Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-NY) announces that the Department of Homeland Security has awarded over $2,274,454 in Firefighter Grants to 27 fire departments in New York as part of the 36th round of the Fiscal Year 2004 Assistance to Firefighters Grant program.

     “Time and time again I speak to firefighters and first responders who are struggling with increasing demands and decreasing funds,” Senator Clinton said. “These programs provide essential grants directly to fire departments across New York and the country. Every dollar that our local communities receive means extra resources not only to help them fight fires but to help them respond to other emergencies and ensure public safety.”

     While the senator said she was pleased to announce the grants, she also expressed her serious concerns about the potentially devastating impact of cuts to the Fire Act program detailed in the recent Bush Budget.

     The President’s recent budget proposal includes a 30 percent cut - a loss of more than $215 million nationwide — in funding to the Fire Act or substantially reduced funding below what Congress appropriated the prior year.

     “Given the critical job that firefighters perform each and every day, I am disappointed and quite frankly perplexed by the President’s proposed cuts to Fire Act in the 2006 Budget proposal. We should do everything we can to ensure that our firefighters have the resources, equipment and training they need to keep us safe,” Senator Clinton said.

     The Assistance to Firefighters Grant Program (AFGP) awards one-year grants directly to fire departments to support the nation’s firefighters and the services they deliver. The Department of Homeland Security’s Office for Domestic Preparedness (ODP) administers the program, in cooperation with the U.S. Fire Administration (USFA).

     The grants awarded will be funded under the Operations and Firefighter Safety, Firefighting Vehicles and Fire Prevention programs. The Operations and Firefighter Safety Program provides funding for training, equipment, personal protective equipment, weliness and fitness, and modifications to fire stations and facilities.

     The Firefighting Vehicles Program provides pumpers, brush trucks, tankers/tenders, rescue vehicles, ambulances, quints, aerials, foam units and fire boats.

     A grant of $42,750 was awarded to Collins Volunteer Fire Company No. 1 for the Operations and Firefighter Safety program area.