FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: April 22, 2004
FURTHER INFORMATION:   Jeff Zack (202) 824-1506 (O),
                                              (202) 360-9778 (Cell);
                                              Jim McBride (202) 824-1566 (office)

Bush Campaign Wrong On Facts Of First Responder Support
– Disingenuous Budget Numbers Used

Pres. Bush Zeroed Out First Responder Programs In Budget Proposals -- Misleading Claims of Budget Increases Take Credit for Actions of Congress

WASHINGTON, DC – 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 by manipulating the facts of the budgets he supported through his term of office.

“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.’

“Like his erroneous projections of the cost of the Medicare Bill he pushed through Congress, his outrageous predictions of job growth that he said would result from his tax cuts for the rich, or his insistence that Weapons of Mass Destruction were there, his first responder facts are wrong, too.

“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.

“The fact is that when Bush claims a 400% increase 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.”

About the International Association of Fire Fighters

The International Association of Fire Fighters, headquartered in Washington, DC, is the 16th largest union among the 64 national unions that makeup the AFL-CIO. The IAFF represents more than 263,000 full-time professional fire fighters and emergency medical personnel who protect 80 percent of the nation’s population. More than 2,900 affiliates and their members protect nearly 6,000 communities in every state in the Unites States and every province in Canada.