Kelly Praises Unanimous House Passage of Bill to Protect Firefighters from Obamacare

U.S. Representative Mike Kelly (R-PA) - a member of the House Ways and Means Committee - issued the following statement today regarding Monday night’s passage of H.R. 33, the Protecting Volunteer Firefighters and Emergency Responders Act in the House of Representatives. The bill was passed by a unanimous vote of 401-0 following a speech on the House floor by Rep. Kelly, who is a co-sponsor of the legislation, which was originally introduced by Rep. Lou Barletta (R-PA).

Rep. Kelly commented on the passage of H.R. 33:

“I am thrilled to see the House once again pass this crucial piece of legislation with unanimous support. Today, there are more than 17,000 all-volunteer fire companies in America. In Pennsylvania alone, 97 percent of our fire companies depend entirely or mostly on volunteers. Thanks to Benjamin Franklin, who organized the nation’s first volunteer fire company in Philadelphia in 1736, volunteer firefighters continue to heroically respond to fire and other emergencies in the Keystone state and throughout our country. The spirit of Pennsylvania - and indeed, the spirit America - inspires this commonsense solution to one of Obamacare’s most unfortunate consequences. It’s about protecting those who protect us, and it’s another sign that this Congress is truly America’s Congress.”

Kelly specifically cited an event in Butler County of heroism.

“In the little town that I grew up in and live in - Butler, Pennsylvania - so many people volunteer their time to do the volunteer firefighting. They’re also the EMS. They’re the first responders. … Last spring, one of our people by the name of Ryan Sekerski, on his way home from work-he’s a volunteer fireman-he ably heard over his scanner that a fuel truck had overturned. This driver was trapped inside that truck. [Mr. Sekerski] then went to the scene of the accident, got his equipment that was in the trunk of his car and got out and saved that driver’s life. These are the people that we are talking about.”

“And when you come to the People’s House - America’s House, America’s Congress - we look at things that we can do together, things that just make sense. And while we may disagree in some other aspects of what it is that we try to get done, on this we are solid. This just makes sense for America. This makes sense for all those who lay their life on the line anytime there’s an emergency or a fire. They do it voluntarily. Hundreds and thousands of hours in training go into this. They spend time away from their families; they spend time away from personal time that they could be doing other things to get trained so that they can help other Americans who may need their help. It’s absolutely incredible. It’s so American. It’s something we look at with a great sense of pride.”