Congressman Trone tours Emmitsburg

Trone learned about the sheer number of students who utilize the campus’ one-of-a-kind education provided by the campus. With thousands of people on campus at one point or another, Trone saw first how the campus is intertwined with the community with one-of-a-kind education not found anywhere else.

Administrators come from all over the country to learn high level executive aspects and leadership attributes, he said. Students coming to campus also include officials from the bureau of alcohol tobacco firearms and explosives learning in-depth teachings including fire investigations and sciences.

Due to the campus’s essential services providing for not only the community, but firefighting efforts nationwide, Trone could not see any reason the campus would move from Emmitsburg but assured he and others would do everything in their power to ensure the campus in the community.

The congressman is currently working on bringing much needed mental health support and recognition to emergency responders facing mental health issues: a bill to provide benefits to emergency responders fallen to mental illness.

Responders who, he noted, see horrors in the everyday line of duty, which can result in the taking of their own life. Acknowledging the prevalence of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) in the emergency responder community, a bill is in the works to recognize firefighters and police valiantly fighting mental illness and provide families with benefits. The bill looks to honor those fallen in the line of duty and now includes mental illness as a job-related line of duty death.

Erasing the stigma behind mental health and recognizing, "it’s okay not to be okay," he said.

"To give something to the widows at the end of the day," he said.