Honoring Our Fallen Heroes Act

Summary#

This bill adds a new category called “exposure-related cancers” to the public safety officer benefit rules in the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968. It lists specific cancers (for example: bladder, lung, leukemia, mesothelioma, prostate, thyroid, and others) and says that if a public safety officer was exposed to a listed carcinogen while on duty, that exposure is presumed to be a personal injury causing death or permanent total disability. The presumption applies only if the officer began service at least 5 years before diagnosis and the diagnosis occurs no more than 15 years after the officer’s last active service. The presumption can be overcome if competent medical evidence shows the exposure was not a substantial contributing factor.

The bill requires the Director of the Bureau to review and, when appropriate, update the list of exposure-related cancers at least once every 3 years. Updates may be based on competent medical evidence and scientific studies, including work by NIOSH, the National Toxicology Program, the National Academies, or IARC. Any person may petition the Director to add a cancer; petitions must be referred to medical experts within 180 days, and the Director must notify the Senate and House Judiciary Committees within 30 days after taking substantive action on recommendations.

The bill also amends confidentiality rules for information furnished to the Office of Justice Programs, makes those confidentiality rules effective retroactively to December 27, 1979, and applies them to pending matters. It makes technical changes to existing benefit provisions and amends the Safeguarding America’s First Responders Act of 2020 to clarify what counts as a “line of duty action.”

What it means for you#

• Public safety officers (for example, police, firefighters, EMS) and their survivors may be able to get federal benefits more easily if the officer’s death or permanent disability is linked to a listed exposure-related cancer.
• To qualify for the presumption, the officer must have served at least 5 years before diagnosis and be diagnosed within 15 years of leaving active service. The presumption can be defeated by competent medical evidence.
• The list of covered cancers can change. Officers, families, or others can petition to add cancers; the Bureau must review petitions and inform Congress of actions.
• Confidentiality rules for information held by Office of Justice Programs components are broadened and applied retroactively, which affects how such records are handled.
• The bill applies to deaths on or after January 1, 2020, and to disability claims filed on or after January 1, 2020. People may file claims under these changes within 3 years of the bill’s enactment.

Expenses#

No publicly available information.

Proponents' View#

The bill’s text shows its purpose: to provide public safety officers and their families with federal benefits when certain cancers are linked to on-duty exposures, to update the list of covered cancers using current medical evidence, and to clarify related definitions and confidentiality rules.

Opponents' View#

No publicly available information.