[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 149 (2003), Part 19]
[House]
[Page 27075]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




       IN SUPPORT OF A HEALTH-MONITORING PROGRAM FOR FIREFIGHTERS

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the 
gentleman from California (Mr. Baca) is recognized for 5 minutes.
  Mr. BACA. Mr. Speaker, I would first like to thank all the 
firefighters and public servants who worked so hard this past week to 
help combat the devastating wildfires that occurred all over southern 
California and the Inland Empire. On behalf of myself and the people of 
the 43rd California Congressional District, I say ``thank you.''
  In southern California and the Inland Empire, we have witnessed 
devastation like we have never seen before. Homes were destroyed, 
properties were damaged, lives were lost. More than 740,000 acres were 
burned. Nearly 3,600 homes were lost and 20 people lost their lives. At 
one point, nearly 16,000 firefighters were battling the blazes at the 
peak of devastation.
  When the highway patrol, my son Joe Baca Jr. and I toured the fires 
in my district 1\1/2\ weeks ago, we went into the ruins where residents 
had been evacuated. We saw the devastation of the homes and felt an 
overwhelming heat and breathed in the thick smoke of the fire. It was 
hard for us to be there simply for a few hours, but our firefighters 
did this for weeks, round the clock, with very little rest. They 
battled the blazes, inhaled the fumes, while the entire time reaching 
out to the communities. When I was there with the firefighters, we 
would come out of the fires and people would instantly stop us. They 
would beg us to check if their homes were still standing. And do my 
colleagues know what the highway patrol, Joe Baca Jr. and I did? We 
charged back to where the flames were to see if the homes were still 
there. Often, as many know, we simply found an address on a curb and no 
home.
  But who was still there, fighting the fires and trying to save the 
homes? The firefighters. We owe a great deal of gratitude to the brave 
men and women who fought these devastating fires, our American heroes.
  That is why I believe that we should make sure that they have access 
to health care that they need so they can go home to their families 
safe and healthy. We do not know what the long-term effects of exposure 
to the smoke and fumes will be to the firefighters who fought the 
blazes in California. But with early evaluation, monitoring, and 
analyzing, we can offer them better treatment, the treatment they 
deserve for putting their lives on the line.
  That is why I have introduced a bill that will require the Department 
of Health and Human Services to work with local health experts to 
conduct long-term health monitoring on firefighters who have responded 
to the California wildfires. This bill will create a health-monitoring 
program for the firefighters who respond to catastrophic Federal 
emergencies like we recently experienced in California.
  I want the firefighters to have constant monitoring about their 
health. I want them to be able to have access to health care that they 
deserve. That is what my bill will do.
  At least 15 studies have shown statistical links between brain cancer 
and firefighting. According to the Center to Protect Workers' Rights, 
firefighters often jeopardize their health when they respond to 
disaster. Often these disasters are so severe that their equipment 
cannot even protect them. The health consequences for these 
firefighters can be as great as cancer or heart disease.
  In nearly all of these instances where firefighters have responded to 
Federal disaster, they have often been provided with very little or no 
health monitoring. This is wrong, and we must change it to make sure 
that there is monitoring.
  Firefighters risk their lives protecting our property, our families, 
our way of life. They deserve better. We must have more resources 
devoted to monitoring firefighters after they respond to Federal 
emergencies when there is prolonged exposure to dangerous smoke, fumes, 
and chemicals.
  A program like this was developed after the collapse of the World 
Trade Center. It has been very successful in identifying the health 
problems of those first responders.

                              {time}  2015

  Many of these firefighters at the World Trade Center suffered serious 
coughing illness after dealing with the wreckage of the towers. Thanks 
to monitoring programs, we can evaluate the health of these fire 
responders and get them the care that they need.
  I want early detection for the men and women who responded to fires 
in California. I want them to be able to go back to their families safe 
and healthy. We must make sure that our firefighters are safe and 
healthy after they respond to a Federal disaster. We must make sure 
that we decrease such possible risk.
  We owe a great gratitude to these brave men and women who fought the 
recent fires in California and the Inland Empire. Providing them 
adequate health care is the least we can do to say thanks to these 
American heroes.

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