CFSI’s mission is to promote the value and needs of the American fire service to members of Congress. Gaining consensus in Washington, DC on important issues that impact our nation’s fire and emergency services and the industry as a whole can make the difference between legislation becoming public law or never seeing the light of day.
CFSI has been performing this mission since 1989. Why? Because we strongly believe:
- The federal government should help provide the training and equipment our firefighters and emergency services personnel need to execute their duties safely and skillfully
- Fire departments need federal funds to meet their baseline requirements when local funding has been exhausted. This is why Congress established the Assistance to Firefighters (AFG) and Staffing for Adequate Fire and Emergency Response (SAFER) grant programs and why CFSI fights to keep these programs authorized and funded!
- AFG and SAFER not only benefit the fire service, but also the fire service industry — an industry that is primarily composed of companies based in the USA!
Beyond the grant programs, CFSI helps ensure the federal government maintains a strong commitment to other mission-critical resources such as:
- The United States Fire Administration (USFA) and its four core missions of training, data collection, education and research.
- The Public Safety Officers Benefit Program (PSOB) that provides crucial financial benefits when firefighters become permanently disabled or fall in the line of duty
- Other federal programs that serve essential roles in public safety communications, wildland-urban mitigation and suppression, emergency medical services, and firefighter health and safety.