Political Quotes

“Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentlewoman for yielding time. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in strong support of this legislation to reauthorize the Assistance to Firefighters Grants, the Staffing for Adequate Fire and Emergency Response Grants, and the United States Fire Administration. It is hard to imagine now, but 25 years ago, Federal support for our fire services was nearly nonexistent, very little equity, but then funding for firefighting was primarily the responsibility of the State and local governments. During budget shortfalls, fire departments were often the very first to get cut. When a department needed equipment or personnel, they resorted to bake sales and pancake breakfasts, although there is nothing wrong with those. That is a heck of a way to bring responsibility of protecting the citizens. Working with local fire departments, national advocates, retirees, partners in Congress, and the White House, we passed the FIRE Act into law after getting volunteers and career firefighters here to Washington, D.C., to follow every Congressman and get on their case. That is what we did. While we will take credit for this legislation, it is really the firefighters that did this. They came to Washington. It seems like a lifetime away. Career firefighters, fire chiefs, volunteers, everyone came together to make sure our fire groups were no longer the forgotten piece of the public safety equation. Our law delivered Federal dollars to local departments for the very first time.…”