Fire Fighters Say President’s Investment in Public Safety Will Create Jobs and Boost National Security (PDF)
Washington, DC – President Barack Obama’s call for a national investment in public safety in his speech September 8 will put fire fighters and paramedics back to work and will create safer communities around the country, generating a strong environment for local businesses to prosper and create even more jobs.
“President Obama last night proved to the public safety community that he gets it. His jobs proposal will put fire fighters back to work and prevent layoffs,” IAFF General President Harold Schaitberger said.
As part of his jobs plan, the president proposed providing $1 billion in the form of federal grants to municipalities across America to rehire fire fighters whose jobs have been eliminated, prevent further layoffs and fill positions that have been left vacant due to lack of funding. Nearly 15,000 fire fighter and paramedic jobs have been lost, are targeted for elimination or have been left unfilled after a vacancy. The $1 billion in proposed funding is in addition to the $405 million already available through the FY 2011 Staffing for Adequate Fire and Emergency Response grant program to hire new fire fighters and rehire laid off fire fighters. The president’s bill also reaffirmed his support to use the same waiver language used for FY 2010 SAFER grants, which gave municipalities complete flexibility to use the funding to rehire laid off fire fighters, fill vacant positions and hire new fire fighters.
“The tenth anniversary of the September 11 terrorist attacks serves as a reminder that fire fighters don’t just respond to house fires anymore. They respond when natural disasters like Hurricane Irene threaten people’s lives, when there’s a mass casualty event like the Tucson shootings, a medical emergency or a hazardous chemical spill, and we must invest in the safety of our communities because too many have fallen behind. Public safety isn’t just vital to people, it is crucial to economic development as well. Businesses flee when public safety is poor, and many communities are struggling to maintain public safety while the recession lingers,”
Schaitberger said. Schaitberger applauded the president for rejecting “the idea that we have to strip away collective bargaining rights to compete in a global economy.”
The president’s jobs bill also proposes allocating the D block of spectrum to public safety and invest $10 billion from other spectrum sales to build out the public safety broadband network. The 1993 terrorist bombing of the World Trade Center exposed deep problems with the communications systems used by fire fighters and other first responders. Fire fighters again had difficulty communicating during the September 11 attacks, and the 9/11 Commission subsequently recommended creation of a national public safety network.
“The president’s plan to invest in public safety communications will improve the ability of fire fighters, paramedics and law enforcement to respond more effectively to all kinds of emergency calls,” Schaitberger said. “We will work to push Congress to end the partisan nonsense that is holding our country back because the president’s plan to improve public safety and put fire fighters back to work is too important to let die because of the political posturing that kills every good idea put before Congress and which has pushed the American economy to the brink.” The International Association of Fire Fighters, headquartered in Washington, DC, represents more than 300,000 fulltime professional fire fighters and paramedics and is the leading advocate for the health and safety of first responders. More information is available at www.iaff.org ###
USW statement on President Obama’s jobs address to CongressPittsburgh (Sept. 8) – Leo W. Gerard, International President of the United Steelworkers (USW) issued the following statement after President Obama delivered his jobs address to the joint session of Congress.
"President Obama has made it clear to us that job creation is his top priority – now it needs to become one for this Congress. Unemployment is stuck near double-digits and the economy stagnant. We need action now. Inaction is unacceptable.
“Calling Congress into a joint session signals that this isn't business as usual. Quick and decisive action is necessary to begin to restore our economy by rebuilding our manufacturing capacity through important investments in our country and our people as proposed by the President. The billons of infrastructure investments announced by the President will drive new jobs in manufacturing. He is right in saying that the next generation of manufacturing must be Made in America.
“The American Jobs Act is a promising tool to restore confidence that our government will act to ignite economic growth, reduce our unemployment rate and provide sustainable good jobs. It will put money in the pockets of working Americans, grow manufacturing, return teachers to classrooms hit by budget cuts, and cut taxes for small business.
“The roll out is a bold jobs plan to establish a national infrastructure bank, reshape the tax code, refocus of the trade agenda, provide new federal loan guarantees for energy projects and to promote infrastructure project for schools, rail, airports, bridges and roads.
“For this plan to work, the most prosperous individuals and corporations must pay their fair share and the benefits delivered by social programs such as Medicare and Social Security must be continued to be efficiently delivered.
“We call on Republicans to join the Democrats' lead on the jobs plan and abandon their confrontational obstructionist tactics. We need to put America back on track. USW members will do their part and make their voices heard in support of the Administration’s plan.”
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