[Congressional Record Volume 169, Number 66 (Thursday, April 20, 2023)]
[Senate]
[Page S1276]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                       FIRE GRANTS AND SAFETY ACT

  Mr. SCHUMER. Mr. President, on the Fire Grants and Safety Act, later 
today, the Senate will pass a much needed lifeline for our 
firefighters, the Fire Grants and Safety Act.
  I thank my colleagues on both sides of the aisle for their good work 
on this overwhelmingly bipartisan legislation.
  Passing the Fire Grants and Safety Act will extend two important 
Federal grant programs that support our paid and volunteer 
firefighters--SAFER and AFG.
  As we approach the fire season, extending SAFER and AFG is crucial to 
ensuring that firefighters have lifesaving equipment and personnel 
necessary to do their jobs. This is particularly true in smaller, more 
rural, more suburban areas where volunteer firefighters staff the 
firehouses, but the equipment is hard to purchase for smaller and less 
wealthy communities.
  Our firefighters are brave. They risk their lives for us. They run 
toward danger, not away from it. They work tirelessly around the clock, 
often in dangerous and unpredictable conditions, putting their lives on 
the line to keep us safe. Firefighters have had our backs, and passing 
the Fire Grants and Safety Act today will show we have their backs too.
  I was proud, in my early days in the Senate, to work with Senator 
Dodd to pass this legislation.
  Again, I thank my colleagues. This has been an example, again, just 
like we did a few weeks back on the AUMF, of how the Senate should 
work--bipartisan. We worked with our Republican colleagues and the 
ranking member of the relevant committees to allow Republican 
amendments, and, in turn, our Republican colleagues are supporting us 
moving forward on this important legislation. It is a good thing, and I 
hope this model continues. As leader, that is one of the things that I 
am trying to do.
  I yield the floor.
  I suggest the absence of a quorum.
  The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. The clerk will call the roll.
  The senior assistant legislative clerk proceeded to call the roll.
  Mr. McCONNELL. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order 
for the quorum call be rescinded.
  The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. Without objection, it is so 
ordered.

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