Congressmen Menendez and Pascrell and Senator Menendez Promote Expanded Benefits for Firefighters

WEST NEW YORK, NJ – Congressman Rob Menendez (D-NJ-08), Congressman Bill Pascrell, Jr. (D-NJ-09),and U.S. Senator Bob Menendez (D-NJ) today appeared together with local and national fire leaders at the North Hudson Regional Fire and Rescue in West New York, New Jersey to discuss the Honoring Our Fallen Heroes Act. The legislation will provide federal benefits for occupational cancer under the Public Safety Officers’ Benefits (PSOB) program to firefighters, first responders, and their families. On March 6, 2023, President Joe Biden endorsed the Honoring Our Fallen Heroes Act and called on Congress to get the bill to his desk.

“Our firefighters and first responders selflessly put their communities ahead of themselves, often sacrificing their health and safety while doing so,” said Congressman Menendez. “That is why I am proud to co-sponsor the Honoring Our Fallen Heroes Act, which would finally provide federal death and disability benefits to men and women who are stricken by cancer as a result of line-of-duty exposures. I want to thank Congressman Pascrell for his leadership on this issue and I look forward to working with him to pass this important legislation.”

“Every day, thousands of firefighters suit up and put their lives on the line to keep our communities safe,” said Congressman Pascrell, the longtime co-chair of the Congressional Fire Services Caucus. “These brave men and women encounter countless dangers on the job, including exposure to deadly carcinogens. Cancer is now the leading cause of death among firefighters, and the federal government must have their backs. I introduced the Honoring our Fallen Heroes Act to guarantee that first responders and their families get occupational cancer benefits without delay or red tape. Nothing less is acceptable.”

“The Honoring our Fallen Heroes Act, would strengthen a crucial safety net that first responders and their families rely on and I look forward to working with colleagues to get this bipartisan common-sense measure passed swiftly in the Senate,” said Senator Menendez. “Equally importantly, Congress must reauthorize the AFG and SAFER grant programs as soon as we return to session next week. These two programs are cornerstones of our effort to recruit and retain firefighters in New Jersey, and have distributed more than $200 million to communities throughout the Garden State since 2015.”

The PSOB program provides a one-time federal death and disability benefit payment of $422,035 to first responders who die or are permanently disabled in the line of duty and monthly education assistance of $1,401 for their children or spouse. While medical conditions like heart attacks, strokes, and COVID-19 are presumed to be line-of-duty deaths for the purposes of PSOB, occupational cancer is not. 

In 2015, National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) published a multi-year study, which found that firefighters are 9% more likely to develop cancer and 14% more likely to die from cancer relative to the general population. Last year, cancer was the leading cause of death among firefighters, accounting for 74% of line-of-duty deaths according to the International Association of Fire Fighters (IAFF).