In the News

The House of Representatives passed theFirst Responders Passport Act of 2015 today. The legislation, cosponsored by Congressman Gerry Connolly, would waive passport fees for first responders deployed in the aftermath of international disasters.

As part of the U.S. international disaster response, the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) deploys Disaster Assistance Response Teams that comprise elite urban search and rescue teams, including Fairfax County’s Virginia Task Force 1. Physicians, canine handlers, structural engineers, technical search and rescue specialists, paramedics, and other personnel volunteer to serve on these teams and can be deployed abroad on a moment’s notice.

The Fairfax Team has been deployed in recent years to disasters in Nepal, Japan, and Haiti.  Members of Task Force 1 are required to hold current passports and be able to deploy within a few hours. Under the bill, when those individuals renew their passports or new members of the teams require a passport, the passport fees would be waived.

“These brave men and women provide relief and assistance at desperate times and serve as outstanding goodwill ambassadors for the U.S,” Connolly said.

“This legislation recognizes the contribution our first responders make to international disaster response efforts by waiving the fees they would pay to obtain a U.S. passport,” said Rep. Connolly. “This is a small thanks for the sacrifice they and their families make when they are deployed abroad to work in dangerous and chaotic conditions.”

Connolly’s full remarks follow:

Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of the First Responders Passport Act of 2015. This legislation recognizes the contribution our first responders make to international disaster response efforts by waiving the fees they would pay to obtain a U.S. passport.

This is a small thanks for the sacrifice they and their families make when they are deployed abroad to work in dangerous and chaotic conditions.

As part of the U.S. international disaster response, the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) Office of Disaster Assistance (OFDA) deploys Disaster Assistance Response Teams (DART) that include elite urban search and rescue teams from Fairfax County, Virginia and Los Angeles, California. Physicians, canine handlers, structural engineers, technical search and rescue specialists, paramedics, and other personnel volunteer to serve on these teams and can be deployed abroad on a moment’s notice.

The team from Fairfax, Virginia Task Force 1, was established in 1986, and is sponsored by the Fairfax County Fire and Rescue Department.

As Chairman of both the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors and the Emergency Preparedness Council for the Metropolitan Region, I worked closely with the Department to help leverage local and federal funding into strengthened disaster response operations.

I have also attended numerous welcome home ceremonies for Virginia Task Force 1 and seen the tremendous relief expressed by family members when their loved ones return home safe from their mission of mercy.

When the House Foreign Affairs Committee considered legislation expressing condolences to the victims of the April 2015 earthquake in Nepal, I was pleased to work with the Chair and Ranking Member to include language in the resolution noting the life-saving rescue and recovery operations our elite urban search and rescue teams carried out while deployed in Nepal.

I am glad the Congress is taking further action to recognize the brave men and women who provide relief and assistance at desperate times and serve as outstanding goodwill ambassadors for the U.S.

I urge my colleagues to support this legislation.