Political Quotes

“We are here tonight, I hope, to help the people who are our first responders. We were not here to help Brookings Institution. We are not here to help The Washington Post. We are not here to help the members of the Committee on the Judiciary. They are not out fighting fires. They are not out there dealing with disasters. They were not at the World Trade Center. The first responders of this country have spoken. All of their national associations met, and the date of this document, which I will insert in the record, this document is their combined position paper on the creation of the Office of Homeland Security. It is not me. It is every firearm service organization. Do we not respect them? Do you belong to the fire caucus? Are you listening to your firefighters? Your paid firefighters, your volunteers, your chiefs, because they thought this through. And what is their first recommendation? The Federal Emergency Management Agency which is tasked with emergency preparedness and response missions must be at the core of the Department of Homeland Security.”