Washington, D.C. – The General President of the International Association of Fire Fighters, AFL-CIO, Harold Schaitberger, issued this statement after President Bush released claims of support for first responders.
“Every chance he gets, President Bush rightfully reminds the American People that we’re under a constant state of threat, as he did over and over again in his State of the Union speech. But in that same speech, President Bush failed to mention even one time the words ‘first responders’ or ‘fire fighters.’
“The fact is that the $3.561 billion President Bush claims to allocate to fund first responders is actually a reduction of $700 million from last year’s $4.2 billion in funding approved by Congress. Comparing any of his homeland security budget requests to the last Administration’s budget allocations is a shell game. It ignores the fact that the last Administration’s budgets were BEFORE September 11, 2001. Homeland security became a federal, a national concern and responsibility on an infinitely higher scale after those horrendous attacks.
“事实是,当布什声称增加了400%over the previous Administration’s funding for FIRE Act grants, it reminds me of Enron’s accounting practices. He fails to say that the first year of funding for that program was 1999 and was established by Congress at an initial funding level of $100 million for a start up program. President Bush’s first two budget proposals for the FIRE Act eliminated the program by zeroing out any funding for local fire department grants. Congress had to intervene and fund the FIRE Act grant program again and again, finally increasing its funding levels to $750 million. The fact is, Bush’s 2005 budget is a cut of 33%, or $250 million, from the FIRE Act’s current funding levels. He should be ashamed to claim his 400% funding levels in light of the facts.
“The fact is two-thirds of America’s fire departments remain under-staffed because President Bush refuses to spend one penny to fund the SAFER Act, a new law that was passed with bipartisan support in Congress that would put more fire fighters in our communities. The President has also refused to provide adequate funding for fire departments protecting military facilities, even after Department of Defense study identified critical shortages.
“Before the American People believe this President has a record of responding to the needs of the nation’s first responders, we need to take a look at the facts.”
