Mr. Chairman and members of the committee, my name is E. James Monihan and I am the former Chairman of the National Volunteer Fire Council (NVFC) and currently serve as the Delaware State Director and Chairman of the Legislative Committee. The NVFC represents the interests of the nation's more than 800,000 volunteer firefighters, who staff over 90% of America's fire departments. I currently serve as a volunteer firefighter with the Lewes Fire Department in Lewes, Delaware. I have served as a firefighter for 44 years and still respond regularly to calls. I have had experience in all phases of the life of a first responder, including chemical and hazardous materials incidents, EMS, rescue and fire.

In addition to serving as Chairman of the NVFC's Legislative Committee, I have represented the NVFC on a variety of panels and committees, including the 1998 Blue Ribbon Panel, which provided recommendations on improving the operation of the U.S. Fire Administration (USFA). I earn my livelihood in hospital administration, which has allowed me to get a unique view of the emergency services from both the medical and fire service perspectives.

According to the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA), nearly 75% of all firefighters are volunteers. In most years, more than half of the firefighters that are killed in the line of duty are volunteers. In addition to the obvious contribution that volunteer firefighters lend to their communities as the first arriving domestic defenders, these brave men and women represent a significant cost saving to taxpayers, a savings sometimes estimated to be as much as $37 billion annually.

On behalf of our membership, I appreciate the opportunity to comment on the needs of America's volunteer fire service. More specifically, I would like to express our strong support for S. 2411, the Assistance to Firefighters Act of 2004, which will reauthorize the Assistance to Firefighters Grant Program, also known as the FIRE Act, through fiscal year 2010. In addition, this bipartisan legislation will make some changes to the program, which will build upon its tremendous effectiveness and success.

The events of September 11, 2001 was a stark reminder to all Americans that the fire service is the first responder to all terrorist attacks this country may face. As America's domestic first responders, the fire service will be on the front lines of any incident and must be prepared to respond to and defend our citizens from a terrorist attack involving conventional weapons or weapons of mass destruction.

However, we cannot lose sight of the 21 million calls the fire service responds to annually involving structural fire suppression, emergency medical response, hazardous materials incidents, clandestine drug labs, search and rescue, wildland fire protection and natural disasters. Many of these emergencies occur at federal facilities and buildings and on federal lands. In addition, these incidents can damage America's critical infrastructure, including our interstate highways, railroads, bridges, tunnels, financial and agriculture centers, power plants, refineries, and chemical manufacturing and storage facilities. We as a fire service are sworn to protect these critical facilities and infrastructure.

Often, local governments alone are unable to afford the extensive training and equipment that these challenges require. The Assistance to Firefighters Grant program assists local fire departments by providing a percentage of the needed funds to pay for these necessities, while not supplanting local responsibility to provide adequate fire and emergency medical services.

The Assistance to Firefighters Grant program (AFGP) has proven to be the most effective program to date in providing all fire departments - both large and small, volunteer, career and combination - not only with the tools they need to perform their day-to-day duties, but it has also enhanced their ability to respond to large disasters as well. As we move to prepare for terrorist incidents at home, we must first ensure that local fire departments have the basic tools they need to do their jobs on a daily basis.

This legislation will address these concerns by continuing to ensure that the program will meet the basic firefighting and emergency response needs of our fire departments, rather than becoming an additional anti-terrorism grant program. The federal government must not forgo its commitment to the basic needs of America's fire service in the name of Homeland Security.

The program has been successful because it is the only federal program that provides funding directly to fire departments. In addition, the program's success is directly attributed to the fact that members of the fire service have been involved in nearly every aspect of the program to ensure that it addresses our current needs. We have helped to set the criteria for each funding category, and have staffed panels to grade the applications through an excellent peer-review process.

Program Reauthorization

As I stated earlier, passage of S. 2411, the Assistance to Firefighters Act of 2004, is a top priority for our organization. The bill authorizes $900 million for fiscal year 2005, $950 million in fiscal year 2006, and $1 billion annually in fiscal years 2007 through 2010 for the grant program, for a total six-year authorization of $5.85 billion.

As written, the bill codifies many of the current program regulations that have made it so successful. The legislation would mandate the current peer-review process, guarantee national fire service organizations are represented in setting the criteria, and ensure that the program continues to address basic fire department needs.

In addition, it improves access to the program for departments serving rural communities, and eliminates barriers to participation faced by departments serving heavily populated jurisdictions. Specifically, the bill would:

• Reduce the current local fire department matching requirements from 30% to 20% for departments serving communities of 50,000 or more. For departments serving 20,000 or fewer residents, the local match is reduced from 10% to 5% in order to address extreme budgetary difficulties and encourage increased participation by such departments.
• The current FIRE Act caps grant amounts at $750,000, regardless of the size of the fire department. The reauthorization bill re-structures these caps so that they better reflect the needs and the size of the department. The bill has a ceiling of $2,250,000 for departments serving one million or more, $1,500,000 for departments serving between 500,000 and one million, and $1,000,000 for departments serving fewer than 500,000 residents.

While we feel that the cap increases will clearly result in a shift of funds from smaller departments to larger ones, the NVFC supports these changes and we believe that these figures will help target the areas most in need while still ensuring that the program makes a wide impact across the country.

The legislation also opens the program up to volunteer, non-profit emergency medical service (EMS) providers. Although many jurisdictions maintain separate fire and EMS departments, under current law, only emergency medical services that are part of fire departments are eligible for funding. To ensure that these agencies do not siphon off too much funding, the legislation caps the amount these entities may collectively receive to 3.5% of appropriated funds. The bill also creates an incentive for fire departments to acquire automated external defibrillator (AEDs) for every first-due emergency vehicle. The NVFC has been a long-time advocate for wide proliferation of AEDs within the fire service and this bill will help further our efforts.

Finally, the legislation commissions a comprehensive assessment by the National Fire Protection Association to help identify the areas of greatest need among departments nationwide and requires the Government Accounting Office to report to Congress regarding the effectiveness of the program.

I would also like to address certain provisions, which we support, that were included in the House version (H.R. 4107) of this legislation, but were omitted from this bill.

In an effort to consolidate first responder grant programs, the AFGP was transferred to the Office for Domestic Preparedness (ODP) in FY 2004. However, the U.S Fire Administration (USFA), under the leadership of Chief R. David Paulison, has spent the last four years developing and refining the program and has clearly demonstrated the capability to efficiently distribute these funds to local fire departments. This is no surprise to us because the personnel at USFA know the fire service like no other agency and many of their personnel have emergency services backgrounds themselves.

In addition, there is a substantial concern within our organization that because ODP's mission only deals with terrorism preparedness and because the agency does not have experience working with local fire departments or local jurisdictions, this shift could be detrimental to the program. Therefore, we support all efforts to once again have USFA administer the program.

The House version also includes important volunteer non-discrimination language prohibiting a fire department that receives grant funds from discriminating against, or prohibiting its members from engaging in volunteer activities in another jurisdiction during off-duty hours. This clause, similar to the language that was included in the SAFER Bill passed in Congress last year, begins to address the growing concern we have about an individual's right to volunteer. Cities such as Hartford, West Hartford, East Hartford, Waterbury, Fairfield, New Britain, Connecticut, West Allis, Wisconsin and Ft. Wayne, Indiana currently prohibit their firefighters from volunteering.

We feel that these types of provisions are a violation of the basic First Amendment right of free association. It is very alarming that any city would try to a tell a firefighter how they should or should not spend their off-duty time, especially when they are spending that time doing good in their community. This comes at the same time there is a revived push for volunteerism across our country led by President Bush.

Moreover, many career firefighters who work in larger cities often live in smaller communities and belong to their local volunteer fire departments at their choice. These individuals should be able to provide their invaluable skills, knowledge and expertise to their local departments, which are responsible for protecting their own homes and family, without harassment and retribution from employers.

Some proponents of this type of prohibition contend that it is a health and safety issue and that firefighters must be given time off to recoup and relax. However, we have not heard anything about fire departments that bar their firefighters from strenuous and equally hazardous second jobs in construction and other trades. In addition, there appears to be no fire departments that prohibit their firefighters from partaking in potentially dangerous hobbies like skiing or skydiving. Volunteer fire and EMS are the only activities that appear to be singled out.

I would like to also stress that this clause does not affect any local unions who may attempt to prevent their members from volunteering. It simply would give incentives to municipalities to allow their employees to volunteer in their hometown fire departments.

We understand that S. 2411, the Assistance to Firefighters Act of 2004, has been attached as an amendment to the Senate version of the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2005 (S. 2400). We look forward to quickly passing this bill and working in Conference to craft final legislation that will benefit the entire fire service in its efforts to protect our nation and its citizens.

FY 2005 Appropriations

I would also like to take this time to encourage members of the Committee and your colleagues in the Senate to support the program in the upcoming fiscal year. On February 2nd of this year, President Bush sent Congress his FY 2005 budget, which requested only $500 million for the Assistance to Firefighters Grant Program. Although this was the same amount the Administration requested in the FY 2004 budget, it represented a cut of $250 million (33 percent) from the final amount that was appropriated by Congress.

While the budget called for the grants to continue to be made directly to fire departments and awarded through a competitive, peer-review process, priority was to be given to applications that enhance terrorism preparedness. It also only requests funding for the training, apparatus and equipment sections of the FIRE Act, leaving out funding initiatives for fire prevention and education, EMS, firefighter wellness/fitness and station renovation.

The NVFC is not only concerned about the proposed cut from FY 2004 funding levels, but we are also worried about the potential shift in focus of the program exclusively to terrorism. This program, which was created before September 11, 2001, maintains its objective to bring every fire department up to a base-line level of readiness, which in turn will prepare them for large-scale incidents. This budget request only strengthens our argument that Congress needs to take action to ensure the program is protected. Quick passage of the reuthorization bill will once again reiterate to the Administration that the Assistance to Firefighters grant program is intended to address basic fire service needs and enhance the capability to respond to all hazards.

On June 18, the U.S. House of Representatives passed their FY 2005 House Homeland Security Appropriations Bill (H.R. 4567). While providing a $1.6 billion (5.3 percent) overall increase for the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), the bill reduces Assistance to Firefighters Grant program funding to $600 million for FY 2005, down from nearly $750 million.

The Senate version of the Homeland Security Appropriations Bill (S. 2537) passed out of the Senate Appropriations Committee on June 17. The Senate bill funds the Assistance to Firefighters Grant program at $700 million for FY 2005, $100 million more than the House but still a cut over FY 2004 levels.

Considering that nearly $3 billion in applications were submitted for the current program year and while also taking into account a variety of recent reports outlining the tremendous needs of America's emergency services, including the NFPA Needs Assessment Survey, the NVFC requests that Congress work to fund the program at or near the fully authorized amount of $900 million.

A History of Success

After this current grant cycle (FY 2004), the Assistance to Firefighters Grant program will have distributed nearly $2 billion to almost 16,000 fire departments across the country for apparatus, personal protective equipment, hazmat detection devices, improved breathing apparatus, wellness and fitness programs, fire prevention and education programs and interoperable communication systems. This is the basic equipment our fire departments need to effectively respond to all hazards.

In FY 2003, the program received $750 million and awarded nearly 8,700 grants to fire departments. There are no discrepancies as to the location of this funding. It is all in the hands of local fire departments. The federal government is not blaming the state government. The state government is not blaming the county and local governments. The program simply works.

Many of these departments who are receiving aid are rural volunteer fire departments that struggle the most to provide their members with adequate protective gear, safety devices and training to protect their communities. In these difficult times, while volunteer fire departments are already struggling to handle their own needs and finances, they are now forced to provide more services.

The funding problems in America's volunteer fire service are not just limited to rural areas. As suburbs continue to grow, so does the burden on the local fire and EMS department. Even though many of these departments have the essentials, they are unable to gain access to new technologies. At no other time have advances been greater in equipment to protect them and make their jobs safer. Yet because the newer technology is so expensive, many volunteer and career fire departments are forced to forgo the purchase of the new technology or use outdated equipment.

Conclusion

The Assistance to Firefighters Grant program is one of the most effective programs in the Federal government because it provides local fire departments with the tools they need to respond to any incident they may encounter, no matter what the origin of the emergency. It ensures local support through a matching requirement and allows firefighters themselves to play a large role in the process.

I would like to take this opportunity to thank you Chairman McCain, Ranking Member Hollings, Senators Dodd and Dewine and all of the fire service's supporters in the U.S. Senate for their strong leadership on this issue as well as other issues important to the fire service.

Mr. Chairman, I thank you for your time and your attention to the views of America's fire service, and I would be happy to answer any questions you may have.

Professional

• Graduated from Philadelphia College of Pharmacy and Science in Philadelphia
  Degree: Bachelor of Science in Pharmacy
  Post-graduate studies in Pharmacy at Philadelphia College of Pharmacy and Science
  Registered Pharmacist - State of Delaware

• Residency in Hospital Pharmacy - Memorial Hospital, Wilmington, Delaware

• Staff Pharmacist - Memorial Hospital, Wilmington, Delaware

• Director of Pharmacy and Supply Services
  Beebe Hospital, Lewes, Delaware
  Emily P. Bissell Hospital, Wilmington, Delaware

• Assistant Administrator / Vice President, Operations
  Beebe Hospital Beebe Medical Center

• Acting Administrator / Interim President
  Beebe Medical Center, Lewes

• Vice President, Professional Affairs & Quality Commitment
  Beebe Medical Center, Lewes

• Currently Vice President, Administration/CCO (Chief Compliance Officer)
  Beebe Medical Center, Lewes

• Fellow and Past Regent for Delaware - American College of Healthcare Executives

• Member and Past Delegate to the House of Delegates - American Society of Hospital Pharmacists.

• Founding Secretary, Vice President and President
  Delmarva Council of Hospital Executives

Fire Service

• President and Deputy Chief - Lewes Fire Department

• President Sussex County Volunteer Firemen's Association

• President, Delaware Volunteer Firemen's Association

• Chairman, National Volunteer Fire Council (12 years)

• Chairman, Joint Council of National Fire Service Organizations

• United States Director, Federation of World Volunteer Firefighters Association

• Currently Delaware Director, National Volunteer Fire Council and Chairman, Legislative Committee

Associations

• Represent Delaware Healthcare Association (appointed by Governor)
  Delaware Emergency Medical Services Advisory Council (DEMSAC)
  Delaware Paramedic Advisory Council

• Founding Chairman, Association of Delaware Hospital
  Committed Group Purchasing Program (10 years)

• Chairman, City of Lewes (Delaware) Project Impact Hazard Mitigation Steering Committee

"Improved Productivity through Cooperative Planning," Published in the International City Management Association's publication, Fire Management.

Awards

• "Board of Hygeia," 1975, Delaware Pharmaceutical Association for Community Service

• American Red Cross Service Award

• Personality of the Year, 1994, The Coast Press

• Regent's Award, 1998, American College of Healthcare Executives

• First Annual Mason Lankford Award for Fire Service Leadership from the Congressional Fire Services Institute, April 1999.

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