Page:United States Statutes at Large Volume 115 Part 3.djvu/440

 115 STAT. 2514 CONCURRENT RESOLUTIONS—MAY 10, 2001 SEC. 312. FEDERAL FIRE PREVENTION ASSISTANCE. (a) FINDINGS. —Congress finds the following: (1) Increased demands on flrefighting and emergency medical personnel have made it difficult for local governments to adequately fund necessary fire safety precautions. (2) The Government has an obligation to protect the health and safety of the flrefighting personnel of the United States and to ensure that they have the financial resources to protect the public. (3) The high rates in the United States of death, injury, and property damage caused by fires demonstrates a critical need for Federal investment in support of flrefighting personnel. (b) SENSE OF CONGRESS.—It is the sense of Congress that the Government should support the core operations of the Federal Emergency Management Agency by providing needed fire grant programs to assist our firefighters and rescue personnel as they respond to more than 17,000,000 emergency calls annually. To accomplish this task. Congress supports preservation of the Assistance to Firefighters grant program. Continued support of the Assistance to Firefighters grant program will enable local firefighters to adequately protect the lives of countless Americans put at risk by insufficient fire protection. SEC. 313. FUNDING FOR GRADUATE MEDICAL EDUCATION AT CHIL- DREN'S TEACHING HOSPITALS. It is the sense of Congress that: (1) Function 550 includes an appropriate level of funding for graduate medical education conducted at independent children's teaching hospitals in order to ensure access to care by millions of children nationwide. (2) An emphasis should be placed on the role played by community health centers in underserved rural and urban communities. (3) Funding under function 550 should also reflect the importance of the Ryan White CARE Act to persons afflicted with HIV/AIDS. SEC. 314. CONCURRENT RETIREMENT AND DISABILITY BENEFITS TO RETIRED MEMBERS OF THE ARMED FORCES. (a) FINDINGS. —Congress finds that the Secretary of Defense is the appropriate official for evaluating the existing standards for the provision of concurrent retirement and disability benefits to retired members of the Armed Forces and the need to change these standards. (b) SENSE OF CONGRESS.— It is the sense of Congress that— (1) the Secretary of Defense should report not later than 180 days after the date of adoption of this resolution to the congressional committees of jurisdiction on the provision of concurrent retirement and disability benefits to retired members of the Armed Forces; (2) the report should address the number of individuals retired from the Armed Forces who would otherwise be eligible for disability compensation, the comparability of the policy to Office of Personnel Management guidelines for civilian Federal retirees, the applicability of this policy to prevailing private sector standards, the number of individuals potentially eligible for concurrent benefits who receive other forms of Federal

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