[Congressional Record Volume 169, Number 64 (Tuesday, April 18, 2023)] [Senate] [Pages S1154-S1161] From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
Date: 2023-04-18
Chamber: SENATE
Ms. COLLINS: I am delighted that the Senate is proceeding to consideration of the Fire Grants and Safety Act. This bipartisan legislation, which my colleague from Michigan, Senator Peters, the chairman of the Homeland Security Committee, and I have introduced, is cosponsored by our fellow congressional Fire Caucus chairs: Senators Murkowski, Tester, and Carper. Our bill would extend critical FEMA fire prevention programs, some of which are set to expire at the end of this fiscal year. Mr. President, your State of Vermont and mine are a lot alike. Firefighters are critical to the safety of our communities, whether they are small or large. Firefighters across Maine and the country courageously serve their communities. Recognizing their commitment in 2000 and 2003, I helped create FEMA's firefighter grant programs as part of a bipartisan effort to ensure that firefighters have the adequate staffing, equipment, and training to do their essential jobs as effectively and safely as possible. At that time, I was the chair or ranking member of the Senate Homeland Security Committee. The Fire Grants and Safety Act would reauthorize four critical firefighting and emergency services programs: the U.S. Fire Administration, which provides training and data to State and local fire departments, as well as education and awareness for the public; the Assistance to Firefighters Grant Program, known as the AFG, which helps to equip and train firefighters and emergency personnel; the Fire Prevention and Safety Grant Program, which provides resources to carry out fire prevention education and training; and the Staffing for Adequate Fire and Emergency Response Program, better known as the SAFER Program, which helps our local fire departments recruit, hire, and retain additional firefighters. Since October of 2020, fire departments across Maine have received just under $12 million from the AFG and SAFER grant programs. These critical investments in local, rural fire departments supported replacements of decades-old fire engines and obsolete breathing apparatuses. They also allowed for the hiring of additional firefighters, thus helping to ensure that Maine communities continue to provide excellent public safety services to our residents. I have visited many of the fire stations around the State, and I have seen firsthand the difference these Federal grant programs make in improving the safety of our firefighters who risk their lives to protect ours. Many of the fire stations in Maine are decades or even a century old. They need updated equipment. They need better breathingequipment. They need better fire engines. That is the purpose of many of these programs. They also are helped by these programs in getting a sufficient number of firefighters and emergency medical personnel. Fire chiefs across the State of Maine tell me of the critical importance of these programs in helping their local fire departments keep their communities safe. And that is one reason that this bill has such broad support from the International Association of Firefighters, the International Association of Fire Chiefs--the list goes on and on and on. Failure to reauthorize these programs would lessen the ability of our firefighters to perform their vital jobs and thus would reduce the safety of the public. So I urge all of my colleagues to support the swift passage of this legislation to support our firefighters. We simply cannot allow these vital programs to expire. I suggest the absence of a quorum.