LaTourette measure restores grant money for firefighters
Tuesday, June 07, 2011
An amendment by U.S. Rep. Steven C. LaTourette (R-Bainbridge
Township) to restore funding for firefighter grants now moves to
the Senate after it was overwhelmingly approved in the House.
The Congressman offered an amendment to the Department of
Homeland Security (DHS) spending bill to restore some of the grant
funds that had been slashed for the popular Staffing for Adequate
Fire and Emergency Response (SAFER) and Assistance to Firefighters
(FIRE Act) grant programs. The grant programs are for hiring
firefighters and providing equipment and training.
In the initial version of the spending bill the two programs
were funded at $350 million, nearly a 60 percent cut from current
funding. The average cut in the DHS spending bill was 14
percent, LaTourette said. The LaTourette amendment, offered
jointly with Rep. Bill Pascrell (D-NJ), set funding levels at $670
million, a 19 percent cut, with the funds equally divided between
the two programs. The spending bill contained $40.6 billion
for DHS.
LaTourette said the additional $320 million for the fire grants
came from transferring funds from bureaucratic functions in the DHS
spending bill. The $670 million equals the Administration's
request.
"When 9-11 happened, when tornadoes ripped through Joplin and
the Midwest, and with historic flooding plaguing the country,
it's not FEMA or DHS that arrives at the scene to conduct search
and rescue missions," LaTourette. "FEMA and DHS play a vital
role in natural disasters and terrorism, but we can't forget it's
our local first responders who are first at the scene and the last
to leave."
LaTourette mentioned the horrific flooding of the Grand River a
few summers ago on the House Floor.
"I can just tell you that faced with amazing budget pressures
back in our local communities, when the Grand River in Painesville,
Ohio, flooded a couple of years ago, it wasn't FEMA, it wasn't the
Coast Guard, it wasn't the National Guard that plucked these folks
out of their homes and plucked them out of the river and saved
their lives and saved their properties. It was our firefighters and
our police officers," LaTourette said.
LaTourette's amendment passed by a vote of 333-87, with nearly
all Ohio House members voting for it. The spending bill, HR 2017,
passed the House by a vote of 231-188 and is now awaiting Senate
consideration.