Senators Curtis and Luján introduced the Fire Innovation Unit Act, bipartisan legislation that establishes a deployment and demonstration pilot program for new and innovative wildfire prevention, detection, communication, response, and mitigation technologies. The Fire Innovation Unit Act requires the Secretary of Agriculture and the Secretary of the Interior to create a Fire Innovation Unit to coordinate among federal agencies to ensure that piloted wildfire technology is carefully evaluated, deployed, and scaled, including through public-private partnerships. Representative Kim leads companion legislation in the House.

Today, U.S. Senators Curtis and Schiff introduced the bipartisan Healthy Lungs for Heroes Act, legislation to create the first-ever respiratory protection standards for wildland firefighters. For decades, federal firefighters were prohibited from wearing respiratory protection despite a growing body of evidence warning about long-term health risks of wildfire smoke. This bill would ensure the Forest Service and Department of Interior take long overdue steps to protect the health of these heroes.

At a CNN townhall at Utah Valley University, Senators Curtis and Kelly urged Americans to lower political tensions and introduced critical social media reforms. Reflecting on the recent shooting of Charlie Kirk and other high-profile attacks, Senator Curtis warned, “If it can happen here in Utah, it can happen anywhere,” calling for the tempering of political tensions from both sides of the aisle.