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REMARKS OF SENATOR JOHN McCAIN 17th ANNUAL NATIONAL FIRE AND EMERGENCY SERVICES DINNER
April 7, 2005
• Thank you very much. I am honored to have been invited to join you all tonight and to visit with so many good friends. I greatly appreciate your acknowledgment of my support for the fire and emergency services community through my involvement with the Congressional Fire Caucus.
• As you all know, Congressional Fire Services Caucus of which I am currently a co-chairman, and served as full chairman during the last Congress, was established in 1987 by Congressman Curt Weldon in order to draw greater awareness to the issues involving our nation’s fire and emergency services. Today, the Fire Caucus is one of the largest caucuses in Congress with over 300 members.
• We work in close consultation with the Congressional Fire Services Institute (CFSI), a nonpartisan, non-profit established in 1989 to educate members of Congress about fire and life safety issues.
• Firefighting remains one of the most dangerous professions in the
United States . Today's firefighters and emergency responders are faced with a host of hazards caused by urban and wild land fires, natural disasters, hazardous materials spills, and other accidents. Congress must ensure that our Nation's first-responders are adequately prepared and trained to take action against these myriad threats, including domestic terrorism.
• During the 108th Congress, I introduced the “Spectrum Availability for Emergency-response and Law-enforcement to Improve Vital Emergency Services Act,” otherwise known as “The SAVE LIVES Act.” This bill was drafted in response to the 9/11 Commission’s Final Report, which recommended the “expedited and increased assignment of radio spectrum for public safety purposes.” Access to this specific spectrum is essential to our Nation’s safety and welfare as emergency communications sent over these frequencies are able to penetrate walls and travel great distances, and can assist multiple jurisdictions in deploying interoperable communications systems. Unfortunately, this legislation faced a formidable opponent, the National Association of Broadcasters, and Congress did not pass the legislation last year. But I remain committed to the cause and am prepared for to fight on behalf of emergency responders and citizens seeking a safer homeland. For these reasons, I will reintroduce the SAVE LIVES Act this month and begin the battle anew.
• I also sponsored the U.S. Fire Administration Reauthorization Act that authorized funding for the U.S. Fire Administration (USFA) and the
National
Fire
Academy . During my chairmanship of the Senate Commerce Committee, I heard testimony from many of the major fire service organizations regarding the need to improve the availability and adequacy of certain firefighting technologies and the importance of the U.S. Fire Administrator position as a representative of the fire services within the Department of Homeland Security. This law directed the federal government to develop science-based standards for new firefighting technology, reestablished the position of the U.S. Fire Administrator, and authorized over $194 million for USFA through FY08.
• Before closing, I want to commend the staff at the Congressional Fire Services Institute, in particular Executive Director Bill Webb and Legislative Director Sean Carroll, for their tireless service to the Congressional Fire Caucus and its causes.
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