Susan Collins: “I rise to offer my wholehearted support for the bill offered by the distinguished Senator from Delaware to provide some…”

“I rise to offer my wholehearted support for the bill offered by the distinguished Senator from Delaware to provide some reasonable measure of job protection for the volunteer firefighters and emergency medical personnel who save thousands of lives across this country every year. This bill is a matter of simple fairness. It recognizes that volunteer firefighters and emergency medical personnel not only serve their own towns and offer mutual assistance to other communities on a day-to-day basis, but also that they are a key component in state and federal plans for responding to catastrophic natural disasters and terrorist attacks. Across the Nation, our emergency planning relies on the ready availability of these brave first responders. Indeed, volunteers are absolutely critical to mounting a response to disasters, both large and small. My home state of Maine, for example, has slightly more than 10,000 firefighters in 492 departments. Because Maine is a mostly rural State, fully 88 percent of those firefighters are volunteers. Yet, even if they are called up in a major disaster or a Presidentially declared emergency under the Stafford Act, these volunteers have no official protection for their jobs while they are answering the call to duty. We should protect volunteer firefighters and EMS personnel who put their lives on the line. The current lack of job protection is dangerous.”