Fire Grants Reauthorization Act Of 2009

Floor Speech

Fire Grants Reauthorization Act Of 2009

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Mr. SMITH of Nebraska. Mr. Chairman, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

Mr. Chairman, I rise today in support of H.R. 3791, the Fire Grants Reauthorization Act of 2009. This bill reauthorizes both the Assistance to Firefighters Grant (AFG) program and the Staffing for Adequate Fire and Emergency Response (SAFER) program, which both provide much-needed assistance to fire departments across the Nation.

As we learned through our committee work on this bill, and as I have heard firsthand in discussions with fire chiefs and firefighters in my district, the AFG program is frequently cited as a ``life safer'' and the only means by which many departments can acquire up-to-date equipment and training--which requires a significant portion of their budget--for their firefighters.

This is particularly true in rural areas such as my district in rural Nebraska, where many communities rely upon all-volunteer departments to respond to fires and other emergencies. The equipment needed to fight fires and save lives and property is costly, and required for departments to meet certain minimum response capabilities regardless of whether they are protecting a community of a few hundred people or a large city of a few hundred thousand people. As such, firefighter grants have proven absolutely vital for rural and volunteer fire departments, which have small tax bases and the least ability to acquire such equipment.

The bill before us today makes several modest changes to the AFG and SAFER programs, reflecting a compromise reached by the leading national fire service organizations who worked closely with the Science and Technology Committee to develop this legislation. I support these changes and the underlying reauthorization effort, and I want to call attention to two in particular which I offered as amendments during committee consideration of this bill. They are intended to support the ability of smaller combination and volunteer departments to successfully compete for and receive AFG grants and to emphasize the AFG program should be a funding priority generally.

The first amendment added language to the bill clarifying in awarding grants competitively, FEMA must consider a broad range of factors related to a fire department's ability to respond to hazards, not just the size of the population a department protects but also other factors such as its geographic response area, hazard vulnerability, or financial situation. This addition does not make any changes to the underlying AFG program but, rather, explicitly codifies FEMA's existing practice.

Second, I was pleased to incorporate amendment language in committee calling attention to the dramatic decline in funding for the AFG program over the last 5 years and emphasize restoring it should be a priority.

The AFG program is authorized in this legislation at $1 billion a year; however, its actual appropriated funding has never reached that amount and, in fact, has steadily declined in recent years. In fiscal year 2003, $750 million was appropriated for AFG. Since this time, funding has steadily declined. Last year it was $565 million, and this year the Obama administration requested only $390 million. This represents a 48 percent decline since fiscal year 2003. Given the importance of AFG to helping fire departments around the country meet minimum response requirements, especially those in rural areas with limited tax bases, this trend is troubling and should be reversed.

I was pleased our colleagues in the majority accepted these amendments, and I appreciate the chairman's work. I thank them for working closely with me and the leading national fire service organizations to develop an agreeable compromise under which we could move this reauthorization forward.

I urge Members to support passage of this bill, and I hope for and expect a continued smooth process as we do go forward.

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Mr. SMITH of Nebraska. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I will be very brief. We were expecting some other Members here. But I will say that I appreciate the process that we have gone through this. It involved quite a bit of discussion early on at the subcommittee level and full committee level. I'm grateful that the chairman considered amendments from our side so that we can meet the public safety needs of our country. It's not just about my district, it's not just about certain districts, but the entire country. I'm grateful to be a part of this process, and I will say it does work.

With that, I would yield back the balance of my time.

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Mr. SMITH of Nebraska. Thank you. I appreciate that. I thank the gentleman for offering the amendment to assess fire department readiness through a survey of compliance with national voluntary consensus standards for staffing, training, equipment, and other factors important to a department's ability to respond to hazards. I do support the amendment but would like to seek clarification for the Record regarding the gentleman's intent on two aspects of this amendment.

First, I recognize the value of improved data regarding fire department compliance with response standards, and I agree that we should aspire to help the fire service achieve higher compliance rates. However, I think it is important to note that a lack of compliance with these standards does not necessarily indicate a problem on the part of the department or local municipality.

There are over 25,000 fire departments in the United States, all working under unique circumstances with respect to local hazards, populations, mutual aid agreements, operating budgets, and so on. In many cases, it simply does not make sense for departments to be in full compliance with what the Federal Government would consider full compliance with these standards based on their individual circumstances, particularly in rural areas where resources are very limited.

For these reasons, I would hope that the task force established by this amendment considers these practical barriers to standards compliance in making recommendations to Congress regarding how best to improve standards compliance. I would just ask the gentleman if he would agree with this interpretation.

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Mr. SMITH of Nebraska. I thank the gentleman from Colorado. Second, while the cost of the study called for in the gentleman's amendment is not precisely known at this time, it may be a significant undertaking. Accordingly, I hope that it is the gentleman's intent that the funding for this study, which is authorized by the Secretary of Homeland Security, not come out of the core budget for either of these grant programs or the budget of the U.S. Fire Administration.

Does the gentleman agree with this interpretation?

Mr. PERLMUTTER. Again, I agree with my friend. First, I'd like to note this survey is an undertaking which I intend to do similarly to the U.S. Fire Administration's periodic census, which determines the number of fire departments in the Nation, as well as the number of firefighters. The census is done by mail, and I would expect this survey to be done similarly or even electronically to save on costs.

To the specific point about funding, I believe FIRE and SAFER funds are best used going to fire departments. I also believe the U.S. Fire Administration is cash-strapped. This year's Homeland Security Appropriations Act funded it at $45.6 billion. If I were an appropriator, I would have doubled that figure.

To avoid funding this provision through the grants themselves or the USFA, I have an additional authorization of appropriation from outside those funds. I wish to continue to work with the gentleman to perfect and clarify this intent.

I thank the gentleman from Nebraska and give him notice now to be aware of my Colorado Buffaloes next week. We aren't going to a bowl game this year, but our bowl game is against the University of Nebraska--and we will win.

Mr. SMITH of Nebraska. I thank the gentleman from Colorado for his graciousness, with I guess just one exception. But I appreciate the confidence he shows in his college football team.

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