[Congressional Record Volume 143, Number 59 (Thursday, May 8, 1997)]
[Senate]
[Pages S4249-S4250]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                          ARSON AWARENESS WEEK

 Mr. MOYNIHAN. Mr. President, as I am sure many of my 
colleagues are

[[Page S4250]]

aware, this week--May 4-May 10--is Arson Awareness Week. All over the 
Nation, people are coming together to combat arson and take back their 
communities. One such place where this has been happening is Utica, a 
city of about 70,000 people in upstate New York. Utica is a pilot city 
in the Federal Emergency Management Agency's [FEMA] Partnership for 
Arson Awareness and Prevention. FEMA Director James Lee Witt is heading 
up the National Arson Prevention Initiative [NAPI], a combined effort 
of FEMA and the Departments of Housing and Urban Development, Justice, 
and the Treasury. President Clinton asked Director Witt to create the 
NAPI in response to the many church fires which recently occurred in 
the South.
  In March, Utica Mayor Edward Hanna and Oneida County Executive Ralph 
Eannace formed a local arson prevention coalition and have been working 
with FEMA officials. Throughout this week and in the future, the people 
of Utica will band together to take back their city from scourge of 
arson fires which it has recently seen.
  On Tuesday, students at the Martin Luther King School heard a public 
education program on arson from officers of the Utica Fire Department 
and the New York State Office of Fire Prevention. On Wednesday, risk 
assessments were conducted at senior citizen's centers, and on Friday, 
the Utica National Insurance Co's. are presenting a fire prevention 
grant to residents of the neighborhood near the intersections of South 
and Steuben Streets.
  On Saturday, Director Witt will cap off the week with a visit to 
Utica. The day's activities will include boarding up abandoned 
structures to make them less susceptible to arson and conducting fire 
drills at several churches in the morning and having a parade and arson 
prevention rally in the afternoon. I would like to thank Director Witt 
for making Utica a pilot city in this program and for visiting Utica. 
Working together, the people of Utica will reclaim their city from 
arson.
  Mr. President, I ask that an article by Director Witt on Arson 
Awareness Week be printed in the Record.
  The article follows:

         What Are You Doing To Target Arson in Your Community?

       Washington.--In the wake of the church fires last summer, 
     the President asked me to lead a National Arson Prevention 
     Initiative. He wanted to focus the efforts and the resources 
     of the Federal government on supporting community-based 
     activities to prevent arson.
  The initiative the President implemented was national in scope--not 
     regional, and not focused on houses of worship 
     exclusively. This effort represents the commitment by 
     numerous Federal agencies, governments at all levels, the 
     private sector, and the voluntary community to greatly 
     reduce the 750 fatalities and over $2 billion in losses 
     caused by arson in this country every year.
       National Arson Awareness Week, which begins Sunday (May 4) 
     and runs through Saturday, May 10th, is the culmination of 
     this initiative. In a very real sense, it marks the first 
     anniversary of an unprecedented crusade to combat a national 
     problem that far too often maims and kills and can destroy 
     the fabric of our communities. The theme of this week is 
     ``Target Arson,'' and each community should ask themselves 
     what they are doing in the fight against arson.
       Arson is preventable. What is disturbing is that one out of 
     every four fires is intentionally set. That means that 
     someone--a fellow human being--consciously decides for 
     whatever reason to destroy a home, a car, a house of worship, 
     or a business. And in that moment they have attacked the 
     lives, the livelihoods, and the spirit of a community. Arson 
     is a national problem, but it is fundamentally a local 
     problem. This war--like most wars--must be won in the 
     trenches. Local fire and police departments are well-trained 
     and ready to mount heroic efforts. But when the doors of the 
     fire station go up to respond, you have already lost the 
     battle to prevent that fire from happening. In the end, the 
     real responsibility for stopping arson lies with the 
     community--with students, teachers, business leaders, 
     parents, the clergy, and civic organizations.
       Arson does affect everyone--and every taxpayer should be 
     vitally concerned about arson's destructive and deadly toll. 
     Think of the cost of rolling out fire trucks to deal with a 
     toilet paper fire at a school. Consider that teenagers 
     account for more than 55 percent of all deliberately set 
     blazes, and if you include youth 20 years and younger that 
     figure climbs to 61.2 percent. Then think of the cost of 
     teachers and students killed or scarred for the rest of their 
     lives and a smoldering school that must be rebuilt. Think 
     again of the houses and businesses that disappear from the 
     tax rolls because of arson, and the services that suffer in a 
     community as the result. Imagine what it's like to pull up 
     outside your church or house of worship, and realize that it 
     disappeared in flames the night before.
       As we observe National Arson Awareness Week, three 
     communities--Charlotte, NC; Macon, GA; and Utica, NY--will be 
     launching grassroots arson prevention coalitions that could 
     well become models for other American cities. These are 
     communities that took firm hold of their arson problems and 
     have put together a partnership from across their community 
     to prevent future arson fires.
       These communities will step forward as model arson 
     prevention partnerships with a flurry of week-long activity, 
     that includes boarding up abandoned buildings, cleaning up 
     litter and debris from vacant properties, conducting arson 
     prevention training programs in schools and community 
     centers, and promoting arson awareness through public 
     education campaigns and neighborhood watch rallies. Dozens of 
     other cities across the country will also be hosting National 
     Arson Awareness Week events.
       The most effective way of combating any problem, including 
     arson, it to prevent it from happening. That takes more than 
     federal agencies and federal dollars. It takes you and your 
     family and your friends. It takes your entire community.
       So ask yourself this week--what you are doing to ``target 
     arson'' in your community? Then get involved--organize a 
     neighborhood watch, assess arson risks in your community, 
     participate in prevention training programs, call your local 
     fire department or call the National Arson Prevention 
     Clearinghouse at 1-888-603-3100 for some arson prevention 
     ideas. Remember fire stops with you.

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