ARLINGTON – Congressman Pat Ryan (D, NY-19) was joined by firefighters on Tuesday to roll out his “Fighting for our Firefighters” plan. Ryan is a member of the Congressional Fire Services Caucus and has met with several area departments, both career and volunteer.
Ryan’s “Fighting for our Firefighters” plan includes several different bills that he is sponsoring:
- Honoring Our Fallen Heroes Act, a bill that recognizes the job-related roots of cancer for first responders by providing death benefits for occupational cancer under the Public Safety Officers’ Benefits (PSOB) program. While medical conditions like heart attacks, strokes, and COVID-19 are presumed to be line-of-duty deaths for the purposes of the PSOB program, occupational cancer is not.
- Federal Firefighter Cancer Detection & Prevention Act, a bill to prevent and detect certain cancers by directing the Department of Defense to include cancer testing as a component of the civil service firefighter’s annual medical exam.
- Federal Firefighters Pay Equity Act, a bill that fixes a loophole where federal firefighters receive only partial retirement credit for their work, effectively denying them the pension credit they have earned.
- Social Security Fairness Act, a bill that would repeal the Windfall Elimination Provision and ensure retired firefighters can receive their full Social Security.
“In Congress, my job is to deliver for everyone who puts on a uniform and protects this country, whether it be overseas or at home in our communities. Firefighters make unbelievable sacrifices for the safety of our families – now we need to be there for them,” said Ryan.“This package of legislation will ensure that our firefighters and their families get the benefits they deserve, while at the same time increasing federal funding for fire departments across the Hudson Valley. I’ll keep fighting every day to get all of our frontline heroes the necessary support.”
Regarding the cancer screenings, Ryan said, “This should be common sense that we are testing for this – we’re not and I think it’s disgraceful that we’re not so this legislation makes sure that we do the testing.”
Arlington’s IAFF Local 2393 President Joe Tarquinio applauded the bills put forth by the congressman. “Safe and healthy firefighters are vital to ensure public safety and the dangers we face are increasing daily,” he said, noting that federal regulations that limit the amount of toxic substances firefighters encounter are needed to reduce health risks due to exposure.
