Political Quotes

“I thank the gentleman from Texas (Mr. McCaul) for yielding, and I rise today in support of H.R. 2229, the First Responders Passport Act, legislation I introduced along with Congressman Boyle to exempt first responders operating on behalf of the U.S. Government from passport fees. This legislation is especially timely as we just witnessed Hurricane Dorian's destruction in the Bahamas. Currently, USAID contracts with first responders to deploy them abroad for natural disasters, like Hurricane Dorian. For example, every 5 years, USAID awards contracts to local fire departments that have highly trained, internationally certified urban search and rescue teams, allowing USAID to have these specialists on call. A team of these first responders deployed to the Bahamas as part of our recent relief efforts there. To arrive at disaster zones in time, these teams are required to be able to deploy the day a disaster strikes. Consequently, they must maintain an active passport while they are under contract. Unfortunately, volunteers or other members of these teams that are not deployed by a local or State government have to do so at their own expense, even though they could potentially be traveling on government business. My legislation allows the Secretary of State to waive passport fees for them and other similarly situated individuals. Brave first responders sacrifice time away from their families to go to disaster zones on behalf of the U.S.…”