National preparedness and response must focus on “all hazards,” not just terrorism
WASHINGTON, DC - The General President of the International Association of Fire Fighters, AFL-CIO/CLC, Harold Schaitberger, issued this statement today regarding the report by the former 9/11 Commission on the status of their recommendations for a more secure America:
“The 9/11 Commission has served this country well. Fire fighters lost 343 of our own that fateful day, and we recognize that it will take ongoing diligence to prevent, deter and prepare to respond to another terrorist attack, as well as continuous coordination and effort from all levels of our government.”
“The Commission rightly recognized the need for and called on the government to provide additional resources to fire fighters and other first responders so they can perform their jobs effectively in response to a terrorist attack.”
“It’s time now for politicians, policy wonks and bureaucrats to recognize that first responders — the people this nation counts on in a time of disaster — need to be prepared to respond to all hazards if we are going to truly secure our homeland. As the recent hurricanes showed, Mother Nature is as big a threat to our nation as terrorism, and our country must prepare better to respond to our citizens in her wake.”
“To be properly equipped to respond no matter the circumstances, firefighters across this country need more staffing, more equipment, more training, better communications and more federal resources allocated and put into place to better save lives and protect property.”
“Implementing the recommendations of the 9/11 Commission are critical. But we are calling on Congress and the Bush administration to add to those recommendations the lessons learned from Katrina, Rita and Wilma, so our nation is as prepared as possible for the next event that comes our way, whether it’s manmade, accidental, intentional or a natural disaster once again.”
The IAFF, headquartered in Washington, DC, is the 12th largest union among the 54 national unions that makeup the AFL-CIO. The IAFF represents more than 270,000 professional fire fighters and emergency medical personnel who protect 80 percent of the nation’s population. More than 2,900 affiliates serve nearly 6,000 communities in Canada and in every state in the U.S. For more information, visit www.iaff.org.