[Congressional Record Volume 169, Number 66 (Thursday, April 20, 2023)] [Senate] [Page S1276] From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov] FIRE GRANTS AND SAFETY ACT Mr. SCHUMER. Mr. President, on the Fire Grants and Safety Act, later today, the Senate will pass a much needed lifeline for our firefighters, the Fire Grants and Safety Act. I thank my colleagues on both sides of the aisle for their good work on this overwhelmingly bipartisan legislation. Passing the Fire Grants and Safety Act will extend two important Federal grant programs that support our paid and volunteer firefighters--SAFER and AFG. As we approach the fire season, extending SAFER and AFG is crucial to ensuring that firefighters have lifesaving equipment and personnel necessary to do their jobs. This is particularly true in smaller, more rural, more suburban areas where volunteer firefighters staff the firehouses, but the equipment is hard to purchase for smaller and less wealthy communities. Our firefighters are brave. They risk their lives for us. They run toward danger, not away from it. They work tirelessly around the clock, often in dangerous and unpredictable conditions, putting their lives on the line to keep us safe. Firefighters have had our backs, and passing the Fire Grants and Safety Act today will show we have their backs too. I was proud, in my early days in the Senate, to work with Senator Dodd to pass this legislation. Again, I thank my colleagues. This has been an example, again, just like we did a few weeks back on the AUMF, of how the Senate should work--bipartisan. We worked with our Republican colleagues and the ranking member of the relevant committees to allow Republican amendments, and, in turn, our Republican colleagues are supporting us moving forward on this important legislation. It is a good thing, and I hope this model continues. As leader, that is one of the things that I am trying to do. I yield the floor. I suggest the absence of a quorum. The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. The clerk will call the roll. The senior assistant legislative clerk proceeded to call the roll. Mr. McCONNELL. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order for the quorum call be rescinded. The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. Without objection, it is so ordered. ____________________