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NVFC Names Congressman Bill Pascrell Legislator of the Year

Published Date: 04.14.2011

The National Volunteer Fire Council (NVFC) named Congressman Bill Pascrell (D-NJ) the 2011 Legislator of the Year. The NVFC Legislator of the Year award is given annually to a member of the U.S. House or Senate for their support of the nation’s volunteer fire service.

“I am very pleased to present this award to Congressman Pascrell for his tireless work on behalf of the nation’s volunteer fire and emergency services,” said NVFC Chairman Philip C. Stittleburg. “Mr. Pascrell was the author of the original FIRE and SAFER Acts, which we know today as the Assistance to Firefighters Grant (AFG) and the Staffing for Adequate Fire and Emergency Response (SAFER) grant programs. Earlier this year, Mr. Pascrell offered an amendment to FY 2011 appropriations legislation that was adopted by the House of Representatives restoring $510 million in funding for AFG and SAFER. The bill as introduced would have reduced funding for AFG by $90 million and completely eliminated SAFER – devastating cuts that could not have been proposed at a worse time for local fire departments that are struggling to cope with the ongoing economic downturn. Mr. Pascrell is a fierce advocate for our cause and a deserving recipient of this award.”

Stittleburg presented the award to Congressman Pascrell in a ceremony at the U.S. Capitol on April 7, along with Legislative Committee Chairman John Lyman, New Jersey Director Carl Christensen, and Alfred Bailey of the New Jersey Volunteer Firemen’s Association.

L-R: Baily, Christensen, Stittleburg, Legislator of the Year Congressman Pascrell, and Lyman

In addition to his support for AFG and SAFER, Pascrell is a consistent supporter of other NVFC Legislative Priorities. In the 111th Congress he was a co-sponsor of the Volunteer Responder Incentive Protection Reauthorization Act and he is the lead Democrat and an original co-sponsor of the Volunteer Emergency Services Recruitment and Retention Act (H.R. 376), which was introduced earlier this year.

Pascrell is a native of Patterson, NJ, where he served as Mayor until being elected to Congress in 1996. Learn more about the Legislator of the Year Award and view past recipients at www.nvfc.org/awards.

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