[Congressional Record Volume 152, Number 43 (Thursday, April 6, 2006)]
[House]
[Pages H1626-H1627]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




  RECOGNIZING AND HONORING FIREFIGHTERS FOR THEIR MANY CONTRIBUTIONS 
                  THROUGHOUT THE HISTORY OF THE NATION

  Mr. TOM DAVIS of Virginia. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that 
it shall be in order at any time to consider in the House the 
resolution (H. Res. 764); that the resolution shall be considered as 
read; and that the previous question shall be considered as ordered on 
the resolution and its preamble to its adoption without intervening 
motion except 10 minutes of debate equally divided and controlled by 
the chairman and ranking minority member of the Committee on Government 
Reform.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the 
gentleman from Virginia?
  There was no objection.
  Mr. TOM DAVIS of Virginia. Mr. Speaker, pursuant to the order of the 
House today, I call up the resolution (H. Res. 764) recognizing and 
honoring firefighters for their many contributions throughout the 
history of the Nation, and ask for its immediate consideration in the 
House.
  The Clerk read the title of the resolution.
  The text of the resolution is as follows:

                              H. Res. 764

       Whereas in 1736 Benjamin Franklin founded the Union Fire 
     Company, the first volunteer fire company;
       Whereas there are more than 1,100,000 firefighters in the 
     United States;
       Whereas approximately 75 percent of all firefighters are 
     volunteers who receive little or no compensation for their 
     heroic work;
       Whereas career and combination fire departments protect 3 
     out of 4 Americans;
       Whereas there are more than 30,000 fire departments in the 
     United States;
       Whereas approximately 100 firefighters die in the line of 
     duty each year;
       Whereas Congress recognizes that Christopher Nicholas 
     Kangas was a heroic firefighter;
       Whereas more than 340 firefighters died responding to the 
     terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001;
       Whereas firefighters respond to more than 24,000,000 calls 
     during an average year;
       Whereas firefighters also provide emergency medical 
     services and life safety education; and
       Whereas it is estimated that on April 6, 2006, more than 
     2,000 firefighters will attend the 18th Annual National Fire 
     and Emergency Services Dinner and Seminars: Now, therefore, 
     be it
       Resolved, That the House of Representatives honors and 
     recognizes the more than 1,100,000 firefighters in the United 
     States for their contributions to and sacrifice for the 
     Nation.

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the order of the House of today, 
the gentleman from Virginia (Mr. Tom Davis) and the gentleman from 
Maryland (Mr. Hoyer) will each control 5 minutes.
  The Chair recognizes the gentleman from Virginia.
  Mr. TOM DAVIS of Virginia. Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of H. Res. 
764. Each year in this country heroic firefighters respond to more than 
24 million calls. These brave men and women provide all kind of 
lifesaving services such as emergency medical care, life safety 
education and fire prevention education. Many of these firefighters are 
volunteers and risk their lives every day. For this reason it is 
important that we adopt this resolution and honor the bravery and 
perseverance of these individuals that they show on a daily basis.
  I congratulate the gentleman from Pennsylvania on bringing forth H. 
Res. 764.
  Mr. Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to the gentleman from Pennsylvania 
(Mr. Weldon).
  (Mr. WELDON of Pennsylvania asked and was given permission to revise 
and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. WELDON of Pennsylvania. Mr. Speaker, I rise to thank my 
distinguished friend and chairman, Mr. Davis, who is a cosponsor of 
this legislation, and my good friend and partner, the distinguished 
minority whip, Mr. Hoyer, for their leadership in bringing forth the 
resolution to pay proper tribute to the 1.1 million men and women 
across the country in 32,000 departments that protect our communities.
  The Fire Service of America is older than America as a country. The 
fire service is in every community, both large and small. They are the 
backbone of our country, the heart and soul of the Nation. They are the 
people that make this country great.
  Tonight, 2,500 of these brave leaders are assembled at the Washington 
Hilton, and they are looking forward to this recognition, which we will 
take to them as Mr. Hoyer and I travel to the Washington Hilton and pay 
our respects.
  In addition, this resolution goes one step further. In recognizing a 
recent Federal court decision that junior firefighters are in fact fire 
fighters, this resolution is affirming the Court decision that a junior 
firefighter is in fact recognized when the States in this country allow 
junior firefighters to be so designated. This is an important piece of 
legislation.
  In honor of one of my constituents, Christopher Kangas, I am happy to 
have this bill come up so that all of us can provide true support for 
all of those men and women, including those younger junior 
firefighters, who aspire to take over the protection of our towns and 
cities across America.
  I thank my colleagues for their support.
  Mr. HOYER. Mr. Speaker, I want to thank my good friend, Mr. Davis, 
the chairman of the committee, for bringing this resolution to the 
floor in such a timely fashion.
  I certainly want to thank my good friend, Curt Weldon, the cochair of 
the Fire Service Caucus, who has been the leader of the Fire Service 
Caucus, and the Fire Service of America and emergency medical response 
teams have no better friend than Curt Weldon in the Congress of the 
United States or, frankly, in any place else.

                              {time}  2000

  I am pleased to rise in support of our Nation's firefighters on this 
day that 2,100 of them from around the country are gathered in 
Washington for the annual National Fire and Emergency Services Dinner.
  As Mr. Weldon said, we will be bringing them this resolution in just 
a few minutes as we go down to the Hilton to address them. I am proud 
to have cosponsored this resolution.
  And I want to say that the Fire Caucus has long championed 
initiatives to improve the safety and well-being of our Nation's 
firefighters. Specifically, we have worked to establish and fund the 
assistance to the Firefighters Grant program, which has provided more 
than $3 billion in equipment and training grants for career and 
volunteer departments across the country.
  Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentlewoman from Texas (Ms. 
Jackson-Lee).
  Ms. JACKSON-LEE of Texas. Mr. Speaker, it gives me great honor to 
enthusiastically stand before you, Mr. Hoyer, and to join with the two 
outstanding co-Chairs of the Fire Caucus to acknowledge our brothers 
and sisters who are now being hosted at the

[[Page H1627]]

Hilton Hotel to say thank you. Thank you to the 1 million firefighters, 
who every single day, and emergency operators, stand up and fight for 
the American people and protect the American people.
  Coming from a city of firefighters and a district of firefighters and 
a district that has a number of devastating fires because we are 
elderly and we have old housing, never have we had a situation where a 
firefighter has not been willing to put their life on the line.
  So let me simply thank you for this Resolution 764. Thank you again 
for acknowledging that we will never forget, and not on our clock will 
we forget to say thank you to America's firefighters. Congratulations 
to you both. Thank you for your leadership. And I hope to see you down 
at a great celebration for all of these great men and women.
  Mr. HOYER. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentlewoman for her comments. I 
again thank the chairman and Mr. Weldon for their leadership on this 
issue.
  Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.
  Mr. TOM DAVIS of Virginia. Mr. Speaker, I just would add that I want 
to give my thanks once again to Mr. Weldon for bringing this to our 
attention today and to Mr. Hoyer for his continued leadership on this 
issue. We are happy to expedite this and move it through the House, and 
I urge its adoption.
  Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mr. Sodrel). All time for debate has 
expired.
  Pursuant to the order of the House of today, the resolution is 
considered read and the previous question is ordered on the resolution 
and on the preamble.
  The question is on the resolution.
  The resolution was agreed to.
  A motion to reconsider was laid on the table.

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