House Report 111-333 - FIRE GRANTS REAUTHORIZATION ACT OF 2009

[House Report 111-333]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]

111th Congress Rept. 111-333
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
1st Session Part 1

======================================================================

FIRE GRANTS REAUTHORIZATION ACT OF 2009

_______

November 7, 2009.--Committed to the Committee of the Whole House on the
State of the Union and ordered to be printed

_______

Mr. Gordon of Tennessee, from the Committee on Science and Technology,
submitted the following

R E P O R T

together with

ADDITIONAL VIEWS

[To accompany H.R. 3791]

[Including cost estimate of the Congressional Budget Office]

The Committee on Science and Technology, to whom was
referred the bill (H.R. 3791) to amend sections 33 and 34 of
the Federal Fire Prevention and Control Act of 1974, and for
other purposes, having considered the same, report favorably
thereon with an amendment and recommend that the bill as
amended do pass.

CONTENTS

Page
I. Amendment.......................................................2
II. Purpose of the Bill............................................10
III. Background and Need for the Legislation........................10
IV. Summary of Hearings............................................11
V. Committee Actions..............................................12
VI. Summary of Major Provisions of the Bill........................13
VII. Section-by-Section Analysis....................................14
VIII. Committee Views................................................18
IX. Cost Estimate..................................................20
X. Congressional Budget Office Cost Estimate......................20
XI. Compliance With Public Law 104-4...............................22
XII. Committee Oversight Findings and Recommendations...............22
XIII. Statement on General Performance Goals and Objectives..........23
XIV. Constitutional Authority Statement.............................23
XV. Federal Advisory Committee Statement...........................23
XVI. Congressional Accountability Act...............................23
XVII. Earmark Identification.........................................23
XVIII.Statement on Preemption of State, Local, or Tribal Law.........23

XIX. Changes in Existing Law Made by the Bill, as Reported..........23
XX. Committee Recommendation.......................................43
XXI. Additional Views...............................................44
XXII. Exchange of Committee Correspondence...........................48
XXIII.Proceedings of the Subcommittee Markup.........................50

XXIV. Proceedings of the Full Committee Markup......................112

I. Amendment

The amendment is as follows:
Strike all after the enacting clause and insert the
following:

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

This Act may be cited as the ``Fire Grants Reauthorization Act of
2009''.

SEC. 2. ASSISTANCE TO FIREFIGHTERS GRANT PROGRAM REAUTHORIZATION.

(a) In General.--Section 33 of the Federal Fire Prevention and
Control Act of 1974 (15 U.S.C. 2229) is amended to read as follows:

``SEC. 33. FIREFIGHTER ASSISTANCE.

``(a) Assistance Program.--
``(1) Authority.--In accordance with this section, the
Director may--
``(A) make grants on a competitive basis directly to
fire departments of a State, in consultation with the
chief executive of the State, for the purpose of
protecting the health and safety of the public and
firefighting personnel throughout the Nation against
fire and fire-related hazards;
``(B) make grants on a competitive basis directly to
State fire training academies, in consultation with the
chief executive of the State, in accordance with
paragraph (11)(C);
``(C) provide assistance for fire prevention and
firefighter safety research and development programs
and fire prevention or fire safety programs and
activities in accordance with paragraph (4); and
``(D) provide assistance for volunteer, non-fire
service EMS and rescue organizations for the purpose of
paragraph (3)(F).
``(2) Administrative assistance.--The Director shall
establish specific criteria for the selection of recipients of
assistance under this section and shall provide grant-writing
assistance to applicants.
``(3) Use of fire department grant funds.--The Director may
make a grant under paragraph (1)(A) only if the applicant for
the grant agrees to use the grant funds for one or more of the
following purposes:
``(A) To hire additional firefighting personnel.
``(B) To train firefighting personnel in
firefighting, emergency medical services and other
emergency response (including response to a terrorism
incident or use of a weapon of mass destruction), arson
prevention and detection, maritime firefighting, or the
handling of hazardous materials or to train
firefighting personnel to provide any of the training
described in this subparagraph.
``(C) To fund the creation of rapid intervention
teams to protect firefighting personnel at the scenes
of fires and other emergencies.
``(D) To certify fire and building inspectors
employed by a fire department or serving as a volunteer
building inspector with a fire department.
``(E) To establish wellness and fitness programs for
firefighting personnel to ensure that the firefighting
personnel can carry out their duties, including
programs dedicated to raising awareness of, and
prevention of, job-related mental health issues.
``(F) To fund emergency medical services provided by
fire departments and volunteer, non-fire service EMS
and rescue organizations.
``(G) To acquire additional firefighting vehicles,
including fire trucks.
``(H) To acquire additional firefighting equipment,
including equipment for communications, monitoring, and
response to a terrorism incident or use of a weapon of
mass destruction.
``(I) To acquire personal protective equipment
required for firefighting personnel by the Occupational
Safety and Health Administration and other personal
protective equipment for firefighting personnel,
including protective equipment to respond to a
terrorism incident or the use of a weapon of mass
destruction.
``(J) To modify fire stations, fire training
facilities, and other facilities to protect the health
and safety of firefighting personnel.
``(K) To enforce fire codes and standards.
``(L) To fund fire prevention programs.
``(M) To educate the public about arson prevention
and detection.
``(N) To provide incentives for the recruitment and
retention of volunteer firefighting personnel for
volunteer firefighting departments and other
firefighting departments that utilize volunteers.
``(4) Fire prevention and firefighter safety research and
development programs.--
``(A) In general.--For each fiscal year, the Director
shall use not less than 10 percent of the funds made
available under subsection (e)--
``(i) to make grants to fire departments for
the purpose described in paragraph (3)(L);
``(ii) to make grants to, or enter into
contracts or cooperative agreements with,
national, State, local, or community
organizations that are not fire departments
but--
``(I) that are recognized for their
experience and expertise with respect
to fire prevention or fire safety
programs and activities and that
partner with fire departments, for the
purpose of carrying out such programs
and activities;
``(II) engage in fire- and life
safety-related activities as a primary
purpose or function, for the purpose of
carrying out fire prevention or fire
safety programs and activities; or
``(III) that are recognized for their
experience and expertise with respect
to firefighter research and development
programs, for the purpose of carrying
out research on fire prevention or fire
safety programs and activities or to
improve firefighter health and life
safety; and
``(iii) if the Director determines that it is
necessary, to make grants or enter into
contracts in accordance with subsection (c).
``(B) Priority.--In selecting organizations described
in subparagraph (A)(ii) to receive assistance under
this paragraph, the Director shall give priority to
organizations that focus on prevention of injuries to
high risk groups from fire, as well as research
programs that demonstrate the potential to improve
firefighter safety.
``(C) Grant limitation.--A grant under this paragraph
shall not exceed $1,500,000 for a fiscal year.
``(D) Limitation.--None of the funds made available
under this paragraph may be provided to the Association
of Community Organizations for Reform Now (ACORN) or
any of its affiliates, subsidiaries, or allied
organizations.
``(5) Application.--The Director may provide assistance to a
fire department or organization (including a State fire
training academy) under this subsection only if the fire
department or organization seeking the assistance submits to
the Director an application that meets the following
requirements:
``(A) Form.--The application shall be in such form as
the Director may require.
``(B) Information.--The application shall include the
following information:
``(i) Information that demonstrates the
financial need of the applicant for the
assistance for which applied.
``(ii) An analysis of the costs and benefits,
with respect to public safety, of the use of
the assistance.
``(iii) An agreement to provide information
to the national fire incident reporting system
for the period covered by the assistance.
``(iv) A list of other sources of Federal
funding received by the applicant.
``(v) Any other information that the Director
may require.
``(C) Unnecessary duplication.--The Director, in
coordination with the Secretary of Homeland Security,
shall use the list provided under subparagraph (B)(iv)
to prevent the unnecessary duplication of grant funds.
``(6) Matching requirement.--
``(A) In general.--Subject to subparagraphs (B) and
(C) and paragraph (8), the Director may provide
assistance under this subsection only if the applicant
for such assistance agrees to match 10 percent of such
assistance for any fiscal year with an equal amount of
non-Federal funds.
``(B) Requirement for small community
organizations.--In the case of an applicant whose
personnel serve jurisdictions of 20,000 or fewer
residents, the percent applied under the matching
requirement of subparagraph (A) shall be 5 percent.
``(C) Fire prevention and firefighter safety grants
exception.--There shall be no matching requirement for
a grant described in paragraph (4).
``(7) Maintenance of expenditures.--Subject to paragraph (8),
the Director may provide assistance under this subsection only
if the applicant for the assistance agrees to maintain in the
fiscal year for which the assistance will be received the
applicant's aggregate expenditures for the uses described in
paragraph (3) or (4) at or above 80 percent of the average
level of such expenditures in the 2 fiscal years preceding the
fiscal year for which the assistance will be received.
``(8) Economic hardship waiver.--
``(A) In general.--In exceptional circumstances, the
Director may waive or reduce the matching requirement
under paragraph (6) and the maintenance of expenditures
requirement under paragraph (7) for applicants facing
demonstrated economic hardship.
``(B) Criteria development.--The criteria under which
the Director may waive or reduce such requirements
shall be developed in consultation with individuals who
are--
``(i) recognized for expertise in
firefighting, emergency medical services
provided by fire services, or the economic
affairs of State and local governments; and
``(ii) members of national fire service
organizations or national organizations
representing the interests of State and local
governments.
``(C) Public availability.--The Director shall make
the criteria developed under subparagraph (B) publicly
available.
``(9) Variety of fire department grant recipients.--
``(A) In general.--Of the amounts made available
under subsection (e), the Director shall ensure that
grants under paragraph (1)(A) for a fiscal year are
allocated, to the extent that there are eligible
applicants to carry out the activities under paragraph
(3), as follows:
``(i) 25 percent shall be made available to
career fire departments.
``(ii) 25 percent shall be made available to
volunteer fire departments.
``(iii) 25 percent shall be made available to
combination fire departments.
``(B) Evaluation criteria.--
``(i) In general.--In awarding grants under
paragraph (1)(A), the Director shall, within
each category of applicants under subparagraph
(A), consider a broad range of factors
important to the applicant's ability to respond
to fires and related hazards, such as
population served, geographic response area,
hazard vulnerability, call volume, financial
situation, and need for training or equipment.
``(ii) High population and incident
response.--In considering such factors under
clause (i), applicants serving areas with high
population and with a high number of incidents
requiring a response shall receive a higher
level of consideration.
``(C) Remainder.--Of the amounts made available under
subsection (e) that are not allocated for use and
awarded under subparagraph (A) or designated for use
under any other provision of this section, the Director
shall provide for an open competition for grants among
career fire departments, volunteer fire departments,
and combination fire departments to carry out the
activities under paragraph (3).
``(10) Report to the director.--The Director may provide
assistance under this subsection only if the applicant for the
assistance agrees to submit to the Director a report, including
a description of how the assistance was used, with respect to
each fiscal year for which the assistance was received.
``(11) Grant limitations.--
``(A) Recipient limitations.--A grant recipient under
paragraph (1)(A)--
``(i) that serves a jurisdiction with 100,000
people or less may not receive grants in excess
of $1,000,000 for any fiscal year;
``(ii) that serves a jurisdiction with more
than 100,000 people but less than 500,000
people may not receive grants in excess of
$2,000,000 for any fiscal year;
``(iii) that serves a jurisdiction with
500,000 people or more but less than 1,000,000
people may not receive grants in excess of
$3,000,000 for any fiscal year;
``(iv) that serves a jurisdiction with
1,000,000 people or more but less than
2,500,000 people may not receive grants in
excess of $6,000,000 for any fiscal year; and
``(v) that serves a jurisdiction with
2,500,000 people or more may not receive grants
in excess of $9,000,000 for any fiscal year.
The Director may award grants in excess of the
limitations provided in clauses (i), (ii), (iii), and
(iv) if the Director determines that extraordinary need
for assistance by a jurisdiction warrants a waiver.
``(B) Limitation on expenditures for firefighting
vehicles.--Not more than 25 percent of the funds
appropriated to provide grants under this section for a
fiscal year may be used to assist grant recipients to
purchase vehicles, as authorized by paragraph (3)(G).
``(C) State fire training academies.--
``(i) In general.--In accordance with clause
(ii), the Director shall award not more than 3
percent of the amounts made available under
subsection (e) for a fiscal year for grants
under this subsection for State fire training
academies.
``(ii) Limitation.--The Director shall--
``(I) award not more than 1 grant
under this subparagraph per State in a
fiscal year;
``(II) limit the amount of a grant to
a State fire training academy to less
than or equal to$1,000,000 in each
fiscal year; and
``(III) ensure that any grant awarded
to a State fire training academy shall
be used for the purposes described in
paragraphs 3(G), 3(H), or 3(I).
``(D) Requirements for grants for emergency medical
services.--The Director shall award not more than 2
percent of the amounts made available under subsection
(e) for a fiscal year to volunteer, non-fire service
EMS and rescue organizations for the purposes described
in paragraph (3)(F).
``(E) Application of selection criteria to grant
applications from volunteer, non-fire service ems and
rescue organizations.--In reviewing applications
submitted by volunteer, non-fire service EMS and rescue
organizations, the Director shall consider the extent
to which other sources of Federal funding are available
to provide the assistance requested in such grant
applications.
``(F) Consensus standards.--
``(i) In general.--Any grant amounts used to
obtain training under this section shall be
limited to training that complies with
applicable national voluntary consensus
standards (if applicable national voluntary
consensus standards have been established),
unless a waiver has been granted under clause
(ii).
``(ii) Waiver.--
``(I) Explanation for non-standard
training.--If an applicant for a grant
seeks to use the assistance provided
under the grant to obtain training that
does not meet or exceed applicable
voluntary consensus standards, the
applicant shall include in the
application an explanation of why such
training will serve the needs of the
applicant better than training that
does meet or exceed such standards.
``(II) Procedures.--In making a
determination whether or not to waive
the requirement under clause (i) with
respect to a specific standard, the
Director shall, to the greatest extent
practicable--
``(aa) consult with other
members of the fire services
regarding the impact on fire
departments of the requirement
to meet or exceed the specific
standard;
``(bb) take into
consideration the explanation
provided by the applicant under
subclause (I); and
``(cc) seek to minimize the
impact of the requirement to
meet or exceed the specific
standard on the applicant,
particularly if meeting the
standard would impose
additional costs.
``(III) Additional requests.--
Applicants that apply for a grant under
the terms of subclause (I) may include
a second grant request in the
application to be considered by the
Director in the event that the Director
does not approve the primary grant
request on the grounds of the training
not meeting applicable voluntary
consensus standards.
``(12) Eligible grantee on behalf of alaska native
villages.--The Alaska Village Initiatives, a non-profit
organization incorporated in the State of Alaska, shall be
considered an eligible grantee for purposes of receiving
assistance under this section on behalf of Alaska Native
villages.
``(13) Annual meeting.--The Director shall convene an annual
meeting of individuals who are members of national fire service
organizations and are recognized for expertise in firefighting
or emergency medical services provided by fire services, and
who are not employees of the Federal Government, for the
purpose of recommending criteria for awarding grants under this
section for the next fiscal year and any necessary
administrative changes to the grant program.
``(14) Guidelines.--
``(A) In general.--Each year, prior to making any
grants under this section, the Director shall publish
in the Federal Register--
``(i) guidelines that describe the process
for applying for grants and the criteria for
awarding grants;
``(ii) an explanation of any differences
between the guidelines and the recommendations
made pursuant to paragraph (13); and
``(iii) the criteria developed under
paragraph (8) which the Director will use to
evaluate applicants for waivers from program
requirements.
``(B) Specific requirement.--The criteria for
awarding grants under paragraph (1)(A) shall include
the extent to which the grant would enhance the daily
operations of the applicant and the impact of such a
grant on the protection of lives and property.
``(15) Peer review.--The Director, after consultation with
national fire service organizations, shall appoint fire service
personnel to conduct peer review of applications received under
paragraph (5). In making grants under this section, the
Director shall consider the results of such peer review
evaluations.
``(16) Applicability of federal advisory committee act.--The
Federal Advisory Committee Act (5 U.S.C. App.) shall not apply
to activities under paragraphs (13) and (15).
``(17) Accounting determination.--Notwithstanding any other
provision of law, rule, regulation, or guidance, for purposes
of receiving assistance under this section, equipment costs
shall include all costs attributable to any design, purchase of
components, assembly, manufacture, and transportation of
equipment not otherwise commercially available.
``(b) Audits.--A recipient of a grant under this section shall be
subject to audits to ensure that the grant proceeds are expended for
the intended purposes and that the grant recipient complies with the
requirements of paragraphs (6) and (7) of subsection (a) unless the
Director has granted a waiver under subsection (a)(8).
``(c) Fire Safety Research Centers.--
``(1) In general.--The Director may make a grant under
subsection (a)(4)(A)(iii) to an institution of higher
education, a national fire service organization, or a national
fire safety organization to establish and operate a fire safety
research center.
``(2) Objectives.--A grant received under this subsection
shall be used by such an institution or organization to advance
significantly the Nation's ability to reduce the number of
fire-related deaths and injuries among firefighters and the
general public through research, development, and technology
transfer activities.
``(3) Limitation.--The Director may establish no more than 3
fire safety research centers. An institution of higher
education, a national fire service organization, or a national
fire safety organization may not directly receive a grant under
this section for a fiscal year for more than 1 fire safety
research center.
``(4) Application.--In order to be eligible to receive a fire
safety research center grant, an institution of higher
education, a national fire service organization, or a national
fire safety organization shall submit to the Director an
application that is in such form and contains such information
and assurances as the Director may require.
``(5) General selection criteria.--The Director shall select
each recipient of a grant under this subsection through a
competitive process on the basis of the following:
``(A) The demonstrated research and extension
resources available to the recipient to carry out the
research, development, and technology transfer
activities.
``(B) The capability of the recipient to provide
leadership in making national contributions to fire
safety.
``(C) The recipient's ability to disseminate the
results of fire safety research.
``(D) The strategic plan the recipient proposes to
carry out under the grant.
``(6) Consideration.--The Director shall give special
consideration under paragraph (5) to an applicant for a grant
that consists of a partnership between a national fire service
organization or a national fire safety organization and at
least 1 of the following:
``(A) An institution of higher education.
``(B) A minority-serving institution (defined as an
eligible institution under section 371(a) of the Higher
Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1067q(a))).
``(7) Research needs.--Within 90 days after the date of
enactment of the Fire Grants Reauthorization Act of 2009, the
Director shall convene a workshop of the fire safety research
community, fire service organizations, and other appropriate
stakeholders to identify and prioritize fire safety research
needs. The results of the workshop shall be made public, and
the Director shall consider such results in making awards under
this section.
``(d) Definitions.--In this section, the following definitions apply:
``(1) Career fire department.--The term `career fire
department' means a firefighting department that has an all
professional force of firefighting personnel.
``(2) Combination fire department.--The term `combination
fire department' means a firefighting department that has a
combined force of professional and volunteer firefighting
personnel.
``(3) Director.--The term `Director' means the Director,
acting through the Administrator.
``(4) Firefighting personnel.--The term `firefighting
personnel' means individuals, including volunteers, who are
firefighters, officers of fire departments, or emergency
medical service personnel of fire departments.
``(5) Institution of higher education.--The term `institution
of higher education' has the meaning given such term in section
101 of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1001).
``(6) Volunteer, non-fire service ems and rescue
organization.--The term `volunteer, non-fire service EMS and
rescue organization' means a public or private nonprofit
emergency medical services organization that--
``(A) is not affiliated with a hospital;
``(B) does not serve a geographic area in which the
Director finds that emergency medical services are
adequately provided by a fire department; and
``(C) is staffed primarily by volunteers.
``(7) Volunteer fire department.--The term `volunteer fire
department' means a firefighting department that has an all
volunteer force of firefighting personnel.
``(e) Authorization of Appropriations.--
``(1) In general.--There are authorized to be appropriated
for the purposes of this section $1,000,000,000 for each of the
fiscal years 2010 through 2014.
``(2) Administrative expenses.--
``(A) In general.--Of the funds appropriated pursuant
to paragraph (1) for a fiscal year, the Director may
use not more than 3 percent of the funds to cover
salaries and expenses and other administrative costs
incurred by the Director to make grants and provide
assistance under this section.
``(B) Formula.--The Director shall subtract the
amount to be used for subparagraph (A) from the amount
appropriated pursuant to paragraph (1) before making
any allocations or apportioning any funds under
subsections (a) or (c).''.
(b) Sense of Congress.--It is the sense of Congress that--
(1) from fiscal years 2003 through 2008--
(A) the funding appropriated for activities under
section 33 of the Federal Fire Prevention and Control
Act of 1974 declined by approximately 30 percent; and
(B) the number of fire departments receiving awards
declined by nearly 40 percent, while the number of
applicants increased, resulting in a reduction in
applicant success rates from over 43 percent to just 25
percent;
(2) the House-passed conference report for the Department of
Homeland Security Appropriations Act, 2010 appropriates $390
million for activities under such section 33, a decrease of
over 30 percent below that provided in fiscal year 2009;
(3) declining funding reduces the Director's ability to
successfully carry out the primary purpose of such section,
which is to protect the health and safety of the public and
firefighting personnel throughout the Nation against fire and
fire-related hazards; and
(4) halting and reversing the decline in appropriations to
ensure a high level of funding for the activities under such
section 33 should be a top priority.

SEC. 3. EXPANSION OF PRE-SEPTEMBER 11, 2001, FIRE GRANT PROGRAM
REAUTHORIZATION.

Section 34 of the Federal Fire Prevention and Control Act of 1974 (15
U.S.C. 2229a) is amended to read as follows:

``SEC. 34. EXPANSION OF PRE-SEPTEMBER 11, 2001, FIRE GRANT PROGRAM.

``(a) Expanded Authority To Make Grants.--
``(1) Hiring grants.--
``(A) In general.--The Director shall make grants
directly to career, volunteer, and combination fire
departments, in consultation with the chief executive
of the State in which the applicant is located, for the
purpose of increasing the number of firefighters to
help communities meet industry minimum standards and
attain 24-hour staffing to provide adequate protection
from fire and fire-related hazards and to fulfill
traditional missions of fire departments that antedate
the creation of the Department of Homeland Security.
``(B) Requirements.--
``(i) Duration and use.--Grants made under
this paragraph shall be for 3 years and shall
be used for programs to hire new, additional
firefighters.
``(ii) Retention.--Grant recipients are
required to commit to retaining for at least
the entire 3 years of the grant period those
firefighters hired under this paragraph.
``(iii) Maximum.--The portion of the cost of
hiring firefighters provided by a grant under
this paragraph may not exceed 80 percent of
such cost for each fiscal year.
``(C) Preference.--In awarding grants under this
subsection, the Director may give preferential
consideration to applications that involve a non-
Federal contribution exceeding the minimums under
subparagraph (B)(iii).
``(D) Technical assistance.--The Director may provide
technical assistance to States, units of local
government, Indian tribal governments, and other public
entities in furtherance of the purposes of this
section.
``(E) Volunteer activities allowed.--Notwithstanding
any other provision of law, any firefighter hired with
funds provided under this subsection shall not be
discriminated against for, or be prohibited from,
engaging in volunteer activities in another
jurisdiction during off-duty hours.
``(F) Competitive basis.--The Director shall award
all grants under this section on a competitive basis
through a neutral peer review process.
``(G) Set aside.--
``(i) In general.--At the beginning of the
fiscal year, the Director shall set aside 10
percent of the funds made available for
carrying out this paragraph for departments
with majority volunteer or all volunteer
personnel.
``(ii) Transfer.--After awards have been
made, if less than 10 percent of the funds made
available for carrying out this paragraph are
not awarded to departments with majority
volunteer or all volunteer personnel, the
Director shall transfer from funds made
available for carrying out this paragraph to
funds made available for carrying out paragraph
(2) an amount equal to the difference between
the amount that is provided to such fire
departments and 10 percent.
``(2) Recruitment and retention grants.--
``(A) In general.--In addition to any amounts
transferred under paragraph (1)(G)(ii), the Director
shall direct at least 10 percent of the total amount of
funds made available under this section annually to a
competitive grant program for the recruitment and
retention of volunteer firefighters who are involved
with or trained in the operations of firefighting and
emergency response.
``(B) Eligibility.--Eligible entities shall include
volunteer or combination fire departments and
organizations on a local, statewide, or national basis
that represent the interests of volunteer firefighters.
``(b) Applications.--
``(1) In general.--No grant may be made under this section
unless an application has been submitted to, and approved by,
the Director.
``(2) Contents.--An application for a grant under this
section shall be submitted in such form and contain such
information and assurances as the Director may prescribe.
``(3) Requirements.--At a minimum, each application for a
grant under this section shall--
``(A) explain the applicant's inability to address
the need without Federal assistance;
``(B) in the case of a grant under subsection (a)(1),
explain how the applicant plans to meet the
requirements of subparagraphs (B)(ii) and (E) of such
subsection;
``(C) specify long-term plans for retaining
firefighters following the conclusion of Federal
support provided under this section; and
``(D) provide assurances that the applicant will, to
the extent practicable, seek, recruit, and hire members
of racial and ethnic minority groups and women in order
to increase their ranks within firefighting.
``(c) Limitation on Use of Funds.--
``(1) Supplement, not supplant.--Funds made available under
this section to fire departments for salaries and benefits to
hire new, additional firefighters shall not be used to supplant
State or local funds, or, in the case of Indian tribal
governments, funds supplied by the Bureau of Indian Affairs,
but shall be used to increase the amount of funds that would,
in the absence of Federal funds received under this section, be
made available from State or local sources, or in the case of
Indian tribal governments, from funds supplied by the Bureau of
Indian Affairs.
``(2) Replacement funding prohibited.--No grant shall be
awarded pursuant to this section to a municipality or other
recipient whose annual budget at the time of the application
for fire-related programs and emergency response has been
reduced below 80 percent of the average funding level in the 3
years prior to the date of application.
``(3) Indian cost-share.--Funds appropriated by the Congress
for the activities of any agency of an Indian tribal government
or the Bureau of Indian Affairs performing firefighting
functions on any Indian lands may be used to provide the non-
Federal share of the cost of programs or projects funded under
this section.
``(d) Waiver.--In exceptional circumstances, the Director may waive
the requirements of subsections (a)(1)(B)(ii), (a)(1)(B)(iii), (c)(1),
and (c)(2) if the Director determines that the jurisdiction is facing
demonstrated economic hardship in accordance with section 33(a)(8).
``(e) Performance Evaluation.--The Director may require a grant
recipient to submit any information the Director considers reasonably
necessary to evaluate the program.
``(f) Sunset; Reports.--
``(1) Sunset.--The authority under this section to make
grants shall lapse at the end of the 10-year period that begins
on the date of enactment of the Fire Grants Reauthorization Act
of 2009.
``(2) Report.--Not later than 6 years after such date of
enactment, the Director shall submit to Congress a report
concerning the experience with, and effectiveness of, such
grants in meeting the objectives of this section. The report
may include any recommendations the Director may have for
amendments to this section and related provisions of law.
``(g) Revocation or Suspension of Funding.--If the Director
determines that a grant recipient under this section is not in
substantial compliance with the terms and requirements of an approved
grant application submitted under this section, the Director may revoke
or suspend funding of that grant, in whole or in part.
``(h) Access to Documents.--
``(1) In general.--The Director shall have access for the
purpose of audit and examination to any pertinent books,
documents, papers, or records of a grant recipient under this
section and to the pertinent books, documents, papers, or
records of State and local governments, persons, businesses,
and other entities that are involved in programs, projects, or
activities for which assistance is provided under this section.
``(2) Application.--Paragraph (1) shall apply with respect to
audits and examinations conducted by the Comptroller General of
the United States or by an authorized representative of the
Comptroller General.
``(i) Definitions.--In this section, the term--
``(1) `Director' means the Director, acting through the
Administrator;
``(2) `firefighter' has the meaning given the term `employee
in fire protection activities' under section 3(y) of the Fair
Labor Standards Act of 1938 (29 U.S.C. 203(y)); and
``(3) `Indian tribe' means a tribe, band, pueblo, nation, or
other organized group or community of Indians, including an
Alaska Native village (as defined in or established under the
Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act (43 U.S.C. 1601 et seq.)),
that is recognized as eligible for the special programs and
services provided by the United States to Indians because of
their status as Indians.
``(j) Authorization of Appropriations.--There are authorized to be
appropriated for the purposes of carrying out this section
$1,194,000,000 for each of the fiscal years 2010 through 2014.''.

SEC. 4. STUDY AND REPORT.

(a) Study and Report on Assistance to Firefighters Grant Program.--
(1) Study.--The Administrator of the United States Fire
Administration, in conjunction with the National Fire
Protection Association, shall conduct a study to--
(A) define the current roles and activities
associated with the fire services on a national, State,
regional, and local level;
(B) identify the equipment, staffing, and training
required to fulfill the roles and activities defined
under subparagraph (A);
(C) conduct an assessment to identify gaps between
what fire departments currently possess and what they
require to meet the equipment, staffing, and training
needs identified under subparagraph (B) on a national
and State-by-State basis; and
(D) measure the impact of the grant program under
section 33 of the Federal Fire Prevention and Control
Act of 1974 (15 U.S.C. 2229) in--
(i) meeting the needs of the fire services
identified in the report submitted to Congress
under section 3603(a) of the Ronald W. Reagan
National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal
Year 2005; and
(ii) filling the gaps identified under
subparagraph (C).
(2) Report.--Not later than 2 years after the date of
enactment of this Act, the Administrator shall submit to the
Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation of the
Senate and the Committee on Science and Technology of the House
of Representatives a report on the findings of the study
described in paragraph (1).
(b) Authorization of Appropriations.--There are authorized to be
appropriated to the Administrator of the United States Fire
Administration a total of $300,000 for fiscal years 2010 and 2011 to
carry out subsection (a).

II. Purpose of the Bill

The purpose of H.R. 3791, the Fire Grants Reauthorization
Act of 2009, is to reauthorize the Assistance to Firefighters
Grant (AFG) Program and the Staffing for Adequate Fire and
Emergency Response (SAFER) Grant Program.

III. Background and Need for the Legislation

ASSISTANCE TO FIREFIGHTERS GRANT PROGRAM

Since the AFG program began in FY2001, over $4.8 billion in
Federal funding has been competitively awarded to local fire
departments to purchase firefighting and emergency response
training and equipment. In FY2008, the Federal Emergency
Management Agency (FEMA) received over 20,000 applications from
fire departments for AFG funds, requesting over $3 billion. The
program was created to assist local fire departments in meeting
the challenge of expanding emergency response capabilities.
Many local fire departments do not have adequate training and
equipment. For instance, the National Fire Protection
Association estimates that 65 percent of fire departments in
the U.S. do not have enough portable radios to equip all
firefighters on shift, and that 36 percent of fire departments
involved in emergency medical response do not have enough
adequately trained personnel to perform those duties\1\. The
support for training, equipment, and apparatus provided by the
AFG Program is especially needed to protect public safety as
municipalities face severe budget constraints.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\1\The National Fire Protection Association, Four Years Later: A
Second Needs Assessment of the U.S. Fire Service, October 2006.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

STAFFING FOR ADEQUATE FIRE AND EMERGENCY RESPONSE

Over the past five fiscal years, the Staffing for Adequate
Fire and Emergency Response (SAFER) Program has competitively
awarded nearly $700 million to local fire departments for the
hiring, recruitment, and retention of firefighters. In FY2008,
FEMA received over one thousand SAFER applications, with
requests totaling over $500 million. This funding has helped
fire departments hire firefighters to bring their organizations
in line with national voluntary consensus standards for safe
staffing levels. This support is particularly crucial, as a
tough economy is forcing many localities to lay off personnel.

IV. Summary of Hearings

The Subcommittee on Technology and Innovation, Committee on
Science and Technology held a hearing on the FIRE Grant
programs during the 111th Congress on Wednesday, July 8, 2009.
The hearing, entitled Reauthorization of the FIRE Grants
Programs, discussed the priorities for AFG and SAFER in
preparation for their reauthorization. The following witnesses
provided testimony:
The Honorable Bill Pascrell, Jr., Member,
U.S. House of Representatives;
The Honorable Timothy Manning, Deputy
Administrator, National Preparedness Directorate, FEMA,
Department of Homeland Security (DHS);
Chief Jeffrey Johnson, First Vice President,
International Association of Fire Chiefs (IAFC) and
Chief, Tualatin Valley Fire and Rescue in Aloha,
Oregon;
Chief Jack Carriger, Stayton, Oregon Fire
District Fire Vice Chairman, National Volunteer Fire
Council (NVFC);
Mr. Kevin O'Connor, Assistant to the General
President, International Association of Fire Fighters
(IAFF);
Chief Curt Varone, Division Manager, Public
Fire Protection Division, National Fire Protection
Association (NFPA); and
Mr. Ed Carlin, Training Officer, Spalding
Rural Volunteer Fire Department, Spalding, Nebraska.
Technology and Innovation Subcommittee Vice-Chairman Lujan
opened the hearing by discussing the importance of the AFG and
SAFER programs in helping communities staff and equip their
fire departments, particularly as the emergency response
mission of fire departments grows. He noted that the grants
were essential as many communities faced the problem of
providing services with shrinking budgets. Vice-Chairman Lujan
also stated that he hoped the hearing would provide insights on
reducing the Nation's losses from fire and on changes to AFG
and SAFER to enable the programs to benefit all fire
departments.
The witnesses testified to the importance of Fire Grants in
helping fire departments develop and maintain their response
capabilities. They also expressed their concerns that current
economic conditions made it difficult for local fire
departments to safely and effectively carry out their missions.
The priorities the witnesses gave for AFG and SAFER reflected
the current economic concerns, and broader concerns on enabling
more departments to take advantage of the funds. The priorities
included: raising the maximum allowable amount for both AFG and
SAFER awards; lowering the matching requirements; balancing the
apportionment of AFG funding between all-career fire
departments, all-volunteer, and combination career-volunteer;
and creating authority for waivers for communities facing
economic hardship.

V. Committee Actions

In the 111th Congress, the House Committee on Science and
Technology, Subcommittee on Technology and Innovation, held a
hearing on July 8, 2009 concerning the AFG and SAFER programs.
On October 13, 2009, Representative Harry Mitchell, for
himself and Representatives Pascrell, Hoyer, Gordon, Wu,
Andrews, Grayson, Tonko, Rothman, C. Wilson, Lipinski,
Carnahan, Costello, Peters, Holden, Shea-Porter, Hirono,
Hinchey, Michaud, Higgins, Halvorson, Ross, Foster, Langevin,
McIntyre, Delahunt, Lowey, Kagen, B. Thompson, Richardson,
Sutton, Cuellar, Kirkpatrick, Clarke, Loretta Sanchez, Lujan,
T. Ryan, Blackburn, Cleaver, Jackson-Lee, and Doyle, introduced
H.R. 3791, the Fire Grants Reauthorization Act of 2009. The
bill was referred to the Committee on Science and Technology,
which referred the bill to the Subcommittee on Technology and
Innovation.
The Subcommittee met to consider H.R. 3791 on October 14,
2009. The Subcommittee considered the following amendments:
1. Mr. Wu offered an amendment in the nature of a
substitute. The amendment changed the style of the bill from a
``cut and bite'' series of amendments to a restatement of
sections 33 and 34 of the Fire Prevention and Control Act of
1974. The amendment also added a provision authorizing the
Administrator to establish up to 3 University Fire Safety
Research Centers from the 10 percent set-aside of funding for
the Fire Prevention and Safety Grants. The purpose of the
Centers is to perform research, development, and technology
transfer activities to significantly reduce fire-related deaths
and injuries among firefighters and the general public.
Finally, the amendment added a requirement that the U.S. Fire
Administration to work with the National Fire Protection
Association on a needs assessment for the fire service and
report back to Congress on the results of that needs
assessment. The amendment was agreed to by voice vote.
2. Mr. Smith (NE) offered an amendment to amend section 2
of the amendment in the nature of a substitute offered by Mr.
Wu. The amendment modified the eligibility requirement for the
Fire Prevention and Safety Grants, authorized under the amended
paragraph (4) of section 33, requiring that entities that are
not fire departments, or organizations whose primary purpose is
fire safety related activities, or organizations recognized for
their firefighter health and safety research, to partner with a
fire department. The amendment was agreed to by voice vote.
3. Mr. Smith (NE) offered an amendment to amend section 2
of the amendment in the nature of a substitute offered by Mr.
Wu. The amendment expanded the evaluation criteria in the
amended subparagraph (9)(B) of section 33 to require the
Director to consider a number of factors, such as population
served, geographic response area, and financial situation, in
developing the grant award criteria. The amendment further
clarified that among the factors considered by the Director,
applicants serving areas with high populations and a high
number of incidents shall receive a higher level of
consideration. The amendment was agreed to by voice vote.
H.R. 3791, as amended, was agreed to by voice vote.
Mr. Wu moved that the Subcommittee favorably report H.R.
3791, as amended, to the Full Committee with the recommendation
that the bill pass. The motion was agreed to by voice vote.
The Full Science and Technology Committee met to consider
H.R. 3791 on October 21, 2009. The Full Committee considered
the following amendments:
1. Mr. Mitchell offered an amendment in the nature of a
substitute that made several modifications to the bill that was
reported out of the Subcommittee. The amendment: modified the
language in subsection (c) of section 33, on the University
Fire Safety Research Centers, to include national fire service
and fire safety organizations as eligible applicants for center
funding; added a provision giving special consideration for
this funding to partnerships between universities and national
fire service or fire safety organizations; clarified that only
one fire training academy per state will be able to receive
funding under the amended section 33 set-aside for fire service
training academies each fiscal year; added authority to waive
the requirement that any training purchased with Fire Grant
funding meet or exceed national voluntary consensus standards
for such training; added a definition of ``volunteer non-fire
EMS''; and made other technical and conforming changes. The
amendment was agreed to by voice vote.
2. Ms. Johnson (TX) offered an amendment to Mr. Mitchell's
amendment in the nature of a substitute to include programs for
raising awareness of preventing job-related mental-health
issues in the existing provision authorizing section 33 funds
to be used for firefighter wellness and fitness programs. The
amendment added minority serving institutions to the special
consideration language in Mr. Mitchell's amendment in the
nature of a substitute under the fire safety research centers.
The amendment was agreed to by voice vote.
3. Mr. Broun offered an amendment to Mr. Mitchell's
amendment in the nature of a substitute prohibiting the
Director from awarding any Fire Prevention and Safety grants to
the Association of Community Organizations for Reform now
(ACORN) or any of its affiliates, subsidiaries, or allied
organizations. The amendment was agreed to by roll call vote
(Y:33, N:5, Present:1).
4. Mr. Smith (NE) offered an amendment to Mr. Mitchell's
amendment in the nature of a substitute to express the sense of
Congress that funding for Assistance to Firefighter Grants
program has declined over the past five years and that funding
the program at a high level should be a high priority. The
amendment was agreed to by voice vote.
Mr. Tonko (NY) moved that the Committee favorably report
H.R. 3791, as amended, to the House with the recommendation
that the bill pass. The motion was agreed to by voice vote.

VI. Summary of Major Provisions of the Bill

H.R. 3791 reauthorizes the Assistance to Firefighters Grant
(AFG) Program and the Staffing for Adequate Fire and Emergency
Response (SAFER) program.
For the AFG Program, H.R. 3791:
Provides an authorization of $1 billion per
fiscal year from FY2010 to FY2014;
Requires the Director to apportion the total
appropriation for AFG, minus 3 percent for
administrative costs, in the following manner: 25
percent for career fire departments; 25 percent for
combination departments; 25 percent for volunteer fire
departments; 10 percent for Fire Prevention and Safety
Grants; 2 percent for volunteer, non-fire service EMS
and rescue organizations; 3 percent ceiling for state
fire training academies; and 10 percent remaining open
for competition among all types of fire departments;
Sets the matching requirements for
applicants from jurisdictions of a population of 20,000
or more at 10 percent, and at 5 percent for
jurisdictions with populations of less than 20,000;
Sets the maximum allowable size for AFG
grants depending on the population of the area served
by the applicants;
Sets the maintenance of budget requirement
at 80 percent or above the applicant's previous two
fiscal year budgets;
Establishes up to three University Fire
Safety Research Centers to fund research and
development to reduce fire related deaths and injuries
among firefighters and the general public; and
Gives the Director authority to, in
exceptional circumstances, issue waivers to departments
that are unable to meet the matching requirement or the
maintenance of budget requirement.
For the SAFER Program, H.R. 3791 has the following
provisions:
Provides an authorization of $1.194 billion
per fiscal year from FY2010 to FY2014;
Sets the grant period at three years (with
the requirement that the department retain the hire for
the entire three-year grant period);
Sets the local matching requirement at 20
percent per year of the grant;
Eliminates an artificial cap on the maximum
allowable grant size per firefighter;
Includes an economic hardship waiver for
departments that are unable to meet the matching
requirements or maintenance of budget requirements. It
also provides waivers for requirements that departments
use the fund to supplement, rather than supplant, local
funds, as well as the requirement that the funds be
used to hire additional firefighters rather than retain
existing personnel.

VII. Section-by-Section Analysis

SECTIONAL ANALYSIS OF THE FIRE GRANTS REAUTHORIZATION ACT OF 2009

Sec. 2

Amendment to Sec. 33 of the Federal Fire Prevention and
Control Act of 1974
Assistance Program
(a) AUTHORITY: Allows the Director to make grants on a
competitive basis to local fire departments and state fire
training academies to protect against fire and fire-related
hazards; to provide assistance for fire and fire prevention
programs; and to provide assistance to volunteer non-fire
service EMS and rescue organizations.
USES: Allows the Director to make grants available
for a variety of purposes related to fire fighting and fire
safety, including equipment and training.
FIRE PREVENTION AND SAFETY: Sets aside 10 percent
of the appropriated funds for fire prevention and safety
grants. Such grants may go to local fire departments, or other
organizations, for fire prevention programs, as well as
research on fire safety and firefighter health and safety. For
the purposes of carrying out a grant, organizations that are
not fire departments must be recognized for their expertise in
fire prevention and safety programs and partner with a fire
department. Or, they must engage in fire-related activities as
a primary function or be recognized for their expertise in
firefighter-related research. Such grants may not be above
$1,500,000.
APPLICATION: Fire departments or other
organizations seeking grants must submit applications that
contain information on the financial need of the applicant, the
cost-to-benefit ratio of the intended purchase, an agreement to
participate in the national fire data collection system, and a
list of other sources of Federal funding received by the
applicant.
MATCHING REQUIREMENT: Fire departments must match
any Federal funds received by 10 percent. Fire departments
serving jurisdictions with fewer than 20,000 people, the
matching requirement is 5 percent. There is no matching
requirement for the Fire Prevention and Safety Grants.
MAINTAINANCE OF EXPENDITURES: Grants may be
awarded only if the applicant agrees to maintain its budget for
the uses for which they are applying for the grant at, or
above, 80 percent of its average for the previous two fiscal
years.
ECONOMIC HARDSHIP WAIVER: The Director may waive
the matching requirement and the maintenance of expenditure
requirement in cases of exceptional economic hardship. The
Director shall develop the criteria for the waivers in
consultation with fire service organizations and organizations
representing State and local governments. The criteria for the
waivers will be made publicly available.
VARIETY OF FIRE DEPARTMENT GRANT RECIPIENTS: The
grants shall be made to fire departments as follows (if enough
qualified applicants apply in each category):
25 percent to career fire departments;
25 percent to combination fire
departments;
25 percent to volunteer fire
departments; and
Any remainder not otherwise designated
under this bill shall be open for competition among all
fire types of departments.
The Director shall consider a broad range of factors in
awarding the grants, but those applicants serving areas with
high population and with a high number of incidents will
receive a higher level of consideration.
REPORT TO THE DIRECTOR: Applicants must report to
the Director how the assistance was used.
GRANT LIMITATIONS: The maximum allowable grant
size a fire department is eligible for will depend on the size
of the population that department serves, as follows:
A population of 100,000 or less may receive
up to $1,000,000
A population of 100,000 to 500,000 may
receive up to $2,000,000
A population of 500,000 to 1,000,000 may
receive up to $3,000,000
A population of 1,000,000 to 2,500,000 may
receive up to $6,000,000
A population of 2,500,000 or more may
receive up to $9,000,000.
Not more than 25 percent of the total appropriation may be
used to purchase firefighting vehicles.
State fire training academies are eligible for no more than
3 percent of the total appropriation. Grants to State fire
training academies shall be no more than $1,000,000.
Not less than 2 percent of the funds appropriated shall go
to volunteer, non-fire service EMS and rescue organizations.
ALASKA NATIVE VILLAGES: Allows Alaska Native
Villages to be eligible for grants made under this Act.
ANNUAL MEETING: Requires the Director to convene
an annual meeting of fire service organizations to recommend
criteria for awarding grants the following fiscal year.
GUIDELINES: Requires the Director to make the
grant criteria publicly available.
PEER-REIVEW: Requires that the grants be subjected
to a peer-review process.
APPLICABILITY OF FEDERAL ADVISORY COMMITTEE ACT:
Exempts the annual meeting and the peer-review process from the
requirements of the Federal Advisory Committee Act.
ACCOUNTING DETERMINIATION: Requires that, for the
purposes of receiving assistance under this Act, equipment
costs encompass all components of the cost, including design
and assembly (if not commercially available).
(b) AUDITS: Requires that grant recipients under the Act
submit to audits.
(c) UNIVERSITY FIRE SAFETY RESEARCH CENTERS: Authorizes the
Director to make grants to no institutions of higher education
to establish and operate no more than three university fire
safety research centers. The grants are to be used for R&D to
reduce fire-related death and injuries among the general public
and firefighters. The Director must also convene a workshop of
fire safety experts to discuss research needs. The grant awards
for fire safety research centers shall be made from the 10
percent allocated to the Fire Safety and Prevention program.
(d) DEFINITIONS: Definitions provided for Career Fire
Department; Combination Fire Departments; Director;
Firefighting Personnel; Institution of Higher Education;
Volunteer, Non-fire Service EMS and Rescue Organization; and
Volunteer Fire Department.
(e) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS: Authorizes
appropriations of $1,000,000 from 2010 to 2014, of which not
more than 3 percent may be used for program administration
purposes by the Director.

Sec. 3.

Amendments to Section 34 of the Federal Fire Prevention and
Control Act of 1974.
EXPANDED AUTHORITY TO MAKE HIRING GRANTS: Directs
the Director to make competitive grants to career, volunteer,
and combination fire departments to increase the number of
firefighters to a level that enables 24-hour staffing of fire
departments. The grants will be used to hire new, additional
firefighters and will run for 3 years. The use of grant funds
to hire firefighters in any jurisdiction may not exceed 80% of
the total costs of hiring firefighters.
RECRUITMENT AND RETENTION: Requires that at least
10% of the total appropriations must be used to recruit and
retain volunteer firefighters at volunteer or combination fire
departments and organizations that represent the interests of
volunteer firefighters.
APPLICATIONS: Requires that, at a minimum,
applications must detail why the fire department needs federal
assistance, how it plans to meet the three year retention
requirement, and how it will allow the firefighters to
volunteer in their off-time. The applications must also explain
how the fire department will work to recruit and hire more
minority groups and women, as well as how it will retain newly
hired firefighters past the conclusion of the 3-year grant.
LIMITATIONS ON USE OF FUNDS: Requires that the
grant funds should represent an increase of, and not supplant,
funds provided by state and local governments, or the Bureau of
Indian Affairs. Also requires that municipalities and other
recipients maintain their budgets for fire-related and
emergency response programs at or above 80 percent of their
previous 3-year average.
WAIVER: Allows the Director to waive the following
requirements for recipients facing exceptional economic
hardship: the 3-year retention requirement of new firefighters
hired with grant funds; the maintenance of expenditure
requirement; and the ``supplement versus supplant''
requirement.
PERFORMANCE EVALUATION: Allows the Director to
request any information considered necessary from grant
recipients.
SUNSET; REPORTS: The Director's authority to make
grants ends 10 years after the date of enactment; and, not
later than 6 years after the date of enactment, the Director
shall submit a report on the effectiveness of the grants and
any recommendations for future provisions.
REVOCATION OR SUSPENSION OF FUNDING: Allows the
Director to revoke or suspend any portion of a grant if a
recipient does not comply with all of the requirements at any
time.
ACCESS TO DOCUMENTS: Allows the Director to audit
any grant recipient and provides access to any needed documents
in carrying out the audit.
DEFINITIONS: Defines: Director; firefighter; and
Indian tribe.
AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS: Authorizes
$1,194,000,000 per year for FY2010 through FY2014 for Section
3.

Sec. 4. Study & Report

STUDY AND REPORT IN ASSSTANCE TO FIREFIGHTERS
GRANT PROGRAM: Directs the United States Fire Administration
and the National Fire Protection Association to conduct a study
defining the roles and activities of fire services; the
equipment, staffing, and training needed to carry out these
roles and activities; the gaps in existing resources required
to meet these roles; and the impact of grants. Authorizes
$300,000 per year for FY2010 and FY2011 to conduct the study.

VIII. Committee Views

The Assistance to Firefighters Grants (AFG) and the
Staffing for Adequate Fire and Emergency Response (SAFER)
Program are important sources of funding for fire departments,
helping them to prepare and equip for fighting fires and
responding to other emergencies. In many communities, this
support has been instrumental in increasing the safety of
firefighters and the public. AFG and SAFER are even more
essential in this difficult economy as local officials across
the country face providing services with smaller budgets. H.R.
3791 makes important changes to AFG and SAFER that will ensure
fire departments can continue to take advantage of this funding
and meet the demands of protecting public safety.

AFG APPORTIONMENT

H.R. 3791 requires, to the extent that qualified applicants
apply, that each category of fire department--career,
volunteer, and combination--will receive at least 25 percent of
the total funding available for the AFG program each fiscal
year. This reflects a desire by key stakeholders to increase
the proportion of AFG funding awarded to larger departments
that tend to protect higher populations of citizens. For the
purpose of grouping applicants with a particular fire
department category, fire departments whose personnel are paid-
on-call or receive a stipend should be considered as
combination departments. The total available funding is the
amount remaining each fiscal year after the Administrator has
set-aside up to 3 percent of the AFG appropriation for program
administration. The remaining amount of the total available AFG
funding that is not designated for use under paragraph (4),
subparagraph (10)(C), and subparagraph (10)(D) of the amended
Section 33, will be available for competition by any type of
fire department.

AFG AND SAFER REQUIREMENTS

The modifications to AFG and SAFER requirements in H.R.
3791 will help ensure that those departments with greatest need
can apply for Federal funding. The bill lowers the AFG matching
requirement to 10 percent for departments serving communities
of 20,000 people or more. Those fire departments serving
communities of fewer than 20,000 will continue to pay a 5
percent match. Reducing the matching requirement opens the
program to departments previously unable to afford the match
and helps ensure that communities hit by the economic downturn
will be able to compete for AFG funding. H.R. 3791 also
modifies the budget maintenance requirement for AFG. The bill
requires fire departments to maintain their budgets for the
activities described under paragraphs (3) and (4) at or above
80 percent of the two previous fiscal years in order to be
eligible for an AFG award. Modifying the budget maintenance
requirement allows flexibility to departments affected by the
economic downturn and to those attempting to make multiple
large purchases. However, it still ensures a strong local
commitment to providing fire protection.
H.R. 3791 also modifies the matching requirement for SAFER
to enable more departments to apply. Particularly in a tough
economy, some communities are dissuaded from applying for SAFER
funds due to the difficulty in planning for a 5-year commitment
with an increasing local match. The change to a consistent 20
percent match over a 3-year period makes this planning easier
for local officials and encourages fire departments to apply
for the grants they need.
The waiver authority provision in H.R. 3791 also provides
an important tool to increase the availability of these grants.
The waiver may be used by the Administrator in exceptional
circumstances to ensure that those communities with the
greatest need can receive SAFER and AFG awards.

AWARD SIZES

The increases made in H.R. 3791 to the maximum size of the
AFG awards will allow fire departments that serve large
populations to apply for the amount of funding that will best
meet their needs. In addition to helping America's metropolitan
areas, this provision also helps areas that have consolidated
multiple fire departments into a unified fire service to serve
multiple towns, counties, or other jurisdictional divisions. In
addition, the elimination of the $100,000-per-firefighter cap
for SAFER grants reflects the differences in hiring costs for
fire departments in different parts of the country.

FIRE PREVENTION AND SAFETY GRANTS

The Fire Prevention and Safety (FP&S) grants are an
important component of AFG. Each year, approximately 3,000
people die in fires and at least 16,000 are injured. Statistics
show that fire deaths and injuries more frequently affect
minority populations, and those living in poverty. In addition,
over 100 firefighters die each year in the line of duty. FP&S
grants should work to reduce these deaths and injuries. The
Fire Safety Research Centers included in H.R. 3791 could
provide important research and technology transfer capabilities
to increase the safety of firefighters and protect the public
from fires.
It is the Committee's intention that, with respect to the
requirement under this section that certain non-fire department
entities partner with fire departments, the term ``partner''
may be passive, and carries no expectation of a commitment of
people or resources on the part of the partnering fire
department.

ASSISTANCE TO FIREFIGHTER GRANTS, GENERALLY

H.R. 3791 also includes state fire training academies as
eligible for up to 3 percent of total available AFG funding.
This reflects the important function academies perform in
training the fire service and will ensure greater access to
firefighting equipment and apparatus. In addition, up to 2
percent of the total available funding may go for volunteer,
non-fire service affiliated EMS and rescue organizations. Such
organizations provide vital assistance in areas not served by
other EMS providers.
Section 33 of the Firefighter Assistance (a)(1)(A) makes
grants on a competitive basis directly to fire departments of a
State. Fire departments of a State include fire departments
operated and maintained by state agencies or departments. The
Committee recognizes state run fire departments are vital to
enhancing the mutual aid system throughout the nation and
allows for a better coordinated approach to both natural and
intentional disasters. The Committee expects State operated or
maintained fire departments will coordinate with local agencies
to build regional capabilities.
Finally, new and innovative fire fighting and fire
suppression technologies can be important tools to reduce
safety risks to firefighters, reduce property damage, and
lessen the environmental impact of fire suppression efforts.
Therefore, applications to utilize these cutting edge
technologies should be considered by the Administrator.

IX. Cost Estimate

A cost estimate and comparison prepared by the Director of
the Congressional Budget Office under section 402 of the
Congressional Budget Act of 1974 has been timely submitted to
the Committee on Science and Technology prior to the filing of
this report and is included in Section X of this report
pursuant to House Rule XIII, clause 3(c)(3).
H.R. 3791 does not contain new budget authority, credit
authority, or changes in revenues or tax expenditures. Assuming
that sums authorized under the bill are appropriated, H.R. 3791
does authorize additional discretionary spending, as described
in the Congressional Budget Office report on the bill, which is
contained in Section X of this report.

X. Congressional Budget Office Cost Estimate

November 2, 2009.
Hon. Bart Gordon,
Chairman, Committee on Science and Technology,
House of Representatives, Washington, DC.
Dear Mr. Chairman: The Congressional Budget Office has
prepared the enclosed cost estimate for H.R. 3791, the Fire
Grants Reauthorization Act of 2009.
If you wish further details on this estimate, we will be
pleased to provide them. The CBO staff contact is Daniel
Hoople.
Sincerely,
Douglas W. Elmendorf.
Enclosure.

H.R. 3791--Fire Grants Reauthorization Act of 2009

Summary: H.R. 3791 would authorize appropriations totalling
$9.8 billion in addition to that already authorized under
current law for the U.S. Fire Administration (USFA) to aid in
preventing and responding to fires and other related hazards.
CBO estimates that implementing the legislation would cost
about $6.0 billion over the 2010-2014 period and $3.8 million
thereafter, assuming appropriation of the specified amounts.
Enacting H.R. 3791 would not affect direct spending or
revenues.
H.R. 3791 contains no intergovernmental or private-sector
mandates as defined in the Unfunded Mandates Reform Act (UMRA)
and would impose no costs on state, local, or tribal
governments.
Estimated Cost to the Federal Government: The estimated
budgetary impact of H.R. 3791 is shown in the following table.
The costs of this legislation fall within budget function 450
(community and regional development).

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
By fiscal year in millions of dollars--
-------------------------------------------------------
2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2010-2014
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
CHANGES IN SPENDING SUBJECT TO APPROPRIATION

Assistance to Firefighters Grants
Authorization Level................................. 1,000 1,000 1,000 1,000 1,000 5,000
Estimated Outlays................................... 50 550 800 950 990 3,340
Fire Grants (SAFER)
Authorization Level\1\.............................. 0 1,194 1,194 1,194 1,194 4,776
Estimated Outlays................................... 0 25 535 900 1,190 2,650
Studies and Reports
Authorization Level................................. * * 0 0 0 1
Estimated Outlays................................... * * * 0 0 1
Total Changes
Authorization Level................................. 1,000 2,194 2,194 2,194 2,194 9,777
Estimated Outlays................................... 50 575 1,335 1,850 2,180 5,991
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Note: SAFER = Staffing for Adequate Fire and Emergency Response; * = less than $500,000.
\1\H.R. 3791 would authorize the appropriation of $1,194 million for fiscal year 2010 for the SAFER program,
which is equal to the amount authorized under current law for that year (see Public Law 108-136).

Basis of Estimate:
Assistance to Firefighters Grants: H.R. 3791 would
authorize the appropriation of $1 billion in each of fiscal
years 2010 through 2014 for the USFA to award grants to fire
departments, state fire training academies, and other
organizations. In 2009, the Congress provided $565 million for
this purpose (see Public Law 110-329).
Established in 2000, the Assistance to Firefighters Grant
(AFG) program provides funding to hire additional personnel,
modify facilities, and obtain equipment, protective gear,
emergency vehicles, training, and other resources to respond to
fire and related hazards. H.R. 3791 would expand program
eligibility to include state fire training academies and would
increase minimum funding for fire prevention and safety
programs from 5 percent to 10 percent. Additionally, the
legislation would reduce the grantee matching requirement from
20 percent to 10 percent.
Based on historical spending patterns, CBO estimates that
implementing the AFG program under the legislation would cost
about $3.3 billion over the 2010-2014 period and about $1.7
billion thereafter, assuming appropriation of the specified
amounts.
Fire Grants (SAFER): H.R. 3791 would authorize the
appropriation of about $1.2 billion in each of fiscal years
2010 through 2014 for the USFA to award grants to departments
staffed with all career members, with all volunteer members,
and those with both career and volunteer members. In 2009, the
Congress provided $210 million for this purpose (see Public Law
110-329). For 2010, the Congress has already authorized the
appropriation of about $1.2 billion for the program (see Public
Law 108-136).
Established in 2003, the Staffing for Adequate Fire and
Emergency Response (SAFER) grant program provides funding to
hire additional firefighters and to recruit and retain
volunteer firefighters. H.R. 3791 would reduce the term of a
SAFER grant from four years to three years and would require
grantees to commit to retaining an additional hire for at least
three years. Under current law, grantees are required to retain
any subsidized personnel for one year beyond the termination of
funding for that position. Additionally, the legislation would
limit grant funding to 80 percent of the cost of hiring a
firefighter for the duration of the grant. Under current law,
grants cover 90 percent of the cost of a new hire in the first
year. This proportion gradually decreases to 30 percent in the
fourth year.
CBO estimates that implementing the SAFER program under the
legislation would cost about $2.7 billion over the 2010-2014
period and about $2.1 billion thereafter, assuming
appropriation of the specified amounts.
Studies and Reports; H.R. 3791 would authorize the
appropriation of $300,000 for each of 2010 and 2011 for the
USFA to conduct a study of the resources and needs of fire
services at the national, regional, and local level, and the
impact that grant programs have had on those areas. Based on
the spending patterns of similar studies, and assuming the
appropriation of the authorized amounts, CBO estimates that
implementing this provision would cost $600,000 over the 2010-
2012 period.
Intergovernmental and private-sector impact: H.R. 3791
contains no intergovernmental or private-sector mandates as
defined in UMRA and would impose no costs on state, local, or
tribal governments. Those governments would benefit from the
authorization of appropriations in this bill for grants and
technical assistance. Any costs to those governments would be
incurred voluntarily as conditions of federal assistance.
Estimate prepared by: Federal Costs: Daniel Hoople; Impact
on State, Local, and Tribal Governments: Melissa Merrell;
Impact on the Private Sector: Amy Petz.
Estimate approved by: Theresa Gullo, Deputy Assistant
Director for Budget Analysis.

XI. Compliance With Public Law 104-4

H.R. 3791 contains no unfunded mandates.

XII. Committee Oversight Findings and Recommendations

The Committee on Science and Technology's oversight
findings and recommendations are reflected in the body of this
report.

XIII. Statement on General Performance Goals and Objectives

Pursuant to clause (3)(c) of House rule XIII, the goal of
H.R. 3791 is to improve the safety of firefighters and the
public through a program of direct grant assistance to fire
departments, and other organizations, to purchase equipment,
vehicles, training, and engage in fire prevention and safety
research and other activities, as well as to hire additional
firefighters.

XIV. Constitutional Authority Statement

Article I, section 8 of the Constitution of the United
States grants Congress the authority to enact H.R. 3791.

XV. Federal Advisory Committee Statement

H.R. 3791 does not establish nor authorize the
establishment of an advisory committee, pursuant to 5 U.S.C.
App.

XVI. Congressional Accountability Act

The Committee finds that H.R. 3791 does not relate to the
terms and conditions of employment or access to public services
or accommodations within the meaning of section 102(b)(3) of
the Congressional Accountability Act (Public Law 104-1).

XVII. Earmark Identification

H.R. 3791 does not contain any congressional earmarks,
limited tax benefits, or limited tariff benefits as defined in
House rule XXI, clause 9.

XVIII. Statement on Preemption of State, Local, or Tribal Law

The bill is not intended to preempt any state, local, or
tribal law.

XIX. Changes in Existing Law Made by the Bill, As Reported

In compliance with clause 3(e) of rule XIII of the Rules of
the House of Representatives, changes in existing law made by
the bill, as reported, are shown as follows (existing law
proposed to be omitted is enclosed in black brackets, new
matter is printed in italic, existing law in which no change is
proposed is shown in roman):

FEDERAL FIRE PREVENTION AND CONTROL ACT OF 1974

* * * * * * *

[SEC. 33. FIREFIGHTER ASSISTANCE.

[(a) Definition of Firefighting Personnel.--In this section,
the term ``firefighting personnel'' means individuals,
including volunteers, who are firefighters, officers of fire
departments, or emergency medical service personnel of fire
departments.
[(b) Assistance Program.--
[(1) Authority.--In accordance with this section, the
Director may--
[(A) make grants on a competitive basis
directly to fire departments of a State, in
consultation with the chief executive of the
State, for the purpose of protecting the health
and safety of the public and firefighting
personnel throughout the Nation against fire
and fire-related hazards;
[(B) provide assistance for fire prevention
and firefighter safety research and development
programs in accordance with paragraph (4); and
[(C) provide assistance for nonaffiliated EMS
organizations for the purpose of paragraph
(3)(F).
[(2) Administrative assistance.--The Director shall
establish specific criteria for the selection of
recipients of assistance under this section and shall
provide grant-writing assistance to applicants.
[(3) Use of fire department grant funds.--The
Director may make a grant under paragraph (1)(A) only
if the applicant for the grant agrees to use the grant
funds for one or more of the following purposes:
[(A) To hire additional firefighting
personnel.
[(B) To train firefighting personnel in
firefighting, emergency response (including
response to a terrorism incident or use of a
weapon of mass destruction), arson prevention
and detection, maritime firefighting, or the
handling of hazardous materials, or to train
firefighting personnel to provide any of the
training described in this subparagraph.
[(C) To fund the creation of rapid
intervention teams to protect firefighting
personnel at the scenes of fires and other
emergencies.
[(D) To certify fire inspectors.
[(E) To establish wellness and fitness
programs for firefighting personnel to ensure
that the firefighting personnel can carry out
their duties.
[(F) To fund emergency medical services
provided by fire departments and nonaffiliated
EMS organizations.
[(G) To acquire additional firefighting
vehicles, including fire trucks.
[(H) To acquire additional firefighting
equipment, including equipment for fighting
fires with foam in remote areas without access
to water, and equipment for communications,
monitoring, and response to a terrorism
incident or use of a weapon of mass
destruction.
[(I) To acquire personal protective equipment
required for firefighting personnel by the
Occupational Safety and Health Administration,
and other personal protective equipment for
firefighting personnel, including protective
equipment to respond to a terrorism incident or
the use of a weapon of mass destruction.
[(J) To modify fire stations, fire training
facilities, and other facilities to protect the
health and safety of firefighting personnel.
[(K) To enforce fire codes.
[(L) To fund fire prevention programs.
[(M) To educate the public about arson
prevention and detection.
[(N) To provide incentives for the
recruitment and retention of volunteer
firefighting personnel for volunteer
firefighting departments and other firefighting
departments that utilize volunteers.
[(4) Fire prevention and firefighter safety research
and development programs.--
[(A) In general.--For each fiscal year, the
Director shall use not less than 5 percent of
the funds made available under subsection (e)--
[(i) to make grants to fire
departments for the purpose described
in paragraph (3)(L); and
[(ii) to make grants to, or enter
into contracts or cooperative
agreements with, national, State,
local, or community organizations that
are not fire departments and that are
recognized for their experience and
expertise with respect to fire
prevention or fire safety programs and
activities, and firefighter research
and development programs, for the
purpose of carrying out fire prevention
programs and research to improve
firefighter health and life safety.
[(B) Priority.--In selecting organizations
described in subparagraph (A)(ii) to receive
assistance under this paragraph, the Director
shall give priority to organizations that focus
on prevention of injuries to high risk groups
from fire, as well as research programs that
demonstrate the potential to improve
firefighter safety.
[(C) Grant limitation.--A grant under this
paragraph shall not be greater than $1,000,000
for a fiscal year.
[(5) Application.--The Director may provide
assistance to a fire department or organization under
this subsection only if the fire department or
organization seeking the assistance submits to the
Director an application that meets the following
requirements:
[(A) Form.--The application shall be in such
form as the Director may require.
[(B) Information.--The application shall
include the following information:
[(i) Financial need.--Information
that demonstrates the financial need of
the applicant for the assistance for
which applied.
[(ii) Cost-benefit analysis.--An
analysis of the costs and benefits,
with respect to public safety, of the
use of the assistance.
[(iii) Reporting systems data.--An
agreement to provide information to the
national fire incident reporting system
for the period covered by the
assistance.
[(iv) Other federal support.--A list
of other sources of Federal funding
received by the applicant. The
Director, in coordination with the
Secretary of Homeland Security, shall
use such list to prevent unnecessary
duplication of grant funds.
[(v) Other information.--Any other
information that the Director may
require.
[(6) Matching requirement.--
[(A) In general.--Subject to subparagraphs
(B) and (C), the Director may provide
assistance under this subsection only if the
applicant for such assistance agrees to match
20 percent of such assistance for any fiscal
year with an equal amount of non-Federal funds.
[(B) Requirement for small community
organizations.--In the case of an applicant
whose personnel--
[(i) serve jurisdictions of 50,000 or
fewer residents, the percent applied
under the matching requirement of
subparagraph (A) shall be 10 percent;
and
[(ii) serve jurisdictions of 20,000
or fewer residents, the percent applied
under the matching requirement of
subparagraph (A) shall be 5 percent.
[(C) Fire prevention and firefighter safety
grants.--There shall be no matching requirement
for a grant described in paragraph (4)(A)(ii).
[(7) Maintenance of expenditures.--The Director may
provide assistance under this subsection only if the
applicant for the assistance agrees to maintain in the
fiscal year for which the assistance will be received
the applicant's aggregate expenditures for the uses
described in paragraph (3) or (4) at or above the
average level of such expenditures in the two fiscal
years preceding the fiscal year for which the
assistance will be received.
[(8) Report to the director.--The Director may
provide assistance under this subsection only if the
applicant for the assistance agrees to submit to the
Director a report, including a description of how the
assistance was used, with respect to each fiscal year
for which the assistance was received.
[(9) Variety of fire department grant recipients.--
The Director shall ensure that grants under paragraph
(1)(A) for a fiscal year are made to a variety of fire
departments, including, to the extent that there are
eligible applicants--
[(A) paid, volunteer, and combination fire
departments;
[(B) fire departments located in communities
of varying sizes; and
[(C) fire departments located in urban,
suburban, and rural communities.
[(10) Grant limitations.--
[(A) Recipient limitations.--A grant
recipient under subsection (b)(1)(A)--
[(i) that serves a jurisdiction with
500,000 people or less may not receive
grants in excess of $1,000,000 for any
fiscal year;
[(ii) that serves a jurisdiction with
more than 500,000 but not more than
1,000,000 people may not receive grants
in excess of $1,750,000 for any fiscal
year; and
[(iii) that serves a jurisdiction
with more than 1,000,000 people may not
receive grants in excess of $2,750,000
for any fiscal year.
The Director may award grants in excess of the
limitations provided in clause (i) and (ii) if
the Director determines that extraordinary need
for assistance by a jurisdiction warrants a
waiver.
[(B) Distribution.--Notwithstanding
subparagraph (A), no single recipient may
receive more than the lesser of $2,750,000 or
one half of one percent of the funds
appropriated under this section for a single
fiscal year.
[(C) Limitation on expenditures for
firefighting vehicles.--Not more than 25
percent of the funds appropriated to provide
grants under this section for a fiscal year may
be used to assist grant recipients to purchase
vehicles, as authorized by paragraph (3)(G).
[(D) Requirements for grants for emergency
medical services.--Subject to the restrictions
in subparagraph (E), not less than 3.5 percent
of the funds appropriated under this section
for a fiscal year shall be awarded for purposes
described in paragraph (3)(F).
[(E) Nonaffiliated ems limitation.--Not more
than 2 percent of the funds appropriated to
provide grants under this section for a fiscal
year shall be awarded to nonaffiliated EMS
organizations.
[(F) Application of selection criteria to
grant applications from nonaffiliated ems
organizations.--In reviewing applications
submitted by nonaffiliated EMS organizations,
the Director shall consider the extent to which
other sources of Federal funding are available
to provide assistance requested in such grant
applications.
[(11) Reservation of grant funds for volunteer
departments.--In making grants to firefighting
departments, the Director shall ensure that those
firefighting departments that have either all-volunteer
forces of firefighting personnel or combined forces of
volunteer and professional firefighting personnel
receive a proportion of the total grant funding that is
not less than the proportion of the United States
population that those firefighting departments protect.
[(12) Eligible grantee on behalf of alaska native
villages.--The Alaska Village Initiatives, a non-profit
organization incorporated in the State of Alaska, shall
be considered an eligible grantee for purposes of
receiving assistance under this section on behalf of
Alaska Native villages.
[(13) Annual meeting.--The Director shall convene an
annual meeting of individuals who are members of
national fire service organizations and are recognized
for expertise in firefighting or emergency medical
services provided by fire services, and who are not
employees of the Federal Government, for the purpose of
recommending criteria for awarding grants under this
section for the next fiscal year and recommending any
necessary administrative changes to the grant program.
[(14) Guidelines.--(A) Each year, prior to making any
grants under this section, the Director shall publish
in the Federal Register--
[(i) guidelines that describe the process for
applying for grants and the criteria for
awarding grants; and
[(ii) an explanation of any differences
between the guidelines and the recommendations
made pursuant to paragraph (13).
[(B) The criteria for awarding grants under
subsection (b)(1)(A) shall include the extent to which
the grant would enhance the daily operations of the
applicant and the impact of such a grant on the
protection of lives and property.
[(15) Peer review.--The Director shall, after
consultation with national fire service organizations,
appoint fire service personnel to conduct peer review
of applications received under paragraph (5). In making
grants under this section, the Director shall consider
the results of such peer review evaluations.
[(16) Applicability of federal advisory committee
act.--The Federal Advisory Committee Act (5 U.S.C.
App.) shall not apply to activities under paragraphs
(13) and (15).
[(17) Accounting determination.--Notwithstanding any
other provision of law, rule, regulation, or guidance,
for purposes of receiving assistance under this
section, equipment costs shall include, but not be
limited to, all costs attributable to any design,
purchase of components, assembly, manufacture, and
transportation of equipment not otherwise commercially
available.
[(c) Audits.--A recipient of a grant under this section shall
be subject to audits to ensure that the grant proceeds are
expended for the intended purposes and that the grant recipient
complies with the requirements of paragraphs (6) and (7) of
subsection (b).
[(d) Definitions.--In this section--
[(1) the term ``Director'' means the Director, acting
through the Administrator;
[(2) the term ``nonaffiliated EMS organization''
means a public or private nonprofit emergency medical
services organization that is not affiliated with a
hospital and does not serve a geographic area in which
the Director finds that emergency medical services are
adequately provided by a fire department; and
[(3) the term ``State'' includes the District of
Columbia and the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico.
[(e) Authorization of Appropriations.--
[(1) In general.--There are authorized to be
appropriated for the purposes of this section
$900,000,000 for fiscal year 2005, $950,000,000 for
fiscal year 2006, and $1,000,000,000 for each of the
fiscal years 2007 through 2009. Of the amounts
authorized in this paragraph, $3,000,000 shall be made
available each year through fiscal year 2008 for foam
firefighting equipment.
[(2) Administrative expenses.--Of the funds
appropriated pursuant to paragraph (1) for a fiscal
year, the Director may use not more than three percent
of the funds to cover salaries and expenses and other
administrative costs incurred by the Director to make
grants and provide assistance under this section.

[SEC. 34. EXPANSION OF PRE-SEPTEMBER 11, 2001, FIRE GRANT PROGRAM.

[(a) Expanded Authority To Make Grants.--
[(1) Hiring grants.--(A) The Administrator shall make
grants directly to career, volunteer, and combination
fire departments, in consultation with the chief
executive of the State in which the applicant is
located, for the purpose of increasing the number of
firefighters to help communities meet industry minimum
standards and attain 24-hour staffing to provide
adequate protection from fire and fire-related hazards,
and to fulfill traditional missions of fire departments
that antedate the creation of the Department of
Homeland Security.
[(B)(i) Grants made under this paragraph shall be for
4 years and be used for programs to hire new,
additional firefighters.
[(ii) Grantees are required to commit to retaining
for at least 1 year beyond the termination of their
grants those firefighters hired under this paragraph.
[(C) In awarding grants under this subsection, the
Administrator may give preferential consideration to
applications that involve a non-Federal contribution
exceeding the minimums under subparagraph (E).
[(D) The Administrator may provide technical
assistance to States, units of local government, Indian
tribal governments, and to other public entities, in
furtherance of the purposes of this section.
[(E) The portion of the costs of hiring firefighters
provided by a grant under this paragraph may not
exceed--
[(i) 90 percent in the first year of the
grant;
[(ii) 80 percent in the second year of the
grant;
[(iii) 50 percent in the third year of the
grant; and
[(iv) 30 percent in the fourth year of the
grant.
[(F) Notwithstanding any other provision of law, any
firefighter hired with funds provided under this
subsection shall not be discriminated against for, or
be prohibited from, engaging in volunteer activities in
another jurisdiction during off-duty hours.
[(G) All grants made pursuant to this subsection
shall be awarded on a competitive basis through a
neutral peer review process.
[(H) At the beginning of the fiscal year, the
Administrator shall set aside 10 percent of the funds
appropriated for carrying out this paragraph for
departments with majority volunteer or all volunteer
personnel. After awards have been made, if less than 10
percent of the funds appropriated for carrying out this
paragraph are not awarded to departments with majority
volunteer or all volunteer personnel, the Administrator
shall transfer from funds appropriated for carrying out
this paragraph to funds available for carrying out
paragraph (2) an amount equal to the difference between
the amount that is provided to such fire departments
and 10 percent.
[(2) Recruitment and retention grants.--In addition
to any amounts transferred under paragraph (1)(H), the
Administrator shall direct at least 10 percent of the
total amount of funds appropriated pursuant to this
section annually to a competitive grant program for the
recruitment and retention of volunteer firefighters who
are involved with or trained in the operations of
firefighting and emergency response. Eligible entities
shall include volunteer or combination fire
departments, and organizations on a local or statewide
basis that represent the interests of volunteer
firefighters.
[(b) Applications.--(1) No grant may be made under this
section unless an application has been submitted to, and
approved by, the Administrator.
[(2) An application for a grant under this section shall be
submitted in such form, and contain such information, as the
Administrator may prescribe.
[(3) At a minimum, each application for a grant under this
section shall--
[(A) explain the applicant's inability to address the
need without Federal assistance;
[(B) in the case of a grant under subsection (a)(1),
explain how the applicant plans to meet the
requirements of subsection (a)(1)(B)(ii) and (F);
[(C) specify long-term plans for retaining
firefighters following the conclusion of Federal
support provided under this section; and
[(D) provide assurances that the applicant will, to
the extent practicable, seek, recruit, and hire members
of racial and ethnic minority groups and women in order
to increase their ranks within firefighting.
[(c) Limitation on Use of Funds.--(1) Funds made available
under this section to fire departments for salaries and
benefits to hire new, additional firefighters shall not be used
to supplant State or local funds, or, in the case of Indian
tribal governments, funds supplied by the Bureau of Indian
Affairs, but shall be used to increase the amount of funds that
would, in the absence of Federal funds received under this
section, be made available from State or local sources, or in
the case of Indian tribal governments, from funds supplied by
the Bureau of Indian Affairs.
[(2) No grant shall be awarded pursuant to this section to a
municipality or other recipient whose annual budget at the time
of the application for fire-related programs and emergency
response has been reduced below 80 percent of the average
funding level in the 3 years prior to the date of enactment of
this section.
[(3) Funds appropriated by the Congress for the activities of
any agency of an Indian tribal government or the Bureau of
Indian Affairs performing firefighting functions on any Indian
lands may be used to provide the non-Federal share of the cost
of programs or projects funded under this section.
[(4)(A) Total funding provided under this section over 4
years for hiring a firefighter may not exceed $100,000.
[(B) The $100,000 cap shall be adjusted annually for
inflation beginning in fiscal year 2005.
[(d) Performance Evaluation.--The Administrator may require a
grant recipient to submit any information the Administrator
considers reasonably necessary to evaluate the program.
[(e) Sunset and Reports.--The authority under this section to
make grants shall lapse at the conclusion of 10 years from the
date of enactment of this section. Not later than 6 years after
the date of the enactment of this section, the Administrator
shall submit a report to Congress concerning the experience
with, and effectiveness of, such grants in meeting the
objectives of this section. The report may include any
recommendations the Administrator may have for amendments to
this section and related provisions of law.
[(f) Revocation or Suspension of Funding.--If the
Administrator determines that a grant recipient under this
section is not in substantial compliance with the terms and
requirements of an approved grant application submitted under
this section, the Administrator may revoke or suspend funding
of that grant, in whole or in part.
[(g) Access to Documents.--(1) The Administrator shall have
access for the purpose of audit and examination to any
pertinent books, documents, papers, or records of a grant
recipient under this section and to the pertinent books,
documents, papers, or records of State and local governments,
persons, businesses, and other entities that are involved in
programs, projects, or activities for which assistance is
provided under this section.
[(2) Paragraph (1) shall apply with respect to audits and
examinations conducted by the Comptroller General of the United
States or by an authorized representative of the Comptroller
General.
[(h) Definitions.--In this section, the term--
[(1) ``firefighter'' has the meaning given the term
``employee in fire protection activities'' under
section 3(y) of the Fair Labor Standards Act (29 U.S.C.
203(y)); and
[(2) ``Indian tribe'' means a tribe, band, pueblo,
nation, or other organized group or community of
Indians, including an Alaska Native village (as defined
in or established under the Alaska Native Claims
Settlement Act (43 U.S.C. 1601 et seq.)), that is
recognized as eligible for the special programs and
services provided by the United States to Indians
because of their status as Indians.
[(i) Authorization of Appropriations.--There are authorized
to be appropriated for the purposes of carrying out this
section--
[(1) $1,000,000,000 for fiscal year 2004;
[(2) $1,030,000,000 for fiscal year 2005;
[(3) $1,061,000,000 for fiscal year 2006;
[(4) $1,093,000,000 for fiscal year 2007;
[(5) $1,126,000,000 for fiscal year 2008;
[(6) $1,159,000,000 for fiscal year 2009; and
[(7) $1,194,000,000 for fiscal year 2010.]

SEC. 33. FIREFIGHTER ASSISTANCE.

(a) Assistance Program.--
(1) Authority.--In accordance with this section, the
Director may--
(A) make grants on a competitive basis
directly to fire departments of a State, in
consultation with the chief executive of the
State, for the purpose of protecting the health
and safety of the public and firefighting
personnel throughout the Nation against fire
and fire-related hazards;
(B) make grants on a competitive basis
directly to State fire training academies, in
consultation with the chief executive of the
State, in accordance with paragraph (11)(C);
(C) provide assistance for fire prevention
and firefighter safety research and development
programs and fire prevention or fire safety
programs and activities in accordance with
paragraph (4); and
(D) provide assistance for volunteer, non-
fire service EMS and rescue organizations for
the purpose of paragraph (3)(F).
(2) Administrative assistance.--The Director shall
establish specific criteria for the selection of
recipients of assistance under this section and shall
provide grant-writing assistance to applicants.
(3) Use of fire department grant funds.--The Director
may make a grant under paragraph (1)(A) only if the
applicant for the grant agrees to use the grant funds
for one or more of the following purposes:
(A) To hire additional firefighting
personnel.
(B) To train firefighting personnel in
firefighting, emergency medical services and
other emergency response (including response to
a terrorism incident or use of a weapon of mass
destruction), arson prevention and detection,
maritime firefighting, or the handling of
hazardous materials or to train firefighting
personnel to provide any of the training
described in this subparagraph.
(C) To fund the creation of rapid
intervention teams to protect firefighting
personnel at the scenes of fires and other
emergencies.
(D) To certify fire and building inspectors
employed by a fire department or serving as a
volunteer building inspector with a fire
department.
(E) To establish wellness and fitness
programs for firefighting personnel to ensure
that the firefighting personnel can carry out
their duties, including programs dedicated to
raising awareness of, and prevention of, job-
related mental health issues.
(F) To fund emergency medical services
provided by fire departments and volunteer,
non-fire service EMS and rescue organizations.
(G) To acquire additional firefighting
vehicles, including fire trucks.
(H) To acquire additional firefighting
equipment, including equipment for
communications, monitoring, and response to a
terrorism incident or use of a weapon of mass
destruction.
(I) To acquire personal protective equipment
required for firefighting personnel by the
Occupational Safety and Health Administration
and other personal protective equipment for
firefighting personnel, including protective
equipment to respond to a terrorism incident or
the use of a weapon of mass destruction.
(J) To modify fire stations, fire training
facilities, and other facilities to protect the
health and safety of firefighting personnel.
(K) To enforce fire codes and standards.
(L) To fund fire prevention programs.
(M) To educate the public about arson
prevention and detection.
(N) To provide incentives for the recruitment
and retention of volunteer firefighting
personnel for volunteer firefighting
departments and other firefighting departments
that utilize volunteers.
(4) Fire prevention and firefighter safety research
and development programs.--
(A) In general.--For each fiscal year, the
Director shall use not less than 10 percent of
the funds made available under subsection (e)--
(i) to make grants to fire
departments for the purpose described
in paragraph (3)(L);
(ii) to make grants to, or enter into
contracts or cooperative agreements
with, national, State, local, or
community organizations that are not
fire departments but--
(I) that are recognized for
their experience and expertise
with respect to fire prevention
or fire safety programs and
activities and that partner
with fire departments, for the
purpose of carrying out such
programs and activities;
(II) engage in fire- and life
safety-related activities as a
primary purpose or function,
for the purpose of carrying out
fire prevention or fire safety
programs and activities; or
(III) that are recognized for
their experience and expertise
with respect to firefighter
research and development
programs, for the purpose of
carrying out research on fire
prevention or fire safety
programs and activities or to
improve firefighter health and
life safety; and
(iii) if the Director determines that
it is necessary, to make grants or
enter into contracts in accordance with
subsection (c).
(B) Priority.--In selecting organizations
described in subparagraph (A)(ii) to receive
assistance under this paragraph, the Director
shall give priority to organizations that focus
on prevention of injuries to high risk groups
from fire, as well as research programs that
demonstrate the potential to improve
firefighter safety.
(C) Grant limitation.--A grant under this
paragraph shall not exceed $1,500,000 for a
fiscal year.
(D) Limitation.--None of the funds made
available under this paragraph may be provided
to the Association of Community Organizations
for Reform Now (ACORN) or any of its
affiliates, subsidiaries, or allied
organizations.
(5) Application.--The Director may provide assistance
to a fire department or organization (including a State
fire training academy) under this subsection only if
the fire department or organization seeking the
assistance submits to the Director an application that
meets the following requirements:
(A) Form.--The application shall be in such
form as the Director may require.
(B) Information.--The application shall
include the following information:
(i) Information that demonstrates the
financial need of the applicant for the
assistance for which applied.
(ii) An analysis of the costs and
benefits, with respect to public
safety, of the use of the assistance.
(iii) An agreement to provide
information to the national fire
incident reporting system for the
period covered by the assistance.
(iv) A list of other sources of
Federal funding received by the
applicant.
(v) Any other information that the
Director may require.
(C) Unnecessary duplication.--The Director,
in coordination with the Secretary of Homeland
Security, shall use the list provided under
subparagraph (B)(iv) to prevent the unnecessary
duplication of grant funds.
(6) Matching requirement.--
(A) In general.--Subject to subparagraphs (B)
and (C) and paragraph (8), the Director may
provide assistance under this subsection only
if the applicant for such assistance agrees to
match 10 percent of such assistance for any
fiscal year with an equal amount of non-Federal
funds.
(B) Requirement for small community
organizations.--In the case of an applicant
whose personnel serve jurisdictions of 20,000
or fewer residents, the percent applied under
the matching requirement of subparagraph (A)
shall be 5 percent.
(C) Fire prevention and firefighter safety
grants exception.--There shall be no matching
requirement for a grant described in paragraph
(4).
(7) Maintenance of expenditures.--Subject to
paragraph (8), the Director may provide assistance
under this subsection only if the applicant for the
assistance agrees to maintain in the fiscal year for
which the assistance will be received the applicant's
aggregate expenditures for the uses described in
paragraph (3) or (4) at or above 80 percent of the
average level of such expenditures in the 2 fiscal
years preceding the fiscal year for which the
assistance will be received.
(8) Economic hardship waiver.--
(A) In general.--In exceptional
circumstances, the Director may waive or reduce
the matching requirement under paragraph (6)
and the maintenance of expenditures requirement
under paragraph (7) for applicants facing
demonstrated economic hardship.
(B) Criteria development.--The criteria under
which the Director may waive or reduce such
requirements shall be developed in consultation
with individuals who are--
(i) recognized for expertise in
firefighting, emergency medical
services provided by fire services, or
the economic affairs of State and local
governments; and
(ii) members of national fire service
organizations or national organizations
representing the interests of State and
local governments.
(C) Public availability.--The Director shall
make the criteria developed under subparagraph
(B) publicly available.
(9) Variety of fire department grant recipients.--
(A) In general.--Of the amounts made
available under subsection (e), the Director
shall ensure that grants under paragraph (1)(A)
for a fiscal year are allocated, to the extent
that there are eligible applicants to carry out
the activities under paragraph (3), as follows:
(i) 25 percent shall be made
available to career fire departments.
(ii) 25 percent shall be made
available to volunteer fire
departments.
(iii) 25 percent shall be made
available to combination fire
departments.
(B) Evaluation criteria.--
(i) In general.--In awarding grants
under paragraph (1)(A), the Director
shall, within each category of
applicants under subparagraph (A),
consider a broad range of factors
important to the applicant's ability to
respond to fires and related hazards,
such as population served, geographic
response area, hazard vulnerability,
call volume, financial situation, and
need for training or equipment.
(ii) High population and incident
response.--In considering such factors
under clause (i), applicants serving
areas with high population and with a
high number of incidents requiring a
response shall receive a higher level
of consideration.
(C) Remainder.--Of the amounts made available
under subsection (e) that are not allocated for
use and awarded under subparagraph (A) or
designated for use under any other provision of
this section, the Director shall provide for an
open competition for grants among career fire
departments, volunteer fire departments, and
combination fire departments to carry out the
activities under paragraph (3).
(10) Report to the director.--The Director may
provide assistance under this subsection only if the
applicant for the assistance agrees to submit to the
Director a report, including a description of how the
assistance was used, with respect to each fiscal year
for which the assistance was received.
(11) Grant limitations.--
(A) Recipient limitations.--A grant recipient
under paragraph (1)(A)--
(i) that serves a jurisdiction with
100,000 people or less may not receive
grants in excess of $1,000,000 for any
fiscal year;
(ii) that serves a jurisdiction with
more than 100,000 people but less than
500,000 people may not receive grants
in excess of $2,000,000 for any fiscal
year;
(iii) that serves a jurisdiction with
500,000 people or more but less than
1,000,000 people may not receive grants
in excess of $3,000,000 for any fiscal
year;
(iv) that serves a jurisdiction with
1,000,000 people or more but less than
2,500,000 people may not receive grants
in excess of $6,000,000 for any fiscal
year; and
(v) that serves a jurisdiction with
2,500,000 people or more may not
receive grants in excess of $9,000,000
for any fiscal year.
The Director may award grants in excess of the
limitations provided in clauses (i), (ii),
(iii), and (iv) if the Director determines that
extraordinary need for assistance by a
jurisdiction warrants a waiver.
(B) Limitation on expenditures for
firefighting vehicles.--Not more than 25
percent of the funds appropriated to provide
grants under this section for a fiscal year may
be used to assist grant recipients to purchase
vehicles, as authorized by paragraph (3)(G).
(C) State fire training academies.--
(i) In general.--In accordance with
clause (ii), the Director shall award
not more than 3 percent of the amounts
made available under subsection (e) for
a fiscal year for grants under this
subsection for State fire training
academies.
(ii) Limitation.--The Director
shall--
(I) award not more than 1
grant under this subparagraph
per State in a fiscal year;
(II) limit the amount of a
grant to a State fire training
academy to less than or equal
to$1,000,000 in each fiscal
year; and
(III) ensure that any grant
awarded to a State fire
training academy shall be used
for the purposes described in
paragraphs 3(G), 3(H), or 3(I).
(D) Requirements for grants for emergency
medical services.--The Director shall award not
more than 2 percent of the amounts made
available under subsection (e) for a fiscal
year to volunteer, non-fire service EMS and
rescue organizations for the purposes described
in paragraph (3)(F).
(E) Application of selection criteria to
grant applications from volunteer, non-fire
service ems and rescue organizations.--In
reviewing applications submitted by volunteer,
non-fire service EMS and rescue organizations,
the Director shall consider the extent to which
other sources of Federal funding are available
to provide the assistance requested in such
grant applications.
(F) Consensus standards.--
(i) In general.--Any grant amounts
used to obtain training under this
section shall be limited to training
that complies with applicable national
voluntary consensus standards (if
applicable national voluntary consensus
standards have been established),
unless a waiver has been granted under
clause (ii).
(ii) Waiver.--
(I) Explanation for non-
standard training.--If an
applicant for a grant seeks to
use the assistance provided
under the grant to obtain
training that does not meet or
exceed applicable voluntary
consensus standards, the
applicant shall include in the
application an explanation of
why such training will serve
the needs of the applicant
better than training that does
meet or exceed such standards.
(II) Procedures.--In making a
determination whether or not to
waive the requirement under
clause (i) with respect to a
specific standard, the Director
shall, to the greatest extent
practicable--
(aa) consult with
other members of the
fire services regarding
the impact on fire
departments of the
requirement to meet or
exceed the specific
standard;
(bb) take into
consideration the
explanation provided by
the applicant under
subclause (I); and
(cc) seek to minimize
the impact of the
requirement to meet or
exceed the specific
standard on the
applicant, particularly
if meeting the standard
would impose additional
costs.
(III) Additional requests.--
Applicants that apply for a
grant under the terms of
subclause (I) may include a
second grant request in the
application to be considered by
the Director in the event that
the Director does not approve
the primary grant request on
the grounds of the training not
meeting applicable voluntary
consensus standards.
(12) Eligible grantee on behalf of alaska native
villages.--The Alaska Village Initiatives, a non-profit
organization incorporated in the State of Alaska, shall
be considered an eligible grantee for purposes of
receiving assistance under this section on behalf of
Alaska Native villages.
(13) Annual meeting.--The Director shall convene an
annual meeting of individuals who are members of
national fire service organizations and are recognized
for expertise in firefighting or emergency medical
services provided by fire services, and who are not
employees of the Federal Government, for the purpose of
recommending criteria for awarding grants under this
section for the next fiscal year and any necessary
administrative changes to the grant program.
(14) Guidelines.--
(A) In general.--Each year, prior to making
any grants under this section, the Director
shall publish in the Federal Register--
(i) guidelines that describe the
process for applying for grants and the
criteria for awarding grants;
(ii) an explanation of any
differences between the guidelines and
the recommendations made pursuant to
paragraph (13); and
(iii) the criteria developed under
paragraph (8) which the Director will
use to evaluate applicants for waivers
from program requirements.
(B) Specific requirement.--The criteria for
awarding grants under paragraph (1)(A) shall
include the extent to which the grant would
enhance the daily operations of the applicant
and the impact of such a grant on the
protection of lives and property.
(15) Peer review.--The Director, after consultation
with national fire service organizations, shall appoint
fire service personnel to conduct peer review of
applications received under paragraph (5). In making
grants under this section, the Director shall consider
the results of such peer review evaluations.
(16) Applicability of federal advisory committee
act.--The Federal Advisory Committee Act (5 U.S.C.
App.) shall not apply to activities under paragraphs
(13) and (15).
(17) Accounting determination.--Notwithstanding any
other provision of law, rule, regulation, or guidance,
for purposes of receiving assistance under this
section, equipment costs shall include all costs
attributable to any design, purchase of components,
assembly, manufacture, and transportation of equipment
not otherwise commercially available.
(b) Audits.--A recipient of a grant under this section shall
be subject to audits to ensure that the grant proceeds are
expended for the intended purposes and that the grant recipient
complies with the requirements of paragraphs (6) and (7) of
subsection (a) unless the Director has granted a waiver under
subsection (a)(8).
(c) Fire Safety Research Centers.--
(1) In general.--The Director may make a grant under
subsection (a)(4)(A)(iii) to an institution of higher
education, a national fire service organization, or a
national fire safety organization to establish and
operate a fire safety research center.
(2) Objectives.--A grant received under this
subsection shall be used by such an institution or
organization to advance significantly the Nation's
ability to reduce the number of fire-related deaths and
injuries among firefighters and the general public
through research, development, and technology transfer
activities.
(3) Limitation.--The Director may establish no more
than 3 fire safety research centers. An institution of
higher education, a national fire service organization,
or a national fire safety organization may not directly
receive a grant under this section for a fiscal year
for more than 1 fire safety research center.
(4) Application.--In order to be eligible to receive
a fire safety research center grant, an institution of
higher education, a national fire service organization,
or a national fire safety organization shall submit to
the Director an application that is in such form and
contains such information and assurances as the
Director may require.
(5) General selection criteria.--The Director shall
select each recipient of a grant under this subsection
through a competitive process on the basis of the
following:
(A) The demonstrated research and extension
resources available to the recipient to carry
out the research, development, and technology
transfer activities.
(B) The capability of the recipient to
provide leadership in making national
contributions to fire safety.
(C) The recipient's ability to disseminate
the results of fire safety research.
(D) The strategic plan the recipient proposes
to carry out under the grant.
(6) Consideration.--The Director shall give special
consideration under paragraph (5) to an applicant for a
grant that consists of a partnership between a national
fire service organization or a national fire safety
organization and at least 1 of the following:
(A) An institution of higher education.
(B) A minority-serving institution (defined
as an eligible institution under section 371(a)
of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C.
1067q(a))).
(7) Research needs.--Within 90 days after the date of
enactment of the Fire Grants Reauthorization Act of
2009, the Director shall convene a workshop of the fire
safety research community, fire service organizations,
and other appropriate stakeholders to identify and
prioritize fire safety research needs. The results of
the workshop shall be made public, and the Director
shall consider such results in making awards under this
section.
(d) Definitions.--In this section, the following definitions
apply:
(1) Career fire department.--The term ``career fire
department'' means a firefighting department that has
an all professional force of firefighting personnel.
(2) Combination fire department.--The term
``combination fire department'' means a firefighting
department that has a combined force of professional
and volunteer firefighting personnel.
(3) Director.--The term ``Director'' means the
Director, acting through the Administrator.
(4) Firefighting personnel.--The term ``firefighting
personnel'' means individuals, including volunteers,
who are firefighters, officers of fire departments, or
emergency medical service personnel of fire
departments.
(5) Institution of higher education.--The term
``institution of higher education'' has the meaning
given such term in section 101 of the Higher Education
Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1001).
(6) Volunteer, non-fire service ems and rescue
organization.--The term ``volunteer, non-fire service
EMS and rescue organization'' means a public or private
nonprofit emergency medical services organization
that--
(A) is not affiliated with a hospital;
(B) does not serve a geographic area in which
the Director finds that emergency medical
services are adequately provided by a fire
department; and
(C) is staffed primarily by volunteers.
(7) Volunteer fire department.--The term ``volunteer
fire department'' means a firefighting department that
has an all volunteer force of firefighting personnel.
(e) Authorization of Appropriations.--
(1) In general.--There are authorized to be
appropriated for the purposes of this section
$1,000,000,000 for each of the fiscal years 2010
through 2014.
(2) Administrative expenses.--
(A) In general.--Of the funds appropriated
pursuant to paragraph (1) for a fiscal year,
the Director may use not more than 3 percent of
the funds to cover salaries and expenses and
other administrative costs incurred by the
Director to make grants and provide assistance
under this section.
(B) Formula.--The Director shall subtract the
amount to be used for subparagraph (A) from the
amount appropriated pursuant to paragraph (1)
before making any allocations or apportioning
any funds under subsections (a) or (c).

SEC. 34. EXPANSION OF PRE-SEPTEMBER 11, 2001, FIRE GRANT PROGRAM.

(a) Expanded Authority To Make Grants.--
(1) Hiring grants.--
(A) In general.--The Director shall make
grants directly to career, volunteer, and
combination fire departments, in consultation
with the chief executive of the State in which
the applicant is located, for the purpose of
increasing the number of firefighters to help
communities meet industry minimum standards and
attain 24-hour staffing to provide adequate
protection from fire and fire-related hazards
and to fulfill traditional missions of fire
departments that antedate the creation of the
Department of Homeland Security.
(B) Requirements.--
(i) Duration and use.--Grants made
under this paragraph shall be for 3
years and shall be used for programs to
hire new, additional firefighters.
(ii) Retention.--Grant recipients are
required to commit to retaining for at
least the entire 3 years of the grant
period those firefighters hired under
this paragraph.
(iii) Maximum.--The portion of the
cost of hiring firefighters provided by
a grant under this paragraph may not
exceed 80 percent of such cost for each
fiscal year.
(C) Preference.--In awarding grants under
this subsection, the Director may give
preferential consideration to applications that
involve a non-Federal contribution exceeding
the minimums under subparagraph (B)(iii).
(D) Technical assistance.--The Director may
provide technical assistance to States, units
of local government, Indian tribal governments,
and other public entities in furtherance of the
purposes of this section.
(E) Volunteer activities allowed.--
Notwithstanding any other provision of law, any
firefighter hired with funds provided under
this subsection shall not be discriminated
against for, or be prohibited from, engaging in
volunteer activities in another jurisdiction
during off-duty hours.
(F) Competitive basis.--The Director shall
award all grants under this section on a
competitive basis through a neutral peer review
process.
(G) Set aside.--
(i) In general.--At the beginning of
the fiscal year, the Director shall set
aside 10 percent of the funds made
available for carrying out this
paragraph for departments with majority
volunteer or all volunteer personnel.
(ii) Transfer.--After awards have
been made, if less than 10 percent of
the funds made available for carrying
out this paragraph are not awarded to
departments with majority volunteer or
all volunteer personnel, the Director
shall transfer from funds made
available for carrying out this
paragraph to funds made available for
carrying out paragraph (2) an amount
equal to the difference between the
amount that is provided to such fire
departments and 10 percent.
(2) Recruitment and retention grants.--
(A) In general.--In addition to any amounts
transferred under paragraph (1)(G)(ii), the
Director shall direct at least 10 percent of
the total amount of funds made available under
this section annually to a competitive grant
program for the recruitment and retention of
volunteer firefighters who are involved with or
trained in the operations of firefighting and
emergency response.
(B) Eligibility.--Eligible entities shall
include volunteer or combination fire
departments and organizations on a local,
statewide, or national basis that represent the
interests of volunteer firefighters.
(b) Applications.--
(1) In general.--No grant may be made under this
section unless an application has been submitted to,
and approved by, the Director.
(2) Contents.--An application for a grant under this
section shall be submitted in such form and contain
such information and assurances as the Director may
prescribe.
(3) Requirements.--At a minimum, each application for
a grant under this section shall--
(A) explain the applicant's inability to
address the need without Federal assistance;
(B) in the case of a grant under subsection
(a)(1), explain how the applicant plans to meet
the requirements of subparagraphs (B)(ii) and
(E) of such subsection;
(C) specify long-term plans for retaining
firefighters following the conclusion of
Federal support provided under this section;
and
(D) provide assurances that the applicant
will, to the extent practicable, seek, recruit,
and hire members of racial and ethnic minority
groups and women in order to increase their
ranks within firefighting.
(c) Limitation on Use of Funds.--
(1) Supplement, not supplant.--Funds made available
under this section to fire departments for salaries and
benefits to hire new, additional firefighters shall not
be used to supplant State or local funds, or, in the
case of Indian tribal governments, funds supplied by
the Bureau of Indian Affairs, but shall be used to
increase the amount of funds that would, in the absence
of Federal funds received under this section, be made
available from State or local sources, or in the case
of Indian tribal governments, from funds supplied by
the Bureau of Indian Affairs.
(2) Replacement funding prohibited.--No grant shall
be awarded pursuant to this section to a municipality
or other recipient whose annual budget at the time of
the application for fire-related programs and emergency
response has been reduced below 80 percent of the
average funding level in the 3 years prior to the date
of application.
(3) Indian cost-share.--Funds appropriated by the
Congress for the activities of any agency of an Indian
tribal government or the Bureau of Indian Affairs
performing firefighting functions on any Indian lands
may be used to provide the non-Federal share of the
cost of programs or projects funded under this section.
(d) Waiver.--In exceptional circumstances, the Director may
waive the requirements of subsections (a)(1)(B)(ii),
(a)(1)(B)(iii), (c)(1), and (c)(2) if the Director determines
that the jurisdiction is facing demonstrated economic hardship
in accordance with section 33(a)(8).
(e) Performance Evaluation.--The Director may require a grant
recipient to submit any information the Director considers
reasonably necessary to evaluate the program.
(f) Sunset; Reports.--
(1) Sunset.--The authority under this section to make
grants shall lapse at the end of the 10-year period
that begins on the date of enactment of the Fire Grants
Reauthorization Act of 2009.
(2) Report.--Not later than 6 years after such date
of enactment, the Director shall submit to Congress a
report concerning the experience with, and
effectiveness of, such grants in meeting the objectives
of this section. The report may include any
recommendations the Director may have for amendments to
this section and related provisions of law.
(g) Revocation or Suspension of Funding.--If the Director
determines that a grant recipient under this section is not in
substantial compliance with the terms and requirements of an
approved grant application submitted under this section, the
Director may revoke or suspend funding of that grant, in whole
or in part.
(h) Access to Documents.--
(1) In general.--The Director shall have access for
the purpose of audit and examination to any pertinent
books, documents, papers, or records of a grant
recipient under this section and to the pertinent
books, documents, papers, or records of State and local
governments, persons, businesses, and other entities
that are involved in programs, projects, or activities
for which assistance is provided under this section.
(2) Application.--Paragraph (1) shall apply with
respect to audits and examinations conducted by the
Comptroller General of the United States or by an
authorized representative of the Comptroller General.
(i) Definitions.--In this section, the term--
(1) ``Director'' means the Director, acting through
the Administrator;
(2) ``firefighter'' has the meaning given the term
``employee in fire protection activities'' under
section 3(y) of the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938
(29 U.S.C. 203(y)); and
(3) ``Indian tribe'' means a tribe, band, pueblo,
nation, or other organized group or community of
Indians, including an Alaska Native village (as defined
in or established under the Alaska Native Claims
Settlement Act (43 U.S.C. 1601 et seq.)), that is
recognized as eligible for the special programs and
services provided by the United States to Indians
because of their status as Indians.
(j) Authorization of Appropriations.--There are authorized to
be appropriated for the purposes of carrying out this section
$1,194,000,000 for each of the fiscal years 2010 through 2014.

* * * * * * *

XX. Committee Recommendation

On October 21, 2009, the Committee on Science and
Technology favorably reported the Fire Grants Reauthorization
Act of 2009 by voice vote, and recommended its enactment.

XXI. Additional Views

----------

ADDITIONAL VIEWS OFFERED BY REPRESENTATIVES RALPH HALL, DANA
ROHRABACHER, ROSCOE BARTLETT, VERN EHLERS, JUDY BIGGERT, TODD AKIN,
MICHAEL McCAUL, MARIO DIAZ-BALART, BRIAN BILBRAY, ADRIAN SMITH, PAUL
BROUN AND PETE OLSON

H.R. 3791, THE ``FIRE GRANTS REAUTHORIZATION ACT OF 2009''

The Assistance to Firefighters Grant (AFG) program and the
Staffing for Adequate Fire and Emergency Response (SAFER)
program both provide much-needed assistance to fire departments
across the nation.
The bill makes several modest changes to the Assistance to
Firefighters Grant program as well as the SAFER program. These
changes were developed in close coordination with the leading
national fire service organizations--all of which have signed
onto and endorsed this bill--a sign that we have struck the
right balance and identified the right priorities. We support
these changes and the underlying reauthorization effort.
Two amendments aimed at further strengthening the Fire
Grants programs were offered and passed at Committee. One
amendment which passed expresses the disappointment of the
Committee with recent funding trends for the Assistance to
Firefighters Grant program, and stating that halting and
reversing these funding trends is a priority. Funding for this
program has declined by 30 percent since 2004, and will
decrease by an additional 30 percent if the current House-
passed appropriated level is signed into law. This language was
added to the bill to express support for funding this important
program that allows grants to be made to fire departments to
address a variety of needs such as equipment, training, or
community outreach.
The other amendment, which was passed by the Committee on a
vote of 33-5-1, ensures that funding awards under the Fire
Prevention and Safety grants would not be given to the
Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now (ACORN)
or any of its affiliates, subsidiaries, or allied
organizations.
On September 4, 2009, FEMA awarded ACORN a $1 million fire
prevention and safety grant for the purpose of installing smoke
detectors in low-income areas of New Orleans. However, current
law requires that any non-fire department recipient
``demonstrate expertise in fire prevention and safety'' in
order to be eligible for funding. Because of this, and because
of ACORN's troubling reputation, Members voted to prevent
ACORN's participation in this program.
Suggestions were made by some Members that this language
would be viewed as an unconstitutional ``bill of attainder''
under Article I of the Constitution; we do not believe this
would violate the Constitution. Although it does specify an
organization for differential treatment, it does not confiscate
property owned by the organization and is not intended as
punitive. It prevents future grants to ACORN for a limited
period of time as a way to ensure the best use of the taxpayer
dollars authorized under this Act.
Based on a growing record of corruption, voter fraud,
embezzlement, racketeering, and tax evasion, any and all
presumptions of trust in the appropriateness of obligating
public funds to ACORN have been lost. Accordingly, both Houses
of Congress took bipartisan action under the initial fiscal
year 2010 Continuing Resolution (P.L. 111-68) to stop funding
for ACORN.
Prior to the Committee's markup of H.R. 3791,
Representatives Paul Broun and Adrian Smith wrote to FEMA
Administrator Fugate on October 8, 2009 requesting detailed
information regarding the circumstances surrounding FEMA's
decision to award the grant, including but not limited to
documentation related to (1) the peer review scoring and
program-level consideration of the grant, (2) FEMA's
determination that ACORN is ``recognized for their experience
with respect to fire safety and fire prevention,'' as is
required by current law, and (3) FEMA's actions to ensure that
any grant funding awarded to ACORN in prior fiscal years was
used for its intended purpose. This request was intended to
provide FEMA an opportunity to justify its actions associated
with the ACORN grant in advance of the full Committee markup of
October 21st. FEMA did not provide a response, raising further
questions regarding its oversight of the AFG program.
The concerns associated with the issuance of the ACORN
grant are further exacerbated by the highly competitive nature
of AFG Fire Prevention and Safety grants. From fiscal year 2005
through fiscal year 2007, $1.1 billion was requested for FP&S
activities, and over 90 percent of applicants were fire
departments. However, only $105 million, or 9.5 percent, was
awarded, indicating the overwhelming majority of funding
requested by fire departments under this program has declined.
For these reasons, Committee Republicans strongly supported
this amendment and emphasize the priority of ensuring
responsible stewardship of taxpayer dollars under the
Assistance to Firefighters Grant (AFG) program. Ensuring this
provision remains intact throughout the legislative process is
a top priority.
Ralph M. Hall.
Brian P. Bilbray.
Vernon J. Ehlers.
Michael T. McCaul.
Paul C. Broun.
Pete Olson.
Roscoe G. Bartlett.
Dana Rohrabacher.
W. Todd Akin.
Mario Diaz-Balart.
Adrian Smith.
Judy Biggert.

ADDITIONAL VIEWS OFFERED BY REPRESENTATIVE
F. JAMES SENSENBRENNER

H.R. 3791, FIRE GRANTS REAUTHORIZATION ACT OF 2009

Ensuring responsible stewardship of taxpayer dollars under
the Assistance to Firefighters Grant (AFG) program should be a
top priority. To this end, an amendment was passed by the
Committee on a vote of 33-5-1 that ensures that funding awards
under the Fire Prevention and Safety grants would not be given
to the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now
(ACORN) or any of its affiliates, subsidiaries, or allied
organizations.
On September 4, 2009, FEMA awarded ACORN a $1 million fire
prevention and safety grant for the purpose of installing smoke
detectors in low-income areas of New Orleans. However, current
law requires that any non-fire department recipient
``demonstrate expertise in fire prevention and safety'' in
order to be eligible for funding. Because of this, and because
of ACORN's troubling reputation, Members voted to prevent
ACORN's participation in this program.
Suggestions were made by some Members that this language
would be viewed as an unconstitutional ``bill of attainder''
under Article I of the Constitution; I do not believe this
would violate the Constitution. Although it does specify an
organization for differential treatment, it does not confiscate
property owned by the organization and is not intended as
punitive. It prevents future grants to ACORN for a limited
period of time as a way to ensure the best use of the taxpayer
dollars authorized under this Act.
Based on a growing record of corruption, voter fraud,
embezzlement, racketeering, and tax evasion, any and all
presumptions of trust in the appropriateness of obligating
public funds to ACORN have been lost. Accordingly, both Houses
of Congress took bipartisan action under the initial fiscal
year 2010 Continuing Resolution (P.L. 111-68) to stop funding
for ACORN.
Prior to the Committee's markup of H.R. 3791,
Representatives Paul Broun and Adrian Smith wrote to FEMA
Administrator Fugate on October 8, 2009 requesting detailed
information regarding the circumstances surrounding FEMA's
decision to award the grant, including but not limited to
documentation related to (1) the peer review scoring and
program-level consideration of the grant, (2) FEMA's
determination that ACORN is ``recognized for their experience
with respect to fire safety and fire prevention,'' as is
required by current law, and (3) FEMA's actions to ensure that
any grant funding awarded to ACORN in prior fiscal years was
used for its intended purpose. This request was intended to
provide FEMA an opportunity to justify its actions associated
with the ACORN grant in advance of the full Committee markup of
October 21. FEMA did not provide a response, raising further
questions regarding its oversight of the AFG program.
The concerns associated with the issuance of the ACORN
grant are further exacerbated by the highly competitive nature
of AFG Fire Prevention and Safety grants. From fiscal year 2005
through fiscal year 2007, $1.1 billion was requested for FP&S
activities, and over 90 percent of applicants were fire
departments. However, only $105 million, or 9.5 percent, was
awarded, indicating the overwhelming majority of funding
requested by fire departments under this program has declined.
For these reasons, I strongly support this amendment and
emphasize the priority of ensuring responsible stewardship of
taxpayer dollars under the Assistance to Firefighters Grant
(AFG) program. Ensuring this provision remains intact
throughout the legislative process is a top priority.

F. James Sensenbrenner, Jr.

XXIII. PROCEEDINGS OF THE MARKUP BY THE SUBCOMMITTEE ON TECHNOLOGY AND
INNOVATION ON H.R. 3791, THE FIRE GRANTS REAUTHORIZATION ACT OF 2009

----------

WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 14, 2009

House of Representatives,
Subcommittee on Technology and Innovation,
Committee on Science,
Washington, DC.

The Subcommittee met, pursuant to call, at 2:04 p.m., in
Room 2318 of the Rayburn House Office Building, Hon. David Wu
[Chairman of the Subcommittee] presiding.
Chairman Wu. Good afternoon. The Subcommittee will come to
order. Pursuant to notice, the Subcommittee on Technology and
Innovation meets to consider the following measure: H.R. 3791,
the Fire Grants Reauthorization Act of 2009.
We have votes coming up on the Floor sometime soon, and the
aspiration today will be to get through the markup in its
entirety. If we are not able to do that, we will recess until
probably sometime tomorrow to finish the markup, and to
facilitate that, I am going to submit the vast majority of my
opening statement to be entered into the record, but I just
want to take one moment to recognize that the Subcommittee has
been working on this legislation in cooperation with the
various fire service organizations since this spring. I
especially want to commend the staffs of this committee for the
very hard work that they have put in to bring folks together.
Both Ranking Member Smith and I have been working closely to
make sure that all stakeholders have their needs met as well as
possible, and this bill would not have been possible without
the active work and cooperation of the International
Association of Fire Chiefs, the International Association of
Fire Fighters, the National Volunteer Fire Council, the
National Fire Protection Association and the entire
Congressional Fire Services Institute, and I am very, very
pleased and thankful that everybody pulled together to ensure
that we have a bill that will benefit all of this nation.
With that, I will yield to our Ranking Member, Mr. Smith of
Nebraska, for his hopefully brief opening remarks.
[The prepared statement of Chairman Wu follows:]
Prepared Statement of Chairman David Wu
Good afternoon. Today the Subcommittee will consider H.R. 3791, the
Fire Grants Reauthorization Act of 2009. This bill reauthorizes
programs that provide critical resources to fire departments across the
country. At a time when many cities and towns are facing major budget
shortfalls and cuts in services, federal support to fire departments is
crucial to public safety.
This bill reauthorizes the Assistance to Firefighters Grants
program--or AFG--and the Staffing for Adequate Fire and Emergency
Response program, known as SAFER.
Since the AFG program was created in 2000, nearly $5 billion has
gone directly to fire departments to purchase equipment, training, fire
trucks, and other resources. AFG also supports fire prevention and
safety grants, which are used for smoke detectors, fire prevention
education, and research to reduce the causes of fire and fire-related
injury and death. In 1973, nearly 12,000 Americans died each year in
fires. We have made significant strides in reducing this number, but
still over 3,000 people annually still die in fires, and over 16,000
are injured. The AFG program has been an essential component of our
efforts to reduce fire-related injuries and fatalities.
The SAFER program provides funds to help fire departments hire
personnel so that they can respond as quickly as possible to a fire
with enough firefighters to meet the staffing levels that the
firefighting community has deemed safe. The program has provided nearly
$700 million to local fire departments in the past four years, funding
that is especially critical during these difficult economic times.
The Subcommittee has been working on this legislation in
cooperation with the major fire service organizations since the spring,
and this bill reflects the needs and priorities identified by fire
service experts in a Technology and Innovation Subcommittee hearing
this July. Both Ranking Member Smith and I have been working closely
with all of the stakeholders to ensure that their needs and concerns
are addressed. This bill would not have been possible without the work
and cooperation of the International Association of Fire Chiefs, the
International Association of Fire Fighters, the National Volunteer Fire
Council, the National Fire Protection Association, and the
Congressional Fire Services Institute. I am very pleased that everybody
pulled together to ensure that we have legislation that will benefit
the constituents of every Member of Congress. H.R. 3791 is a bipartisan
bill with 40 original co-sponsors. I strongly support this bill and
urge a yes vote.
I will now yield to the Ranking Member, Mr. Smith.

Mr. Smith. Yes, I will make it as brief as I can and submit
the rest for the record. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
As we learned at our hearing in July and as I have heard in
discussions with fire chiefs and firefighters in my District,
the AFG program is frequently cited as a lifesaver and the only
means by which many departments can acquire up-to-date
equipment and training which requires a significant portion of
their budget for their firefighters. Now, this is particularly
true in rural areas of my District where many communities rely
upon all-volunteer departments to respond to fires and other
emergencies. The equipment needed to fight fires and save lives
and property is costly and required for departments to meet
certain minimum response capabilities regardless of whether
they are protecting a community of a few hundred people or a
large city of a few hundred thousand people. As such,
firefighter grants have proven absolutely vital for rural and
volunteer fire departments, which have small tax bases and the
least ability to acquire such equipment.
The bill before us today makes several modest changes to
the AFG and SAFER programs reflecting a compromise reached by
the leading national fire service organizations who worked
closely with the Committee to develop the legislation. I
support the changes and the underlying reauthorization effort
but I do have some concerns and priorities I hope to address as
we go forward. In particular, for the reasons I just mentioned,
I want to ensure the changes made in this legislation do not
negatively impact the ability of smaller combination and
volunteer departments to compete for and receive AFG grants, so
I will be offering an amendment today which attempts to clarify
the grant process in this respect.
I also want to note that the funding for the AFG program
has declined over the last few years and is now far below both
the currently authorized level as well as the level called for
in this bill. I hope as we go forward we can find a way to
reverse this decline while also better aligning authorization
levels with realistic and responsible expectations for
appropriations.
Thank you again, Mr. Chairman, and with unanimous consent I
do have some items for the record.
[The prepared statement of Mr. Smith follows:]
Prepared Statement of Representative Adrian Smith
Mr. Chairman, thank you for calling this markup today to
reauthorize the Department of Homeland Security's Firefighters grants
programs.
As we learned at our hearing in July and as I have heard in
discussions with fire chiefs and firefighters in my District, the AFG
program is frequently cited as a ``lifesaver,'' and the only means by
which many departments can acquire up-to-date equipment and training--
which requires a significant portion of their budget--for their
firefighters.
This is particularly true in the rural areas of my District where
many communities rely upon all-volunteer departments to respond to
fires and other emergencies. The equipment needed to fight fires and
save lives and property is costly, and requires departments to have
certain minimum response capabilities regardless of whether they are
protecting a community of a few thousand people or a large city of a
few hundred thousand people. As such, Firefighter grants have proven
absolutely vital for rural and volunteer fire departments that have
small tax bases and the least ability to acquire such equipment.
The bill before us today makes several modest changes to the AFG
and SAFER programs, reflecting a compromise reached by the leading
national fire service organizations that worked closely with the
Committee to develop this legislation.
I support these changes and the underlying reauthorization effort,
but I do have some concerns and priorities that I hope to address as we
go forward. In particular, and for the reasons I just mentioned, I want
to ensure that the changes made in this legislation do not negatively
impact the ability of smaller combination and volunteer departments to
compete for and receive AFG grants, so I will be offering an amendment
today that attempts to clarify the grant process in this respect.
I also want to note that funding for the AFG program has declined
over the last few years, and is now far below both the currently
authorized level as well as the level called for in this bill. I hope
that as we go forward we can find a way to reverse this decline while
also better aligning authorization levels with realistic and
responsible expectations for appropriations.
Thank you again, Mr. Chairman, for working with us on
reauthorization of these programs. I hope for and expect a continued
smooth process as we go forward. And ask unanimous consent to include
my statements in the record.

Chairman Wu. Thank you very much. Without objection, so
ordered. The items will be entered into the record at this
point, and now I would like to recognize the gentleman from
Arizona, Mr. Mitchell, for a short statement.
Mr. Mitchell. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
The provisions of this bill reflect the needs of the front-
line stakeholders who protect us all and our constituents from
fires, and through the testimony from fire service
representatives this July, the Subcommittee learned that
changes to matching requirements would enable fire departments
with the greatest need to take advantage of all the programs.
And this bill, as I mentioned, is the result of a consensus
among the fire service organizations including the
International Association of Fire Chiefs, the International
Association of Fire Fighters, the National Fire Protection
Association and the Congressional Fire Services Institute, and
I would like to thank Chairman Wu and the Science and
Technology Committee staff, especially Meghan Housewright and
Mike Quear, for their hard work, and I would ask unanimous
consent for my complete statement to be put in the record, and
I yield back the rest of my time.
[The prepared statement of Mr. Mitchell follows:]
Prepared Statement of Representative Harry E. Mitchell
Thank you Mr. Chairman.
Firefighters are often the first--and the last--to leave an
emergency scene. Whether it's putting out a house fire or a wildfire--
or responding to a terrorist attack or a car accident--we depend on
firefighters every day.
But firefighters also depend on us. They depend on the public and
their elected officials to make sure that they have the resources, the
equipment and the training they need to do their job. Without those
tools, we put them and all of us at unnecessary risk.
The provisions in this bill reflect the needs of the front-line
stakeholders who protect us and our constituents from fires.
Through testimony from fire service representatives this July, the
Subcommittee learned that changes to matching requirements would enable
fire departments with the greatest need to take advantage of the
programs.
Therefore, the bill sets the matching requirement for the
Assistance to Firefighters Grant Program, from 20 percent to 10
percent, with fire departments serving populations under 20,000 paying
a five percent match. This greatly benefits rural and less urban areas.
H.R. 3791 also modifies the snatching requirements for the SAFER
program. Per the recommendations of fire service organizations,
reflecting the hardships faced by our State and local governments,
SAFER will require instead a 20 percent match each year for three
years.
Again on the recommendations of fire service organizations, the
bill also gives the Administrator the authority, to waive the matching
requirements for both programs in cases of exceptional economic
hardship.
Such waivers may also be given for the programs' budget maintenance
requirements and SAFER provisions that restrict the funding to hiring
only additional firefighters, rather than retaining current
firefighters. This is a necessary step at a time when fire departments
in many areas of the country are confronted with the prospect of
laying-off firefighters.
The bill also changes the SAFER program to reflect the variations
in first-year firefighter salaries across the country, via eliminating
an artificial cap.
Additionally, H.R. 3791 increases the maximum size of the AFG award
a fire department may be eligible for, depending on the size of the
population the fire department serves.
This change addresses two issues raised at the Subcommittee's July
hearing. First, it allows towns and cities of all sizes to apply for
funding proportional to the size of their needs. Second, it allows
areas that have consolidated multiple fire departments under one single
jurisdiction to be eligible for an amount of money that reflects the
true size of their departments.
This legislation also makes changes to the AFG program so it can
assist all types of communities, from large cities to small towns.
Currently, less than 20 percent of the funding goes to career fire
departments that serve our most populated areas.
To ensure a more equitable distribution of the funding, the bill
requires the funds be apportioned such that 25 percent would go to
career fire departments, 25 percent would go to combination fire
departments, and 25 percent would go to volunteer fire departments.
Ten percent would remain for open competition among all types of
fire departments.
The final 15 percent of the funding serves three other important
functions:

Up to three percent may be used by fire service
training academies for equipment and firefighting apparatus.

Two percent of the funding will be used for EMS
activities for volunteer, non-fire service EMS and rescue
organizations.

And, ten percent of the funding will used for the
Fire Prevention and Safety grants, the maximum amount for each
grant shall be $1.5 million. These grants may be used for
activities that help reduce the number of fire related deaths
and injuries among the. general public and among fire fighters,
including fire education and prevention and fire safety
research.

This bill is the result of consensus among the fire service
organizations, including the International Association of Fire Chiefs,
the International Association of Fire Fighters, the National Fire
Protection Association, and the Congressional Fire Services Institute.
I would like to thank Chairman Wu and the Science and Technology
Committee staff, especially Meghan Housewright and Mike Quear, for
their hard work.
I yield back the balance of my time.

Chairman Wu. I thank the gentleman.
Does anyone else wish to be recognized If not, I ask
unanimous consent that the bill is considered as read and open
to amendment at any point and that the Members proceed with the
amendments in the order of the roster. Without objection, so
ordered.
The first amendment on the roster is an amendment in the
nature of a substitute offered by the Chair.
The Clerk will report the amendment.
The Clerk. Amendment number 207, amendment in the nature of
a substitute to H.R. 3791, offered by Mr. Wu of Oregon.
Chairman Wu. I ask unanimous consent to dispense with the
reading. Without objection, so ordered.
I recognize myself for five minutes to explain the
amendment. The amendment simply changes the form of the bill
from a series of annotations, or cut-and-bite amendments, to
the Fire Prevention Control Act of 1974 so that it reads much
more smoothly and understandably as Sections 33 and 34 of that
Act reflecting all the changes that were made to the Act in
H.R. 3791.
A couple of other things. In addition, this amendment adds
a provision authorizing the Administrator to establish
University Fire Safety Research Centers from the ten percent
set aside of funding for the Fire Prevention Safety Grants. The
Administrator may establish up to three of these centers. And
finally, it adds language to require the U.S. Fire
Administration to work with the National Fire Protection
Association on a needs assessment for the fire service and
report back to Congress on the results of that needs
assessment.
Is there any further discussion of the amendment? If not,
we will move on to specific amendments.
The second amendment on the roster is an amendment offered
by the gentleman from Nebraska, Mr. Smith. Mr. Smith, are you
ready to proceed with your amendment?
Mr. Smith. Yes, sir.
Chairman Wu. The Clerk will report the amendment.
The Clerk. Amendment number 210, amendment to the amendment
in the nature of a substitute to H.R. 3791, Fire Grants
Reauthorization Act of 2009, offered by Mr. Smith of Nebraska.
Chairman Wu. I ask unanimous consent to dispense with the
reading. Without objection, so ordered.
I recognize the gentleman from Nebraska for five minutes to
explain the amendment.
Mr. Smith. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
This amendment is intended to ensure a greater degree of
confidence in the Fire Prevention and Safety portion of the AFG
[Assistance to Firefighter Grant] program. The amendment would
require non-fire department organizations which do not engage
in fire-related activities as a primary function to partner
with local fire departments in order to be eligible. This
partnering would allow local departments to so-called bless an
applicant with its plan without adding an unreasonable burden
and in doing so ensure a greater degree of confidence the
proposal is worthy of funding.
[The prepared statement of Mr. Smith follows:]
Prepared Statement of Representative Adrian Smith
This amendment is intended to ensure a greater degree of confidence
in the Fire Prevention and Safety portion of the AFG program.
This amendment would require non-fire department organizations
which do not engage in fire-related activities as a primary function to
partner with local fire departments in order to be eligible. This
partnering would allow local departments to ``bless'' an applicant and
its plan without adding an unreasonable burden, and in doing so ensure
a greater degree of confidence the proposal is worthy of funding.

Chairman Wu. I thank the gentleman for the amendment. It is
my intention to support it because I believe that it is a good
idea to add the expertise of a fire department to any nonprofit
organization that wants to do fire prevention and safety work.
I do ask that the gentleman be open to working with me to
ensure that the language does not have any unintended
consequences for organizations like the Lions Club, the
American Red Cross or others that are undoubtedly doing good
work.
Mr. Smith. Sure. Absolutely. I think it is important to
note that all along the way but certainly the affiliation with
the fire department I think certainly adds credibility to the
entire thing.
Chairman Wu. Thank you very much.
Is there any other discussion of this amendment? If not,
the vote occurs on the amendment. All those in favor, say
``aye.'' Those opposed, say ``no.'' In the opinion of the Chair
the ayes have it and is agreed to.
The third amendment on the roster is an amendment offered
by the gentleman from Nebraska, and Mr. Smith, are you ready to
proceed with your amendment?
Mr. Smith. I have an amendment, yes.
Chairman Wu. The Clerk will report the amendment.
The Clerk. Amendment number 209, amendment to the amendment
in the nature of a substitute to H.R. 3791, Fire Grants
Authorization Act of 2009, offered by Mr. Smith of Nebraska.
Chairman Wu. I ask unanimous consent to dispense with the
reading. Without objection, so ordered.
I recognize the gentleman for five minutes to explain his
amendment.
Mr. Smith. Or less. Thank you.
This amendment adds language to the bill to clarify as FEMA
reviews and considers applications under the AFG program, it
must consider a broad range of factors related to a fire
department's ability to respond to hazards. It is intended to
complement language in the base bill stating departments
protecting larger populations and running higher call volumes
receive priority. It is important to clarify this consideration
be accompanied by consideration of other factors as well such
as a department's geographic response area, hazard
vulnerability or financial situation. These are all factors
which significantly impact a fire department's capabilities and
therefore should remain part of the peer review and award
process. Let me certainly emphasize, this addition is not
intended to make any changes to the AFG program but rather
would codify existing practice.
[The prepared statement of Mr. Smith follows:]
The prepared statement of Representative Adrian Smith
This amendment adds language to the bill to clarify as FEMA reviews
and considers applications under the AFG program, it must consider a
broad range of factors related to a fire department's ability to
respond to hazards.
It is intended to complement language in the base bill stating
departments protecting larger populations and running higher call
volumes receive priority.
It is important to clarify this consideration be accompanied by
consideration of other factors as well--such as a department's
geographic response area, hazard vulnerability, or financial situation.
These are all factors which significantly impact a fire department's
capabilities, and therefore should remain part of the peer review and
award process.
Let me re-emphasize: this addition is not intended to make any
changes to the AFG program but rather would codify existing practice.
Additional Comments

I also want to express my concern with the funding
trends associated with these programs.

In 2004, the AFG program was funded at $750 million,
just below its authorized level. The next year it suffered a
$100 million cut, followed by a $90 million cut the following
year. This has continued, and this year the Administration's
request was $360 million, or almost 50 percent, lower than the
2004 funding for AFG.

While we would rather not think the AFG and SAFER
programs compete against each other for limited funds, it is
essentially a reality, as the cuts which have occurred to AFG
have been replaced by increases to SAFER on an almost one-to-
one basis.

This trend is particularly bothersome given the fact
AFG awards go for equipment and training at all types of
departments--rural and urban and large and small--while SAFER
awards are overwhelmingly for departments in urban and suburban
areas.

I had originally intended to offer an amendment
expressing the ``Sense of Congress'' that this steady decline
in AFG funding relative to SAFER should be halted in the event
that these programs are not fully funded at their authorized
level.

In working with Mr. Wu, I have agreed not to offer
the amendment but I would like to continue working with you to
ensure that the AFG program does not see its budget eroded at
the expense of SAFER.

Chairman Wu. Mr. Smith, I thank you for that explanation,
and it is my intention to accept this amendment. I would note
that the fire service has always been very active in developing
this grant guidance with the U.S. Fire Administration. This
amendment does not change that. They continue to be active in
this role.
Is there any other discussion of this amendment? Yes, Mr.
Lujan.
Mr. Lujan. Mr. Chairman, just quickly, I very much
appreciate Mr. Smith offering this amendment and really looking
after some of the rural areas as well to make sure that we are
all inclusive and that we are looking to see how we can improve
fire service across the entire country as well. So I very much
appreciate it, and thank you for your being supportive, Mr.
Chairman.
Chairman Wu. Thank you very much, Mr. Lujan.
Anyone else wish to speak on this amendment? If not, the
vote occurs on the amendment. All those in favor, please say
``aye.'' Those opposed, say ``no.'' In the opinion of the
Chair, the ayes have it. The amendment is agreed to.
Are there any other amendments to the amendment in the
nature of a substitute? If not, the vote occurs on the
amendment in the nature of a substitute as amended.
Mr. Smith. Well, Mr. Chairman, if we have time--no, I am
just teasing.
Chairman Wu. Apparently we have all the time in the world
because we have--we just have all the time in the world. We
always do.
If no, the vote occurs on the amendment in the nature of a
substitute as amended. All in favor, say ``aye.'' Those
opposed, say ``no.'' In the opinion of the Chair, the ayes have
it and the amendment is agreed to.
The vote is now on the bill, H.R. 3791 as amended. All
those in favor will say ``aye.'' All those opposed will say
``no.'' In the opinion of the Chair, the ayes have it. The ayes
have it and the bill is agreed to.
I recognize myself to offer a motion. I move that the
Subcommittee favorably report H.R. 3791 as amended to the Full
Committee. Furthermore, I move that staff be instructed to
prepare the Subcommittee report and make necessary technical
and conforming change to the bill in accordance with the
recommendations of the Subcommittee.
The question is on the motion to report the bill favorably.
Those in favor of the motion will signify by saying ``aye.''
Those opposed, ``no.'' In the opinion of the Chair, the ayes
have it and the bill is favorably reported.
Without objection, the motion to reconsider is laid upon
the table. Members will have two subsequent calendar days in
which to submit supplemental Minority or additional views on
the measure. I want to thank all the Members for their hard
work, their cooperation in bringing this to the Subcommittee
and in moving this expeditiously to the Full Committee, and we
look forward to Floor passage of this important piece of
legislation, and this concludes our Subcommittee markup, and it
would be wonderful if all markups were this cooperative and
relatively quick, and I thank everyone for their cooperation.
Thank you very much. This markup is adjourned.
[Whereupon, at 2:17 p.m., the Subcommittee was adjourned.]
Appendix:

----------

H.R. 3791, Section-by-Section Analysis, Amendment Roster

Section-by-Section Analysis of
H.R. 3791, the Fire Grants Reauthorization Act of 2009

Sec. 2

Amendment to Sec. 33 of the Federal Fire Prevention and Control Act
of 1974

Assistance Program
AUTHORITY: Allows the Director to make grants on a competitive
basis to local fire departments and state fire training academies to
protect against fire and fire-related hazards; to provide assistance
for fire and fire prevention programs; and to provide assistance to
volunteer, non-fire service EMS and rescue organizations.
USES: Allows the Director to make grants available for a variety of
purposes related to fire fighting and fire safety, including equipment
and training.
FIRE PREVENTION AND SAFETY: Sets aside 10 percent of the
appropriated funds for fire prevention and safety grants. Such grants
may go to local fire departments or other organizations for fire
prevention programs, as well as research on fire safety and firefighter
health and safety. Such grants may not be above $1,500,000.
APPLICATION: Fire departments or other organizations seeking grants
must submit applications that contain information on the financial need
of the applicant, the cost-to-benefit ratio of the intended purchase,
an agreement to participate in the national fire data collection
system, and a list of other sources of federal funding received by the
applicant.
MATCHING REQUIREMENT: Fire departments must match 10 percent of any
federal funds received. Fire departments serving jurisdictions with
fewer than 20,000 people, the matching requirement is five percent.
There is no matching requirement for the Fire Prevention and Safety
Grants.
MAINTAINANCE OF EXPENDITURES: Grants may be awarded only if the
applicant agrees to maintain its budget for the uses for which they are
applying for the grant at, or above, 80 percent of its average for the
previous two fiscal years.
ECONOMIC HARDSHIP WAIVER: The Director may waive the matching
requirement and the maintenance of expenditure requirement in cases of
economic hardship. The Director shall develop the criteria for the
waivers in consultation with fire service organizations and
organizations representing State and local governments. The criteria
for the waivers will be made publicly available.
VARIETY OF FIRE DEPARTMENT GRANT RECIPIENTS: The grants shall be
made to fire departments as follows (if enough qualified applicant
apply in each category):

25 percent to career fire departments;

25 percent to combination fire departments;

25 percent to volunteer fire departments;

Any remainder not otherwise designated under this bill shall be
open for competition among all fire types of departments. The Director
shall prioritize those applications from departments representing areas
of high population and receiving a high call-volume.
REPORT TO THE DIRECTOR: Applicants must report to the Director how
the assistance was used.
GRANT LIMITATIONS: The maximum allowable grant size a fire
department is eligible for will depend on the size of the population
that department serves, as follows:

A population of 100,000 or less may receive up to $1,000,000

A population of 100,000 to 500,000 may receive up to
$2,000,000

A population of 500,000 to 1,000,000 may receive up to
$3,000,000

A population of 1,000,000 to 2,500,000 may receive up to
$6,000,000

A population of 2,500,000 or more may receive up to
$9,000,000.

Not more than 25 percent of the total appropriation may be used to
purchase firefighting vehicles.
State fire training academies are eligible for no more than three
percent of the total appropriation. Grants to State fire training
academies shall be no more than $1,000,000.
Not less than two percent of the funds appropriated shall go to
volunteer, non-fire service EMS and rescue organizations.
ALASKA NATIVE VILLAGES: Allows Alaska Native Villages to be
eligible for grants made under this Act.
ANNUAL MEETING: Requires the Director to convene an annual meeting
of fire service organizations to recommend criteria for awarding grants
the following fiscal year.
GUIDELINES: Requires the Director to make the grant criteria
publicly available.
PEER-REVIEW: Requires that the grants be subjected to a peer-review
process.
APPLICABILITY OF FEDERAL ADVISORY COMMITTEE ACT: Exempts the annual
meeting and the peer-review process from the requirements of the
Federal Advisory Committee Act.
ACCOUNTING DETERMINATION: Requires that, for the purposes of
receiving assistance under this Act, equipment costs encompass all
components of the cost, including design and assembly (if not
commercially available).
AUDITS: Requires that grant recipients under the Act submit to
audits.
UNIVERSITY FIRE SAFETY RESEARCH CENTERS: Authorizes the Director to
make grants to institutions of higher education to establish and
operate no more than three university fire safety research centers. The
grants are to be used for R&D to reduce fire-related death and injuries
among the general public and firefighters. The Director must also
convene a workshop of fire safety experts to discuss research needs.
The grant awards for fire safety research centers shall be made from
the 10 percent allocated to the Fire Safety and Prevention program.
DEFINITIONS: Definitions provided for Career Fire Department;
Combination Fire Departments; Director; Firefighting Personnel;
Institution of Higher Education; Volunteer, Non-fire Service EMS and
Rescue Organization; and Volunteer Fire Department.
AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS: Authorizes appropriations of
$1,000,000 from 2010 to 2014, of which not more than three percent may
be used for program administration purposes by the Director.

Sec. 3.

Amendments to Section 34 of the Federal Fire Prevention and Control Act
of 1974.

EXPANDED AUTHORITY TO MAKE HIRING GRANTS: Directs the Director to
make competitive grants to career, volunteer, and combination fire
departments to increase the number of firefighters to a level that
enables 24-hour staffing of fire departments. The grants will be used
to hire new, additional firefighters and will run for three years. The
use of grant funds to hire firefighters in any jurisdiction may not
exceed 80 percent of the total costs of hiring firefighters.
RECRUITMENT AND RETENTION: Requires that at least 10 percent of the
total appropriations must be used to recruit and retain volunteer
firefighters at volunteer or combination fire departments and
organizations that represent the interests of volunteer firefighters.
APPLICATIONS: Requires that, at a minimum, applications must detail
why the fire department needs federal assistance, how it plans to meet
the three year retention requirement, and how it will allow the
firefighters to volunteer in their off-time. The applications must also
explain how the fire department will work to recruit and hire more
minority groups and women, as well as how it will retain newly hired
firefighters past the conclusion of the three-year grant.
LIMITATIONS ON USE OF FUNDS: Requires that the grant funds should
represent an increase of, and not supplant, funds provided by State and
local governments, or the Bureau of Indian Affairs. Also requires that
municipalities and other recipients maintain their budgets for fire-
related and emergency response programs at or above 80 percent of their
previous three year average.
WAIVER: Allows the Director to waive the following requirements for
recipients facing economic hardship: the three year retention
requirement of new firefighters hired with grant funds; the maintenance
of expenditure requirement; and the ``supplement versus supplant''
requirement.
PERFORMANCE EVALUATION: Allows the Director to request any
information considered necessary from grant recipients.
SUNSET; REPORTS: The Director's authority to make grants ends 10
years after the date of enactment; and, not later than six years after
the date of enactment, the Director shall submit a report on the
effectiveness of the grants and any recommendations for future
provisions.
REVOCATION OR SUSPENSION OF FUNDING: Allows the Director to revoke
or suspend any portion of a grant if a recipient does not comply with
all of the requirements at any time.
ACCESS TO DOCUMENTS: Allows the Director to audit any grant
recipient and provides access to any needed documents in carrying out
the audit.
DEFINITIONS: Defines: Director; firefighter; and Indian tribe.
AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS: Authorizes $1,194,000,000 per year
for FY 2010 through FY 2014 for Section 3.

Sec. 4. Study & Report

STUDY AND REPORT IN ASSISTANCE TO FIREFIGHTERS GRANT PROGRAM:
Directs the United States Fire Administration and the National Fire
Protection Association to conduct a study defining the roles and
activities of fire services; the equipment, staffing, and training
needed to carry out these roles and activities; the gaps in existing
resources required to meet these roles; and the impact of grants.
Authorizes $300,000 per year for FY 2010 and FY 2011 to conduct the
study.

XXIV. PROCEEDINGS OF THE FULL COMMITTEE MARKUP ON H.R. 3791, THE FIRE
GRANTS REAUTHORIZATION ACT OF 2009

----------

WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 21, 2009

House of Representatives,
Committee on Science,
Washington, DC.

The Committee met, pursuant to call, at 10:18 a.m., in Room
2318 of the Rayburn House Office Building, Hon. Bart Gordon
[Chairman of the Committee] presiding.
Chairman Gordon. Good morning. The Committee will come to
order.
Pursuant to notice, the Committee on Science and Technology
meets to consider the following measures: H.R. 3791, the Fire
Grants Reauthorization Act of 2009, and H.R. 3820, the Natural
Hazards Risk Reduction Act of 2009.
As I just noted today, the Committee will consider two
important bills. Both of these bills address pressing national
needs, and both are the product of bipartisan cooperation and
stakeholder input.
The first bill the Committee will consider today is H.R.
3791. This bill reauthorizes the Assistance to Firefighters
Grant [AFG] Program and the Staffing for Adequate Fire and
Emergency Response [SAFER] Program. Over the past nine years,
these programs have provided over $5 billion to purchase
firefighting equipment and training for communities and to hire
additional firefighters. The federal support is even more
important in this tough economy as local officials struggle to
provide services in the face of decreasing budgets.
H.R. 3791 is the product of much hard work by the
International Association of Fire Chiefs, the International
Association of Fire Fighters, the National Volunteer Fire
Council and the National Fire Protection Association, as well
as the Congressional Fire Services Institute. It represents the
consensus of these organizations on how these programs should
be improved. I am pleased that the bill has been endorsed by so
many of these groups, and I look forward to working with them
as we move to get this bill enacted.
The second bill the Committee will consider today, H.R.
3820, reauthorizes two important programs that support
research, development and technology transfer activities to
mitigate against the potential damage caused by earthquakes and
severe windstorms. The impact of natural hazards on communities
can be devastating. In the past two years in my district in
Middle Tennessee, tornadoes have killed 24 people and injured
over 100. Making households, businesses, and communities
resistant to these forces of nature can save lives and billions
of dollars.
H.R. 3820 reauthorizes the National Earthquake Hazards
Reduction Program and the National Windstorm Impact Reduction
Program. The National Earthquake Hazards Reduction Program,
known as NEHRP, has been responsible for development of a
variety of codes and standards to enable buildings and other
infrastructures to withstand earthquakes. This reauthorization
addresses some of the biggest challenges in earthquake
mitigation: developing methods to retrofit existing structures,
secure infrastructure, and, most importantly, convince people
in earthquake-prone areas to invest in preparedness and
mitigation measures.
H.R. 3820 also reauthorizes the National Windstorm Impact
Reduction Program. The goal of this reauthorization is to
enable this program, created in 2004, to achieve the same
success. Support for R&D for wind hazard mitigation has lagged
behind that for other hazards. The activities authorized in
this bill can lead to improved building practices that will
protect life, and contain the ever-increasing costs of
hurricanes, tornadoes, and other severe windstorms.
At a Technology and Innovation Subcommittee hearing this
June, witnesses testified that much of the challenge in natural
disaster mitigation was not in more research, but in
implementing the knowledge that already exists. This bill
includes a strong focus on the lessons learned from the
different natural hazards and encourages implementation of
those lessons.
I strongly support both of these bills and I would urge a
yes vote.
I now recognize Mr. Hall to present his opening remarks.
[The prepared statement of Chairman Gordon follows:]
Prepared Statement of Chairman Bart Gordon
The Committee on Science and Technology meets to consider the
following measures: H.R. 3791, the Fire Grants Reauthorization Act of
2009, and H.R. 3820, the Natural Hazards Risk Reduction Act of 2009.
Both of these bills address pressing national needs, and both are
the product of bipartisan cooperation and stakeholder input.
The first bill the Committee will consider today is H.R. 3791. This
bill reauthorizes the Assistance to Firefighters Grant Program and the
Staffing for Adequate Fire and Emergency Response Program. Over the
past nine years, these programs have provided over $5 billion to
purchase firefighting equipment and training for communities and to
hire additional firefighters. The federal support is even more
important in this tough economy as local officials struggle to provide
services in the face of decreasing budgets.
H.R. 3791 is the product of much hard work by the International
Association of Fire Chiefs, the International Association of Fire
Fighters, the National Volunteer Fire Council and the National Fire
Protection Association, as well as the Congressional Fire Services
Institute. It represents the consensus of these organizations on how
these programs should be improved. I am pleased that the bill has been
endorsed by so many of these groups, and I look forward to working with
them as we move to get this bill enacted.
The second bill the Committee will consider today, H.R. 3820,
reauthorizes two important programs that support research, development
and technology transfer activities to mitigate against the potential
damage caused by earthquakes and severe windstorms. The impact of
natural hazards on communities can be devastating. In the past two
years in my district in Middle Tennessee, tornadoes have killed 24
people and injured over 100. Making households, businesses, and
communities resistant to these forces of nature can save lives and
billions of dollars.
H.R. 3820 reauthorizes the National Earthquake Hazards Reduction
Program and the National Windstorm Impact Reduction Program. The
National Earthquake Hazards Reduction Program, known as NEHRP, has been
responsible for development of a variety of codes and standards to
enable buildings and other infrastructures to withstand earthquakes.
This reauthorization addresses some of the biggest challenges in
earthquake mitigation: developing methods to retrofit existing
structures, secure infrastructure, and, most importantly, convince
people in earthquake-prone areas to invest in preparedness and
mitigation measures.
H.R. 3820 also reauthorizes the National Windstorm Impact Reduction
Program. The goal of this reauthorization is to enable this program,
created in 2004, to achieve the same success. Support for R&D for wind
hazard mitigation has lagged behind that for other hazards. The
activities authorized in this bill can lead to improved building
practices that will protect life, and contain the ever-increasing costs
of hurricanes, tornadoes, and other severe windstorms.
At a Technology and Innovation Subcommittee hearing this June,
witnesses testified that much of the challenge in natural disaster
mitigation was not in more research, but in implementing the knowledge
that already exists. This bill includes a strong focus on the lessons
learned from the different natural hazards and encourages
implementation of those lessons.
I strongly support both of these bills and I would urge a yes vote.
I now recognize Mr. Hall to present his opening remarks.

Mr. Hall. Mr. Chairman, thank you, and I appreciate this
markup, especially the very bipartisan spirit in which the
bills before us today have been handled, so I can be brief.
We are here of course to consider two bills that
reauthorize four important programs that have been created by
the Committee over the years. The common thread among these
programs is leveraging federal resources to reduce our
vulnerability to hazards, principally earthquakes, windstorms
and fires. The first bill before us, H.R. 3820, makes modest
changes to improve coordination among federal agencies
responsible for earthquake and windstorm research and hazard
mitigation. The second bill, H.R. 3791, reauthorizes the Fire
Grants Program which I know have provided critical support to a
lot of departments including in my district, and I am going to
note my strong support for both of these bills and express my
appreciation to Chairman Gordon and to his staff for working
with our us and with outside stakeholders to get the details
right on both of the bills. I look forward to the discussion of
the proposed amendments and working with our colleagues to see
these bills through the rest of the legislative process.
I thank you, and I yield back.
[The prepared statement of Mr. Hall follows:]
Prepared Statement of Representative Ralph M. Hall
Good morning, Mr. Chairman. I want to thank you for scheduling this
markup and for the bipartisan spirit in which the bills before us today
have been handled. I'll be brief.
We are here to consider two bills that reauthorize four important
programs that have been created by this committee over the years. The
common thread among these programs is leveraging federal resources to
reduce our vulnerability to hazards--primarily earthquakes, windstorms,
and fires.
The first bill before us, H.R. 3820, makes modest changes to
improve coordination among Federal agencies responsible for earthquake
and windstorm research and hazard mitigation. The second bill, H.R.
3791, reauthorizes the ``Fire Grants programs,'' which I know have
provided critical support to fire departments in my district.
I want to note my strong support for both of these bills, and
express my appreciation to Chairman Gordon and his staff for working
with us and with outside stakeholders to get the details right on both
of these bills. I look forward to discussion on the proposed amendments
and to working with our colleagues to see these bills through the rest
of the legislative process. I yield back.

Chairman Gordon. Thank you, Mr. Hall. And Members may place
statements in the record at this point.
We will now consider H.R. 3791, the Fire Grants
Reauthorization Act of 2009, and I recognize the gentleman from
Arizona, Mr. Mitchell, to describe the bill.
Mr. Mitchell. Mr. Chairman, I have an amendment at the
desk.
Chairman Gordon. Would you like to describe the bill, Mr.
Mitchell?
Mr. Mitchell. Yes. This amendment is in the nature of a
substitute amendment. It makes some minor technical changes to
the version of House Bill 3791 that was reported out of
Subcommittee this last week. This amendment adds to the Fire
Safety Research Centers provisions----
Chairman Gordon. Mr. Mitchell, I think you have a very good
amendment there but we are going to start with the bill, so if
you would like to make comments concerning the bill, that is
where we will get started.
Mr. Mitchell. Thank you. You know, firefighters are often
the first and the last to leave an emergency scene. Whether it
is putting out a house fire or a wildfire, responding to a
terrorist attack or a car accident, we depend on firefighters
every day. But firefighters are also dependent on us. They
depend on the public and their elected officials to make sure
that they have the resources, equipment and the training they
need to do their job. Without those tools, we put them and all
of us at unnecessary risk. The provisions in this bill reflect
the needs of the front-line stakeholders who protect us and our
constituents from fires.
Through testimony from fire service representatives this
July, the Technology and Innovation Subcommittee learned that
changes to matching requirements would enable fire departments
with the greatest need to take advantage of the programs.
Therefore, the bill sets the matching requirements for the
Assistance to Firefighters Grant Program from 20 percent to 10
percent with fire departments serving populations under 20,000
paying a five percent match, which greatly benefits rural and
less-urban areas.
H.R. 3791 also modifies the matching requirements for the
SAFER Program. Through recommendations of the fire service
organizations reflecting the hardships faced by our State and
local governments, SAFER will require instead a 20 percent
match each year for three years. Again on the recommendation of
the fire service organizations, the bill also gives the
Administrator the authority to waive the matching requirements
for both programs in cases of exceptional economic hardship.
Such waivers may also be given for the program's budget
maintenance requirements and SAFER provisions that restrict the
funding to hiring only additional firefighters rather than
retaining career firefighters. This is a necessary step at a
time when fire departments in many areas of the country are
confronted with the prospect of laying off firefighters. This
bill is the result of a consensus among the fire service
organizations including the International Association of Fire
Chiefs, the International Association of Fire Fighters, the
National Fire Protection Association and the Congressional Fire
Services Institute.
H.R. 3791 passed the Technology and Innovation Subcommittee
unanimously last week, and I urge my colleagues to support this
important measure.
I would like to take a moment to thank Chairman Gordon,
Chairman Wu and the Committee staff for their hard work, and I
yield back the balance of my time.
Chairman Gordon. Thank you, Mr. Mitchell, and let me also
put a special thanks in to Mr. Wu for his tireless effort in
negotiating and bringing this bill together, so thank you, Mr.
Wu.
And I will now recognize Mr. Hall to present any remarks on
the bill.
Mr. Hall. Mr. Chairman, I thank you.
The Assistance to Firefighters Grant Program and the
Staffing for Adequate Fire and Emergency Response, both of
these bills provide much needed assistance to fire departments
across the Nation, and I want to thank you, Mr. Chairman, for
working closely with us and especially with our Ranking Member
Smith to develop this very agreeable compromise. I yield back.
Chairman Gordon. I ask unanimous consent that the--oh,
excuse me. Does anyone else wish to be recognized? If not, I
ask unanimous consent that the bill is considered as read and
open to amendment at any point and that the Members proceed
with the amendments in order of the roster. Without objection,
so ordered.
The first amendment on the roster is an amendment in the
nature of a substitute offered by the gentleman from Arizona,
Mr. Mitchell. Are you ready to proceed with your amendment?
Mr. Mitchell. Mr. Chairman, I have an amendment at the
desk.
Chairman Gordon. The Clerk will report the amendment.
The Clerk. Amendment number 217, Manager's Amendment to
H.R. 3791, as amended, offered by Mr. Mitchell of Arizona.
Chairman Gordon. I ask unanimous consent to dispense with
the reading. Without objection, so ordered.
I recognize the gentleman for five minutes to explain the
amendment.
Mr. Mitchell. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
This amendment in the nature of a substitute makes some
minor and technical changes to the version of H.R. 3791 that
was reported out of Subcommittee last week. This amendment adds
to the Fire Safety Research Centers provision in subsection (c)
of Section 33, language to include national fire service and
fire safety organizations as eligible applicants for center
funding. It also adds a provision giving special consideration
for the funding to partnerships between universities and
national fire service or fire safety organizations. Including
fire safety and fire service organizations brings to this
center the expertise of organizations that are closest to the
needs of firefighters.
In addition, this amendment clarifies that only one fire
training academy per state should be able to receive funding
under the Assistance to Firefighter Grant funds set aside for
fire service training academies each fiscal year.
And finally, the amendment gives the Director the authority
to waive the requirement that any training purchased with Fire
Grants funding meet or surpass national voluntary consensus
standards for such training. The Director already has this
authority in guiding the applications to purchase equipment.
This language affords the program the same flexibility for
training grants, and I yield back the balance of my time.
Chairman Gordon. Is there further discussion on the
amendment?
Mr. Bilbray. Mr. Chairman.
Chairman Gordon. I hear you but I don't see you. Oh, Mr.
Bilbray is recognized.
Mr. Bilbray. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
Mr. Chairman, I don't--won't oppose the amendment. I just
want to point out, though, that there is a concern in my
constituency in two factors. First of all, when you talk about
state by state, it may seem very simple, but when you talk
about the fact that the 500,000 people in Wyoming will have the
ability to have one training facility within that state but the
32 million people in California may have where those
firefighters in San Diego have to travel almost 1,000 miles up
to Shasta to address those things. And I just want to sensitize
that there is a whole difference here and that what may seem
simple on the face is much more technical.
The other issue, San Diego County is ranked, when we talk
about rural or urban, is ranked as an urban county because
there is three million people in that county, larger than 20
states of the union, but 80 percent of the land mass is rural
area, but it is counted as urban because of its large
population. I just want to say that as we draw these arbitrary
lines, many times they don't fall into the proper place, and I
understand that. I won't oppose the legislation. But I wanted
to sensitize the Committee to the fact that many of these
arbitrary lines which may look good in your district or your
state sometimes look absolutely ridiculous. And I know there
are things we do in California that look absolutely ridiculous
to a lot of people in this country but the fact is, the fact of
having a country with two Carolinas, two Dakotas and two
Virginias but only one California can also look rather bizarre.
But I just wanted to recognize that there are concerns I had
with this underlying bill but I support the amendment and will
support the underlying bill, and I yield back.
Chairman Gordon. Thank you, Mr. Bilbray.
Anyone else wish to make a comment? If not, the second
amendment on the roster is an amendment offered by the
gentlelady from Texas, Ms. Johnson. Are you ready to proceed
with your amendment?
Ms. Johnson. Yes, Mr. Chairman, I have an amendment at the
desk.
Chairman Gordon. The Clerk will report the amendment.
The Clerk. Amendment 088, amendment to the Manager's
Amendment to H.R. 3791, offered by Ms. Eddie Bernice Johnson of
Texas.
Chairman Gordon. I ask unanimous consent to dispense with
the reading. Without objection, so ordered.
I recognize the gentlelady for five minutes to explain the
amendment.
Ms. Johnson. Thank you, Mr. Chairman and Ranking Member,
for considering my amendment.
The amendment accomplishes two objectives. First, it
clarifies Section 2 of the bill dealing with the Assistance to
Firefighters Grant Program reauthorization. The Section
outlines the uses of the fire department grant funds, and one
of those uses is to establish wellness and fitness programs for
firefighting personnel to ensure that they can carry out their
duties. My amendment would add that those wellness programs may
include activities dedicated to raising awareness of and
prevention of job-related mental health issues. The language is
simple in order to avoid possible Committee jurisdictional
problems. As a former chief psychiatric nurse, which has helped
me a great deal at the VA in Dallas, I know very well that
mental and physical health go hand-in-hand, and firefighting is
an intense profession and these individuals jump into burning
buildings. They see people dying. They personally observe and
endure trauma as a routine part of their jobs. It seems to me
that mental wellness is even more critical or as critical as
physical fitness. My amendment would clarify that programs
dedicating to protecting the mental health of our nation's
firefighters is an appropriate use of the fire department's
grant funds.
The second portion of the amendment is regarding Fire
Safety Research Centers. As you know, the bill authorizes
grants to establish no more than three of these centers.
Research at the centers is intended to advance the Nation's
ability to reduce the number of fire-related deaths and
injuries among firefighter. The institutional grants will
authorize research, development and technology transfer
activities, and subsection (c) of this part of the bill states
that the Director shall give special consideration to grant
application consisting of a partnership between a university
and a national fire service organization or as a national fire
safety organization, and my amendment would revise this section
to encourage partnerships also with minority-serving
institutions.
This section would instead state that special consideration
would be given to partnerships between a national fire service
organization or a national fire safety organization with a
university and/or a minority-serving institution. We want to be
sure to work with the fire organizations so that the research
centers are doing work that will in a short time actually help
firefighters do their jobs better. At the same time, we want to
give the minority-serving institutions a realistic change to
participate in the research. You may know that the majority of
students at minority-service institutions study at smaller two-
year institutions. Those students could come to the larger
universities to engage in research on fire safety and gain some
important career experience. Undergraduate research experience
is key to gaining admission to a graduate degree program. So
the more we encourage partnerships with the minority-serving
institutions of these activities, the more diverse the
workforce we cultivate for fire safety research. To me, this
creates a win-win situation.
Mr. Chairman and Ranking Member, I appreciate your
consideration of this amendment and I encourage my colleagues
to support it, and I yield back the balance of my time.
[The prepared statement of Ms. Johnson follows:]
Prepared Statement of Representative Eddie Bernice Johnson
Thank you, Mr. Chairman and Ranking Member for considering my
amendment.
The amendment accomplishes two objectives.
First, it clarifies Section 2 of the bill, dealing with the,
``Assistance to Firefighters Grant Program Reauthorization.''
That section outlines the uses of the fire department grant funds.
One of those uses is to ``establish wellness and fitness programs
for firefighting personnel to ensure that they can carry out their
duties.''
My amendment would add that those wellness programs may include
activities dedicated to raising awareness of, and prevention of, job-
related mental health issues.
The language is simple, in order to avoid possible Committee
jurisdictional problems.
As the former chief psychiatric nurse at the V.A. in Dallas, I know
very well that mental and physical health go hand-in-hand.
Firefighting is an intense profession. These individuals jump into
burning buildings. They see people dying.
They personally observe and endure trauma as a routine part of
their jobs.
It seems to me that the mental wellness is even more critical--or
as critical--as the physical fitness.
My amendment would clarify that programs dedicated to protecting
the mental health of our nation's firefighters is an appropriate use of
fire department grant funds.
The second portion of the amendment is regarding the Fire Safety
Research Centers.
As you know, the bill authorizes grants to establish no more than
three of these centers.
Research at the centers is intended to advance the Nation's ability
to reduce the number of fire-related deaths and injuries among
firefighters.
The institutional grants will authorize research, development, and
technology transfer activities.
Subsection 6 of this part of the bill states that the Director
shall give special consideration to grant applications consisting of a
partnership between a university and a national fire service
organization or a national fire safety organization.
My amendment would revise this section to encourage partnership
with Minority Serving Institutions.
The section would instead say that special consideration would be
given to partnerships between a national fire service organization or a
national fire safety organization with a university and/or a minority
serving institution.
We want to be sure to work with the fire organizations so that the
research centers are doing work that will, in short time, actually help
firefighters do their jobs even better.
At the same time, we want to give the minority serving institutions
a realistic chance to participate in the research.
You may know that the majority of students at MSIs study at
smaller, two-year institutions.
Those students could come to the larger universities to engage in
research on fire safety and gain some important career experience.
Undergraduate research experience is key to getting admission into
a graduate degree program.
So the more we encourage partnerships with MSIs in these
activities, the more diverse the workforce we cultivate for fire safety
research.
To me, this creates a win-win situation.
Mr. Chairman and Ranking Member, I appreciate your considering this
amendment.
I encourage my colleagues to support it and yield back the balance
of my time.

Chairman Gordon. Thank you, Ms. Johnson.
Is there further discussion on the amendment?
Mr. Hall. Mr. Chairman.
Chairman Gordon. Mr. Hall is recognized.
Mr. Hall. I also thank Ms. Johnson for her input, and this
amendment, cries out, I think the value of having someone like
her on this committee with her background, her knowledge,
personal knowledge that brings out or spawns amendments like
this. I understand that she is looking to clarify the fire
departments if they might include prevention of mental health
issues as well as eligible activity under the program and that
the minority-serving institutions might receive special
consideration under FEMA's fire safety research program. I
certainly support the amendment and I thank Ms. Johnson for
lending her history, her background, her medical background,
her long tenure as a very valuable nurse to amendments like
this. It is very helpful. I support it.
[The prepared statement of Mr. Hall follows:]
Prepared Statement of Representative Ralph M. Hall
I would like to thank my friend and colleague, Ms. Johnson, for
offering this amendment. I understand she is looking to clarify that
fire departments may include prevention of mental health issues as an
eligible activity under this program, and that minority-serving
institutions may receive special consideration under FEMA's fire safety
research program. I have no objections to this amendment and am
prepared to support it.

Ms. Johnson. Thank you.
Chairman Gordon. That is a strong statement, Ms. Johnson.
Does anyone else wish to be heard? If not, the vote occurs
on the amendment. All in favor, say aye. Opposed, no. The ayes
have it. The amendment is agreed to.
The third amendment on the roster is an amendment offered
by the gentleman from Georgia, Dr. Broun. Are you ready to
proceed with your amendment?
Mr. Broun. Mr. Chairman, I would like to withdraw amendment
213 and proceed directly with amendment 212, the amendment that
is at the desk.
Chairman Gordon. Okay. The Clerk will report the amendment.
The Clerk. Amendment 212, amendment to the amendment in the
nature of a substitute to H.R. 3791 offered by Mr. Broun of
Georgia.
Chairman Gordon. Pardon me. Did you say--just to make sure
we are on the same page. You said 212?
The Clerk. Yes.
Chairman Gordon. Mr. Broun, is that where you want to be?
Mr. Broun. Yes.
Chairman Gordon. Okay. Thank you. I ask unanimous consent
to dispense with the reading. Without objection, so ordered.
I recognize the gentleman for five minutes to explain the
amendment.
Mr. Broun. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
This amendment is very simple. Some weeks ago, the House
overwhelmingly voted to prohibit ACORN from receiving any money
in the Continuing Resolution with overwhelming support from
both Democrats as well as Republicans. My amendment today would
ensure that ACORN will not receive any money from FEMA under
the Assistance to Firefighters Grant Program after the C.R.
expires.
On September 4, FEMA ordered a $1 million fire prevention
and SAFER grant to ACORN. Given the recent events surrounding
this organization, not to mention its past history of
corruption, I find this inexcusable. This organization's
expertise in fire prevention safety, which is required by law,
is a prerequisite for the grant. Certainly, this is very, very
questionable. Any money ACORN receives from this program takes
away from reputable and qualified organizations like fire
departments and ultimately sacrifices the core mission of this
program.
On October 8, Representative Adrian Smith and I sent a
letter to the Director of FEMA asking for documents and answers
about this award and the process that led to its issuance. I
have yet to receive the first document, not one single one.
Without that confidence that, number one, this grant was
awarded appropriately, number two, that this recipient had
sufficient expertise, and three, that FEMA has developed
adequate criteria to define that expertise, I believe it is
prudent to ensure that ACORN does not receive a single dime of
the taxpayers' money from this program. This program is far too
important overextended to be lining the coffers of a corrupt
organization. Because FEMA has been less than responsive to my
inquiry, I hope that my Majority colleagues will join our
request to help expedite a response from FEMA.
With that, Mr. Chairman, I yield back, and I encourage all
of my colleagues, Democrat and Republican alike, to support
this amendment. It is a common sense, very simple amendment and
it just follows the vote that we had overwhelmingly in Congress
on the C.R. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
[The prepared statement of Mr. Broun follows:]
Prepared Statement of Representative Paul C. Broun
Thank you Mr. Chairman. This amendment is very simple. Several
weeks ago, the House voted to prohibit ACORN from receiving any money
in the Continuing Resolution (CR).
My amendment today would ensure that ACORN will not receive any
money from FEMA under the Assistance to Firefighters Grant program
after the CR expires.
On September 4th, FEMA awarded a one million dollar Fire Prevention
and Safety Grant to ACORN. Given the recent events surrounding this
organization (not to mention its past history of corruption) I find
this inexcusable.
This organization's ``expertise in Fire Prevention and Safety''--
which is required by law as a pre-requisite for the grant--is certainly
questionable. Any money ACORN receives from this program takes away
from reputable and qualified organizations like Fire Departments and
ultimately sacrifices the core mission of this program.
On October 8th, Representative Adrian Smith and I sent a letter to
the Director of FEMA asking for documents and answers about this award
and the process that led to its issuance. I have yet to receive a
single document.
Without the confidence that 1) this grant was awarded
appropriately, 2) that this recipient had sufficient expertise, and 3)
that FEMA has developed adequate criteria to define that expertise, I
believe it is prudent to ensure that ACORN does not receive a single
dime of the taxpayer's money from this program.
This program is far too important and overextended to be lining the
coffers of corrupt organizations.
Because FEMA has been less than responsive to my inquiry, I hope
that my majority colleagues will join our request to help expedite a
response from FEMA.

Chairman Gordon. Thank you, Dr. Broun.
Is there further discussion on the amendment? Ms. Woolsey
is recognized.
Ms. Woolsey. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
Well, as far as ACORN is considered and every other
individual or organization in this country, the United States
of America, which is a democracy, we are all considered
innocent until proven guilty. That is the very cornerstone of
our American judicial system. It is not our role as the
Congress to judge the innocence or guilt of ACORN. In fact, the
Constitution prohibits Congress from passing any legislation
that punishes an individual before they have been convicted of
a crime, and that is why I ask every Member of this committee
to oppose the Broun amendment.
Chairman Gordon. Is there further discussion on the
amendment?
Mr. Hall. Mr. Chairman.
Chairman Gordon. Mr. Hall is recognized.
Mr. Hall. I support the gentleman's amendment and I think
we are pretty well aware of the problems with ACORN and its
stewardship of taxpayers' dollars. I don't know how anybody
could support that when the original person that spawned ACORN
from day one over in the State of Arkansas, the activities of
those people are disgusting to Democrats and Republicans alike.
When his own brother stole $1 million and nothing happened to
him and just moved him around rather than going to the courts
with it, that is just--that is the closest indication of the
leadership of ACORN and that goes down to every single person
that benefited from ACORN or that supported ACORN. We are all
aware of the problems with ACORN, its stewardship of taxpayers'
dollars. We found out a couple of weeks ago that ACORN received
a fire prevention and SAFER grant under the same portion of
this program that hundreds of fire departments had applied for
but were rejected, and these are the people Ms. Johnson and I
are talking about that we are trying to support, trying to help
and trying to make aid to them easily available to minorities
have been shut out prior to work of Members of Congress like
Eddie Bernice Johnson. Mr. Broun and Mr. Smith wrote to FEMA
requesting information on how this happened but they still
haven't received a response. So we have an opportunity here
today I think to fix a problem or work toward fixing a problem
and ensure that this doesn't happen again.
The language in Dr. Broun's amendment is nearly exact to
what was overwhelmingly supported by the Full House in the C.R.
I believe the Senate overwhelmingly supported it. I am not
positive about that but that is my recollection. I urge passage
of the amendment, and I thank the gentleman for offering it.
Yield back.
Chairman Gordon. The Chairman recognizes himself. Dr.
Broun, I think the amendment that was accepted by Mr. Smith in
Subcommittee takes care of your problem. However, as you and
Mr. Hall both pointed out, I think the House spoke to this
issue in a firm way earlier and so I am sure that you will be
successful here in this amendment here today also.
Mr. Broun. Mr. Chairman, will you yield?
Chairman Gordon. Yes.
Mr. Broun. I thank you, sir, for yielding, and I hope we do
prevail on the vote on this amendment. To answer Ms. Woolsey,
this is not calling them guilty of anything. This is preserving
money for firefighters and taking it away from a small grant
program. It is not punitive in any way. It doesn't indict or
convict anybody in any way and it is just preserving money for
firefighters and things that this grant program is supposed to
be directed towards, and I think it is extremely important, and
frankly, as far as I am concerned, FEMA went outside the law
when they granted ACORN the grant to begin with back in
September. ACORN has no expertise in firefighting. And so this
is a very simple amendment. It is one that doesn't punish
anybody. It doesn't convict anybody or any organization. It
just says that they will not receive funds from this grant as
we have already seen them get from the grant that was awarded
by FEMA.
Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I appreciate your yielding.
Chairman Gordon. Ms. Fudge is recognized.
Ms. Fudge. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
I really just have a question, Mr. Chairman. I can
understand--agree or disagree with the whole ACORN issue but in
the language it indicates that allied organizations would not
receive any money. I am not sure--I would like an example of
who an allied organization would be.
Mr. Broun. Would you yield?
Ms. Fudge. Yes.
Mr. Broun. ACORN, if you look at it, they have a tremendous
web of allied organizations that are very difficult to sort
down through but it is any allied organization that is part of
the ACORN group that they have as their tentacles of the
organization. It is just very convoluted. They have many sub-
organizations. And this wouldn't--it wouldn't prevent grants
from anybody else but it is just those allied organizations,
and I hope any reputable organizations sever their ties to
ACORN. So if they haven't, they should immediately because of
the corruption that is coming to surface with this----
Ms. Fudge. Reclaiming my time if I may.
Mr. Broun. Yes, ma'am.
Ms. Fudge. But since we don't know who these allied
organizations you are referring to are, it gives me cause and
pause because there are very certain many reputable
organizations who are in fact aligned in some way with ACORN,
and I may agree with you that maybe they should, maybe they
shouldn't, but if they have not in some way distanced
themselves from ACORN, I can't see that organizations that do
good work who have been productive and who should probably
qualify for these would be left out because we put in language
that is very, very subjective and we don't even know--you
admitted yourself, we don't know who those organizations are.
You say it is such a web. If I don't know who they are, I can't
vote against them receiving dollars.
Mr. Broun. Would the gentlelady yield?
Ms. Fudge. Yes.
Mr. Broun. We do know that ACORN has at least 361
affiliates in their web and in this tremendous organization
that just----
Ms. Fudge. If I may, I am not talking about affiliates. I
am talking about----
Mr. Broun. Well, I know, and affiliated organizations so it
does not prevent any group that is not affiliated or part of
ACORN from getting the funds, but they should be--any
organization under this grant program under current law should
have the expertise, and certainly ACORN doesn't have that
either. I find it is despicable to me that FEMA ordered the
grant to begin with, but----
Ms. Fudge. Reclaiming my time. I am not arguing the ACORN
point. I am arguing the language ``allied organizations,''
which to this point you have not told me who those would be or
an example of who would be an allied organization.
Mr. Hall. Would the gentlelady yield?
Ms. Fudge. Yes.
Mr. Hall. I understand your opposition and your problem
with it. It is the same language that passed in the C.R. and
the way to amend that and the way to take care of it is in
report language, and I think you will have a shot at that some
time later.
Ms. Fudge. Thank you. I yield back.
Chairman Gordon. Is anyone else to my--Mr. Bilbray is
recognized.
Mr. Bilbray. Mr. Chairman, I appreciate your consideration
on this item, and I think we are talking about the credibility
of the program. The fact is that the concept that somehow there
is a constitutional right for access to taxpayers' funds I
think is something that a lot of people across the country are
upset with. There is not a constitutional right to have access
to funds that we forcibly remove from private possession, that
citizens give up this under the force of law, and when we start
doling it out we have a responsibility that goes far beyond
what is traditionally considered in the criminal courts, and
that is the fact that there is not a right but a privilege to
receive public funds under our Constitution and with that
privilege comes added responsibilities that private individuals
normally don't bear, and the organizations that access well,
public and private organizations that access the public
treasury have a responsibility beyond those that are just
asking to operate outside of public funding. So I just think we
need to clarify that, and I appreciate your support on this
because I think that this is where we need to clarify that
look, there is this added obligation, and when in doubt we are
going to be conservative in the application of the public funds
by saying we want this clarified, and I just think that we need
to clarify that this is not a partisan issue. What is happening
in Nevada is actually something that has been totally handled
by your party in a very responsible manner where actually the
head of the organization has gone state's witness on this
issue. So I think we have got to point out that this is not a
Democrat or a Republican issue, it is an American issue, the
fact that this standard of access for public funds is one that
is higher than the general public and this continues.
So I again ask for support of it and recognize that when we
talk about this affiliated issue, the board of directors
actually serve on different boards but the same people are on
the boards and the same directors are on different agencies and
so this has been very well documented and will become obviously
more public as it goes over, so I just ask everybody take a
look at what is going on in Las Vegas right now and understand
this is something we need to address and we should do it
bipartisan, and that is why I appreciate----
Chairman Gordon. Would the gentleman yield?
Mr. Bilbray. Go ahead, Mr. Chairman.
Chairman Gordon. It is my understanding that there has been
some staff discussion about some clarification and so that
there will be mutually agreeable report language that will help
to fine-tune any, you know, concerns in that regard there might
be. And I yield back. Thank you.
Mr. Bilbray. And I think all of us agree that there is a
problem here identified right now with one name but we know it
is a shell game here where there is so many people playing the
same game, the same people under different titles, and the
intention of this amendment is to make sure that the shell game
isn't played with American taxpayers' funds.
I yield back, Mr. Chairman.
Chairman Gordon. Mr. Lujan is recognized.
Mr. Lujan. Thank you very much, Mr. Chairman.
Mr. Chairman, I heard the distinguished Ranking Member say
that this amendment is nearly exact of the language that was
adopted on the House Floor, and I would yield to Mr. Broun if
you could tell me how it differs from what was introduced--what
was adopted in the C.R. on the House Floor.
Mr. Broun. The difference is, this is prospective instead
of retrospective, and other than that, it's essentially the
same. It is what many, many, most Democrats voted for, I think.
I didn't look at the total vote but it is what Republicans and
Democrats, both parties voted to prohibit ACORN from getting
funds, and this is just prospective so that in the future on
this grant program ACORN cannot get any of these grants. It is
focused at this program whereas the C.R. was a broader
amendment also.
Mr. Lujan. And reclaiming my time. Does the language that
was adopted on the House Floor in the C.R. contain the language
``or allied organizations''? And I would yield to Mr. Broun.
Mr. Broun. I am sorry. State that again, please.
Mr. Lujan. Does the language that was adopted on the C.R.
contain the language ``or allied organizations''?
Mr. Broun. In fact, if the gentleman would yield----
Mr. Lujan. Yes.
Mr. Broun. Okay. This is the C.R. language verbatim. ``None
of the funds made available by this Joint Resolution and any
prior act may be provided to the Association of Community
Organizations for Reform Now, ACORN, or any of its affiliates,
subsidiaries or allied organizations.'' That is the language,
and I yield back.
Mr. Lujan. Thank you very much, Mr. Chairman. I yield back
my time.
Mr. Bartlett. Mr. Chairman.
Chairman Gordon. Dr. Bartlett is recognized.
Mr. Bartlett. You know, when you made the sale, it is
probably wise to stop selling it. I would like to move the
question.
Chairman Gordon. Dr. Bartlett once again brings wisdom to
the--is there no further discussion?
Ms. Edwards. Mr. Chairman.
Chairman Gordon. Ms. Edwards is recognized.
Ms. Edwards. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
I am actually taking a look right now at what passed on the
House Floor, and there are definitions but there is no
definition for ``allied organization.'' It is actually not even
in the language of what was passed in the House, and I think it
is a very dangerous road that we go down where we include a de-
funding mechanism that states that it is attached to an allied
organization so does that mean that if an organization serves
in a coalition in a state or community with an ACORN group or
one of its affiliates that it would be an allied organization?
This is a very dangerous road to go down. It is not what we
actually passed on the House Floor and I would say I didn't
vote for that, but I think it is not really useful for this
committee to include language that requires further definition
and explanation that no doubt will lead to further--to
litigation. I mean, it seems that if I were an organization
that was associated in any way, in a coalition, in an informal
working group could be defined as or identified as an allied
organization, I would challenge this statute and the language
of it applying to me for the purposes of achieving federal
funds. I would also say that there are current prohibitions in
law that go to issues around debarment when there has been a
criminal violation or other kind of sanction that enables
anyone of our federal agencies to deny funds under current law.
And so it is actually the truth that this is totally
unnecessary, and we have plenty of examples of corporations in
this country and nonprofit organizations that have engaged in
wrongdoing, have been found to engage in wrongdoing and
prohibited from engaging in other contracting. We also have
plenty of examples where that has been true and they have
gotten other contracts and so I am really not sure what this
amendment is trying to get to with respect to one single
organization because I don't want to see federal funds misused
by anyone under any circumstances whether it is ACORN or any
other group but let us have a finding in law that there has
been a violation and then let the current statutes that exist
that prohibit giving contracts and funding to organizations,
institutions and corporations that have committed wrongdoing
and apply that law. I think this is complete redundancy with
respect to one single organization and I don't even believe
that what we are doing, especially with respect to so-called
allied organizations, even achieves the result that we are
looking for except capturing in the widest possible way in a
net that has no boundaries, organizations and institutions that
may be perfectly--operating perfectly legally and legitimately
under the terms of their agreements receiving federal funds.
And so I think it is a really dangerous road to go down and I
don't understand frankly why this committee has to engage in
this kind of way with respect to a single organization when we
should be saying that no organization that is engaged in
wrongdoing or a corporation that is engaged in wrongdoing
should be receiving further federal funds.
Chairman Gordon. Would the gentlelady yield?
Ms. Edwards. I do. Thank you.
Chairman Gordon. I think you raised many very valid points.
There is going to be an effort, an agreed-upon effort through
report language to try to clean up some of your concerns. I
just want to be sure that you were aware of that, and I yield
back.
Ms. Edwards. Thank you, Mr. Chairman, and let me close by
saying, Mr. Chairman, that I think that we have a lot of really
important business to do on this committee and in this Congress
and I would not put this at the top of the stack of the really
important work of the American people. Thank you.
Mr. Lujan. Mr. Chairman, would the gentlelady yield?
Ms. Edwards. I yield.
Mr. Lujan. Mr. Chairman, the one thing that I just noticed
though is that the language that was adopted in the C.R. says
ACORN-related affiliate as opposed to allied organization. It
doesn't appear, Mr. Chairman, that the language is verbatim and
I just again would urge the question as to how that differs,
Mr. Chairman. Thank you very much. I thank the gentlelady for
yielding.
Ms. Edwards. Thank you. You are absolutely correct. The
definitions in the measure that we are talking about has a
definition for covered organizations and affiliated
organizations, not allied organizations. There is actually no
such term in that measure.
Chairman Gordon. Does anyone else wish to be recognized?
Mr. Ehlers. Mr. Chairman.
Chairman Gordon. Dr. Ehlers.
Mr. Ehlers. Mr. Chairman, thank you. I am feeling a bit
left out of this. Even though I don't have anything to add, at
least I haven't had a chance to say it yet. But I am just
astounded at this discussion. I recall some years ago before I
was in the Congress when we had a situation where the Pentagon
paid $200 for a hammer, they paid $500 for a toilet seat. No
one questioned whether they were guilty. No one questioned
whether they were convicted. Congress just went bonkers and
punished them by withholding funds. That is what we are doing
here. We are not convicting, we are not flinging with a broad
brush. It is simply an organization that has behaved
improperly. The Congress took action against them in a generic
way and now we are just simply saying look, they shouldn't be
getting any of this money to train firefighters, there are many
other organizations that can probably do it better and
certainly have a better record of honesty. So I don't see why
individuals are taking up the cause for the so-called allied
organizations. That will quickly get sorted out if there are
qualified organizations that somehow are labeled allied. These
things are easy to straighten out. But I don't see how in any
way you can defend the actions of ACORN and say or any allied
organizations. Let us get with it and recognize fraud when you
see it and let us act accordingly. We would do that with any
organization that was here that was misusing federal funds. We
have a firm, solid line, a nonpartisan line of saying we are
not going to provide funds to any organizations that are going
to misuse those funds, and that is all we are about here. Let
us not make it into something that it isn't.
Mr. Broun. Would the gentleman yield?
Mr. Ehlers. I would be pleased to yield to the author of
the amendment.
Mr. Broun. I thank you, Dr. Ehlers, for yielding.
Removing the language or changing it about the allied
organizations would basically gut my amendment and give a huge
loophole for ACORN to gain money through shell organizations
that we all know that ACORN has already employed, and back to
what Dr. Ehlers was just saying, we are talking about, if ACORN
gets these grants, it is going to take money away from the
firefighters. When we come to a vote on this, a vote against my
amendment is voting against firefighters and for ACORN, and it
is one that I am not sure that is in the best interest of
anybody to do so. But it is absolutely critical that we put the
money where it is supposed to be and that is with firefighting,
with the firefighters and not with organizations like ACORN,
and Dr. Ehlers made a great point. This is about being
responsible with taxpayers' money. We already see that ACORN is
under tremendous amounts of investigation and we already know
of embezzlement and other things going on with this
organization, but this is not punitive. It is just denying them
funds with this one grant program, and it is just a common
sense, simple amendment, and I encourage people to--all
Members, Democrats, Republicans alike, to support this
amendment and I yield back.
Chairman Gordon. Mr. Wu is recognized.
Mr. Wu. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
I want to recognize the concerns of my Democratic
colleagues about, in their words, convicting an organization
before there has been a conviction elsewhere. But I just want
to point out for the benefit of all my friends that in the
words of Oliver Wendell Holmes more than, oh, about a century
ago, in a case involving a Boston policeman that you have a
right to do that but you don't have a right to be a Boston
policeman. So there might be a different standard when one is
talking about federal funding and the allocation of federal
funds.
The flip side of this is, it is also my recollection that
in a series of Supreme Court cases in the 1950s or 1960s the
Court was very careful to not involve organizations in loose
terminology, and it seems to me that if we have defined terms
for controlled affiliates that using an undefined term is
legally imprecise and it is a matter of policy unwise. So the
gentleman who offered the amendment with whom I have worked on
a number of other issues in our subcommittee, I was just
wondering if the gentleman would be amenable on a consent basis
to a slight tweaking of his language to make it a little bit
more precise and to consider those organizations legally
controlled by ACORN, and I believe that that is a term that
should cover all of his legitimate concerns, and I yield to the
gentleman for his response.
Mr. Broun. Well, I thank the gentleman for yielding. No, I
won't be accepting that suggestion----
Mr. Wu. Reclaiming my time. I would like to understand the
basis of that rejection because this seems to address all of
his legitimate concerns, and I yield to the gentleman.
Mr. Broun. Thank you. Well, I just want to remind the
gentleman that you did vote for this very----
Mr. Wu. Reclaiming my time. Of course I did. I voted for a
common sense amendment that was precisely drawn, and I am
trying to offer the gentleman the same opportunity to make his
amendment more careful, and I yield to the gentleman.
Mr. Broun. I will work with the--if this amendment does
pass, as the Chairman has already stated, our side and your
side will work together to make--to tighten up the language but
I will just leave the amendment as it stands.
Chairman Gordon. If there is no further discussion----
Mr. Wu. Reclaiming my time. I will depend on the gentleman
and the good graces of the Chairman to make this language more
analytically correct and reflect the will of the Committee and
of the House. And I yield back.
Chairman Gordon. If there is no further discussion, then
the vote is on the----
Mr. Grayson. Sir, Mr. Chairman.
Chairman Gordon. Mr. Grayson is recognized.
Mr. Grayson. Thank you. I would like to ask the gentleman
from Georgia a few questions, and I will yield to him for the
purpose of having answers to these questions. Does the
gentleman from Georgia know what a bill of attainder is?
Mr. Broun. A bill of--the answer is yes. In fact, it has
been very explicitly described by the courts.
Mr. Grayson. What is it?
Mr. Broun. The courts have applied a two-prong test, number
one, whether specific individuals or entities are affected by
the statute, and number two, whether the legislation effects a,
quote, punishment, unquote, on those individuals. It serves no
regulatory purpose.
Mr. Grayson. What does the Constitution say about bills of
attainder?
Mr. Broun. I suggest that this is not a bill of attainder.
It certainly does focus upon a specific entity but it does not
inflict punishment by any means. In fact----
Mr. Grayson. Will the gentleman from Georgia explain what
the Constitution says about bills of attainder?
Mr. Bilbray. Mr. Chairman. Will the gentleman yield for a
second, the gentleman from Florida?
Mr. Grayson. No, I would like an answer to my question.
Mr. Bilbray. Well, frankly I can't wait to see the
discussion when it comes to----
Mr. Grayson. I did not yield, and I would like an answer
from the gentleman from Georgia.
Chairman Gordon. If we could, let us get back. The time is
the gentleman from Florida, who has yielded to the gentleman
from Georgia.
Mr. Grayson. Right. What does the Constitution say about
bills of attainder? It is a simple question.
Mr. Broun. The Constitution says that Congress shall pass
no bills of attainder, but this is not one.
Mr. Grayson. All right. Now, would you agree with me that
it is unconstitutional to single out one or more persons
without the benefit of trial?
Mr. Broun. No, sir, there is a two-prong test, and this is
not a bill of attainder so----
Mr. Grayson. Well, when I said--I will reclaim my time. I
just quoted William Rehnquist writing the book, the Supreme
Court. He wrote that book and said you cannot single out one or
more persons without the benefit of trial. Will the gentleman
agree that bills of attainder are contrary to every principal
of sound legislation?
Mr. Broun. There are too many criteria which courts would
likely look in order to determine whether legislation is a bill
of attainder. One is whether a specific individual entity is
affected by the statute; number two, whether the legislation
effects a punishment on those individuals and----
Mr. Grayson. Will the gentleman please tell me whether you
agree or not that bills of attainder are contrary to every
principal of sound legislation?
Mr. Broun. Bills of attainder are unconstitutional.
Mr. Grayson. And contrary to every principal of sound
legislation. Is that correct?
Mr. Broun. That is correct.
Mr. Grayson. All right. And you know who said that?
Mr. Broun. Tell me.
Mr. Grayson. James Madison in the Federalist Papers. Now,
does the gentleman agree that the bill of attainder clause was
intended not as a narrow or technical provision but rather as
an implementation of a separation of powers and a general
safeguard against legislative exercise of the judicial function
or, more simply, trial by legislature. Will the gentleman agree
with me about that?
Mr. Sensenbrenner. Will the gentleman yield?
Mr. Grayson. No.
Mr. Broun. Would the gentleman restate the question?
Mr. Grayson. The question is, will the gentleman from
Georgia agree with me that the bill of attainder clause was
intended not as a narrow or technical provision but as an
implementation of separation of powers, a general safeguard
against legislative exercise of the judicial function, or more
simply, trial by legislature? Will the gentleman agree to that?
Mr. Broun. No, sir, I will not, and I asked counsel to help
us with this, and I think all this is a determination of the
court and I would like to yield to Mr. Sensenbrenner.
Mr. Grayson. Well, I am sorry, but it is my time, not yours
or Mr. Sensenbrenner's, so I will reclaim my time and I will
point out that what you just said you would not agree to is
from a Supreme Court case called United States v. Brown,
something I would expect you might know about, given your name.
Listen----
Mr. Broun. Would the gentleman yield?
Mr. Grayson. No. Listen, we are trampling on people's
constitutional rights, and I think it is unfortunate that the
mania that exists on the other side of the aisle regarding this
organization, and we know why that mania exists. It is because
they have registered an awful lot of Democrats, continues to
distort and waste the time of this committee and many other
committees here in Congress. Enough is enough. I yield my
remaining five seconds.
Mr. Sensenbrenner. Mr. Chairman.
Mr. Grayson. My time is expired.
Chairman Gordon. The gentleman's time is expired but Mr.
Sensenbrenner can claim his own time.
Mr. Sensenbrenner. Mr. Chairman, I would move to strike the
last word.
Chairman Gordon. The gentleman is recognized for five
minutes.
Mr. Sensenbrenner. Mr. Chairman, as former Chairman of the
Judiciary Committee, we have dealt with questions of bills of
attainder quite a bit, and I noticed that earlier this year
there was such a bill of attainder passed called the AIG tax or
more properly to impose an additional tax on bonuses received
from certain TARP recipients. The bill passed the House of
Representatives. Even the President of the United States, who
used to be a law professor, as I recall, referred to this as a
bill of attainder, and I noticed that the gentleman from
Florida voted ``aye.'' So I guess we have different bills of
attainder. Some are good and some are bad.
Mr. Grayson. Will the gentleman yield?
Mr. Sensenbrenner. They all are unconstitutional. Of course
I am happy to yield, unlike you.
Mr. Grayson. Well, sir, I would point out that unlike you,
I did not vote for the war in Iraq on the basis of weapons of
mass destruction that didn't exist or make any of the other
mistakes that you might have made over----
Mr. Sensenbrenner. I will reclaim my time and I will just
say that the whole business of the gentleman from Florida's
debate shows how irrelevant it is to the question of whether we
are going to make a priority determination on whether to give
federal funds to ACORN or federal funds to firefighters, and
Mr. Broun of Georgia----
Mr. Grayson. Will the gentleman yield?
Mr. Sensenbrenner. I would like to finish my sentence,
please. Mr. Broun of Georgia, I think, has stated that this is
a question of where we spend scarce federal dollars. Now, a
bill of attainder has always been taking away property that
already belongs to somebody such as imposing a confiscatory and
punitive tax rather than saying that an organization and its
affiliates are not going to get any funds in the future. Now,
Mr. Broun's amendment does say that ACORN and its affiliates
are not getting any funds in the future. We are not taking away
the funds that they already have, even though that might have
been a mistake for Congress to appropriate it. We are just
saying enough is enough, no more funds for ACORN and its
affiliates and let us spend the funds on the firefighters. So
that is why this amendment is not a bill of attainder. It is
good policy and we all want to vote for it, and I yield back
the balance of my time.
Chairman Gordon. The Chairman has the authority to call a
previous question at any time. He has never done that and
doesn't want to do it because I want us to have full, open
conversations here, but as Dr. Ehlers pointed out several
minutes ago, I think everything has been said, just everyone
hasn't said it, and so----
Mr. Ehlers. Mr. Chairman, I will move the previous
question.
Chairman Gordon. Well, if there no further discussion, then
that won't be necessary. I think Ms. Johnson had a question.
Ms. Johnson. Thank you very much. Strike the last word.
Mr. Chairman, I am getting more and more confused. The part
that I heard about ACORN, weren't there some locations and not
all of the country that they were guilty of anything? Can
someone--my point here is that we are punishing the entire
organization for something that perhaps two or three people
might have done and they haven't proven they have done but
might have done in a particular location. Are you saying that
every ACORN chapter is guilty of the same?
Mr. Broun. I assume the gentlelady is asking a question
here. This is not a punishment. It just says that ACORN will
not get the funds in this grant program and that the
firefighters should and would, so it is not convicting anybody,
it is not indicting anybody. It just says that these funds will
be utilized for firefighters and for what they need to perform
their job and keep us safe, and so that is what it is all
about. It is directed towards ACORN and all affiliates. It says
what it says, and that is it.
Ms. Johnson. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
Chairman Gordon. As I said earlier, we will continue
efforts to perfect this language. If there is no further
discussion, the vote is on the amendment. All in favor, say
aye. Opposed, no. The ayes have it. The----
Mr. Grayson. Mr. Chairman?
Chairman Gordon. The Clerk will call the roll.
The Clerk. Chairman Gordon?
Chairman Gordon. Aye.
The Clerk. Chairman Gordon votes aye. Mr. Costello?
Mr. Costello. Aye.
The Clerk. Mr. Costello votes aye. Ms. Johnson?
Ms. Johnson. No.
The Clerk. Ms. Johnson votes no. Ms. Woolsey?
Ms. Woolsey. No.
The Clerk. Ms. Woolsey votes no. Mr. Wu?
Mr. Wu. Aye.
The Clerk. Mr. Wu votes aye. Mr. Baird?
Mr. Baird. No.
The Clerk. Mr. Baird votes no. Mr. Miller?
Mr. Miller. Aye.
The Clerk. Mr. Miller votes aye. Mr. Lipinski?
Mr. Lipinski. Aye.
The Clerk. Mr. Lipinski votes aye. Ms. Giffords?
Ms. Giffords. Aye.
The Clerk. Ms. Giffords votes aye. Ms. Edwards?
Ms. Edwards. No.
The Clerk. Ms. Edwards votes no. Ms. Fudge?
Ms. Fudge. No.
The Clerk. Ms. Fudge votes no. Mr. Lujan?
Mr. Lujan. Aye.
The Clerk. Mr. Lujan votes aye. Mr. Tonko?
Mr. Tonko. Aye.
The Clerk. Mr. Tonko votes aye. Mr. Griffith?
Mr. Griffith. Aye.
The Clerk. Mr. Griffith votes aye. Mr. Rothman?
[No response.]
The Clerk. Mr. Matheson?
Mr. Matheson. Aye.
The Clerk. Mr. Matheson votes aye. Mr. Davis?
Mr. Davis. Aye.
The Clerk. Mr. Davis votes aye. Mr. Chandler?
Mr. Chandler. Aye.
The Clerk. Mr. Chandler votes aye. Mr. Carnahan?
Mr. Carnahan. Aye.
The Clerk. Mr. Carnahan votes aye. Mr. Hill?
Mr. Hill. Aye.
The Clerk. Mr. Hill votes aye. Mr. Mitchell?
Mr. Mitchell. Aye.
The Clerk. Mr. Mitchell votes aye. Mr. Wilson?
Mr. Wilson. Aye.
The Clerk. Mr. Wilson votes aye. Ms. Dahlkemper?
Ms. Dahlkemper. Aye.
The Clerk. Ms. Dahlkemper votes aye. Mr. Grayson?
Mr. Grayson. Present.
The Clerk. Mr. Grayson votes present. Ms. Kosmas?
Ms. Kosmas. Aye.
The Clerk. Ms. Kosmas votes aye. Mr. Peters?
Mr. Peters. Aye.
The Clerk. Mr. Peters votes aye. Mr. Hall?
Mr. Hall. Aye.
The Clerk. Mr. Hall votes aye. Mr. Sensenbrenner?
Mr. Sensenbrenner. Aye.
The Clerk. Mr. Sensenbrenner votes aye. Mr. Lamar Smith?
[No response.]
The Clerk. Mr. Rohrabacher?
[No response.]
The Clerk. Mr. Bartlett?
The Clerk. Mr. Bartlett votes aye. Mr. Ehlers?
Mr. Ehlers. Aye.
The Clerk. Mr. Ehlers votes aye. Mr. Lucas?
[No response.]
The Clerk. Ms. Biggert?
Ms. Biggert. Aye.
The Clerk. Ms. Biggert votes aye. Mr. Akin?
[No response.]
The Clerk. Mr. Neugebauer?
Mr. Neugebauer. Aye.
The Clerk. Mr. Neugebauer votes aye. Mr. Inglis?
Mr. Inglis. Aye.
The Clerk. Mr. Inglis votes aye. Mr. McCaul?
Mr. McCaul. Aye.
The Clerk. Mr. McCaul votes aye. Mr. Diaz-Balart?
Mr. Diaz-Balart. Aye.
The Clerk. Mr. Diaz-Balart votes aye. Mr. Bilbray?
Mr. Bilbray. Aye.
The Clerk. Mr. Bilbray votes aye. Mr. Adrian Smith?
Mr. Smith of Nebraska. Aye.
The Clerk. Mr. Adrian Smith votes aye. Mr. Broun?
Mr. Broun. Aye.
The Clerk. Mr. Broun votes aye. Mr. Olson?
Mr. Olson. Aye.
The Clerk. Mr. Olson votes aye.
Chairman Gordon. How is Mr. Rohrabacher recorded?
The Clerk. Mr. Rohrabacher is not recorded.
Mr. Rohrabacher. Well, I guess he should be recorded yes.
The Clerk. Mr. Rohrabacher votes yes.
Chairman Gordon. And I saw Mr. Rothman somewhere. Is he
still with us? Is there anybody else here who has not been
recorded? Then the Clerk will report the vote.
The Clerk. Mr. Chairman, 33 Members vote aye, 5 Members
vote no, and one Member votes present.

Chairman Gordon. The amendment passes. And my understanding
now, we are going to move to the sixth amendment offered by the
gentleman from Nebraska, Mr. Smith.
Mr. Broun. Mr. Chairman.
Chairman Gordon. Dr. Broun.
Mr. Broun. I ask unanimous consent that Mr. Smith's and my
letter to FEMA be entered into the record.
[The information follows:]

Chairman Gordon. Without objection, so ordered.
Mr. Broun. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
Chairman Gordon. So Mr. Smith, we will proceed with you
having the last amendment.
Mr. Smith of Nebraska. Yes. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I have
an amendment at the desk.
Chairman Gordon. The Clerk will report the amendment.
The Clerk. Amendment 012, amendment to the amendment in the
nature of a substitute to H.R. 3791, offered by Mr. Smith of
Nebraska.
Chairman Gordon. I ask unanimous consent to dispense with
the reading. Without objection, so ordered.
I recognize the gentleman for five minutes to explain his
amendment.
Mr. Smith of Nebraska. Thank you, Mr. Chairman, and thank
you as to my colleagues on both sides of the aisle for
cooperation in this amendment. It is very simple. It is a sense
of Congress emphasizing restoring funding to the Assistance to
Firefighters Grant Programs should be a priority. The program
is authorized in this legislation at $1 billion per year.
However, its appropriated funding has never reached that amount
and in fact it steadily declined in recent years, and that is
why in 2003 $750 million was appropriated for AFG. Since this
time, funding has steadily declined. Last year it was $565
million and this year the Administration only requested $390
million. This represents a 48 percent decline since fiscal year
2003. Given the importance of AFG in helping fire departments
around the country meet minimum response requirements,
especially those in rural areas with limited tax bases, this
trend is troubling and should certainly be reversed. The
underlying reauthorization legislation attempts to do that, and
I support it.
This amendment adds to the bill by explicitly calling
attention to this issue and stating that addressing this
funding decline should be a priority. I urge Members to support
it. Thank you. I yield back.
[The prepared statement of Mr. Smith follows:]

Prepared Statement of Representative Adrian Smith

This amendment is very simple. It is a sense of Congress
emphasizing restoring funding for the Assistance to Firefighters Grant
program should be a priority. The program is authorized in this
legislation at a billion dollars per year. However, its appropriated
funding has never reached that amount, and in fact has steadily
declined in recent years. In FY 2003, $750 million was appropriated for
AFG. Last year, it was $565 million, and this year the Administration
only requested $390 million. This represents a 48 percent decline since
FY 2003.
Given the importance of AFG in helping fire departments around the
country meet minimum response requirements--especially those in rural
areas with limited tax bases--this trend is troubling, and should be
reversed. The underlying reauthorization legislation attempts do that--
and I support it--but this amendment adds to the bill by explicitly
calling attention to this funding decline. I urge Members to support
it.

Chairman Gordon. Is there further discussion on the
amendment? Mr. Hall is recognized.
Mr. Hall. Thank you. I will be very brief.
This is simply a sense of Congress expressing
disappointment with the declining funding for assistance to
firefighters. I think we are all for that, and restoring this
funding ought to be a priority. I think we all support that
program. And I understand funding is always limited to
competing needs but Mr. Smith is simply trying to emphasize
that this program warrants priority attention and I think that
is a good move. I certainly support it and I yield back, and I
thank the Chairman.
Chairman Gordon. The record will show that Mr. Hall
supports more funding for firefighters.
Does anyone else wish to be recognized? If not, then the
vote occurs on the amendment. All in favor say aye. Opposed,
no. The ayes have it and the amendment is agreed to.
Are there any further amendments? If not, then the vote
occurs on the amendment in the nature of a substitute offered
by the gentleman from Arizona as amended. All in favor, say
aye. Opposed, no. The ayes have it. The amendment is agreed to.
The vote is now on the bill, H.R. 3791 as amended. All
those in favor, say aye. All those opposed, no. In the opinion
of the Chair, the ayes have it.
I recognize Mr. Tonko for a motion.
Mr. Tonko. Yes, Mr. Chairman, I move that the Committee
favorably report H.R. 3791 as amended to the House with the
recommendation that the bill do pass. Furthermore, I move that
staff be instructed to prepare the legislative report and make
necessary technical and conforming changes and that the Chair
take all necessary steps to bring the bill before the House for
consideration.
Chairman Gordon. The question is on the motion to report
the bill favorably. Those in favor of the motion will signify
by saying aye. Opposed, no. The ayes have it. The bill is
favorably reported.
Before he gets away, Mr. Neugebauer, we welcome you back
and glad to see you look fit, trim and ready for action.
Without objection, the motion to reconsider is laid upon
the table. Members will have two subsequent calendar days in
which to submit supplemental, Minority or additional views on
the measure.
Chairman Gordon. I want to thank all the Members for being
here and taking part in this good markup. Thank you.
[Whereupon, at 11:35 a.m., the Committee was adjourned.]

Appendix:

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H.R. 3791 as amended, Amendment Roster