Political Quotes

“I ask unanimous consent that two letters--one from the International Association of Fire Chiefs and one from the International Association of Fire Fighters--be printed in the Record. There being no objection, the material was ordered to be printed in the Record, as follows: International Association of Fire Chiefs, Fairfax, Va., December 27, 2012. Hon. Mary Landrieu, Chairman, Subcommittee on Homeland Security, U.S. Senate Committee on Appropriations, Dirksen Senate Office Building, Washington, DC. Dear Chairman Landrieu: On behalf of the nearly 12,000 members of the International Association of Fire Chiefs, I would like to express our support for S.A. 3415, an amendment to the supplemental appropriations bill for the relief of communities affected by Hurricane Sandy (H.R. 1). This amendment is technical in nature, but serves an important purpose. The national emergency response system is based on mutual aid agreements in which neighboring fire departments help a community that requires assistance in its response to a disaster. These mutual aid agreements can be local-to-local, intra-state, or inter-state. Many of these agreements include provisions to ensure that the aiding jurisdictions will be reimbursed for their emergency response activities. Because many localities are facing shrinking emergency response budgets, it is important that they be reimbursed soon after they provide assistance through a mutual aid agreement.…”