华盛顿特区 - 国际消防战士协会总裁AFL-CIO/CLC，Harold Schaitberger发表了有关布什总统2006财年预算提案的声明：
“It was disappointing to see that the FY ’06 budget proposal that the president sent to Congress contained a 30 percent cut – $215 million – in funding to the FIRE Act, the federal program that provides equipment, training and staffing to local fire departments. These reductions represent a continuing pattern in which President Bush has either not included any funding for the FIRE Act or substantially reduced funding below what Congress appropriated the prior year.
“Both Republicans and Democrats have championed providing sufficient resources to the FIRE Act and SAFER, the program that provides funding to add fire fighters to local departments, since the programs were authorized. Our hope is that we can work with members on both sides of the aisle in Congress to once again bring the funding for emergency preparedness in our nation’s communities back to levels that begin to address the major shortages we see in more than two-thirds of the communities in America.
“We also hope to establish a productive dialogue with new Department of Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff and the White House to get these problems corrected and to ensure that the funds that are ultimately appropriated get distributed quickly and efficiently.
“Our nation’s fire fighters need swift action by Congress and DHS so that they can begin using the resources that are available to protect the citizens.”
