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THE WHITE HOUSE

Office of the Press Secretary

For Immediate Release May 14, 1996

STATEMENT BY THE PRESS SECRETARY

The President has notified the Congress that he will make available appropriations totaling $100 million in budget authority for firefighting activities of the Forest Service. These emergency funds will help pay for the cost of fighting fires in National Forests during the remainder of FY 1996. The costs of early season wildfires in Texas and Oklahoma and significant major fires in New Mexico, Arizona, and California will soon exhaust the appropriated suppression funds available for this purpose.

These emergency funds come from the Department of the Interior and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, FY 1995.

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