United States Fire Administration Reauthorization Act of 2008

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

H.R. 4847, the U.S. Fire Administration Reauthorization Act of 2008 reauthorizes USFA's activities in training, fire education and awareness, data collection, research and standards development and promotion. This legislation also authorizes $291 million in Federal funds for fiscal years 2009

through 2012 for the USFA. This authorization level, Mr. Chairman, is consistent with previously authorized levels and it only includes a very modest growth in funding that is capped at 3 percent in any of the fiscal years for the bill.

Mr. Chairman, as the lead Republican sponsor of this legislation, I am pleased to have worked with my colleague from Arizona, Mr. Mitchell, over these past few months to bring this bill, H.R. 4847, to the House floor today.

I am also pleased that this bill has gone through the regular order process. That is a refreshing phrase, Mr. Chairman, but I am certainly pleased that it went through regular order. In fact, in October, the Science Committee's Subcommittee on Technology and Innovation, of which I am the ranking member, we held a hearing on reauthorizing USFA, and H.R. 4847 was unanimously reported out of our subcommittee earlier this year.

On February 27 of this year, the full committee, the full Science Committee, reported the bill after accepting both Republican and Democratic amendments that I think have improved the bill.

The mission of USFA is to limit economic and life loss ``due to fire and related emergencies, through leadership, advocacy, coordination and support.''

This organization provides vital assistance in the areas of training, fire education and awareness, and it awards grants to a number of our local fire departments across this country. We all have them in every district of all 435 Members. These activities have made a substantial impact over the last 30 years.

Mr. Chairman, it is important to note that because of the work of the USFA, smoke alarms are now standard issue in residences across the country. Over a million firefighters have received advanced training, and firefighter equipment and safety continually improves.

USFA should be proud of its record of achievement. However, it is also clear that certainly there are still improvements that can be made. In the last 10 years, deaths related to fires have decreased by approximately 25 percent, from nearly 5,000 in 1996 to 3,675 in 2006. Although that decrease in fire-related deaths is commendable, the United States still has one of the highest death rates from fires in the industrialized world.

Additionally, despite decreases in the numbers of fires, direct damage costs are increasing and have surpassed $10 billion per year. The number of fires have gone down, but the damage from them has gone up to $10 billion per year. In an average year, Mr. Chairman, fires caused as much damage in the United States as have hurricanes. The reauthorization of USFA will allow the agency to continue to improve our preparedness and to reduce our vulnerability to fires.

Unfortunately, last year we saw wildfires that literally ravaged southern California, and we need to develop a more cohesive way of combating these fires. I am happy to see that this legislation specifically addresses the issue of fighting fires in what we refer to as an urban-wildland interface by implementing methods to better respond and prepare for fires that move from wildlands to suburban and indeed urban areas.

Furthermore, Mr. Chairman, I am particularly pleased that this legislation now includes an amendment that I offered at full committee. It will allow the USFA administrator to perform studies related to the management of emergency medical services at the scene of a fire. Our brave firefighters, men and women, are called upon to extract victims from car crashes, building fires or collapses, and other emergencies, so it is critical that patients receive consistent care under medical direction.

While I do not expect USFA to pursue studies into the medical care EMS patients should receive, I believe my amendment, which was accepted by the full Science Committee, will give the administrator the authority to conduct studies into training, system design, on-scene patient management while making sure to work with appropriate Federal agencies and existing medical services in these local communities.

Mr. Chairman, the current bill is an important and well-crafted step forward for the USFA, and it represents months of diligent work by both the majority and the minority members and staff of the Science Committee. I want to make sure to commend the great staff of both the minority and the majority.

This legislation has been a bipartisan accomplishment of our committee. That is pretty much standard practice in the Science Committee, I am proud to say, Mr. Chairman. And it is being supported not only unanimously by the committee, but by a number of fire related advocacy groups, including the Congressional Fire Services Institute, the International Association of Arson Investigators, the International Association of Fire Chiefs, the International Association of Firefighters, the International Fire Service Training Association, the National Fire Protection Association, the National Volunteer Fire Council, and the National North American Fire Training Directors.

Mr. Chairman, I could go on, but my staff didn't list any more.

I certainly want to say, Mr. Chairman, this is an outstanding bill and I urge all my colleagues to support it, H.R. 4847, because this bill will enable the USFA to continue its record of achievement, as well as prepare firefighters for the challenges that they will undoubtedly face in the future.

Mr. Chairman, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Chairman, I continue to reserve my time.

Mr. Chairman, I will continue to reserve my time.

Mr. Chairman, may I ask how much time is remaining on both sides?

Mr. Chairman, I continue to reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Chairman, at this time, I am pleased to yield to the ranking member of the full committee, the Science Committee, the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Hall). I yield to him as much time as he might consume.

Mr. Chairman, if I might ask my good friend from Arizona how much time, first of all, does he have left, and does he have additional speakers.

At this point, Mr. Chairman, I will continue to reserve the balance of my time. But if the gentleman needs some time from our side, we will be glad to yield it to him.

Mr. Chairman, I will yield to myself such time as I might consume.

I was recently in Iraq. I've been a number of times, of course, to Iraq, and Afghanistan. And also just recently, I saw a news special back home highlighting one of our great heroes from the Middle East who was burned severely. His injuries, I think, were the result of an improvised explosive device, and he was an occupant of one of the up- armored HUMVEES or the new MRAP vehicles. I think, indeed, it was an up-armored HUMVEE.

And while he was not injured by shrapnel or a projectile, there was a fire, and there was a significant fire. And of course, as he was pulled from the burning vehicle, he sustained severe, severe injuries to his person from the fire. And he described how he just, he knew what to do. He rolled, he tried everything in his power. But of course, thanks to what happened to him at Landstuhl Medical Center in Germany, and then eventually at Walter Reed and Bethesda, he's alive and well and has a family and children. And this little news clip featured him playing with his kids. But you could certainly see the ravages that that fire inflicted upon his body, and the scarring of course. What a brave--I wish I could remember his name, Mr. Chairman, because it was, talk about a profile in courage.

But it just made me think about, as we've been discussing here today, and you talk about what these firefighters do and how important they are. And actually, as we know, 40 percent of the workload in Operation Iraqi and Enduring Freedom has been carried by our Guard and Reserve, many of whom are firefighters who, you know, they've been trained. And thank God for that. And I'm very hopeful. I want to look into this further. I'm sure that our military, our regular Army and Marine Corps, they're all well-trained in that. But that just goes to show you how important it is, not just to save a life, but try to bring that life back and so they can rejoin their family and friends in society, go back to their job.

One of the statistics that I think both Mr. Mitchell and I mentioned in regard to the fact that the latest year that we had numbers, there was still something like 37, 3,800 people that lose their lives every year in fires in this country.

Well, you know what? That's about the number, we're at 4,000 now, that have lost their lives in this 4\1/2\, 5-year war. And of course there were practically 3,000 lives lost, many of them from fire, a lot of them firefighters themselves, on 9/11. So it just brings home the message that fire is an awful thing. It is an awful thing. It might not kill you immediately, like one of these high powered projectiles, but it can certainly destroy one's life.

And so what we're talking about here today is so important, and that's why this bill is so important.

I just wanted to make those remarks, Mr. Chairman.

I, at this time, don't have additional speakers waiting for time, but I would like to reserve the balance of my time. And I still make the offer to yield to the gentleman from Arizona if he needs some more minutes.

Mr. Chairman, I will continue to reserve.

How much time do we have, Mr. Chairman?

I would be happy, Mr. Chairman, if the Chair would allow, to yield up to 5 minutes for the gentleman from Arizona to close. But I want to make my closing remarks, of course, before that.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

To close on my side, again, let me just simply say as I did before, it has been a great pleasure to work with Mr. Mitchell on this bill. It has been an even greater pleasure to meet with the many firefighters and fire chiefs who I have consulted with over the past few months: our own fire chiefs in my county and city, Cobb County, Georgia; Marietta City, Georgia; Chief Jackie Gibbs, Chief Becky Dillenger. I see them literally every week in the district and the great work that they do, and it makes me awfully proud to be up here representing not only them but the other eight counties in my district. They know that we are fighting to help them protect us, and that's a comforting feeling.

H.R. 4847 is a very good bill. And this is the least that we, in this body, can do to support our Nation's fire services. And I want to again say I hope that we will have as many Members that are present today, close to 430, I hope, voting ``yes'' for 4847 to support this bill.

At this time, I am prepared to yield as much time as the gentleman from Arizona needs for the purpose of his closing.

Mr. Chairman, I rise to claim the time under the rule but I am in support of the gentleman's amendment, not in opposition to it.

Mr. Chairman, the men and women of our Nation's fire services are among the very first responders to an extraordinary wide range of accidents, injuries, and disasters. And the gentleman from New Jersey, he knows as well as anybody in this body. He was right there. His district's right there, very close to the scene of 9/11. And I think that his amendment is very, very appropriate because this was a fire caused by a terrorist attack. Unlike the Murrah Building attack at Oklahoma City, which was an incidence of domestic violence by our own, if you will, homegrown terrorists, this situation that occurred on 9/11 is the reason why I'm sure the gentleman from New Jersey has brought forth this good amendment. And he is so right to point out that firefighters will also be the first to the scene when many of these catastrophes happen.

Hopefully, it won't occur in this country again. We've been blessed. I think there has been a lot of hard work on the part of this Congress and this administration to protect our country on our soil from another terrorist attack. Thank God so far it hasn't happened. But that doesn't mean you don't

train for and prepare for it. And those firefighters that went to work that day, they were well trained, but I'm sure they weren't expecting a terrorist attack. And in such an event like that, their first job, of course, always is to heroically save lives. But fire services will also act to minimize the damage and property loss that a terrorist strike or ensuing events may cause. I mean, as the amendment addresses, there may be biological weapons of mass destruction, and there could have been, right behind the two planes, maybe another plane with a terrorist coming into the city in parachutes with nuclear or biological weapons, a sarin gas attack. God knows what could have happened in the subways of New York City. So the United States Fire Administration works hand- in-glove with other components of the Department of Homeland Security, and Chairman Thompson is here on the floor right now, to ensure that our Nation's fire services have access to the best training and resources available.

So I'm proud of the U.S. Fire Administration's work to date to improve our resiliency and our preparedness, yes, for terrorist events, natural disasters, and, of course, the daily accidents and fires that occur in communities across the country.

Mr. Chairman, I wholeheartedly support the gentleman's amendment. I urge all my colleagues and expect all my colleagues to support his amendment.

Mr. Chairman, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Chairman, I yield back the balance of my time.

I want to thank the gentleman for yielding, and the generosity of his time.

Mr. Chairman, in this decade, wildland fires have consumed 50 million acres in this country. While the term ``wildland fires'' brings to mind uninhabited areas in our Nation's parks, forests, and rural areas, wildland fires have done tremendous damage to urban and suburban development as well. I think that was the reason for the colloquy between Mr. Wu from Oregon and Mr. Sali from Idaho.

Last fall, western States were hit particularly hard by wildland fires that encroached into developed areas and destroyed homes, businesses, and livelihoods. The amendment offered by the gentleman from Idaho addresses that concern. The amendment allows the Administrator of the USFA to distribute information on the importance of clearing in these areas biomass materials from Federal lands, not out in the interior of a National Park. That was a point that was made in the colloquy.

The amendment requires USFA to work in consultation, of course, with other Federal agencies to ensure that USFA provides the best possible recommendations. Removing hazardous fuels, biomass materials, from Federal forests and lands will help to prevent, and more importantly, to limit these forest fires as they begin to encroach on urban areas. So if you leave these materials susceptible to forest fires, the consequences, as Mr. Sali pointed out, can be disastrous.

So, Mr. Chairman, I support wholeheartedly his amendment and urge my colleagues to do the same.

Mr. Chairman, I rise to claim time in opposition. However, we are very supportive of the gentleman's amendment, and I yield myself such time as I may consume.

Mr. Chairman, millions of United States houses today contain smoke alarms. They have been credited with saving thousands of lives. Yet, smoke alarms can only warn the occupants of a fire. They cannot contain or extinguish a fire. Fire sprinkler systems provide the means to limit fire growth and therefore save lives and property. We already mentioned $10 billion a year, I think, in property damage, 3,600 lives lost every year.

Studies by the USFA have shown that the installation of residential fire sprinkler systems could save thousands of lives and millions of dollars in property taxes. Bottom line. So together with their Federal partners, USFA has reported a potential 82 percent reduction in fire deaths if fire sprinklers, along with smoke alarms, were installed in all residential dwellings. With the cost of a home sprinkler system in new construction being estimated as low as $1.50 a square foot, or as low as 1 percent of the total cost of the house, and of course, many insurance companies offering discounts up to 15 percent on houses that contain sprinkler systems, it is clear that the benefits in lives and property saved far outweigh the costs.

The amendment from the gentleman from Rhode Island (Mr. Langevin) supports the efforts of the U.S. Fire Administration to improve the awareness of the effectiveness and availability of residential sprinkler systems.

Mr. Chairman, I wholeheartedly support the gentleman's amendment, and urge my colleagues to do the same.

I yield back my time.

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

(Mr. MITCHELL asked and was given permission to revise and extend his remarks.)

Mr. Chairman, I rise today in support of H.R. 4847, the U.S. Fire Administration Reauthorization Act of 2008, a bill I introduced with the original cosponsor, my good friend from Georgia, Dr. Gingrey.

Firefighters are often the first to arrive at an emergency scene and the last to leave. Whether it is putting out a house fire or a wild fire, or responding to a terrorist attack or car accident, we depend on firefighters every day. But firefighters also depend on us; they depend on the public and their elected officials to make sure that they have the resources, the equipment, and the training they need to do their job. Without those tools, we put them and all of us at risk.

The U.S. Fire Administration is an invaluable resource for our Nation's firefighters and the communities they protect. Through training, data collection, fire education for the public, and support for fire-related research and development, the USFA provides critical tools and leadership to the Fire Service.

Fire is one of nature's most destructive forces. In 1973, when USFA was created, over 6,000 Americans died each year in fires and another 100,000 were injured. Through the leadership of USFA and others, the number of people killed by fires each year is now between 3,000 and 3,500, with approximately 16,000 people who were injured. We can all be proud of the significant reduction. However, 3,000 Americans a year is still too many, especially when so many of these deaths and injuries are from our most vulnerable populations, children and the elderly.

In addition, the Nation still suffers over $11 billion per year in direct losses due to fire, and the trend for this number is going up, not down. With statistics like these, it is clear that fire continues to be a major problem for the U.S. H.R. 4847 reauthorizes this important agency for 4 years at funding levels that will enable USFA to carry out fully its mission.

At a hearing with the Technology and Innovation Subcommittee held last fall, we heard the priorities of the Nation's fire service communities for USFA. This bill directly reflects their priorities.

This bill authorizes the USFA to focus on the pressing challenges of fighting fires in the wildland-urban interface, and fires involving hazardous materials, as well as advanced topics of emergency medical services.

Back home in Arizona, one of the toughest challenges our firefighters face is wildfires in the wildland-urban interface. This is an important year for wildfires. We have had a pretty wet winter which means a great deal of shrubs and bushes have grown at lower elevations. When the summer months heat up and the vegetation dries out, those shrubs and bushes will turn into tinder that can start a fast-moving wildfire in urban areas. Those fires threaten homes and lives. Fighting wildfires in urban areas requires special training, and I am proud that this legislation enhances fire administration training for wildland-urban interface fires.

Firefighters today are called upon to respond to an ever-broader range of emergencies. This authorization bill gives USFA the authority to make sure its training program keeps pace with the increasing challenges to the fire service.

The bill also addresses an important priority of the fire service in USFA, and that is to update the National Fire Incident Reporting System, or NFIRS. This system provides important data on fire events to policymakers at all levels of government. The current system is slow to report the data to the National Fire Data Center, and does not capture data on every fire, thus limiting its value to users. H.R. 4847 would direct USFA to update NFIRS to a real-time reporting, web-based system.

The bill also directs the U.S. Fire Administrator to continue USFA's leadership in firefighter health and safety. Every year over 100 firefighters die in the line of duty. H.R. 4847 directs USFA to educate local fire departments about national voluntary consensus standards for firefighter health and safety, and to encourage local departments to adopt these standards. This provision will help reduce the tragic loss of life the fire service suffers each year in line-of-duty deaths by promoting good practices in a variety of fire emergencies.

I also understand there have been some concerns that this provision would affect the jurisdiction of NIOSH, the National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health. I would like to reassure my colleagues that it is not my intent for this bill to have any effect on NIOSH or any other agency of the Department of Health and Human Services.

H.R. 4847 is the product of bipartisan collaboration, and is supported by major fire service organizations, including the International Association of Fire Chiefs, the International Association of Firefighters, the National Volunteer Fire Council, National Fire Protection Association, and the Congressional Fire Services Institute.

The resources and leadership of the USFA are an essential part of the ability of the fire service to protect our cities, towns and communities. I urge my colleagues to support this bill.

Mr. Chairman, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Chairman, I yield 3 minutes to the gentleman from Tennessee (Mr. Gordon), the chairman of the Science and Technology Committee.

Mr. Chairman, I would like to yield 3 minutes to Mr. Pascrell, the gentleman from New Jersey.

I yield an additional minute to the gentleman.

Mr. Chairman, I would like to yield as much time as she may consume to Ms. Richardson, the gentlelady from California.

Mr. Chairman, I would like to yield as much time as he may consume to Mr. Wu, the gentleman from Oregon. He is the chairman of the Technology and Innovation Subcommittee. And I want to thank Chairman Wu for moving this bill so quickly through the subcommittee.

Mr. Chairman, I would like to yield as much time as he may consume to Mr. Matheson, the gentleman from Utah.

Thank you. We have some additional speakers that are on their way.

Thank you. Mr. Chairman, we do have a couple more speakers. They are on their way.

Mr. Chairman, if I may, I appreciate the good words that people have come and said before this body. We've made significant strides in reducing fire-related deaths and injuries since Congress first created this agency in the 1970s. But again, as we've noted, and all the speakers have noted, there are still more than 3,000 Americans that die every year from fires, and many more injured. And despite the decreases in the number of fires, the cost, as we said, is continually rising. And, in fact, it's roughly the same cost, the damage of fires is roughly the same cost as caused by hurricanes.

We know that the Fire Service provides critical assistance in protecting our communities from emergency events. From house fires to terrorist events to natural disasters, firefighters, as we've noted, are not only the first on the scene, but many times the last to leave.

As the wildfires in California last fall demonstrated, the Fire Service plays a vital role in protecting our communities, and that's why we introduced H.R. 4847, to reauthorize the U.S. Fire Administration and provide additional resources for our Nation's firefighters.

The U.S. Fire Administration is an invaluable resource for over 1.3 million firefighters and emergency personnel around the country. Through training, educational materials, data collection and other services, the USFA provides tools and leadership to firefighters and communities that they serve.

H.R. 4847 will reauthorize the USFA, funding its critical work until the Fiscal Year 2012. This bill will ensure that our firefighters are trained to handle modern-day challenges facing today's first responders, including, as we have mentioned before, firefighting in the wildland-urban interface and responding to hazardous material incidents.

The bill is supported by, and we've listed a whole list of these before, all of these national associations that deal with firefighting.

This bill is the product of bipartisan collaboration and had considerable input from the Fire Service community.

We encourage you to help support firefighters in your district by ensuring that everyone has the resources they need by supporting this important legislation.

I would reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Chairman, I would, again, like to yield as much time as he may consume to Mr. Wu, the gentleman from Oregon, who is the chairman of the Technology and Innovation Subcommittee. I, again, want to thank him for all the efforts he's put into this bill.

I would like to yield as much time as he may consume to the gentleman from North Carolina (Mr. Miller).

I would like to yield such time as he may consume to the gentleman from Mississippi (Mr. Thompson).

Mr. Chairman, we have no further speakers.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

And first, I would like to thank Mr. Gingrey and all of his staff for the support they've given this important piece of legislation. And it's the least we can do, here in Congress, to provide the resources necessary for our first responders to react, the education that's involved, the training, particularly in areas that are very important, like in Arizona and California where there is a wildfire/urban interface.

As I said earlier, we have had a very wet winter in Arizona. It's good and bad. It brings out the wild flowers; it brings out a lot of green. But at the same time, in the lower elevations it brings out a lot of dry tender which just really is very dangerous this time of year.

So I would like to thank everyone, the staffs on both sides, the committee chairman, the subcommittee chairman, everyone who dealt with this particular issue.

And I, again, want to thank all of the firefighters, the professional people who are involved, who gave us what they felt is necessary to move this bill forward and to give them the tools that they need.

This piece of legislation will last until 2012. At that time, of course, we will have more input. Hopefully, we won't have as many disasters or types of disasters, but there will be new things that we need to learn and train for.

So I appreciate, again, everyone's efforts in this, and I know that the people around this country who are protected by these first responders also appreciate what we are doing for them today.

Thank you.

Mr. Chairman, I also want to say thank you to Mr. Gingrey for his support of this amendment, which we know will make this a much stronger bill and a better bill.

So I thank you very much for the amendment and all the support that it's receiving.

Yes, I do, Mr. Chairman.

I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from Georgia (Mr. Gingrey).

I yield back the balance of my time, Mr. Chairman.

Mr. Chairman, to all of those on both sides of the aisle who made it possible for the reauthorization bill to come to the floor today, I say thank you, and all the services.

The U.S. Fire Administration, through FEMA, provides the leadership, the coordination, and support services for fire prevention and control, which is critical. I mean, we still lose 100 firefighters, on average, every year. That certainly is unacceptable to any of us on this floor. And we need to work even harder to make sure that our firefighters have the resources and the wherewithal to do the job we ask them to do.

If you remember the Fire Act we passed before 9/11, this was a response to the very basic needs of the 32,000 fire departments throughout the United States and the one million firefighters. That legislation broke ground because it was a response to needs that we've neglected. We can't expect that every local community in this country has the resources to supply and provide the training and the state-of- the-art equipment to the fire departments throughout America, and so that Fire Act has been so successful.

There is literally $3.5 billion in applications in the Fire Act, and a tremendous amount of applications for SAFER every year. And we have devised, both of us, on both sides of the aisle, probably the best format of how to judge the competitive applications. We've asked the firefighters to step up to the plate, judged by their peers. But the Fire Administration is partner with all of these peer firefighters who review the applications. In the Fire Act and SAFER bill, this is very unusual, the money goes directly to the departments so that the States cannot skim and the local government cannot skim. So, this is a real competition, and I believe that's how all Federal funds should be used. That's my own personal opinion.

The Fire Administration has been a true partner for 34 years. The roles and responsibilities of the fire service have evolved for the 1.1 million men and women in fire and emergency services, over 316,000 career firefighters, almost 317,000, and the 824,000 volunteers.

What I am so thankful for, in terms of the U.S. Fire Administration, Mr. Chairman, is that the U.S. Fire Administration has brought the volunteers and the career firefighters together. This is invaluable.

I cannot express how important this is. All the competition that existed before 2000, we've gotten out of it, and thanks to the Fire Administration. They are working together, the career firefighters and the volunteer firefighters.

This is a very important legislation that is going to save lives. And isn't this what we're here for, to do what we can on a Federal level, realizing it's always going to be the local efforts that are going to be most important. But we have a responsibility, and it seems to me today, Mr. Chairman, that we're stepping up to the plate.

I want to commend Members on both sides, the good doctor and my good friend from the Southwest part of the country. This has brought us together, this legislation, and it is good legislation.

Mr. Chairman, I have an amendment at the desk.

Thank you very much, Mr. Chairman.

Mr. Chairman, in the reauthorization act of 2008, this amendment provides that the National Fire Academy training program could train fire service personnel in response tactics and strategies for dealing with natural catastrophes, including terrorist-caused national catastrophes and incidents that involve weapons of mass destruction.

I want to thank the cosponsor of the underlying bill, Representative Harry Mitchell from Arizona, for presenting a very strong piece of legislation that will reauthorize the United States Fire Administration for another 5 years.

I also want to thank the chairman of the Science Committee, Congressman Gordon, for his leadership in considering all of the necessary elements of this legislation with the end result being a strong, comprehensive bill.

The underlying bill would authorize $293 million through fiscal year 2012 for the U.S. Fire Administration, which is a vital agency charged with reducing debt and economic losses because of fire emergencies. I want to make clear that this is a small price to pay when considering the thousands of lives we lose each year to fire emergencies and the billions of dollars we spend to fight them.

Throughout my years in Congress, I have always been passionate for funding our Nation's fire departments and firefighters, the Fire and Safety grants that this Congress has provided in the funds supplied through this reauthorization. I feel especially strong about this reauthorization because it also includes provisions that help guide the fire academy on how to best train our Nation's firefighters for the added and the increased challenges they face every day. My amendment addresses this issue by simply updating the training program at the National Fire Academy to include national catastrophes related to terrorism.

We saw on 9/11 our Nation's heroic firefighters were among the first responders on the scene trying desperately to rescue as many people as possible in that horrific act of terror. Clearly, we all understand that the responsibilities of our Nation's firefighters became greater on that day as they now have to train for emergency response to catastrophic terrorist attacks, including the foreboding threats of incidents involving weapons of mass destruction. Many of these types of courses already exist at the fire academy, but the future of these critical courses for these firefighters should never be put in doubt and need to be codified.

My amendment simply puts these practices into law and sends a message to the Department of Homeland Security and the U.S. Fire Administration that this issue continues to be important to the Congress and the protection of our constituents.

I thank the sponsor, Mr. Mitchell, the chairman, Mr. Gordon, once again for all of their work.

Mr. Chairman, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Chairman, I would like to thank my friend from Georgia.

Mr. Chairman, I yield 30 seconds to the gentleman from Arizona (Mr. Mitchell).

Mr. Chairman, it now gives me a tremendous sense of honor to introduce also the gentleman from Mississippi, my good friend, who is also the chairman of the Homeland Security Committee. No one, no one has worked harder to bring all of the agencies together in this effort to protect our country and to protect our families and our neighborhoods.

Mr. Chairman, I am pleased to yield the balance of my time to Chairman Thompson.

Mr. Chairman, I want to thank Mr. Langevin for all of his critical work on this too often neglected issue of fire sprinklers. I applaud this amendment for encouraging the installation of fire sprinklers in all commercial buildings and supporting educational programs about installing them in residential buildings. A very critical issue here.

We must take every opportunity to promote the use of fire sprinklers, as the gentleman from Georgia just pointed out, which is why we introduced the Campus Fire Safety Legislation to require mandatory responses. Every university now, every college, every community college, whether it is a college building or a dormitory, any building connected to that university or institution has an obligation to tell the parents and the students what is their record on fire safety. No students should be sent to any university, any university or any college, unless their parents and they themselves know what the record is, if there are sprinklers installed, if there are smoke detectors installed. We lost three who were killed in the Seton Hall fire in New Jersey, 58 were injured. Since 2000, 108 people have died in campus fires. There are 20 campus-related fire deaths in the last 2 years.

Mr. Chairman, I want to bring the attention to everyone on this as part of the educational process. I want to thank the gentleman from Rhode Island for introducing this amendment. It makes sense, and I hope everybody will support it.

Mr. Speaker, by direction of the Committee on Rules, I call up House Resolution 1071 and ask for its immediate consideration.

For the purpose of debate only, I yield the customary 30 minutes to the gentleman from Washington (Mr. Hastings). All time yielded during consideration of the rule is for debate only. I ask unanimous consent that all Members have 5 legislative days within which to revise and extend their remarks and insert extraneous materials into the Record.

I yield myself such time as I may consume.

Mr. Speaker, H. Res. 1071 provides for consideration of H.R. 4847, the United States Fire Administration Reauthorization Act of 2008 under a structured rule. The rule provides 1 hour of debate, controlled by the Committee on Science and Technology, and makes in order all three amendments that were submitted for consideration. I am proud to rise today in support of this rule and the underlying bill.

Mr. Speaker, twenty-seven years ago, in 1971, over 12,000 citizens and more than 250 firefighters tragically lost their lives due to fires. In response to those tragic occurrences, this body passed the Federal Fire Prevention and Control Act into law, establishing the United States Fire Administration, also known as the USFA, and the National Fire Academy, known as the NFA. The USFA was created to reduce the incidence of death, injury and property loss from fire through public education, data collection, research and training.

Mr. Speaker, we have made great progress. Since the creation of the USFA in 1974, the number of fire deaths has been reduced by more than one-half. Besides providing training and educational programs for over 30,000 fire departments across this great Nation, the USFA promotes fire safety and prevention programs to the public.

Mr. Speaker, these educational and outreach programs undoubtedly have saved thousands of lives and thousands of dollars, and will continue to do so.

Reports published by the USFA provide essential information to help reduce the risk of fires. For example, the USFA releases a report in December to encourage fire safety during the holiday season. According to last year's report, ``Fires occurring during the holiday season claimed the lives of over 400 people, injured more than 1,650, and caused $990 million in damage.'' The report outlines precautionary tests to help American families avoid devastating but often preventable accidents.

The USFA also collects reliable data on civilian and firefighter deaths and injuries. In 2006, there were 3,245 civilian deaths from fires and 81 percent of all civilian fire deaths occurred in residences, which represents 25 percent of all fires. Direct property loss due to fires was approximately $11.3 billion, $755 million of which was the result of 31,000 intentionally-set structure fires.

Mr. Speaker, sadly, 106 firefighters were killed in the line of duty in 2006. For nearly 30 years, the USFA has collected data on the number and causes of firefighter fatalities. The analysis of this invaluable research allows the USFA to find solutions to specific problems and reduce the number of fatalities with our firefighters.

While the number of firefighter deaths has been greatly reduced, approximately 100 brave firefighters make the ultimate sacrifice to protect our loved ones and our communities each year. We must continue to strive to prevent fires, to learn the lessons from unpreventable fires, and to properly train and equip our firefighters. It is vital that our Federal Government ensure that our brave firefighters have

the training and the support they need to keep our families and communities safe.

Mr. Speaker, this reauthorization bill will promote national consensus standards for safe fire fighting at all levels of Government. H.R. 4847 will also help to provide training for firefighters who are increasingly called on to handle modern-day challenges and catastrophes, including fire fighting in the wildland-urban interface and responding to hazardous material incidents.

Firefighters are the first on the scene and the last to leave. Captain Robert Livingston echoed these sentiments in his testimony before the House Subcommittee on Technology and Innovation when he said, ``The days of firefighters whose primary function was to `put the wet stuff on the red stuff' are long gone. The men and women of the 21st century fire service have evolved into highly-trained, highly- skilled all-purpose emergency responders with broad responsibilities.''

Firefighters in my district know this all too well. With the recent and reoccurring damaging floods in cities like Barberton, North Royalton, Elyria and Lorain, our firefighters have been called upon to provide emergency flood assistance. And we must never forget, Mr. Speaker, the heroics our Nation witnessed on September 11th as these brave men and women ran into the Twin Towers to save as many people as possible. Three hundred forty-one of New York City's finest firefighters, three fire safety directors, two paramedics and one volunteer firefighter died in the line of duty at the World Trade Center on that fatal day.

It is our responsibility to provide the resources necessary to train those who protect us, and today, with passage of this act, we will be providing the support to meet the needs of our firefighters for the 21st century. By reauthorizing and improving this act, we are ensuring that the USFA continues to provide training, education and the tools to the firefighters we entrust to protect our communities and our families.

Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I would like to, if I could, just mention this bill. The bill has such wide support, not only within this Congress, but it has been endorsed by some extraordinarily important organizations out there. It has been endorsed by the Congressional Fire Services Institute, the International Association of Arson Investigators, the International Association of Fire Chiefs, the International Association of Firefighters, the International Fire Service Training Association, the National Fire Protection Association, the National Volunteer Fire Council, the North American Fire Training Directors. So this bill has wide support and on both sides of the aisle.

Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, we have heard on this floor today why we must pass this rule and pass the United States Fire Administration Reauthorization Act.

As I have said, we must continue to support firefighters in communities like Sheffield Lake, Brunswick, and Akron, and all across this Nation, and ensure that they have the resources available to do their job to protect our loved ones and our communities.

This bill authorizes appropriations for the fiscal year 2009-2012 for the USFA in the responsible manner the American people expect of Congress. According to the Congressional Budget Office, enacting this legislation will not affect direct spending or revenues, and will impose no costs on State, local, or tribal governments.

H.R. 4847 expands the list of training activities the National Fire Academy is authorized to engage in, which will

help our firefighters manage the demands of the 21st century. These programs include response activities to all types of national catastrophes; exposure of hazardous materials; and increased emergency medical services. This bill also authorizes the USFA to assist the Nation's fire services by improving equipment and sharing best practices to address fire suppression and prevention.

This bill was passed by a voice vote by the Science and Technology Committee with bipartisan support, and has been endorsed by the International Association of Firefighters.

I urge a ``yes'' vote on the previous question and on the rule.

I yield back the balance of my time, and I move the previous question on the resolution.

The previous question was ordered.

Mr. Chairman, I thank Mr. Mitchell for yielding to me, and I want to thank him for the introduction of this important and outstanding piece of legislation.

As my friend Dr. Gingrey said, this is a bipartisan piece of legislation coming out of what I hope is thought of as a bipartisan committee. I want to thank him, as well as Mr. Wu, for their work as the subcommittee chairman and ranking member. I want to thank Mr. Hall for his help in getting this bill out as the ranking member of the committee.

We have passed more than 30 bills and resolutions out of the Science and Technology Committee, all of which have been bipartisan, and all but one have been unanimous. This is another one of those unanimous bills. I think that happens because we are working together to try to do it the right way. We had a good subcommittee hearing. We had a subcommittee markup, a full committee markup. When you do it that way, you get the type of third-party endorsements that Dr. Gingrey talked about.

We have the endorsement of the International Association of Fire Chiefs, the International Association of Firefighters, the National Volunteer Fire Council, the National Fire Protection Association, the International Association of Arson Investigators, the National North American Training Directors, the International Fire Service Training Association, and the Congressional Fire Service Institute. That is quite a lineup to demonstrate the support for this good bill.

I also want to thank the members of the committee for their work as this bill was crafted. Ms. Richardson was particularly helpful in bringing her experience of firefighting from a coastal area, and made us realize that a curriculum in marine and port firefighting was important.

This is a good bill done the right way, and I thank all parties for their participation.

Mr. Chairman, at this time I would like to place into the Record an exchange of letters between the Committee on Science and Technology and the Committee on Homeland Security.

Committee on Homeland Security,

Washington, DC, March 28, 2008.

Hon. Bart Gordon,

Chairman, Committee on Science and Technology, House of

Representatives, Washington, DC.

Dear Chairman Gordon: I am writing to you concerning H.R.

4847, the United States Fire Administration Reauthorization

Act of 2007. Though H.R. 4847 implicates the Rule X

jurisdiction of the Committee on Homeland Security, I will

not seek a sequential referral of this bill because I share

your interest in assuring that this legislation is brought to

the House floor in an expeditious manner. Agreeing to waive

consideration of the bill should not be construed as the

Committee on Homeland Security waiving its jurisdiction.

Further, the Committee on Homeland Security while forgoing

a sequential referral of

this bill, reserves the right to seek the appointment of

conferees during any House-Senate conference convened on this

or similar legislation. I ask for your commitment to support

any request by the Committee on Homeland Security for the

appointment of conferees on H.R. 4847 or similar legislation.

In addition, I ask that you please include this letter and

a copy of your response acknowledging the Committee on

Homeland Security's jurisdictional interest in this bill and

indicating your support of our agreement in the committee

report on H.R. 4847 and into the Congressional Record during

consideration of the measure on the House floor. Thank you

for your cooperation in this matter.

Sincerely,

Bennie G. Thompson,

Chairman.

Mr. Speaker, I rise in opposition to the motion.

Mr. Speaker, my mother grew up way out in the country, way, way out in the country, and when she was a young girl their house burned. The only things they saved were their lives and the clothes on their back. Today, 70 years later, whenever my mother hears a fire engine or sees a fire truck, she tells me that story about how her house burned, almost in a trance. It is a very traumatic experience when a family goes through something like this.

That is the reason that our committee worked in a bipartisan way to try to come forth with a very good bill that would help to save lives, save property and help our firefighters do a better job of hopefully shielding some other families from that trauma that my mother went through.

It is really unfortunate after all of that work that the gentlewoman would come forth with a mischievous amendment that has had no discussion. We don't know anything about is there a liability problem or not. We don't know whether or not this is going to affect States' own liability or whether this is going to preempt it.

The gentlewoman had an opportunity, if this is such an important issue, to both come before the committee and talk to us at the subcommittee level. But there was no discussion. She could have come to the subcommittee markup, where it passed unanimously. But there was no discussion. She could have come to the full committee markup, where again it passed out unanimously, but there was no effort. Or she could have gone to the Rules Committee and asked to have a rule and be allowed to submit the amendment so we could have a discussion, even here at this late date. But there was no effort.

Quite frankly, I think this is a game of ``gotcha.'' It is an insult to the Democrats and Republicans on the Science Committee, who worked hard to put this good bill together. It is an insult to the firefighters, who are trying to do their job every day and who need these funds and training. It is an insult to all those individuals and organizations that endorsed this bill, like the International Association of Fire Chiefs, the International Association of Firefighters, the National Volunteer Fire Council, the National Fire Protection Association, the International Association of Arson Investigators, the North American Fire Training Directors, the International Fire Services Training Association, and the Congressional Fire Service Institute. They endorsed this bill because it is a good bill, a bill that will help firefighters do their job. It is very unfortunate that we are trying to play these games at the last moment.

Mr. Speaker, I recommend that we vote down this amendment that we know nothing about and that we move forward with this good bill.

Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, on that I demand the yeas and nays.