{"id":149046,"date":"2022-10-11T21:48:19","date_gmt":"2022-10-12T04:48:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/new.thepinetree.net\/?p=149046"},"modified":"2022-10-11T21:48:19","modified_gmt":"2022-10-12T04:48:19","slug":"president-biden-at-the-summit-on-fire-prevention-and-control","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/new.thepinetree.net\/?p=149046","title":{"rendered":"President Biden at the Summit on Fire Prevention and Control"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Washington, DC&#8230;Doctor, thank you very, very much.  It\u2019s very gracious of you.  I appreciate it.  And the U.S. Fire Administration is doing a great job.  Look, I want to take this opportunity to thank you all, to \u2014 for an opportunity to speak at this summit.<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" width=\"640\" height=\"360\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/AcPJ7ttmuuQ\" title=\"President Biden Delivers Virtual Remarks at the Summit on Fire Prevention and Control\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>And it\u2019s wonderful to see so many good friends, you know, sitting out there looking.  Eddy \u2014 Ed Kelly.  And I think President Black is there.  Kevin, I hope \u2014 I \u2014 I can\u2019t quite see what \u2014 I can\u2019t see you out \u2014 in the front there, I think.<\/p>\n<p>And I actually wish I could be there with you in person.  And you know I mean it.<\/p>\n<p>You know, and I\u2019ve \u2014 I\u2019ve had to pay respects with you this past weekend on the National Fallen Firefighters Memorial.<\/p>\n<p>Thirty years ago \u2014 God, it seems like thirty years ago.  Thirty years ago, I was the original co-sponsor with Paul Sarbanes and others of the National Fallen Firefighters Foundation Act.  And over the years, I\u2019ve spoken to \u2014 at too many \u2014 too many funerals for fallen firefighters.  From the national events like the memorial of Arizona 19 Hotshots in 2013, to the individuals in my home state that unfortunately are too numerous to name.<\/p>\n<p>And each one \u2014 each one of you is a hero to the community.  You\u2019ve touched people\u2019s lives.  So I\u2019d \u2014 I\u2019d like to take a moment at the top here to honor the lives we\u2019ve lost of those in the past two years, including from COVID \u2014 135 on-duty firefighters in 2021, another 77 to date in 20- \u2014 2022.<\/p>\n<p>And it\u2019s a \u2014 it\u2019s an acute reminder of the risk firefighters bear and, quite frankly, of their bravery.  You\u2019re the only ones who run toward flames and not away from them when that fire bell rings. <\/p>\n<p>And you \u2014 look, you know, many of you \u2014 many of you heard me say before: First, God made man.  Then he made a few firefighters.  God made man, and then he made a few firefighters.<\/p>\n<p>I grew up in Claymont, Delaware.  And across \u2014 I went to a little school called Holy Rosary grade school across from the Claymont firehall.  And all my buddies, they came \u2014 either became a firefighter, a cop, or a priest.  I wasn\u2019t qualified for any of them, so here I am.<\/p>\n<p>But \u2014 (laughs) \u2014 you know, it\u2019s truly amazing that an estimated 1,041,200 local and municipal firefighters \u2014 65 percent of you are volunteers.  And I\u2019m proud to say in Delaware, in my home state, it\u2019s 98.3 percent of all firefighters are volunteer firefighters. <\/p>\n<p>And by the way, I know you\u2019re all having trouble keeping \u2014 because of COVID and because of the \u2014 the schedules people have these days \u2014 getting \u2014 attracting enough volunteers to man \u2014 man all the stations.  You\u2019re the heart of the community.<\/p>\n<p>You know, people don\u2019t appreciate you until they need you.  But then they do, and you\u2019re always there. <\/p>\n<p>Firefighters have saved my life and the life of my family.  I want to just tell you for a moment \u2014 I know a lot of you know from \u2014 if anyone is from Delaware there knows \u2014 you know, way back in 1972, before I got sworn in, my family \u2014 my wife was Christmas shopping with my three children and \u2014 and a tractor trailer \u2014 they got in an accident \u2014 broadsided, and killed my wife, killed my daughter.  And my two boys, who were then almost three and almost four, were on top of their dead sister and mother.  And it took the Jaws of Life from my local fire department volunteers to get them out and get them to the hospital.  And it saved their lives.<\/p>\n<p>In addition to that, what happened was \u2014 I was \u2014 I was doing \u201cMeet the Press,\u201d and lightning struck a little pond behind my house, came up through the ground, into the air conditioning system.  Ended up generating this thick, black smoke literally \u2014 literally that \u2014 of those proportions.  And from the basement to the third floor, the attic, everything was ruined.  And the kitchen floor \u2014 we almost lost a couple firefighters, they tell me, because the kitchen floor was \u2014 the \u2014 burning between beams in the house, in addition to almost collapsed into the basement.<\/p>\n<p>And then \u2014 and then I was \u2014 I got rushed to the hospital for a \u2014 it turned out to be almost a nine-hour operation with a cranial aneurism \u2014 in the middle of a snowstorm by my fire company.  They got me down.  They saved my life.  And so, I owe you.  And so many other Americans owe you as well, so many families.<\/p>\n<p>The only thing that saves lives of a firefighter are more firefighters.  The only thing that saves lives of a firefighter are more firefighters.  That\u2019s why, as a senator and as a \u2014 when I was out of office and then back as President, we do everything we can to support and pay for firefighters \u2014 more firefighters.<\/p>\n<p>You know, and you\u2019re there for most people who\u2019ve just lost everything.  And by the way \u2014 again, to ad-lib a second here \u2014 I \u2014 you know, you\u2019re also \u2014 what people don\u2019t realize, you\u2019re the same folks who are there holding the boot in a corner to raise money for the people who just lost their home.  Not a joke.  That\u2019s what you do.  That\u2019s what you do.<\/p>\n<p>You\u2019re the ones who line the Little League fields.  You\u2019re the one \u2014 you\u2019re just \u2014 anyway, you\u2019re an incredible group of individuals.<\/p>\n<p>You know, in Delaware, we used to say \u2014 back when I first started running as a kid, I\u2019d say, \u201cThere\u2019s three parties in Delaware: Democrats, Republicans, and firefighters.\u201d  And thank God I had the firefighters.<\/p>\n<p>I just got off with the president of the Delaware volunteer fire company who said, \u201cJoe, do you remember I was in your first campaign in 1972?\u201d  (Laughs.)<\/p>\n<p>Anyway, you\u2019re on the frontlines for emergencies and disasters all across this great nation, from the devastating wildfires in the West to the thousands of fires that local firefighters respond to every day, and response to Hurricane Ian in Southwest Florida.<\/p>\n<p>And, by the way, I point out that I\u2019ve flown over just \u2014 just the last 18 months, flown over most of the major fires in the West.  More timber, more housing has burned to the ground than all of the landmass in the state of New Jersey.  That\u2019s how much has been lost.<\/p>\n<p>And, you know, I went down to Florida to see the response last week.  Firefighters helped rescue thousands of survivors and answered the call \u2014 not just for fires, just answered the call.  And in some cases, their own homes and firehouses were damaged, destroyed, or washed away.  Because that\u2019s who you are.  When tragedy strikes, you suit up.<\/p>\n<p>And when the impacts of climate change are becoming increasingly evident, we\u2019re calling on you more and more and more.<\/p>\n<p>Extreme heat and prolonged drought have turned wildfire season into wildfire years.  And local firefighters are being called in more to respond to the fires in the wildland urban interface where we\u2019re moving out into the forest areas to develop and it becomes local and federal.<\/p>\n<p>So I want you to know that my administration is doing everything we can to make sure you have the resources you need to do your job as safely and effectively and efficiently as possible. <\/p>\n<p>You know, we invested $350 billion in the American Rescue Plan to help states and local \u2014 states and cities keep first responders on the job, including firefighters on the job when \u2014 during COVID-19.<\/p>\n<p>And between the American Rescue Plan and my 2023 budget request, we\u2019ve increased federal firefighting grants by $320 million, which includes money to fund 1,200 more local firefighters in the field, hundreds more emergency response vehicles, and thousands \u2014 thousands of sets of turnout gear.  A pioneer in research on issues from \u2014 including like cancer prevention. <\/p>\n<p>You know, it\u2019s close to my heart.  Cancer is a leading killer of firefighters.  Toxic substances you\u2019ve been exposed to as part of your job are almost certainly \u2014 certainly connected to those cancer diagnoses.  And we\u2019re doing \u2014 we\u2019re going to do something about it.<\/p>\n<p>The Cancer Moonshot is bringing together every part of our government to cut cancer death rates in half and to end cancer as we know it, including by addressing environmental and toxic exposures to prevent cancer. <\/p>\n<p>We just passed national legislation \u2014 national legislation to deal with the burn pits in Afghanistan and Iraq, and \u2014 that so many of our soldiers \u2014 we finally got it passed so that we can care for their families if they\u2019ve been \u2014 lost their lives or care for them, in fact, if they \u2014 if they\u2019re going through this.<\/p>\n<p>We created a special claims unit at the Department of Labor to ensure that they\u2019re processing federal firefighters\u2019 cancer claims quickly. <\/p>\n<p>And we\u2019re also taking [tackling] PFAS \u2014 the so-called \u201cforever chemicals\u201d that for years have been in your gear, your equipment, and the suppression agents that you depend on to do your job.  I\u2019m determined \u2014 I\u2019m absolutely determined to make sure you have the gear that protects you without making you or your family sick. <\/p>\n<p>And I\u2019m urging Congress to send to my desk the Federal Firefighters Fairness Act \u2014 let me say it again: the Federal Firefighters Fairness Act \u2014 which are going to help federal firefighters and their families assess critical worker compensation resources, including making sure that several forms of cancer are presumed to be caused \u2014 presumed to be caused by the firefighter\u2019s job. <\/p>\n<p>And I\u2019m also \u2014 I\u2019m also proud that last November, I signed into law Protecting America\u2019s First Responders Act, which extends the benefits under the Public Safety Officers\u2019 Death Benefits Program to the families of firefighters killed in training and made it easier to qualify for permanent disability. <\/p>\n<p>The final point \u2014 I\u2019m sorry to go on so long, but I feel passionately about this.  The final point I\u2019d like to make today is that we\u2019re doing everything we can to ease the burden on our firefighters by preventing fires.  This is the 100th \u2014 hard to believe \u2014 it\u2019s the 100th anniversary of Fire Prevention Week.  And the landmark legislation I\u2019ve signed into law includes historic investments to reduce the risk of fire.<\/p>\n<p>The Bipar- \u2014 the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law includes significant forest management, increases community resilience and \u2014 to wildfires, and harnesses new technologies to keep communities safe.  It\u2019s also repairing vital infrastructure and \u2014 firefighters and other first responders rely on to quickly get to the \u2014 to those \u2014 those in need. <\/p>\n<p>By the way, we\u2019re talking about the \u2014 all the bridges that are in tough shape.  I was out in Western Pennsylvania.  There was a fire station, a bridge over a creek, and a school not far from there.  They have to go \u2014 I think it was seven miles, if that \u2014 they couldn\u2019t go across the bridge because it wasn\u2019t strong enough to maintain and ha- \u2014 excuse me \u2014 handle the firetruck. <\/p>\n<p>You know, the Inflation Reduction Act enables us to take unprecedented steps to confront climate crisis, which is going to protect forest health, reduce fire risk, and supercharge our clean energy future. <\/p>\n<p>We\u2019re also maximizing protections for people when fires do break out, through a national initiative to help states, local, and Tribal and territorial governments adapt and adopt the most up-to-date building codes that reflect the threats from the climate \u2014 from climate change. <\/p>\n<p>We\u2019re using the Department of Defense\u2019s satellite imagery to detect wildfires in their early stages so firefighters have a better chance to suppress the fires early before they can impact on local communities.  And we\u2019re working to help it \u2014 we\u2019re working to help educate the public on basic fire safety, like preparing fire escape plans, testing smoke and carbon monoxide alarms monthly and replacing those alarms every 10 years.  This is the simple steps we can take to save lives. <\/p>\n<p>Look, on behalf of my own family and every American, I just want to close by saying again: Thank you, thank you, thank you.  Fires will always be a fact of human life.  And when the worst happens, when those alarms go off, when everything and everybody you love is in danger, there\u2019s no better sight in the world than that firefighter who\u2019s ready to go to work.<\/p>\n<p>So, thank you for being who you are.  Thank you for all the heroes you represent.  You are \u2014 you are on the alert and on call in communities all across this country right now as I speak. <\/p>\n<p>So God bless you all.  And may God protect our firefighters.  Thank you for letting me have a chance to talk to you.  I wish our \u2014 I literally do wish I were there with you.  Thank you.  And thank you, Lori. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Washington, DC&#8230;Doctor, thank you very, very much. It\u2019s very gracious of you. I appreciate it. And the U.S. Fire Administration is doing a great job. Look, I want to take this opportunity to thank you all, to \u2014 for an opportunity to speak at this summit. And it\u2019s wonderful to see so many good friends, [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":149047,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_cbd_carousel_blocks":"[]","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[20,5,1,13],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-149046","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-featured","category-government","category-news","category-traffic-fire","last_archivepost"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/new.thepinetree.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/10\/Fullscreen-capture-10112022-94746-PM.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.thepinetree.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/149046","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.thepinetree.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.thepinetree.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.thepinetree.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.thepinetree.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=149046"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/new.thepinetree.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/149046\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":149048,"href":"https:\/\/new.thepinetree.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/149046\/revisions\/149048"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.thepinetree.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/149047"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.thepinetree.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=149046"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.thepinetree.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=149046"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.thepinetree.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=149046"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}