Steny Hoyer: “Tonight is the eighth annual fire and emergency services dinner. Two thousand of our Nation's fire and emergency…”

“Tonight is the eighth annual fire and emergency services dinner. Two thousand of our Nation's fire and emergency services leaders gather in Washington to recognize the service of our Nation's firefighters and emergency responders, safety instructors, engineers, arson investigators, and others in the fire community. However, hundreds of Federal firefighters will not be in attendance tonight because they are fighting brushfires in the West. Mr. Speaker, they are experiencing what many are calling the driest conditions in over a century. Here in the Congress, I have introduced a bill, H.R. 858, the Federal Firefighters Pay Fairness Act, which would correct a significant pay inequity which exists for these and nearly 10,000 Federal firefighters throughout our country. Mr. Speaker, despite the fact that my bill has over 135 bipartisan sponsors, we have been unable to get a hearing in the Committee on Government Reform and Oversight Subcommittee on Civil Service. In the next several days, I will be sending a bipartisan letter to the gentleman from Florida [Mr. Mica], the chairman, requesting a hearing on this bill with approximately 100 Members of this body. I hope, Mr. Speaker, that we will see a hearing on that bill in the near future.”