FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: July 28, 2004
FURTHER INFORMATION:   Jeff Zack (202) 824-1506 (O),
                                              (202) 360-9778 (Cell);
                                              Jim McBride (202) 824-1566 (office)

IAFF GENERAL PRESIDENT SCHAITBERGER SPEAKS AT DEMOCRATIC NATIONAL CONVENTION

BOSTON, MA – Following a dramatic video showing fire fighters doing the work they do everyday, and displaying their support for John Kerry from the earliest days of the primaries, Harold A. Schaitberger, Kerry-Edwards Campaign Co-Chair, Convention Sergeant-at-Arms and General President of the International Association of Fire Fighters, addressed the Democratic National Convention delegates on Wednesday,

July 28. The text of his speech follows.

“You’ve just watched what firefighters and paramedics, across America, do everyday, in every community, in every state, across our great country.

“The over 270,000 strong that are a part of our union, who protect the citizens of this great nation, put their lives on the line to protect America’s homeland.

“These firefighters are proud to stand with John Kerry and John Edwards. Because they know that more than two-thirds of our communities don’t have the staffing, training, equipment or funding they need to do their job in these times of new threats to our nation.

“And John Kerry and John Edwards stand with us in working to do what the 9/11 Commission just last week reinforced – to immediately work to improve the preparedness of our country. Because we are still not safe.

“John Kerry is a man that understands and has displayed service and sense of duty to country. John Kerry knows what it takes to make America stronger at home, and once again respected around the world.

“That's why last September, when others said he couldn’t do it, this nation’s firefighters were so proud to stand up for John Kerry. And that’s why we will stand with John Kerry and John Edwards every day until victory is ours.

“70 Years ago Franklin Delano Roosevelt gave this country hope, and a New Deal. A decade later a bold President, Harry S. Truman, gave the neediest in this country a Fair Deal. For the last three and a half years all we’ve been getting is a Raw Deal.

“Now it’s up to all of us this November to give America the Real Deal. Join us in sending John Kerry and John Edwards to the White House. Thank you… and God bless America.”

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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