9/11 COMMISSION’S CONCLUSIONS ON
PREPAREDNESS MUST BE HEEDED
WASHINGTON, DC – The General President of the International
Association of Fire Fighters, AFL-CIO/CLC, Harold Schaitberger, issued this
statement today on the report of the 9/11 Commission and its conclusions
about our country’s preparedness to respond to a future terrorist attack:
“It is very encouraging that the 9/11 Commission is focused
on the preparedness of our nation’s first responders to take action in the
event of another attack, and I encourage our president and Congress to act
on their recommendations, rather than delay. The bi-partisan approach the
Commission took to its work is the only approach that is effective in
creating action that actually helps the American People.
“My concern is that the Bush administration will take the
Commission’s report and be long on rhetoric and short on action. That
concern is grounded in the fact that President Bush has had three years to
prepare our nation to respond appropriately, with the assistance and
guidance of two separate independent reports in his hand – one from the
United States Fire Administration and one from the Council on Foreign
Relations – and he has squandered the opportunity.
“The previous independent reports clearly showed that our
emergency response capabilities are critically under-funded, and our first
responders are under-staffed, under-trained and ill-equipped. And the
president’s response has been to provide almost $15 billion less per year
than one of the independent reports said our country needed to prepare.
“Originally, Bush opposed the creation of the Department of
Homeland Security and fought against it. Then, even after we tried to work
with his administration, President Bush set up a system where the state of
New York, which was attacked and which Bush administration officials
continue to cite as a target for a new attack, only received $5.42 per
person in homeland security money in 2003, while the rural state of Wyoming
was awarded $37.94 per capita.
“Even after 9/11, the president attempted to eliminate a
program that provides local fire departments with the resources they need,
and he continues to oppose a program that would put fire fighters in
communities that have too few. His 2005 budget cuts homeland security
funding for first responders by $700 million from current levels.
“The Commission’s recommendation to create an incident
command and communication system that works and to establish a funding
system that recognizes high-threat areas –—such as New York City and the
Washington Metropolitan area -- and takes into account population and
density, is crucial. If followed, these recommendations will be the
foundation of a real strategy for responding to an attack and saving lives.
“I wish I could say that those responsible for responding to
an incident are safer and more prepared today, but I can’t. While our fire
fighters and paramedics will respond bravely to any incident, as they do,
every day, and as the 343 who lost their lives at Ground Zero did, unless
real changes are made, there won’t be enough of them, and our responders
won’t have the proper equipment or training, and people will die as a
result.”
About the International Association of Fire Fighters (
www.iaff.org )
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 267,000 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.
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