WASHINGTON — This year marked the 25th year of the Congressional Fire Service Institute’s annual dinner and conference. And the 2,000 or so attendees got to see Vice President Joe Biden deliver the keynote address.
Biden is no stranger to the fire service. As a senator, he was a long-standing member of the Congressional Fire Caucus and is quick to share his personal encounters with firefighters. Biden reminded the crowd that it was firefighters who extricated his boys after a car crash, transported him to the hospital following an anuerysm and rescued his wife and vintage Corvette when his house caught fire.
“Every tragedy in my life, you’ve been there,” Biden said.
In praising the SAFER and AFG grant programs, Biden said, “We’ve never made a better investment than we did in the fire service.” And in a somewhat trademark Biden fashion of shooting from the hip, he said that when it came the number of firefighters needed to safely and effectively protect the public, “size does matter.”
He urged Congress and the public to continue support for funding firefighting programs.
“You are the definition of what community is all about — it’s just that basic,” Biden said. “The rest of America has to step up and help you, because you are always helping them.”