[Congressional Record Volume 142, Number 29 (Wednesday, March 6, 1996)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E283-E284]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




           AFFIRMATIVE STEPS OF THE ST. LOUIS FIRE DEPARTMENT

                                 ______


                        HON. WILLIAM (BILL) CLAY

                              of missouri

                    in the house of representatives

                        Wednesday, March 6, 1996

  Mr. CLAY. Mr. Speaker, it is a well-known fact that in spite of the 
many gains women have made in the workplace, there are still employers 
who have yet to recognize their talents and reward them accordingly. 
This is especially true in law enforcement. I am proud to say that St. 
Louis officials have taken affirmative steps to resolve this problem. 
Recently, St. Louis Fire Department chief, Neil Svetanics, appointed 
the department's first woman captain, Gail Simmons, to the busiest 
engine company in the city.
  I want to share the following editorial regarding the St. Louis Fire 
Department's effort to recruit and hire women. Entitled ``Climbing The 
Fire Department's Ladder,'' the editorial appeared in the February 2, 
1996, edition of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. It is my hope that the 
account will enlighten my colleagues who have questions regarding 
employment politics that target qualified and deserving women and other 
minorities.

           [From the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, Feb. 29, 1996]

                 Climbing the Fire Department's Ladder

       With the elevation of women to the ranks of captain in both 
     the city's Fire and Police departments, it now seems rather 
     ludicrous that society used to ask whether females were 
     capable of becoming police officers and firefighters.
       Eventually the question became why so few of them held such 
     jobs. That was the issue the Department of Justice raised 
     during the 1970s to prod fire and police departments across 
     the country to hire more women.
       Just recently, the city's Fire Department reached a 
     milestone of sorts by appointing the first woman captain in 
     139 years. She is Gail Simmons.
       Capt. Simmons is one of 118 captains; she's assigned to the 
     city's busiest engine company, No. 28, at 4810 Enright 
     Avenue. Chief Neil Svetanics wants to go further. His goal, 
     he says, is the appointment of the city's first female 
     batallion chief. Whereas a captain commands a fire truck, a 
     batallion chief supervises five firehouses within a district. 
     Reaching that goal will necessarily mean the department will 
     have to accelerate it's recruitment and hiring of women. They 
     now number 10 in a city firefighting force of about 700.
       Police Board President Anne-Marie Clarke adds that 
     recruitment of more women is a priority. The department 
     already is way ahead of the Fire Department when it comes to 
     hiring women.
       They make up roughly 12 percent of the city's police force, 
     and the board already has

[[Page E284]]

     promoted a woman. Antoinette ``Toni'' Filla, to the rank of 
     captain. A 21-year veteran, she commands the Eighth District 
     and formerly headed the internal affairs division.
       Capts. Simmons and Filla don't regard their achievements as 
     all that special. But they are special in one important 
     sense. As trailblazers, these two have opened the doors for 
     others who will be less stigmatized by the old question of 
     whether women are physically capable of being cops and 
     firefighters.

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