept leaders in Canada. I have total and complete respect for the people of Canada. Unfortunately, they are victimized by terrible leaders. To just turn a blind eye to the fact that they just dumped in your State and my State the equivalent of a year's worth of auto pollution in America, on the Midwest, and pretend it isn't manmade--they don't have centralized response. This idea that they helped us is totally false. They charge us to come to the United States to help put out our forest fires that, by the way, are also created by ineptitude in Washington, Oregon, and California. And then when our firefighters ask to go to Canada to help them, they prevent them from coming in. So this is completely a manmade disaster, but it is not made by the people of Canada; it is made by the leaders of Canada. And shame on them, and shame on anybody apologizing for what they are doing to the people of our States.

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