FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: November 19, 2007

Contact: Emily Barocas /202-225-7295/202-593-1377

LARSON ANNOUNCES FIRE DEPARTMENT GRANT

MANCHESTER, CT – Congressman John B. Larson CT-01 announced today that the South Manchester Fire Department will receive a federal grant in the amount of $185,744. The money will go towards the purchase of breathing apparatus for firefighters -- replacing older outdated equipment. The Department of Homeland Security provides the grant to enhance first responders’ capabilities to protect the health and safety of the public. Larson wrote to DHS in support of Manchester’s application for the grant.

The grant was announced at an event at the Manchester Fire Department Headquarters this afternoon. Larson presented a check to Manchester Mayor Josh Howroyd, Mayor-Elect Louis A. Spadaccini, and Fire Department Chief Robert Bycholski.

Larson reasserted his position of the importance of caring for our first responders. “On September 11th, it was America’s first responders that ran into burning buildings in New York and Washington, DC while everyone else was running out,” Larson said. “It was our first responders – our nation’s firefighters and EMT’S – who were the heroes that day. It is our duty to care for them and to make sure they have the equipment they need.”

Just this year in the House of Representatives, Congressman Larson managed to help pass legislation for first responders five years in the making. Congressman Larson heard from local volunteer firefighters that an IRS ruling was costing them the tax abatements they earned for their hard work and service to our local communities. So, he wrote legislation that would change the way the IRS considered those abatements and let first responders keep the benefits they are due. Hopefully, the Senate will take up similar legislation and volunteer firefighters across Connecticut and around the country will be able to keep their property tax abatements.

###