Tom Udall: “I rise in support of H.R. 93, the Federal Firefighters Retirement Act, and this measure increases the mandatory…”

“I rise in support of H.R. 93, the Federal Firefighters Retirement Act, and this measure increases the mandatory separation age for Federal firefighters from 55 to 57. Last year was one of the worst fire seasons in our Nation's history. My own congressional district experienced the devastating effects of the Cerro Grande and the Vivash fires which consumed over 75,000 acres, and burned over 200 homes. The exemplary courage and dedication of the firefighters who have fought these wildfires was tremendous. In fact, these same firefighters continued to fight fire throughout the Nation beyond the normal fire season that charred almost 7 million acres. Last year, however, it became difficult to find enough firefighters to suppress, manage and support these large fires. This prompted the need to hire back some of the retired firefighting force. We are losing wildland firefighters at an alarming rate to retirement or other occupations. For example, in 1999, 57 percent of the U.S. Forest Service firefighters were age 45 or older. Madam Speaker, I would ask all my colleagues to support this bill.”