January 21, 1999
Web posted at: 5:43 p.m. EDT (1743 GMT)

WASHINGTON (January 21) - The 225,000-member International Association of Firefighters (IAF) announced Thursday it was endorsing Vice President Al Gore for the presidency in 2000.

It is the first AFL-CIO member union to make an endorsement for the coming presidential campaign.

Vice President Gore has been endorsed by the International Association of Firefighters

In a statement, IAF President Al Whitehead said, "Firefighters and paramedics are known as the nation's first responders and that is what we wanted to be -- the first national organization to endorse the most active and involved vice president in history."

The statement said the endorsement was for the Democratic nomination as well as the general election, assuming Gore wins the nomination. The endorsement was the result of a unanimous vote Thursday by the union's executive council, at its quarterly meeting in Washington.

Gore is expected to announce his candidacy early this year.

Thursday, January 21, 1999

• Quayle announces 2000 GOP presidential bid
• Clinton defense team pleads for 'political sanity'
• Senators disagree over what's next
• Fellow Arkansan to deliver defense close for Clinton
• Transcript: Clinton attorney David Kendall
• Transcript: Former Sen. Dale Bumpers
• Clinton spells out education agenda
• Firefighters union first labor group to endorse Gore
• Holbrooke accused of ethics violations
• Monica madness: One year and counting
• Schools, libraries gets Internet subsidies
• Sen. Hollings recovers from eye surgery
• Democrats criticize proposed defense spending increase
• Archer: GOP won't touch most of surplus pending Social Security reform
• Steelworkers demonstrate in D.C.

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