Empowering the U.S. Fire Administration Act

Madam Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 7077) to require the United States Fire Administration to conduct on-site investigations of major fires, and for other purposes, as amended.

Madam Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may have 5 legislative days in which to revise and extend their remarks and include extraneous material on H.R. 7077, the bill now under consideration.

Madam Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

Madam Speaker, I rise today in support of H.R. 7077, the Empowering the U.S. Fire Administration Act.

Although fire loss has improved significantly over the past 25 years, the fire problem in the United States of America remains serious and is deserving of our attention and our legislative action.

The United States still has one of the highest fire death rates in the industrialized world. It is clear we have work to do to prevent these fires and, unfortunately, their deadly consequences.

According to FEMA, between 2017 and 2019, residential building fires caused an estimated 2,770 deaths, 11,650 injuries, and $8.1 billion in property loss.

In Michigan--and this is deeply personal to those of us in Oakland County--we have recently experienced a significant rise in fire-related deaths during 2022, just this year alone. According to the Bureau of Fire Services, fire-related deaths across Michigan increased by 144 percent. Fires themselves are on the rise in the first month of 2022 alone compared to 2021.

Unfortunately, it was reported that these increased fires in Michigan were all preventable, Madam Speaker, and that is why I am proud to be joining my incredible colleague from New York, Congressman Torres, today in supporting his legislation.

The Empowering the U.S. Fire Administration Act is part of a Federal legislative package aimed at solving the underlying issues that cause deadly fires.

H.R. 7077 is led by my friend and colleague, Congressman Ritchie Torres. On January 9 of this year, a major fire occurred at the Twin Parks North West apartment building in Representative Torres' district in which 17 people, including 8 children, tragically lost their lives.

Following that, we experienced a less deadly fire, although monumental, at Oakland Hills in Bloomfield Hills, Michigan, in which the second-largest wood frame structure caught on fire and nearly all collapsed.

A key objective of the U.S. Fire Administration is to significantly reduce the Nation's loss of life from fire while also achieving a reduction in property loss and nonfatal injury due to fire.

This bill authorizes the U.S. Fire Administration to conduct onsite investigations of major fires by authorizing the USFA to send incident investigators to the site of a major fire.

This bill will more fully leverage the unique expertise of the USFA to contribute to what we can learn from these fires to continue to strengthen prevention going forward.

These catastrophes deserve Federal support. They hamper our local fire departments. Our local residents deserve answers.

I mentioned the tragedy in my own region in February that the Oakland Hills Country Club, a fixture that has been in our community for generations, experienced. The 99-year-old clubhouse is one of the oldest, all-wooden structures in Michigan and it was where I worked as a hostess following my graduation from high school at Birmingham Seaholm. I was saving up money for college. Thankfully, no one was injured, but the Oakland County Sheriff recently forecasted that the total fire investigation could take up to a full year to complete.

We must learn from these fires to inform efforts to prevent major fires from occurring in the future, and the USFA is an important component of these efforts. The agency is limited in its ability to learn from these fires, as it currently lacks the authority to conduct on-site investigations. This is what this bill will achieve.

It will unlock the expertise of Federal fire safety specialists and engineers to coordinate and cooperate with local firefighter investigators after a major fire incident in their community.

It authorizes the USFA to send their own experts to the site of a major fire to conduct an on-site investigation in coordination and cooperation with appropriate Federal, State, and local authorities. In doing so, this bill more fully utilizes the agency's extensive expertise to help learn from major fires and to help inform prevention efforts in the future.

Additionally, this bill requires USFA to issue a public report on the findings of the investigation to local, State, and Federal authorities. This report would include recommendations on how to mitigate the causes of the investigated fire, as well as buildings with similar characteristics that may bear similar fire risks.

The sharing of national best practices is how we succeed as the United States of America. If other Federal agencies, for example, NIST, are also investigating the fire, the bill would encourage the agency to collaborate on a comprehensive report and interagency effort. In fact, collaboration with local, State, and other Federal authorities is a central theme of this entire bill. We are just ensuring that USFA also has the specific authorities it needs to carry out its mission.

I thank my colleague, Congressman Ritchie Torres, a freshman in this body, for his fantastic leadership on this bill. I also recognize my Science Committee colleagues, Congressman Peter Meijer from west Michigan and Congressman Anthony Gonzalez from the State of Ohio.

Madam Speaker, I urge all of my colleagues to join us in passing this bill, and I reserve the balance of my time.

Madam Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to the gentleman from New York (Mr. Torres).

Madam Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Madam Speaker, I urge my colleagues to support this critical bill, H.R. 7077, a bill to empower the U.S. Fire Administration to act in regard to the event of fires for investigative purposes.

I also note that the Members who are supporting this bill not only share a time zone but also share a generation and share a vision for the future, a vision for the future of this country that utilizes the best of government and interagency effort, government acting cohesively together when needed, having the Federal Government come in and support local fire departments in the wake of catastrophic fires.

This is quite palpable, Madam Speaker. The urgency to pass the bill, H.R. 7077, could not be more palpable.

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

Madam Speaker, I yield myself such time as I many consume.

Madam Speaker, I rise in support of the Senate amendment to H.R. 7077, the Empowering the U.S. Fire Administration Act. This bipartisan legislation would give the U.S. Fire Administration the authority to send specialists to assist local firefighter investigators in onsite investigations of major fires.

According to the National Fire Protection Association, last year had the highest number of home fire deaths in 14 years. As was mentioned, families in Representative Torres' district know the devastation of major fires after suffering through New York City's deadliest fire in over three decades. This single fire claimed the lives of 17 residents, including 8 children.

By empowering the U.S. Fire Administration to partner with local fire departments, we can better determine the root cause of these tragedies and make sure that they never happen again.

The U.S. Fire Administration is housed within FEMA, and it has valuable and lifesaving resources on preventing, responding to, and investigating fires. This bill would ensure that State and local governments can access their expertise and, hopefully, prevent major fires in the future.

The bill directs incident investigators to examine the determined cause and origins of fires. It also requires them to assess broader systematic matters including use of codes and

standards, demographics, structural characteristics, smoke and fire dynamics, costs, and associated injuries and deaths.

Additionally, the bill also requires the U.S. Fire Administration to issue a report in coordination with Federal, State, and local authorities on their findings, and to provide recommendations to Federal, State, and local officials to implement to prevent similar fires from occurring in the future.

This bill passed the House with overwhelming bipartisan support in May of this year. The Senate amendment added language to ensure that the U.S. Fire Administration would not affect or diminish the authorities of other Federal agencies when investigating major fires and would not grant the administrator authority to investigate a major fire for the purpose of an enforcement action or criminal prosecution.

This bill incorporates stakeholder and agency feedback and is endorsed by the Fire Department of New York, the International Association of Fire Chiefs, the International Association of Fire Fighters, the National Association of State Fire Marshals, and the National Fire Protection Association.

I thank Representative Torres for introducing and leading the original bill, as well as the original cosponsors from our committee: Representatives Stevens, Meijer, and Gonzalez. I also thank Senator Peters for his work on the Senate amendment.

Madam Speaker, I urge my colleagues to support this amendment, and I reserve the balance of my time.

Madam Speaker, I yield myself the balance of my time.

Madam Speaker, I rise again in support of the Senate amendment to H.R. 7077, the Empowering the U.S. Fire Administration Act.

As I previously mentioned, the U.S. Fire Administration has valuable and lifesaving resources in preventing, responding to, and investigating fires. This amendment would ensure that State and local governments have access to these resources and that the U.S. Fire Administration has the authority needed to conduct onsite investigations of major fires without diminishing the authorities of other Federal agencies or negatively affecting ongoing or potential criminal investigations.

We cannot afford to let any more tragic and preventable fires like the one in Representative Torres' district happen in the future.

Madam Speaker, I urge my colleagues to support the amendment, and I yield back the balance of my time.

Madam Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

Madam Speaker, I rise in support of H.R. 7077, the Empowering the U.S. Fire Administration Act. This bipartisan legislation would help us better investigate and prevent deadly fires by giving the U.S. Fire Administration the authority to collaborate with local fire departments. With this authority, they can send safety specialists, fire protection engineers, codes and standards experts, researchers, and fire training specialists to assist with on-site investigations of major fires.

The U.S. Fire Administration is housed within FEMA, and it helps enhance our ability to prevent and respond to fires through research and education.

It has valuable and lifesaving resources in preventing, responding to, and investigating fires. This bill would ensure that State and local governments can access their expertise and, hopefully, prevent major fires in the future.

The bill directs U.S. Fire Administration incident investigators to examine the causes and origins of fires. Their expertise will help local officials assess factors that contributed to the loss of property and life, including the use of codes and standards, demographics, structural characteristics, smoke and fire dynamics, and related costs.

Additionally, the bill requires the U.S. Fire Administration to issue a report in coordination with Federal, State, and local authorities on their findings and to provide recommendations on how to prevent similar fires from occurring in the future.

I thank Representative Torres for introducing this bill after New York's deadliest fire in over three decades claimed the lives of 17 residents, including 8 children.

Representative Torres recognizes that it is critical that we empower the U.S. Fire Administration to partner with local fire departments to help determine the root cause of these tragic and horrific fires to make sure they never happen again.

The bill incorporates stakeholder and agency feedback and is endorsed by the Fire Department of New York, the International Association of Fire Chiefs, International Association of Fire Fighters, the National Association of State Fire Marshals, and the National Fire Protection Association.

It is smart and practical policy to make the best possible use of our resources to protect American lives. In addition to Representative Torres, I thank the original cosponsors from our committee: Representatives Stevens, Meijer, and Gonzalez.

Madam Speaker, I urge my colleagues to support this bill, and I reserve the balance of my time.

Madam Speaker, I yield 5 minutes to the gentleman from Michigan (Mr. Meijer), my freshman colleague.

Madam Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

I rise again in support of H.R. 7077, the Empowering the U.S. Fire Administration Act.

As I previously mentioned, the USFA has valuable and lifesaving resources in preventing, responding to, and investigating fires. This bill would ensure that State and local governments have access to these resources and that the U.S. Fire Administration has the authority needed to conduct on-site investigations of major fires.

We cannot afford to let any more tragic and preventable fires like the one in Representative Torres' district happen in the future.

Madam Speaker, I urge my colleagues to support the bill, and I yield back the balance of my time.

Madam Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and concur in the Senate amendment to the bill (H.R. 7077) to require the United States Fire Administration to conduct on-site investigations of major fires, and for other purposes.

Madam Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may have 5 legislative days in which to revise and extend their remarks and include extraneous material on H.R. 7077, the bill now under consideration.

Madam Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

Madam Speaker, I rise today in strong support of H.R. 7077, the Empowering the U.S. Fire Administration Act.

Although significant progress has been made in preventing major fires over the past 25 years, building fires in the United States remain a serious problem.

According to the U.S. Fire Administration, there was an estimated 372,000 residential building fires within the United States in 2020. These fires caused an estimated 2,615 deaths, 11,825 injuries, and $8.6 billion in property loss.

It is very timely that we are about to enact this bill as winter approaches and residential building fires are more likely to occur.

It is essential that we learn from major fires to inform and improve future fire prevention efforts. The U.S. Fire Administration is an essential part of these efforts.

Unfortunately, the agency currently lacks the authority to participate in post-fire onsite investigations.

H.R. 7077 addresses this gap by authorizing USFA to send their own experts to the site of a major fire to conduct an onsite investigation in coordination and cooperation with Federal, State, local, Tribal, and Territorial authorities. In doing so, this bill more fully leverages the unique expertise of the U.S. Fire Administration to help strengthen fire prevention.

This bill would also require the administrator to issue a public report on the findings of an investigation or collaborate with another investigating agency on their report. This report would include recommendations on improving tactical response and civilian safety practices, as well as on approaches to mitigation. These reports are an essential component of ensuring that everyone can utilize the knowledge we collect from major fires to improve future prevention efforts.

I thank my friend and colleague, Representative Ritchie Torres, for his leadership on this bill. Representative Torres introduced this bill after a major residential building fire in his district on January 9 of this year resulted in the tragic deaths of 17 people, including 8 children.

I also thank my colleagues on the Science, Space, and Technology Committee, Representatives Haley Stevens, Anthony Gonzalez, and Peter Meijer for their leadership on this bill, and I urge all of my colleagues to join us in passing this bill.

Madam Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Madam Speaker, I rise today in support of H.R. 7077, the Empowering the U.S. Fire Administration Act, which is an important piece of bipartisan legislation to support the U.S. Fire Administration.

I was honored to join my colleague we just heard from, Mr. Ritchie Torres, in introducing this bill, spurred from a terrible and heartbreaking tragedy in his district in New York.

That fire in the Bronx apartment building left us with many questions. Upon further examination, it became clear that there is currently a lack of coordination between the Federal U.S. Fire Administration and other State and local authorities. In fact, the U.S. Fire Administration does not have the authority to conduct on-site investigations of major fires. As a result, our State and local authorities are limited in their capabilities to investigate major fires.

The U.S. Fire Administration's expertise can and should be used to the fullest extent, in coordination with all existing authorities responsible for fire investigations.

That is why H.R. 7077 is so important. It simply addresses the existing coordination gap between Federal, State, and local authorities. It allows the U.S. Fire Administration to send investigators, including safety specialists, fire protection engineers, codes and standards experts, and fire training specialists to the site of a major fire so that these experts can then work on the ground with their State and local authorities to determine causes, examine building failures, provide answers to those affected by the fires, and establish lessons learned so similar tragedies can be prevented in the future.

The tragedy we saw in the Bronx was heartbreaking and should never have happened. We need answers, and we also need to ensure that something like this does not happen again. It is past time to allow the experts at all levels, Federal, State, and local, to coordinate and help us achieve this goal. This bill has received support from fire departments across the country, including my hometown of Grand Rapids, with our Grand Rapids Fire Department offering its support.

I thank my colleague, Mr. Torres, without whom this wouldn't have happened, Ms. Stevens, and Mr. Gonzalez for their work on this bill, as well as my dear colleague, Mrs. Bice, for her work.

Madam Speaker, I urge my colleagues to support this piece of legislation.