Waking the Sleeping Giant
FEATURES
LAWS AND LEGISLATION
Freshman representative Curt Weldon rouses the fire service from political slumber and champions its fight for clout on Capitol Hill.
Congressman Curt Weldon, a former volunteer fire chief, didn’t forget his fire service roots when he packed his bags for Washington D.C. in January, 1987. Rather, he made the fire sendee a primary focus, building the fourth largest Congressional caucus on Capitol Hill. But despite his efforts, many fire service members have only a vague idea about ho tv a caucus works and how they can make their concerns known to their representatives.
Fire Engineering staff recently interviewed Congressman Weldon in his Upper Darby, Pa. office about the caucus, the National Fire Academy, and pending legislation. Prior to the interview, we asked several fire service leaders from around the country to provide us with questions they’d ask the congressman if they could talk to him face-to-face. Those questions are addressed in the following article.
It’s not uncommon for members of Congress to approach ConX gressman Curt Weldon with a question.
“Curt, what have you done to my firefighters?” they ask. “They’re writing letters and calling me, asking me to help them out.”
What the freshman congressman from Pennsylvania has done is shaken the shoulders of what he likes to call the “sleeping giant” — the fire service —and jabbed the ribs of another Goliath — Congress.
The Congressional Fire Services Caucus is one of about 98 caucuses in Washington, a coalition of congressmen willing to speak out for the service. In late June, it boasted a membership of 201 representatives and senators and was represented on every major Congressional committee. Its purpose, simply stated, is to find out what the fire service’s priorities are and turn them into legislation.
In the past, Weldon says, many bills benefiting the fire sendee have been introduced, but then forgotten. No one had been willing to use staff members on a regular basis and to network with other leaders to get legislation for the fire service through the committee structure and onto the House and Senate floors. Congressional leaders were reactive to fire service needs rather than proactive, waiting for problems rather than taking the offensive tactic.
“You have now an active lobbying effort from within the system,” says the congressman. “Firefighters can go so far and call their congressmen and senators, and they’ll say “Yes, I’m trying to help you,” but if you don’t have people from within pushing the issue consistently and continuously, it’s not going to go anywhere.”
Efforts to organize the caucus began last November. The first members were people Weldon knew personally, a core group of about 30. But as word of the caucus spread, membership quickly swelled to include a broad spectrum of Democrats and Republicans, liberals and conservatives.
And although it’s Weldon’s name that’s most closely associated with the caucus, the congressman is quick to identify those who’ve been strong allies of the fire service for several years: Congressman Doug Walgren (D-Pa.), Congressman Sherwood L. Boehlert (RN.Y.), Senator Albert Gore (DTenn.), and Senator John H. Glenn (D-Ohio).
Firefighters need to hold those representatives who say they they support the fire service accountable for their votes and actions on Capitol Hill, Weldon says. That way, when there’s an issue of importance to the fire service, there’s the assurance that there will be someone in Washington who’ll speak out for the firefighters, even if it means going against one’s political
“We need leaders who are willing to go into the White House and say, ‘Look, what you’re doing is wrong. You’re getting bad information…. What you’re doing to the Fire Administration and the Fire Academy is intolerable, and I’m absolutely opposed to it,'” says Weldon. “And we have a lot of Republicans who are willing to say that. Now, if we get a Democrat elected [as President] next time, we’ll need Democrats who are willing to say that, to speak for the fire service no matter who’s in power.”
There’s been evidence that the Fire Services Caucus has been at work. After just one hearing, the Armed Services Committee reprogrammed $64 million for new fire protection equipment for the U.S. Navy. A bill that’s been introduced by Congressman George J. Hochbrueckner would exempt firefighters from federal jury duty. The move requiring commercial driver’s licenses of firefighters (which has been met with strong opposition from members of the caucus and the fire service as a whole; see Fire Engineering, May 1988, page 16) may be resolved administratively by the Department of Transportation.
As of late June, caucus members were working toward the funding of the National Fire Academy and the United States Fire Administration through 1991. The House passed its version of the bill, which calls for restoration of $3.3 million cut by the Reagan Administration. Language in the bill reprimands the Federal Emergency Management Agency for improper use of United States Fire Administration employees. The Senate version was expected to pass without difficulty.
Weldon testified before a Senate subcommittee on the funding legislation, taking the opportunity to criticize both the Reagan Administration’s attempts to cut funding and FEMA’s treatment of the NFA and the USFA.
“It was never the intent of Congress to subordinate any one program to another when it created the Federal Emergency Management Agency, but the USFA and the National Fire Academy have fallen so far down the FEMA food chain that they are rapidly becoming in danger of extinction,” the congressman said.
One tactic Weldon uses to perk the interest of his colleagues is gimmicks. Smoke detectors have been distributed to every member of Congress, along with a letter addressing the need for smoke detectors. When he introduces two sprinkler bills later this year (one requiring sprinklers to be installed in all residential facilities built on military bases, the other forbidding that Urban Development Action Grant monies be used to build hotels unless sprinklers and detectors are installed), sprinkler heads will be given to each member of Congress.
Weldon’s office sends periodic legislation updates to every member of the caucus highlighting issues that affect the fire service. It’s all a matter of having the attention of legislators on an ongoing basis so that they understand what’s happening in the fire service, the congressman says.
It’s at the point now, Weldon says, that members stop him on the House floor and ask “What’s happening now?”, “What can I do to help?”, and “What does the caucus need? I want to tell my firefighters back home that I’m doing something for them.”
But the presence of a fire service caucus doesn’t guarantee that every piece of legislation that benefits firefighters will become law or that the fire agencies will magically receive plenty of money to work with. For example, legislation requiring that emergency workers be notified if they’ve transported someone with a communicable disease has reached a standstill, at least for this year.
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One issue of great concern to the fire service is the status of the National Fire Academy. In June, Weldon sent a letter FEMA Director Julius Becton, signed by caucus cochairmen Walgren and Boelhert, saying that the Academy should be managed by the Fire Administration.
“Fie doesn’t agree with me, but I’m going to press him on that issue,” says Weldon. “The Fire Academy’s relationship with FEMA wouldn’t be severed, but it would put it back with the Fire Administration.
“In terms of where the Fire Administration should be, I don’t have the answer for that. There are some who want to move it out of FEMA, some who want to move it to Commerce. To me, that’s a fire service call, where they think it should best be.”
Weldon personally believes that the Academy and the Fire Administration are too small to stand alone, and that the logistics and capabilities of FEMA are “tremendous” and should be used. He believes, however, that the practice of appointing military personnel to head FEMA should be stopped, and a fire service leader be given the position. That, he says, would solve most of the problems that exist between the agencies.
“General Becton right now is a retired general. He’s a military person, so he runs FEMA as a military operation, and he runs the Fire Administration like that,” Weldon says. “My opinion is that we need a fire service person to run FEMA, someone with a fire service background who’s a good manager.”
Weldon says many legislators are concerned about FEMA’s attitude toward the Fire Administration and the Fire Academy and have developed a watchdog attitude. A tight network of committee and subcommittee membership has evolved. His own assignment to the Military Construction subcommittee is important, because the subcommittee oversees FEMA’s funding.
What’s Next
In addition to the legislation the Congressional Fire Services Caucus is working on now, there’s a whole list of goals and projects in the works. What follows is an outline of what to look for (and support, if the idea appeals to your department) in the future from the fire service caucus.
- Expanding the National Fire Academy’s Training Capabilities: There are more than 15,000 applicants each year for NFA training, yet only room for about 4,000 students. In order to take in more students the Academy needs more staff, says Congressman Curt Weldon, and yet it was a battle just to bring staffing up to its authorized number. A goal of the caucus is to bring staffing to what it was when the Academy was established, thus being able to accommodate more students.
- Fire Service Internship Program: These internships would enable fire science students to work side-by-side with legislators. For those planning careers in the fire service, the internship would teach them legislative procedures and how to interact with politicians. Some students may decide to enter politics themselves and would be sensitive to fire service interests, dynamics, and values.
- Clearinghouse for Poor Fire Departments: The clearinghouse would work with fire equipment manufacturers that take trade-ins for new apparatus. Often, these trade-ins aren’t worth that much money. The trade-ins could be donated to poor departments, with the manufacturer taking a tax writeoff.
- National Firefighters’ Day: A day to recognize the firefighters’ value to America.
“So now, all of a sudden, when Julius Becton or FEMA starts playing games, I’m the guy who sits on the subcommittee overseeing all of his funds,” says Weldon. “So we can start playing some games with FEMA’s funds, and start sending some signals. I brought up in the subcommittee hearings back in March that the Fire Administration and the Fire Academy were being jerked around, in my opinion, in Emmitsburg. The committee said, ‘Curt, whatever you want. You want us to put the clamps on FEMA and to redirect their priorities, we’ll do it.'”
The caucus also wants to see where the presidential candidates stand on fire service issues. It’s working to get public statements from them supporting the idea of having a fire service leader to head FEMA; it also wants to know their positions on full funding for the Fire Administration and the Fire Academy and on the unification of the two agencies.
The caucus is off to a strong start, but to keep it alive and effective, it’ll take work to keep Congress members interested, says Weldon. That includes support from firefighters back home.
The fire service needs to become politically active and speak with a unified voice. For too long, says Weldon, the fire service has relied on federal agencies to relay its needs to Congress. But no legislator wants to be told what to do by a Washington agency; he or she wants to hear from the people.
A place to start could be with phone calls and letters to representatives, but there’s more people can do to be heard on Capitol Hill and on the state level, the congressman says. Some fire departments meet with their representatives each year and share their concerns; others invite the politicians to tour their firehouses. Texas has taken the idea of the national fire service caucus and tailored it to the state level. And Pennsylvania legislators have been working on a firefighters’ bill of rights.
The best way to get a politician to work for you, says the congressman, is to put him or her out front. Put their pictures in local newspapers and newsletters and give them credit when it’s due.
“The local fire company is very much the social fabric of the community. They’re often the same people who run the town picnics and organize parades,” says Weldon. “Therefore, if you could ever muster that and get those people to realize their potential, there’s nothing they can’t accomplish. The fire service has to learn that when it wants something it should not be afraid to call or write.”
Are your Washington law makers members of the Congressional Fire Services Caucus? District office phone numbers usually can be found in your local phone book. Phone numbers for Washington, D.C. legislative offices can be obtained bv calling (202) 224-3121.
