Steve Israel: “Mr. Speaker, even as a new member of the Congressional Fire Services Caucus, I believe that no Member of Congress' words…”

“Mr. Speaker, even as a new member of the Congressional Fire Services Caucus, I believe that no Member of Congress' words can adequately describe the loss that we have suffered. So I would like to include in the Record today excerpts of a recent Newsday editorial entitled, ``For Firefighters, Risk of Death Is All in a Day's Work.'' The editorial begins, ``The job has not changed that much over the years,'' George Burke of the International Association of Firefighters said yesterday. ``While most people run away from disasters, firefighters are paid to run straight into them. And for all of the recent equipment advances, the guarantees of safety are still precious few. A building filled with working firefighters can suddenly explode like a bomb. Or a flaming roof can collapse. Or a wooden floor can give away without warning. All of this may easily explain why fire fighting is the nation's most dangerous public sector job. ``On Father's Day afternoon three members of the New York Fire Department, Harry Ford, John Downing and Brian Fahey, died as they tried to protect residents of Astoria, Queens, from the dangers of a horrific hardware store fire. All told, the three men leave behind eight children.”