[Congressional Record Volume 170, Number 30 (Thursday, February 15, 2024)]
[House]
[Page H665]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                APPRECIATING OUR BRAVE FIRST RESPONDERS

  (Mr. CARBAJAL asked and was given permission to address the House for 
1 minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. CARBAJAL. Mr. Speaker, I rise to say thank you to the first 
responders on the central coast for whom it has been a busy and 
challenging few weeks.
  Our hardworking emergency service workers in Santa Barbara, San Luis 
Obispo, and Ventura Counties have shown incredible bravery, commitment, 
and resilience during multiple heavy storms that have torn through the 
central coast.
  Up and down our region, local fire crews and emergency management 
departments worked quickly and diligently to remove downed trees and 
power lines that fell on apartment buildings, homes, cars, and 
roadways.
  In San Luis Obispo, the fire department fielded over 400 emergency 
calls during the storm's peak and helped rescue someone stranded in 
their car amid rising floodwaters in Nipomo.
  In Santa Barbara, law enforcement officials knocked on more than 500 
doors to alert households of a flooding evacuation order, and in 
Ventura, a man was rescued without injury from the Ventura River by the 
Ventura City Fire Department.
  I thank our brave law enforcement officers, firefighters, and other 
first responders who, in the face of danger, run toward it. I also 
thank our emergency dispatchers who fielded so many calls and everyone 
at the National Weather Service who helped keep the central coast 
updated on the storms.
  Our entire region is grateful to have them watching over our back.

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