[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 151 (2005), Part 18]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page 24846]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                     WHY AMERICA IS A GREAT NATION

                                 ______
                                 

                          HON. BERNARD SANDERS

                               of vermont

                    in the house of representatives

                      Wednesday, November 2, 2005

  Mr. SANDERS. Mr. Speaker, Hurricane Katrina was a natural disaster. 
Its effects were compounded by human ineptitude, as FEMA, State 
officials and the President all reacted slowly and without adequate 
concern for their fellow Americans.
  We rightly witnessed their inaction and unconcern on our television 
sets.
  But there is another America, an America which responds to distress 
with generosity and a willingness to pitch in. An America which 
provides an outpouring of funds for the Red Cross and countless 
truckloads amounts of donated supplies.
  I want to tell you a story about what is best in America.
  When they learned of the devastation caused by Hurricane Katrina, two 
members of the Vermont's South Burlington Fire Department, Lieutenant 
Micah Genzlinger and Firefighter Trevor Poor, volunteered to help their 
fellow firefighters on the hard-struck gulf coast. They went to areas 
devastated by the hurricane and helped other fire companies fight 
fires. They also helped citizens rebuild and recover from the 
destruction wrought by the storm. And, in the spare time they could 
muster, they helped their fellow firefighters take care of the damage 
to their own homes.
  And the fire company they left behind? According to their union 
contract, firefighters must be given notice of shift changes two weeks 
in advance. Generously, all their colleagues waived this requirement, 
so that they could cover all shifts, without charging massive overtime 
to the city of South Burlington. They changed their work schedules to 
make sure the city was protected and that Genzlinger and Poor's trip to 
help others did not undercut local fire protection, all at no 
additional cost.
  This story was repeated all over America. In Vermont, firefighters 
from Barre and Hartford also headed south to help their firefighting 
brothers and sisters. In other states, firefighters responded to the 
call to protect and rebuild--as they always do, not only for their own 
cities and towns, but for Americans everywhere.
  This kind of generous solidarity is what makes America a great and 
wonderful Nation.

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