Political Quotes

“Mr. President, every job in America is important, but there is something special, sacred, even noble about a job that entails putting your life on the line to keep your fellow citizens safe, and that is the job of our firefighters. In Alaska, firefighting season will be upon us soon. It can be brutal. In 2005, roughly 6 million acres of the State burned. That is about the size of Vermont. Think about the dedication and courage it takes to fight those fires, many of which are in rural parts of our States. It is only right that when firefighters come to Congress asking for assistance, that we give them the flexibility they truly need. So why is my amendment necessary? Currently, the Assistance to Firefighters Grants Program only allows modification to existing fire stations rather than new facilities. Many old firefighting facilities can't be modified. A 2021 report by the U.S. Fire Service found that 44 percent of fire stations are over 40 years old. The issue is even more acute in rural parts of our country where facilities have problems which cannot be fixed through maintenance and repair alone. For example, roughly 61 percent of fire stations over 40 years old exist in communities serving less than 10,000 people. So, Mr. President, my amendment is simple. It costs zero dollars. It gives discretion to the firefighters in rural communities to allow Federal grants to small communities of less than 10,000 people to use the Federal funds to build new stations.…”