Waiving the cost-share requirement under the Staffing for Adequate Fire and Emergency Response grant program for grants awarded during fiscal year 2008.

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

Mr. Chairman, I rise today in support of H.R. 3791, the Fire Grants Reauthorization Act of 2009. This bill reauthorizes both the Assistance to Firefighters Grant (AFG) program and the Staffing for Adequate Fire and Emergency Response (SAFER) program, which both provide much-needed assistance to fire departments across the Nation.

As we learned through our committee work on this bill, and as I have heard firsthand in discussions with fire chiefs and firefighters in my district, the AFG program is frequently cited as a ``life safer'' and the only means by which many departments can acquire up-to-date equipment and training--which requires a significant portion of their budget--for their firefighters.

This is particularly true in rural areas such as my district in rural Nebraska, where many communities rely upon all-volunteer departments to respond to fires and other emergencies. The equipment needed to fight fires and save lives and property is costly, and required for departments to meet certain minimum response capabilities regardless of whether they are protecting a community of a few hundred people or a large city of a few hundred thousand people. As such, firefighter grants have proven absolutely vital for rural and volunteer fire departments, which have small tax bases and the least ability to acquire such equipment.

The bill before us today makes several modest changes to the AFG and SAFER programs, reflecting a compromise reached by the leading national fire service organizations who worked closely with the Science and Technology Committee to develop this legislation. I support these changes and the underlying reauthorization effort, and I want to call attention to two in particular which I offered as amendments during committee consideration

of this bill. They are intended to support the ability of smaller combination and volunteer departments to successfully compete for and receive AFG grants and to emphasize the AFG program should be a funding priority generally.

The first amendment added language to the bill clarifying in awarding grants competitively, FEMA must consider a broad range of factors related to a fire department's ability to respond to hazards, not just the size of the population a department protects but also other factors such as its geographic response area, hazard vulnerability, or financial situation. This addition does not make any changes to the underlying AFG program but, rather, explicitly codifies FEMA's existing practice.

Second, I was pleased to incorporate amendment language in committee calling attention to the dramatic decline in funding for the AFG program over the last 5 years and emphasize restoring it should be a priority.

The AFG program is authorized in this legislation at $1 billion a year; however, its actual appropriated funding has never reached that amount and, in fact, has steadily declined in recent years. In fiscal year 2003, $750 million was appropriated for AFG. Since this time, funding has steadily declined. Last year it was $565 million, and this year the Obama administration requested only $390 million. This represents a 48 percent decline since fiscal year 2003. Given the importance of AFG to helping fire departments around the country meet minimum response requirements, especially those in rural areas with limited tax bases, this trend is troubling and should be reversed.

I was pleased our colleagues in the majority accepted these amendments, and I appreciate the chairman's work. I thank them for working closely with me and the leading national fire service organizations to develop an agreeable compromise under which we could move this reauthorization forward.

I urge Members to support passage of this bill, and I hope for and expect a continued smooth process as we do go forward.

Mr. Chairman, I yield 2 minutes to the gentlewoman from Illinois (Mrs. Biggert).

Mr. Chairman, I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from Indiana (Mr. Burton).

I reserve the balance of my time.

I would yield 30 seconds more to the Chairman of the Transportation Committee if he wishes to continue.

Mr. Chairman, I would also add briefly that, for right now, that the demands on volunteer fire departments are far greater than the population might reflect, especially when we talk about public lands and the susceptibility to fire in the midst of drought and other things as well.

I reserve the balance of my time.

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

Mr. Chairman, I would inquire of the committee chairman how much time he is looking to need, perhaps.

I would yield 2 minutes to the chairman if he would wish to use that.

I would reserve the balance of my time.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I will be very brief. We were expecting some other Members here. But I will say that I appreciate the process that we have gone through this. It involved quite a bit of discussion early on at the subcommittee level and full committee level. I'm grateful that the chairman considered amendments from our side so that we can meet the public safety needs of our country. It's not just about my district, it's not just about certain districts, but the entire country. I'm grateful to be a part of this process, and I will say it does work.

With that, I would yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. Chairman, I rise to claim time in opposition, although I am not opposed to the amendment.

This amendment, as the sponsor indicated, would allow grant funds under the AFG program to require equipment designed to reduce the amount of water used in firefighting or training. This amendment certainly makes sense, particularly in arid regions, which may be prone to fires and where water sources are often scarce.

I support this amendment.

I reserve the balance of my time.

I yield back the balance of my time.

I rise to claim time in opposition to the amendment, although I do not oppose it.

I would like to ask the gentleman from Colorado to enter into a colloquy regarding his amendment--a clarification.

Thank you. I appreciate that. I thank the gentleman for offering the amendment to assess fire department readiness through a survey of compliance with national voluntary consensus standards for staffing, training, equipment, and other factors important to a department's ability to respond to hazards. I do support the amendment but would like to seek clarification for the Record regarding the gentleman's intent on two aspects of this amendment.

First, I recognize the value of improved data regarding fire department compliance with response standards, and I agree that we should aspire to help the fire service achieve higher compliance rates. However, I think it is important to note that a lack of compliance with these standards does not necessarily indicate a problem on the part of the department or local municipality.

There are over 25,000 fire departments in the United States, all working under unique circumstances with respect to local hazards, populations, mutual aid agreements, operating budgets, and so on. In many cases, it simply does not make sense for departments to be in full compliance with what the Federal Government would consider full compliance with these standards based on their individual circumstances, particularly in rural areas where resources are very limited.

For these reasons, I would hope that the task force established by this amendment considers these practical barriers to standards compliance in making recommendations to Congress regarding how best to improve standards compliance. I would just ask the gentleman if he would agree with this interpretation.

I thank the gentleman from Colorado. Second, while the cost of the study called for in the gentleman's amendment is not precisely known at this time, it may be a significant undertaking. Accordingly, I hope that it is the gentleman's intent that the funding for this study, which is authorized by the Secretary of Homeland Security, not come out of the core budget for either of these grant programs or the budget of the U.S. Fire Administration.

Does the gentleman agree with this interpretation?

I thank the gentleman from Colorado for his graciousness, with I guess just one exception. But I appreciate the confidence he shows in his college football team.

I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. Chairman, I demand a recorded vote.

Mr. Chairman, I rise in support of this amendment. The Assistance to Firefighters Grants (AFG) and SAFER grant program have not been subject to earmarking and, instead, have been awarded to the applicants which are determined to have the greatest need. This process of awarding grants based on merit has proven effective for this program. Allowing these funds to be allocated through earmarking would pit those districts in need against those with the most powerful Members of Congress. I believe this would be a disservice to the American taxpayer. Mr. Flake's amendment will ensure that the funding, which we are authorizing here today for the grant programs for firefighters, continues to be allocated through a competitive process based on need.

I urge my colleagues to support this amendment.

Mr. Chairman, I rise to claim time in opposition to the amendment, although I am not opposed to the amendment.

Mr. Chairman, this amendment would simply clarify that river rescue organizations will be eligible to apply for a grant under the program authorized by the bill. I have no objections to this amendment.

I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. Chairman, I rise to claim time in opposition to the amendment. Although I am not necessarily opposed to this, I do have some concerns.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

This amendment would require that local unemployment rates be considered as a factor in awarding grants to fire departments. While I understand the current state of the economy should make this a concern in bills we consider, the Fire grant program has, since its inception 8 years ago, awarded grants competitively based upon the potential of the applicant's proposal to enhance a fire department's ability to respond to fires and related hazards. I am somewhat concerned that this change may result in an upset in the delicate balance of consideration that has been achieved over the years.

The factors used by FEMA in evaluating these proposals have been carefully developed and refined in consultation with national fire service organizations. They include, for example, a department's geographic response area, its population served, unique hazard vulnerabilities, and its budgetary situation. All of these factors directly impact the department's ability to respond to hazards and, thus, are appropriate criteria.

I believe the gentleman's amendment is well intentioned, but I am concerned that the unemployment rate of the locality a department protects is simply not directly related to fire hazards or the department's ability to respond to them. While a fire department's operating budget could potentially be indirectly impacted by a poor local economy that impacts tax revenues, this factor is already explicitly noted in the legislation based on need.

Further, I would caution generally against the practice of Congress dictating the specific criteria to be used by FEMA in making awards. This bill codifies consideration of high-level factors that were developed by the fire service and are currently used by FEMA, but it does not attempt to incorporate new ones based on particular interests. If we begin to open up this program to congressional direction of this sort, we risk adding a level of prescription that could transform the current highly competitive process to one driven by interests unrelated to the needs of the fire service.

I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Chairman, I certainly want to be sensitive to the economic conditions that hit some parts of the country harder than others, and I want to be mindful of the wise use of resources at the Federal level. I don't want to get into other policies that might impact our economy in any a very negative way. I don't have enough time to do that right now. But I certainly hope that we can arrive at good policy decisions today and down the road so that we don't stand in the way of the wise use of government and taxpayer resources.

I yield back the balance of my time.

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

Mr. Chairman, I rise today in support of H.R. 3791, the Fire Grants Reauthorization Act of 2009. This bill reauthorizes the Assistance to Firefighters Grant (AFG) program and the Staffing for Adequate Fire and Emergency Response (SAFER) program. Over the past 9 years, these programs have provided over $5 billion to purchase firefighting equipment and training, and for communities to hire additional firefighters. This Federal support for public safety is even more important in this tough economy as local officials struggle to provide services in the face of decreasing budgets.

The provisions in this bill make several changes to the program to enable more fire departments to apply for grants, and to ensure that the programs can benefit all types of communities, from small towns to our largest cities.

As part of this, the bill apportions the AFG funding between the career, volunteer, and combination fire departments according to a formula that authorizes a minimum of 25 percent of each year's total AFG dollars for each type of department.

The bill also authorizes the director to waive matching funds, budget maintenance requirements and other requirements for fire departments facing exceptional economic hardships. It further lowers the matching requirement for AFG and modifies the matching structure of SAFER to make it easier for communities to plan for the commitment of a SAFER grant.

The Science Committee heard testimony from fire service experts in July that, particularly in this economy, the current matching requirements dissuaded some departments from applying. These provisions enable those fire departments with the most need to apply.

Finally, H.R. 3791 also increases the amount of money larger jurisdictions may apply for under the AFG program. These amounts better reflect the needs of larger metropolitan areas as well as fire departments that have been consolidated to provide unified coverage to a large area.

H.R. 3791 is the product of much hard work by the International Association of Fire Chiefs, the International Association of Fire Fighters, the National Volunteer Fire Council, the National Fire Protection Association, and the Congressional Fire Services Institute. It has been endorsed by all of these groups. This bill has bipartisan support and passed out of the Science and Technology Committee by voice vote.

I would like to once again thank Mr. Mitchell for sponsoring this important legislation. I would also like to recognize the efforts of our subcommittee chairman, Mr. Wu, in getting the policy right in this bill and working to get a consensus piece of legislation. I also want to thank Mr. Pascrell of New Jersey for being the father of the origination of these bills, as well as Majority Leader Steny Hoyer for bringing all of the parties together and working together to get a good bill out.

Finally, I would like to recognize the staff who have been integral in crafting this legislation: Meghan Housewright and Mike Quear on the majority staff, and Dan Byers on the minority staff.

We have some amendments today. I look forward to working with my colleagues today to make a good bill better.

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

Mr. Chairman, I yield 4 minutes to the author of the bill, the gentleman from Arizona (Mr. Mitchell).

Mr. Chairman, I yield 1 minute to the majority leader, as I said earlier, the person who really was the sheriff in bringing everybody together for this bill, and we thank him for it.

Mr. Chairman, I yield 1 minute to the gentlelady from Texas, a former member of the Science and Technology Committee, Ms. Jackson-Lee.

My friend from Texas raises a valid point and an excellent point. You can be well assured that we will continue to work with you through this, through the conference process to bring your legitimate points to light.

Mr. Chairman, I yield 5 minutes to the gentleman from Oregon (Mr. Wu), the chairman of the subcommittee.

Mr. Chairman, I want to thank Chairman Thompson and Chairman Oberstar for working with me to get this important bill to the floor.

I would like to insert an exchange of committee correspondence in the Record at this time.

House of Representatives,

Committee on Homeland Security,

Washington, DC, November 7, 2009.

Hon. Bart Gordon,

Chairman, Committee on Science and Technology, House of

Representatives, Rayburn House Office Building,

Washington, DC.

Dear Mr. Chairman: I am writing you regarding H.R. 3791,

the ``Fire Grants Reauthorization Act of 2009,'' introduced

on October 13, 2009. This legislation was initially referred

to the Committee on Science and Technology and sequentially

referred to the Committee on Homeland Security on November 6,

2009.

In the interest of permitting this important legislation to

proceed expeditiously to floor consideration, I am willing to

waive further consideration of H.R. 3791. I do so with the

understanding that waiving further consideration of the bill

should not be construed as the Committee on Homeland Security

waiving, altering, or otherwise affecting its jurisdiction

over subject matters contained in the bill which fall within

its Rule X jurisdiction.

Further, I request your support for the appointment of

Homeland Security conferees during any House-Senate

conference convened on this or similar legislation. I also

ask that a copy of this letter and your response be placed in

the Congressional Record during floor consideration of this

bill.

I look forward to working with you on this legislation and

other matters of great importance to this nation.

Sincerely,

Bennie G. Thompson,

Chairman.

Mr. Chairman, I now yield 2 minutes to the Chairman of the Transportation Committee, the gentleman from Minnesota, Chairman Oberstar, and I want to once again thank him for helping bring this bill to the floor.

I yield the gentleman 30 additional seconds.

I thank my friend from Nebraska for his courtesy to Mr. Oberstar. I would request of the Chairman, what time is left for each side?

Mr. Chairman, as has been pointed out earlier, I'm not sure whether it's the godfather or the grandfather of the FIRE Grants program, Mr. Pascrell from New Jersey. He is here, and he is recognized for 3 minutes.

I yield the gentleman 1 additional minute.

Mr. Chairman, I yield 2 minutes to the gentlewoman from Colorado (Ms. Markey).

Mr. Chairman, I yield 2 minutes to the gentlewoman from Arizona (Mrs. Kirkpatrick).

Will the gentlewoman yield?

I would like to thank the gentlewoman for her efforts with the SAFER program and her support for the bill.

You raise a very good point that fire departments in many communities are struggling with shrinking budgets. Some of these struggling communities do have SAFER grants. I would be happy to work with you on this issue as we work to enact this legislation into law.

Mr. Chairman, I yield 2 minutes to a very active member of our committee, the gentleman from New Mexico (Mr. Lujan).

You are courteous to ask. I think we have marshaled it just right. We have 2 more minutes and one speaker.

Again, I thank you for the courtesy. I believe we are going to be able to do it, but thank you very much.

Mr. Chairman, I would yield 1\1/2\ minutes to my friend from St. Louis, Missouri (Mr. Carnahan).

I will use the remainder of my time to close, so if the gentleman would like to close.

Mr. Chairman, in quick closing, I want to concur with Mr. Smith's remarks, thanking him for his cooperation. This has been a good subcommittee, committee process. It has been bipartisan. And because of that, we have a good bill.

I yield back the balance of my time.

I just want to thank the gentlelady for this amendment. I think it demonstrates why having greater consultation makes a better bill. You bring unique expertise. We've got a lot more water in Tennessee than you have in Nevada. So thank you for this good amendment.

Mr. Chairman, I rise to claim time in opposition to the amendment, although I am not in opposition to the amendment.

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

I have no objections to this amendment. I want to point out that the underlying programs or competitive grant programs are peer reviewed by members of the fire service.

I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. Chairman, I demand a recorded vote.

Mr. Chairman, I move that the Committee do now rise.

Mr. Chair, I have an amendment at the desk that was made in order under the rule.

I want to start by thanking my friend, Bart Gordon; David Wu; Ranking Member Ralph Hall; Harry Mitchell; and my friend, Adrian Smith, for their leadership on this bill. They have put together a strong bill which every Member should feel proud of supporting when they speak to their local firefighters.

Members should be proud this legislation gives those local firefighters the resources they need to best keep their communities safe and secure. Members should be proud that the training, protective equipment, and personnel this bill provides could potentially save the lives of those very firefighters. My amendment will, I believe, make this bill even better.

Every year, roughly 100 firefighters die in the line duty. This is a tragedy, and each one of those brave men and women is a hero for their sacrifice. But we think some of these deaths were preventable, so we must act. Studies have shown that all too often a contributing factor in their deaths was failure to comply with national voluntary consensus standards. These national voluntary standards are developed over years of collaboration and debate within the National Fire Protection Association, which I will call the NFPA.

As the independent experts on fire policy, the NFPA has developed these standards for over a hundred years to keep communities and the firefighters who protect them safe, yet the Federal Government does not have a thorough understanding of how fire departments follow various NFPA standards. We in the Congress dedicate a great deal of

time and resources to help our fire departments, but we cannot gauge our overall effectiveness without knowing where we are successful and where we fall short.

My amendment authorizes the U.S. Fire Administration to conduct a first-of-its-kind survey of our Nation's fire departments to measure how well they are adhering to these safety standards. Once the study is complete, a task force of industry stakeholders will make recommendations to Congress on the methods to increase compliance. Especially in the post 9/11 world, where firefighters play a vital role in our homeland security, a stronger emergency response capability means a weakened threat of terrorist attack.

I should add that this amendment is nearly identical to my bill, the Firefighter Fatality Reduction Act. That bill has broad, bipartisan support of 31 Members from rural, urban, and suburban districts. It is supported by the International Association of Firefighters, the International Association of Fire Chiefs, and the National Fire Protection Association.

This amendment is simple. These safety standards can save firefighters' lives. Let us study how well our fire services are using these standards and bring in an industry task force to think creatively about ways to boost compliance. It's good for our firefighters, it's good for our local communities, and it's good for homeland security.

With that, I reserve the balance of my time.

Yes.

I thank my friend from Nebraska. And yes, I entirely agree with him. According to the most recent U.S. Fire Administration fire department census, my own State of Colorado has 323 fire departments. Of those, 35 are career departments, 165 are volunteer departments, and 123 are combination. Each has it own needs, faces its own threats, and relies on different funding streams.

The recent downturn in the economy has hurt fire departments all across the country. So, of course, the task force established in this amendment should reflect the differences among the three types of departments and the challenges that they face.

As written, my amendment would include on the task force ``representatives of national organizations representing firefighters and fire chiefs.'' It is a reasonable implication that volunteer firefighters are included on the task force, and I will work with the gentleman to ensure that this is the case. Although needs of each fire department are unique, I do feel there are several areas of general agreement among them, which is precisely why I propose to establish this task force. As I said, I agree with the gentleman and his concerns.

Again, I agree with my friend. First, I'd like to note this survey is an undertaking which I intend to do similarly to the U.S. Fire Administration's periodic census, which determines the number of fire departments in the Nation, as well as the number of firefighters. The census is done by mail, and I would expect this survey to be done similarly or even electronically to save on costs.

To the specific point about funding, I believe FIRE and SAFER funds are best used going to fire departments. I also believe the U.S. Fire Administration is cash-strapped. This year's Homeland Security Appropriations Act funded it at $45.6 billion. If I were an appropriator, I would have doubled that figure.

To avoid funding this provision through the grants themselves or the USFA, I have an additional authorization of appropriation from outside those funds. I wish to continue to work with the gentleman to perfect and clarify this intent.

I thank the gentleman from Nebraska and give him notice now to be aware of my Colorado Buffaloes next week. We aren't going to a bowl game this year, but our bowl game is against the University of Nebraska--and we will win.

I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. Chair, as a member of the Committee on Homeland Security and an original co-sponsor, I rise in strong support of H.R. 3791, the Fire Grants Reauthorization Act of 2009, which reauthorizes for five years $1 billion per year for FEMA's Assistance to Firefighters Grants (AFG) program and reauthorizes $1.2 billion for the Staffing for Adequate Fire and Emergency Response (SAFER) program.

This increase in federal support for the nation's fire departments is especially important in this tough economy as local officials struggle to provide critical services--including public safety services--in the face of declining revenues and decreasing budgets.

I thank Chairman Gordon and my colleague, Congressman Mitchell of Arizona, for their hard work in shepherding this critical legislation to the floor today.

We all remember the wildfires from this summer that hit my home state of California especially hard. Over 160,000 acres were destroyed in the ``Station Fire,'' the most in the history of Los Angeles County. But not only did people lose their homes in this terrible tragedy, two firefighters lost their lives as well. Incidents like these underscore the importance of providing firefighters with the best possible equipment and training to perform their dangerous jobs. And that is probably the most important reason of all for passing H.R. 3791, the Fire Grants Reauthorization Act of 2009.

Mr. Chair, I support H.R. 3791 because it:

Provides a fairer distribution of FIRE Grant funding among fire departments by setting a 25 percent distribution of the appropriated funds among the categories of career, volunteer and combination fire departments;

Lowers matching and maintenance of expenditure requirements and authorizes the FEMA Administrator to waive or reduce such requirements for applicants facing demonstrated economic hardship;

Raises the limit on FIRE Grant awards to $9 million for jurisdictions based on population so that large urban areas with population more than 2.5 million like the one I represent.

Makes the SAFER Grant program more accessible to fire departments by making it a three-year program with a 20 percent match.

Raises the maximum amount for individual Fire Prevention and Safety Grants to $1.5 million.

Mr. Chair, in the last nine years the Assistance to Firefighters Grant (AFG) program, or FIRE grant program, has aided thousands of fire departments nationwide by providing more than $5 billion in federal aid for critically-needed training, equipment, health and wellness programs and other fire service needs.

The Staffing for Adequate Fire and Emergency Response or ``SAFER'' program has provided nearly $700 million to fire departments to help hire and retain firefighters since its creation in 2004.

Yet, despite the success of the programs, effectiveness has been curtailed by the uneven distribution of grants among jurisdictions of varying sizes. Statutory restrictions have inadvertently hampered larger fire departments that protect the majority of the population from receiving much-needed federal assistance. As a result, the majority of FIRE Grant funds currently are being spent to protect a relatively small portion of the population. H.R. 3791 corrects this imbalance by targeting more funding to larger fire departments in the more populous jurisdictions.

Mr. Chair, H.R. 3791 is the product of bipartisan cooperation and is broadly supported by the firefighting community because it strikes an equitable balance in the distribution of the grants so that the funding can benefit all types of communities and ensures that fire departments with the greatest need can apply for and receive funding in amounts sufficient to address their real needs. That is why this legislation is broadly supported by the firefighting and fire prevention community, including the following major organizations: the International Association of Fire Chiefs, the National Fire Protection Association, the National Volunteer Fire Council, the International Association of Fire Fighters, the International Association of Arson Investigators, and the Congressional Fire Services Institute.

Mr. Chair, H.R. 3791 is good for our firefighters. It is good for our local governments. It is good for the nation and good for my district. I am proud to be an original co-sponsor of the critical legislation and urge my colleagues to join me in voting for its passage.

Mr. Chairman, I rise today in strong support of H.R. 3791, the Fire Grants Reauthorization Act of 2009.

Firefighters are often the first and the last to leave an emergency scene. Whether it's putting out a house fire or wildfire or responding to terrorist attacks or a car accident, we depend upon firefighters every day.

But firefighters also depend on us. They depend on the public and their elected officials to make sure they have the resources, equipment, and training they need for their jobs. Without those tools, we put them and all of us at unnecessary risk.

H.R. 3791 reauthorizes the Assistance to Firefighters Grant program, or AFG, and the Staffing for Adequate Fire and Emergency Response program, or SAFER. This bill also makes several key improvements to those programs to assist the cities and towns in Arizona and across the country which are facing major budget shortfalls and cuts in services.

Since the AFG program was established in 2000, this program has provided more than $5 billion directly to fire departments through competitive award grants. These FIRE grants have also provided critical support to Arizona's fire departments. Between 2005 and 2008, Arizona received 165 AFG grants for a total of approximately $22.5 million. These grants are made available to local fire departments to purchase response equipment, training, and fire trucks. The AFG program also supports fire prevention and safety grants, which are used for smoke detectors, fire prevention education, and research to reduce the causes of fire-related injuries and death. The SAFER program provides competitively awarded funds for the hiring, recruiting, and retention of firefighting personnel.

Over the past 4 years, this program has provided nearly $700 million to local fire departments nationally, and Arizona has received 26 SAFER grants for a total of approximately $16 million. This funding is especially critical during these difficult economic times.

Based on testimony that the Science and Technology Committee heard from fire service representatives, H.R. 3791 makes several key improvements to this legislation.

First of all, this bill will change the matching requirements to enable fire departments with the greatest need to take advantage of the programs. The bill sets the matching requirement for the Assistance to Firefighters Grant program from 20 percent to 10 percent, with fire departments serving populations under 20,000 paying a 5 percent match. This greatly benefits rural and less urban areas.

H.R. 3791 also modifies the matching requirements for the SAFER program. Based on the recommendations of fire service organizations, reflecting the hardships faced by our State and local governments, SAFER will require instead a 20 percent match for each of 3 years.

This bill also gives the administrator the authority to waive the matching requirements for both programs in case of exceptional economic hardship. Such waivers may also be given for the programs' budget maintenance requirements and SAFER provisions that restrict the funding to hiring only additional firefighters, rather than retaining current firefighters. This is a necessary step at a time when fire departments in many areas of the country are confronted with the prospect of laying off firefighters.

This bill is the result of a consensus among the fire service organizations, including the International Association of Fire Chiefs, the International Association of Fire Fighters, the National Fire Protection Association, the National Volunteer Fire Council, and the Congressional Fire Services Institute.

I would like to take a moment to thank Chairman Gordon, Chairman Wu, and the Science and Technology Committee for their tireless work on this legislation. In particular, I would like to thank Meghan Housewright, Mike Quear, Louis Finkel, and Lori Pepper for their hard work. I would also like to thank the majority leader, Mr. Hoyer, and Congressman Pascrell for their leadership on this important issue.

I urge my colleagues to support this legislation that provides vital resources to our Nation's firefighters. During these tough economic times, this support is crucial to our public safety.