[Congressional Record Volume 169, Number 147 (Tuesday, September 12, 2023)]
[House]
[Page H4259]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                 WILDLAND FIREFIGHTERS DESERVE FAIR PAY

  (Mr. LaMALFA asked and was given permission to address the House for 
1 minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. LaMALFA. Mr. Speaker, our Federal wildland firefighters have been 
performing much of the heavy lifting not only this year with fires 
raging in my district, but every year, especially in the Western 
States.
  What is their reward? If we don't get legislation done promptly, they 
could see a 40 to 50 percent pay cut. How did this happen? Well, a 
temporary measure was inserted into the infrastructure bill that was 
supposed to last for 5 years and keep funding a bonus system up for the 
firefighters. Instead, it ran out after only 2 years, and time is up 
this September.
  How can we have a situation where firefighters are going to receive a 
pay cut of 40 to 50 percent mid-season, where they might be forced to 
walk off the job because they have to go somewhere else in order to 
make a living in September, as fire season could well rage on, as 
indeed that is the peak of the year in the West?
  We have legislation known as the Fair Pay for Federal Firefighters 
Act, which will repurpose funds that are sitting otherwise unused, and 
probably justifiably so in other bills, and repurpose that in order to 
boost firefighter pay to at least keep them at a level playing field 
for the rest of this year until we can do a proper job of legislating 
this correctly to keep their pay up.

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