Congresswoman Susan Wild is a mother, attorney, public servant, and a dedicated member of the Greater Lehigh Valley community for more than 30 years.
The daughter of a journalist and a career Air Force officer, she was born at Wiesbaden Air Force Base in West Germany, and spent her childhood on Air Force bases across our country and around the world—an experience that shaped her lifelong commitment to the families that serve and sacrifice alongside our servicemembers. After years of moving around, she finally found a place to call home when she settled in the Lehigh Valley to start her family. Susan built a successful legal practice in the Valley while raising her two children, Clay and Addie, and later became the first woman to be appointed Allentown's City Solicitor. In November 2018, she made history again when she was elected as the first woman to represent Pennsylvania's 7th Congressional District in the U.S. House of Representatives.
Ensuring our public safety is a responsibility we all share as Americans. I am committed to supporting our local first responders, law enforcement officers, and health care workers who work every day to keep our community safe.
The COVID-19 pandemic has emphasized the essential role that emergency medical services play in communities across the country. That is why I am proud to sponsor the bipartisan EMS Counts Act, which would better support first responders and make sure our community has the resources we need to respond to health emergencies and natural disasters. This legislation would require the federal government to collect accurate, comprehensive data on the quantity, location, and training of first responders working throughout the United States. By doing so, we will address the chronic miscounting of first responders, particularly firefighters and emergency medical services (EMS) personnel. This is essential to ensuring that communities like ours are able to quickly respond to emergencies, including outbreaks of disease and natural disasters.
In addition, I am committed to providing law enforcement officers with the resources they need to do their jobs and keep our communities safe. This is why I sponsored the bipartisan Safe Interactions Act to improve interactions between law enforcement officers and people with disabilities and mental health needs. The legislation aims to create safer communities and reduce violence towards people with disabilities by funding grants for stronger training programs for law enforcement officers. These grants will be used to create partnerships between non-profit disability organizations and law enforcement agencies to administer enhanced training for law enforcement officers regarding best practices when interacting with people with disabilities and mental health issues.
During my time in Congress, I have also supported increases in funding for the Byrne Justice Assistance (Byrne JAG) Program and the Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS) programs. These important community safety programs provide local and state law enforcement with the resources, personnel, and programs needed to serve our communities. These programs help keep us safe through targeted violence prevention and mitigation initiatives.