Free Republic

During an interview with San Antonio’s CBS KENS 5 on Monday, Rep. Tony Gonzales (R-TX) said that during his conversation with President Joe Biden when Biden visited Texas on Sunday, he asked for an additional $23 million in funding on top of $2 million that has already been secured for a mental health hospital in the Uvalde area, thirteen-and-a-half million dollars in funding “for a radio system where all responders can talk to one another.” Which he said is crucial, because, during the school shooting in Uvalde, responders were not all on the same communications channel. And an improved emergency...

Jon Stewart responds to Congressional first responders bill hearing.

House Democratic leaders Friday evening announced they would bring back to to the floor a bill to bolster health services for 9/11 first responders next week during the last few days in session before the midterm election. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) and House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-Md.) said in a joint statement that they’d bring the bill to the floor for a second time under a rule, requiring a simple majority to pass. It had been brought up under suspension of the rules, and failed to meet the higher vote threshold required because of Republican opposition. Republicans who...

NEW YORK – The lead lawyer for thousands of Sept. 11 rescue and recovery workers has acknowledged that in preparing some claims, his firm made mistakes — including assertions that people had cancer when they didn't. But the attorney, Paul Napoli, said the errors all occurred at preliminary stages of the case, are being corrected and won't have any bearing on the outcome. He characterized the mistakes as few and accidental, caused by a crushing workload and a rush to meet court deadlines. "We are not trying to pull the wool over anyone's eyes," .. Napoli's firm, Worby Groner Edelman...

ARLINGTON, Va., Feb. 11, 2008 – Fighting wildfires in Virginia became the newest mission for members of the National Guard, who were dealing with many domestic emergencies as the new week began. More than 500 members of the National Guard were on weather-related duty in the South and West, as well as in Virginia, because of call-ups from governors in nine states for emergency assistance to communities hit by tornadoes, heavy snow and floods. Virginia Gov. Tim Kaine declared a state of emergency yesterday when high winds fanned wildfires across the state. The Virginia Department of Forestry estimated that at...

WASHINGTON - The Bush administration intends to slash counterterrorism funding for police, firefighters and rescue departments across the country by more than half next year, according to budget documents obtained by The Associated Press. The Homeland Security Department has given $23 billion to states and local communities to fight terrorism since the Sept. 11 attacks, but one document says the administration is not convinced that the money has been well spent and thinks the nation's highest-risk cities have largely satisfied their security needs. The department wanted to provide $3.2 billion to help states and cities protect against terrorist attacks in...

CAMP LIBERTY, Iraq, Oct. 23, 2007 – Iraqi security forces took another step toward self-sufficiency when several Iraqi security elements participated in a civil defense drill in Yarmouk, an area in the Mansour district of western Baghdad, Oct. 20. Firefighters with the Yarmouk fire department in Baghdad hose down one of two simulated vehicle-borne improvised explosive devices during a civil defense drill conducted by the Iraqi army, the Iraqi police and the local fire departments in the Mansour district of Baghdad, Oct. 20, 2007. Photo by Pfc. April Campbell, USA  (Click photo for screen-resolution image);high-resolution image available. Soldiers from the...

WASHINGTON, Aug. 17, 2006 -- America’s 9/11 Foundation is getting ready to hit the road again with its annual America’s 9/11 Ride in support of the nation’s first responders, the foundation’s promotions manager and media contact said. “This is the fifth anniversary of the (Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks), but it is actually our 6th ride,” Roger Flick said of the two-day event that begins tomorrow. “The first (ride) left eight weeks after the attacks from in front of the White House, and we left on Veterans Day.” The motorcycle rides started because America’s 9/11 Foundation, Inc. founders, Ted...

Political offensive targets Bush By Rowan ScarboroughTHE WASHINGTON TIMESMarch 18, 2006 Senate Democrats have mapped a political battle plan for the March congressional recess that calls on lawmakers to stage press events with active duty military personnel, veterans and emergency responders to bash President Bush on virtually every one of his national security policies.

For most of the past four years, they have been silent. But now some gravely ill New Jerseyans who toiled at Ground Zero after the terrorist attacks of September 11th, 2001 are sharing their stories with Millennium Radio. They are the men and women who could benefit from legislation inspired by reports on Millennium Radio and being crafted by State Senator Joe Vitale (D-Woodbridge). Vitale is working on a bill that would provide a presumption to 9/11 responders that their illnesses were caused by their exposure to the toxic air they breathed both at Ground Zero and the Fresh Kills...

NEW ORLEANS - Tour buses and rental trucks waited Wednesday morning to vacate police, firefighters and other Hurricane Katrina first-responders from cruise ships they've called home since the storm devastated the city in August. The emergency workers and their families _ about 1,000 people in all _ were told they had to leave by March 1 because the ships must return to private service, the Federal Emergency Management Agency said. It's the same deadline set for civilian evacuees living on cruise ships. Agency spokesman David Passey said all the first-responders and their families will have a FEMA-sponsored place to live,...

GULFPORT, Miss. (NNS) -- Mississippi Sen. Trent Lott honored Seabee and Marine first responders, as well as other military and civil service employees serving at Naval Construction Battalion Center (NCBC) Gulfport, for their Hurricane Katrina recovery and relief efforts at a ceremony held on base Feb. 24. A military member from each Gulfport command was presented with the Armed Forces Service Medal and the Humanitarian Service Medal. A civil service employee representing all NCBC civilian employees was presented with the Armed Forces Civilian Service Medal. The humanitarian awards, approved by the Chairman, Joint Chiefs of Staff have been earned by...

Dear Fire Fighters For Bush: Letter of the Week I was there when President Bush visited the "Pile" - soon to be the "Pit" - and just as we lifted the nation's spirit with our courage and sacrifice he lifted ours. I spent five months at the WTC - more time than Kerry spent in Vietnam - and for every miserable moment there I was comforted by his visit. If Kerry were president we would have spent a year wringing our hands and searching our souls trying to figure out what we did wrong to those who want to destroy...