Political Quotes

“I want to thank the distinguished chairman and the ranking member and my colleague Mr. Grimm from New York for this thoughtful amendment and for accepting it. Fairfax County, which I represent, has one of the outstanding US&R teams in the world. As my colleague from New York indicated, they have served both here in the United States in many, many manmade and natural tragedies, as well as around the world in saving lives. This is a great partnership between local governments and the Federal Government, and it's one that we desperately need to be enhanced. So I very much thank the majority and the minority leaders for accepting this thoughtful amendment. I am proud to join with my colleague, Mr. Grimm, in cosponsoring this amendment as an original cosponsor, and I am delighted it's going to be adopted. I yield back the balance of my time. I am pleased to join my colleague, Congressman Grimm, in sponsoring this amendment to restore funding for our nation's elite Urban Search and Rescue, USAR, Teams. Our simple common sense amendment would restore about half of the reduction proposed by the Committee, matching the level of the Senate markup, and it has the support of the International Association of Fire Fighters and the National Association of Police Organizations. When earthquake survivors are trapped in the rubble of a collapsed building, the window of survivability is measured in hours.…”