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Governmental Affairs Committee |
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GAC Resources For GAC documents, announcements, and information please click here to visit the microsite. Home Day 2007 Toolkit To download the Home Day 2007 Click Here Upcoming Events
HELP THE GAC!
Dear FAMA/FEMSA member: In January, you received an e-mail from the FAMA/FEMSA Governmental Affairs Committee (GAC) asking you to complete a survey that will help the GAC and its consultants learn what congressional relationships FAMA/FEMSA member companies have established. This information is essential to the GAC’s work to increase FAMA/FEMSA’s dialogue with federal government agencies in an effort to educate key officials on the important role our industry plays in providing equipment and services to the nation’s first responders. To help us enhance these efforts, we once again ask you to take a few moments to complete the enclosed survey. Specifically, this survey will help the GAC compile a comprehensive list of FAMA/FEMSA members’ locations and the congressional senators and representatives for those locations, an important step in establishing an educational network with the members of Congress and the administration. Please note that the survey can be conveniently completed online here. We also ask that the survey be completed as soon as possible. We have tried to keep this survey as simple and straightforward as possible. We thank you in advance for your assistance in this important effort. Sincerely, FAMA/FEMSA Governmental Affairs Committee
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Police, fire families fight for U.S. death benefit NFFF Seeks Support for Families of Fallen Firefighters Fire Service Calls on Congress to Investigate PSOB Program National Junior Firefighter Program Launch
Police, fire families fight for U.S. death benefit By Jeremy Pelofsky WASHINGTON (Reuters) - When volunteer firefighter Lee Purdy died in 2000, minutes after manning a pumper engine at a building fire, a lucrative U.S. government death benefit did not cover his heart suddenly stopping in the line of duty. His wife Sharon successfully campaigned in 2003 to expand the benefit to strokes and heart conditions suffered by police officers, firefighters and paramedics, but scores of grieving families have been left in limbo by the Justice Department. Some 253 claims have been filed but only seven have been approved, 47 have been rejected and 199 are pending review, mystifying and infuriating families and lawmakers while raising new concerns about poor management by Attorney General Alberto Gonzales, separately under fire for ousting nine prosecutors. "I cannot understand where the big hold-up is and why they are so reluctant to approve these claims," said Sharon Purdy, a paramedic. She and other families plan to go Capitol Hill on Wednesday to draw attention to the problem. "The benefit allows those families to continue forward, to take that time to be able to just take a deep breath and not have to worry about how they're going to survive day to day," she said. The Public Safety Officers' Benefits program offers almost $300,000 to families of officers who die from a traumatic event. The value was raised to attract more people to become officers and firefighters after so many perished in the September 11 attacks. The risk is high -- some 45 percent of firefighters' deaths on duty were heart disease-related, twice the rate for police, according to a Harvard School of Public Health study published in March. The problems could be a new embarrassment for President George W. Bush and Gonzales. YEARS OF RECORDS Continued... Source: REUTERS
NVFC Calls For Department of Justice to Award Hometown Heroes Claims: Calls For Congressional Investigation Into the Award-Making Process At a press event today in Washington, DC, the National Volunteer Fire Council (NVFC) called for the Department of Justice (DoJ) to begin awarding Public Safety Officer’s Benefits (PSOB) to families who applied for the benefit under the Hometown Heroes Survivors Benefits Act. PSOB is a one-time payment of nearly $300,000 to the families of fallen public safety officers. The Hometown Heroes Act, which became law in 2003, was supposed to make it possible for public safety officers who die from heart attack or stroke caused by participation in emergency response to qualify for PSOB. Since passage of the law, DoJ has made seven awards, denied 47 claims and has 199 claims that are still pending. “From the language of the law to the clearly expressed intent of Congress, DoJ should be paying benefits in cases where a public safety officer died from heart attack or stroke within 24 hours of participating in emergency response,” said NVFC Chairman Philip C. Stittleburg. “DoJ needs to start making these payments today, and Congress should investigate why three and a half years after passage of the law so few payments have been made and so many denials and pending cases exist.” The press conference took place in the Dirksen Senate Office Building. Also speaking were Senator Patrick Leahy (D-VT), Congressmen Bob Etheridge (D-NC), Dave Reichert (R-WA), and Spencer Bachus (R-AL). The widows of three fallen firefighters and representatives from other public safety organizations also spoke. DoJ has denied claims in which firefighters suffered a fatal heart attack during emergency response. Their justification is that emergency response doesn’t necessarily constitute “nonroutine stressful or strenuous physical” activity. A report that appeared recently in the New England Journal of Medicine would appear to contradict this, finding that firefighters are at an extremely heightened risk of suffering a heart attack not only during fire suppression but during alarm response and alarm return as well. “I’ve got a news flash for DoJ,” said Stittleburg. “Emergency response by its very nature isnonroutine stressful and strenuous physical activity. Ask anyone who actually knows what it is like to respond to an incident and they’ll agree with me.” “DoJ has been determining on a case-by-case basis whether or not the emergency response described in a PSOB application passes some illusory litmus test,” Stittleburg continued. “This puts tremendous pressure on public safety agencies to create a detailed narrative of the deceased officer’s activities that accurately conveys the physical and emotional strain of emergency response.” For more information on Hometown Heroes, go to www.nvfc.org. The NVFC encourages supporters to contact their Representatives and Senators to call for a Congressional investigation into DoJ’s implementation of the Hometown Heroes Survivor’s Benefits Act. Source: NVFC On July 28, 2007, we will hold our annual silent auction at the Firehouse Expo in Baltimore. A popular event among the trade show attendees, the auction takes place at the entrance to the exhibit hall, offering a wide variety of exciting items on which to bid, including NASCAR tickets, fire helmets, autographed sports merchandise, hotel rooms and many other great items. Our success in past years is due in large part to the donations we receive from organizations that work with us or have benefited by our work to enhance the readiness of our nation's fire and emergency services.
Source: CFSI NFFF Seeks Support for Families of Fallen Firefighters On June 18, 2007, 9 firefighters reported for duty in Charleston, South Carolina and did not return home. This was the greatest single loss of firefighters in the U.S. since 343 firefighters were lost in the collapse of the World Trade Center. Today, Charleston is a city with a broken heart. We can help them begin the journey to rebuild their lives as a family , community and fire department.
Source: NFFF Fire Service Calls on Congress to Investigate PSOB Program Fairfax, Va., July 12, 2007... In a Capitol Hill press conference held yesterday, July 11, International Association of Fire Chiefs (IAFC) President Chief Jim Harmes called on Congress to investigate the implementation of the Hometown Heroes Survivors Benefits Act by the Department of Justice (DOJ): “Today, we call on Congress to hold hearings to examine this program and determine the answers to these questions. Why has the DOJ taken so long to decide these claims and left the families of America’s fallen heroes without the benefits granted to them by law? The press conference highlighted the anguish caused by the DOJ’s lack of action in granting the surviving families federally mandated benefits. Senator Patrick Leahy (D-VT) and Representatives Bob Etheridge (D-NC), Dave Reichert (R-WA) and Spencer Bachus (R-AL) urged Congress to examine the implementation of this important DOJ program. Several major national fire and police organizations participated; these include the National Fraternal Order of Police, National Fallen Firefighters Foundation, International Association of Fire Fighters, Congressional Fire Service Institute, International Association of Arson Investigators and National Volunteer Fire Council. In 2003, Congress unanimously passed the Hometown Heroes Survivors Benefits Act (P.L. 108-182) to expand the Public Safety Officers Benefit (PSOB) program to give survivors’ benefits to the families of fallen public-safety officers who suffer a fatal heart attack or stroke in the line of duty or up to 24 hours after a “non-routine stressful or strenuous” line-of-duty activity or training event. Almost four years after the passage of this act, 199 families of fallen public-safety officers are still waiting to hear from the DOJ about their claims. Forty-seven families have been turned down, and only seven families have received any benefits from this program. By sharing stories of their loved ones, three surviving firefighter family members spoke of their grief and experiences of disappointment with the PSOB program. Athena Schwantes’ husband, Russell, was a career fire-apparatus operator with the Atlanta Department of Fire Rescue. In April 2006, he was participating in his mandated physical training after an apparatus training exercise when he collapsed from a heart attack. Schwantes was transported to the local hospital, where he remained until his death nine days later. Athena’s PSOB claim is still pending. She was accompanied at the press conference by her two daughters, Holly and Morgan. Jo Ann Tilton’s husband was Volunteer Chief Gary Tilton, of the Katy Fire Department in Texas. Tilton died of a heart attack shortly after returning home from responding to a traffic accident in October 2004. Tilton served with the department for 31 years. Jo Ann filed for PSOB benefits in January 2005 and has yet to hear back from DOJ. Sharon Purdy’s husband, Lee, was a volunteer firefighter, fire safety inspector, pump operator and past department trustee with the Invincible Fire Department, Spencerville, Ohio. Purdy collapsed and died of a heart attack while operating a water pump at the scene of a house fire in January 2000. In the wake of his death, Sharon was instrumental in getting the Hometown Heroes Survivors Benefits Act enacted into law. Because it isn’t retroactive, she will not benefit from this legislation, but she was there to support the families with pending claims. The IAFC is asking fire chiefs who have surviving family members with PSOB claims regarding heart attach or stroke at DOJ to contact their members of Congress and call for action on behalf of our fallen firefighters. For more information regarding the press conference, please visit the IAFC website at www.iafc.org/news.
Source: IAFC National Junior Firefighter Program Launch Join Spartan Motors and the National Volunteer Fire Council (NVFC) at 11 a.m. on Saturday, July 28, at Booth 2008 during the Firehouse Expo in Baltimore, MD. Officials from both organizations will be on hand to announce the launch of the National Junior Firefighter Program, a great way to get young people active and involved in your department. The National Junior Firefighter Program gives young people the chance to learn about local fire, rescue, and emergency medical services response organizations in a safe, controlled, educational, and fun program -- and it provides departments with an excellent recruitment tool. Learn more about how to launch a successful program and meet members of an active junior program from Elkridge Volunteer Fire Department (MD) during this short program. For more information, visit www.nvfc.org/juniors.
Source: NVFC The United States Fire Administration (USFA) has received notice of the following firefighter fatality: Name: James J. McRae III Fire Department: District of Columbia Fire/EMS Department Incident Description: Firefighter Technician McRae, truck driver for Funeral Arrangements: Pending, details will be posted @ Memorial Fund Contact and Address: Pending, details will be posted @ Tribute is being paid to Firefighter Technician James J. McRae, III at
Source: USFA |
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FAMA/FEMSA GAC Hill Day - September 27, 2007 - Washington, DC |
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