Washington, DC
March 4, 2024
Oh my goodness, thank you all so much! And good morning! It's so great to be here with you all.
Liz, thank you for that beautiful introduction. It's great to meet a Southern California sister and to hear about the connections that we had. I think when you fight for working people your entire life, you're bound to cross the same people over and over again. And thank you for keeping your city of Highland safe, and also thank you for what you said about the recruitment and retention of the work to bring women and people of color into the fire service. We need them, and we need you.
So, at a time when people can't agree on much, I think it's safe to say that firefighters and the importance of what you do create a rare area of common agreement. From the fact that one of the first things that young children, including my own when they were little, ever learn to identify is a fire truck, to the collective sigh of relief that people breathe when you show up in a time of crisis, everyone knows that you run toward danger to save all of us from it.
And so I know you're all familiar with, I watched the video a few days ago, of the footage from the bridge that connects Louisville with southern Indiana. You all know this already, right? A semi had crashed through the barricade and was dangling off the side. Any wrong move would have plunged the truck—and the driver—into the Ohio River below.
So firefighters and emergency responders showed up at the scene. And it was your brother, Bryce Carden, who rappelled down, cut the driver out of the seat belt, and then latched her onto a safety harness. And I know the local 54 is in the house today, so I want to thank you and acknowledge you.
[Applause]
As the two of them were lifted up, Bryce said that he kept saying over and over to her, "I have you," until he delivered her to safety. And to say, "I have you," and mean it, is really something powerful.
I also want to say a huge thanks to President Edward Kelly. President Kelly has a fire in his belly, the kind you don't want to put out, for this work at IAFF. And you know his story well. President Kelly's grandfather was a firefighter. So was his dad, his brother, his cousin and his nephew. So President Kelly, thank you for your family's service, for your impeccable leadership in the IAFF family, and I am grateful for our friendship.
And I also want to acknowledge General Secretary-Treasurer Frank Lima from my hometown of LA. He's not only a firefighter, but he fights for his union sisters and brothers across the entire labor movement.
So today, I bring greetings from President Joe Biden.
As you well know, firefighters have a very special place in his heart. It's personal for him. He knows that when this union is strong, families and communities are safer. And as President, when Joe Biden makes a promise, he means it.
Last year, when he was with you at this conference, he talked about updating safety standards for emergency responders. And he told me, "You've gotta get that done. It's really important."
We have now proposed, as Liz mentioned, a new rule that would extend health and safety protections for firefighters and other emergency responders. In that proposal, we included big changes in the protective clothing you wear, the equipment you use, the medical screenings you get—to make the vital jobs that you do healthier and safer. And that rule is open for public comment right now, and you can comment until May 6. So please take a look at that, make your voices heard, and let's make sure we get that right.
President Biden vowed to do more to better equip and protect you. And we're following through on that promise.
Also, when he was with you last year, the President talked about the Special Claims Unit we set up to process cancer claims—and to do it faster. Over the past two years, that unit has helped more than 4,000 firefighters get the treatment and the benefits they're entitled to.
[Applause]
Promises made; promises kept.
And in late 2022, the President signed the Federal Firefighters Fairness Act into law.
[Applause]
So my team got to work to make sure that when firefighters have job-related heart problems and cancer, that they and their family get the compensation and benefits that they deserve. Before that legislation, only about 29 percent of federal firefighters' claims for these health issues were approved, 29 percent. Today, those approvals are at 93 percent.
[Applause]
Promises made; promises kept.
These aren't the kinds of things that break through the nightly news cycle or show up on the front page of the paper, but they're how we deal with the things that make life better, and that's what I commit to doing day in and day out.
There's no way around it. What you do is dangerous, that's something you fight every time you put on your turnout gear.
My team now works with the CDC to get firefighters enrolled in the National Firefighter Registry for Cancer. And today, more than 10,000 firefighters across the country have enrolled. That's going to go a long way to better understand, and address, the connection between toxic exposure and firefighter illness.
And all of this is part of President Biden's Cancer Moonshot. It's an ambitious goal—rallying the entire federal government and our country—to prevent four million cancer deaths by 2047.
But we can't win any battles if we don't fight, right? So let's fight that battle together.
Something else that I know we all care about is how to get brave men and women to commit to this line of work. And I was recently in Portland, talking to the Oregon IAFF President, Karl Koenig about this.
And we talked about how the best way to recruit workers into dangerous jobs is to make sure they're good jobs.
Good jobs mean good pay, benefits, and retirement security, but it also means proper training, equipment, and protections. When you hear the bell and run towards danger, you deserve to know that lawmakers and policymakers, that we have done everything we can also to help you make sure that you make it home safe at the end of the day.
And that's also why President Biden has fought for and won historic investments; for the roads and bridges that you rely on when you're responding to an emergency, to strengthen our water mains and to replace faulty pipes, and to confront the climate crisis, which will reduce fire risks.
And these historic investments, which are all part of President Biden's Investing in America agenda, aren't just an opportunity to rebuild our infrastructure. They're an opportunity to create more good jobs, good union jobs, in industries across the country.
Because in President Biden's America, union is not a bad word. It's the reason America is strong, and it's the way that America will get stronger.
So 2023 was a year of historic gains for many workers at the bargaining table. And President Biden isn't just watching this happen. We're using every lever we can to help make sure that it happens. Support for labor unions have reached a historic high, the highest in 50 years. That's a testament to the hard work of all of you in the labor movement, but it's also because leadership matters. And we have a President who says over and over again that he's going to be the most pro-worker, pro-union President in history. And we're delivering also on that cause.
As you know, there are some things that require Congress to act. That's why you're all here in DC for your legislative congress. And like you, we are advocating for a budget from Congress that does right by America's workers. We're advocating for protections for keeping America's workers safe.
But while there are some things that require legislative action, I also know that there are things that we can do with the powers that we have, which is why ever since I came to the Department of Labor, I've asked my team to unleash the full power of the Department to protect and make life better for America's working people. So that's what we're doing. So that's what we're doing, because we should be willing to fight as hard as you do.
So to the IAFF, thank you for everything you do, not just to fight fires, but to say, "I have you," and to mean it.
And know that, as your Acting Labor Secretary, I and the entire Biden-Harris administration have your back, and we mean it.