While speaking before an eager crowd at the International Association of Fire Fighters Union Conference, Vice President Joe Biden said that the Obama Administration is committed to helping public safety officials do their jobs more safely. Biden says that he understands that an inherently dangerous profession such as fire fighting can never be made completely safe, but we can make it “safer than it is today.” Biden quoted a study from the National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health, saying “the lack of staffing is the key cause of fire fighter fatality” and that to help make the first responder’s jobs easier and safer, they must be provided with better equipment, more fire fighters, and better training.
The Vice President said to rousing applause that The Public Safety Employee Cooperation Act, which was “blocked” by former President George W. Bush, will be signed into law by President Obama, and will “institutionalize that respect” which the public holds for them. He said that it is in “our nation’s own naked self interest” to take care of those that defend us and that when the fire fighting community is stronger, the rest of the community is safer.