Van Hollen Saves Fire Protection Group from Outsourcing

Van Hollen Saves Fire Protection Group from Outsourcing

Washington, D.C. - United States Representative Chris Van Hollen (D-MD) today released the following statement in response to a decision by the Department of Commerce to stop its plans to study privatizing the Fire Protection Group (FPG) at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST). The Department of Commerce reclassified the FPG at NIST from "Commercial, Available for Competition" to "Commercial, Not Available for Competition." This action takes these positions out of the competition and guarantees that the jobs cannot be privatized.

"I am pleased with the Department of Commerce's decision," said Van Hollen. "The men and women of the FPG put their lives on the line to protect NIST and provide support to Montgomery County's fire and emergency response capability. This group is highly trained to avert and respond to fires and other emergencies. Contracting out these jobs would have put the NIST community and important scientific work at risk. Contracting out these positions would mean sacrificing public safety for an ideologically driven privatization agenda."