[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 157 (2011), Part 11]
[House]
[Page 16081]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                            FIRST RESPONDERS

  (Mr. COHEN asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 
minute.)
  Mr. COHEN. Mr. Speaker, just this past week, the country of Turkey, 
an ally of ours, experienced a devastating earthquake. Nearly 400 
people, they believe, have died, and there's been great damage to the 
countryside. We've seen these disasters now in Japan and South America 
and other places. We've seen them in our country, too. We had problems 
last year.
  Who comes to the aid of the people in Turkey whom we look out for as 
well and are concerned about? First responders, policemen, and 
firepeople.
  My city of Memphis, Tennessee, lies on the New Madrid fault, the most 
likely place in our country to have a major earthquake. When that event 
occurs, I want to have adequate policemen and firemen there to help our 
citizens. We can have them with the Jobs Act, have them this year when 
we don't know whether it will occur or not.
  First responders are so important to the future of America, and 
passing the Jobs Act will guarantee that we will have security when a 
natural disaster occurs. We need to keep policemen and firemen 
employed.

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