The
Senate has unanimously passed
the Protecting America’s First Responders
Act.
I
authored this legislation to expand benefits to first responders who are
injured in the line of duty.
The
Public Safety Officers Benefit Program - or PSOB for short - offers a onetime
lump sum payment to first responders who are killed or permanently disabled in
the line of duty.
I
started investigating this program when I heard complaints about long delays in
processing payments.
Those
delays reached up to three years on average.
We
fixed that issue with my 2017 bill, the Public
Safety Officers’ Benefits Improvement Act.
However,
my investigation uncovered a lot of other problems.
The
Justice Department was denying payments to folks that should’ve gotten them.
In
one case, a disabled police officer suffered a traumatic brain injury.
The
department said he wasn’t disabled because he held a part-time position at Home
Depot as a greeter.
In
another case, again a police officer with a brain injury was denied the benefit.
Why?
Because the officer tinkered on a motorcycle in his garage.
It
would take this officer months to do simple things that would have otherwise
taken him days.
Still,
the department said he wasn’t disabled.
My
bill will correct this problem.
It
clarifies that first responders who are totally and permanently disabled, but
can still perform some simple tasks, can still get benefits.
It
adds a fair boost in payments to first responders who’ve waited years for
benefits.
It
provides the Justice Department with more tools so it can process claims more quickly.
Finally,
my bill extends a presumption in the law that ensures that first responders who
contract COVID-19 on duty don’t have to jump through hoops to prove it.
This
bill will go a long way to helping our first responders.
I’d
like to thank Senators Gillibrand and Booker as well as all our other
co-sponsors.
I
also want to thank our House counterparts, specifically Congressman Pascrell
and his staff, who led the effort to pass this bill in the House.
Lastly,
I want to thank the Justice Department for working closely with us to improve
this language.
Before
I wrap up, I just want to say a few words about our first responders.
Whether
it’s police officers, firefighters or EMT’s, first responders embody the best
qualities of all Americans.
Their
daily sacrifices make our society better and safer.
I
am proud to have sponsored this legislation and I urge the President to quickly
sign it into law.
