[Congressional Record Volume 157, Number 25 (Wednesday, February 16, 2011)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E243-E244]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




             FULL-YEAR CONTINUING APPROPRIATIONS ACT, 2011

                                 ______
                                 

                               speech of

                         HON. LAURA RICHARDSON

                             of california

                    in the house of representatives

                       Tuesday, February 15, 2011

       The House in Committee of the Whole House on the State of 
     the Union had under consideration the bill (H.R. 1) making 
     appropriations for the Department of Defense and the other 
     departments and agencies of the Government for the fiscal 
     year ending September 30, 2011, and for other purposes:

  Ms. RICHARDSON. Mr. Chairman, I rise in opposition to Sections 1628 
through 1634, and 1648 of the bill, which cuts funding to the Federal 
Emergency Management Agency (FEMA).
  I oppose these provisions because they are unwise, irresponsible, and 
undermine our nation's ability to prepare, respond, or mitigate natural 
and man-made disasters and terrorist attacks. In short, I oppose the 
bill because it puts the security of our homeland at risk.
  This bill that the Republicans are bringing to the floor today is 
reckless not only to our

[[Page E244]]

economy and American workers, but also to our national security.
  The terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001 revealed the catastrophic 
consequences of the inability of first responders, fire, police, and 
rescue personnel to communicate with each other via radio during 
emergencies.
  Communication glitches also occurred during the response to Hurricane 
Katrina. Yet the Republicans want to terminate grants for interoperable 
emergency communications. Have we not learned anything from the 
communications failure during 9/11?
  These draconian cuts will put our first responders at risk and slow 
down the response to terrorist attacks and natural disasters. I cannot 
in good conscience accept these cuts to interoperable emergency 
communications.
  The irresponsible Republican plan also put our nation's fire fighting 
ability at risk. I am from California and we know about fires. The bill 
eliminates the Staffing for Adequate Fire and Emergency Response Grant 
program, (SAFER), which is why it is strongly opposed by the 
InternationalAssociation of Fire Fighters (IAAF).
  The IAAF estimates that these cuts will result in the loss of 5,200 
jobs on top of the 5,000 fire fighter jobs lost since 2008. These cuts 
will put our communities at risk.
  The City of Compton in my district is home to an Emergency Operations 
Center operated by FEMA. My district is also home to several major oil 
refineries, gas treatment facilities, and petro chemical facilities. 
California's 37th Congressional District is also home to the Port City 
of Long Beach and is located on the outskirts of Los Angeles. A 
centralized emergency response center is vital to my district and the 
surrounding communities.
  This Republican job-destroying continuing resolution seeks to 
eliminate these Emergency Operations Centers. Not only will the 
elimination of these centers result in the loss of jobs, they will put 
my constituents and other Americans across the country at risk. This 
Emergency Operations Centers are needed to coordinate the necessary 
resources during an emergency.
  I cannot support depriving first responders, firefighters, and police 
officers of the tools needed to respond to public emergencies, natural 
or man-made. Why would we want to risk a repeat of the disaster we 
witnessed in the response to Hurricane Katrina? How are we better off 
by depriving our first responders the ability to communicate with each 
other during an emergency? It defies common sense.
  Terrorists that are trying to attack our country are modifying their 
techniques to try to find our nation's vulnerabilities. Unfortunately, 
the Republican's bill reduces Federal, State, and tribal capabilities 
to secure our nation against terrorist and other catastrophic threats. 
This bill also diminishes our ability to protect our borders and 
significantly scales back our ability to detect chemical, biological, 
radiological, and nuclear threats.
  Mr. Chairman, H.R. 1 continues the Republican avoidance of bringing 
job creation bills to the floor. Since the Republican's have been in 
control of the House, they have not brought one job creating bill to 
the floor. Not one. Worse, the bill before us today will actually kill 
jobs. Thousands of Americans will lose jobs under this Republican bill. 
Instead of our keeping our economy moving forward as was the case 
during the Clinton Administration and during the 111th Congress, this 
bill will reverse the economic progress we have seen for the last 
several months.
  I urge my colleagues to vote against H.R. 1. Let's work together to 
ensure our first responders have the tools and resources needed to 
respond to natural and man-made disasters and terrorist attacks.

                          ____________________