Albert Russell Wynn: “the praise that we heap upon our brave first responders and firefighters is no substitute for adequate funding. That is…”

“the praise that we heap upon our brave first responders and firefighters is no substitute for adequate funding. That is why I am appalled that after more than 2 years this bill comes to the floor and cuts first responder formula-based grants by $440 million. It also cuts firefighter assistance by $146 million, a 20 percent cut. This is not about some Democratic wish list. The Council on Foreign Relations report indicates that local first responders need about $98 billion to meet our country's needs. It is my view that as the majority party, the Republicans control the purse strings and set the priorities, and they are responsible for making sure we have adequate funding. The Washington metropolitan area is a key target. My district in the suburbs has first responders that will have to come to the aid of our citizens in the event of an attack. But suburban communities such as Prince George's need millions for radio communications, training for first responders, $15 million for emergency response centers. In Montgomery County, we need funding for urban search and rescue teams, teams that responded on September 11. But this bill cuts $57 million out of urban grants for urban search and rescue teams. The point is we can do better. This is about homeland security. This should be a major priority. And, yes, tax cuts for the very wealthy do relate back to the fact that we have not put enough money into our homeland security funding.”