Madam Speaker,  I rise to introduce an amendment that highlights the critical importance of deploying fire sprinklers in all commercial buildings.

My amendment encourages the installation of fire sprinklers in commercial buildings and supports educational programs about installing them in residential buildings.

Five years ago tragedy struck Rhode Island when a fire tore through the Station nightclub in West Warwick.  That fire, which killed 100 people and injured 200 more, could have been prevented if fire sprinklers had been installed throughout the building. 

Almost every Rhode Islander knows someone whose life was changed forever by that terrible night, and we all learned a very hard lesson on the importance of installing fire protection equipment – in our homes, our workplaces, our schools and recreational buildings.  I hope that with a renewed focus on installing sprinklers and other safety devices, we can prevent a tragedy like the one in West Warwick from ever occurring again.

There is no question that fire sprinklers save lives.  In fact the National Fire Protection Association has no record of a fire killing more than two people in a public building equipped with a fully operational automatic fire sprinkler system. 
 
To this end, I introduced the Fire Sprinkler Incentive Act (H.R. 1742), which would amend the Internal Revenue Code to provide an incentive to business owners for retrofitting existing buildings with life-saving sprinklers.  This legislation – which has 114 cosponsors – will reduce the tax depreciation time for retrofitting sprinklers in nonresidential real property from 39 years to only five.

While it’s clear that fire sprinklers save lives, Congress to date has not taken a position on the importance of this technology.  I believe it is critical that we lend our voice to this issue and hopefully save another community from experiencing the devastating losses that West Warwick did. 

While we may not always be able to prevent fires from occurring, we can certainly minimize the damage they cause and the lives they take.  My amendment takes us one step closer toward this goal. 

I strongly support reauthorizing the United States Fire Administration, and I would like to commend Chairman Gordon for his leadership in bringing this bill to the floor.  This bill will allow the U.S. Fire Administration to continue to provide support services for fire prevention, firefighter training and education, and emergency medical services activities.  I urge my colleagues to support my amendment and H.R. 4847.