I 117TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 2111 To amend title 38, United States Code, to establish presumptions of service connection for diseases associated with firefighting. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES MARCH 19, 2021 Ms. SPANBERGER (for herself, Mr. BACON, Mr. LAMB, Mr. FITZPATRICK, Mrs. LURIA, Mr. KATKO, Mr. BEYER, Mrs. HINSON, Ms. SHERRILL, Mr. VAN DREW, Mr. SUOZZI, and Mr. MEIJER) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Veterans’ Affairs A BILL To amend title 38, United States Code, to establish presump- tions of service connection for diseases associated with firefighting. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Michael Lecik Military 4 Firefighters Protection Act’’. 5 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:43 May 19, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2111.IH H2111 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 2111 IH SEC. 2. PRESUMPTIONS OF SERVICE CONNECTION FOR DIS- 1 EASES ASSOCIATED WITH FIREFIGHTING. 2 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.—Subchapter II of chapter 11 3 of title 38, United States Code, is amended by adding at 4 the end the following new section: 5 ‘‘§ 1119. Presumptions of service connection for dis- 6 eases associated with firefighting 7 ‘‘(a) SERVICE CONNECTION.—For the purposes of 8 section 1110 of this title, and subject to section 1113 of 9 this title, a disease specified in subsection (b) becoming 10 manifest in a veteran described in subsection (c) to a de- 11 gree of disability specified in subsection (d) and within the 12 period specified in subsection (e) shall be considered to 13 have been incurred in or aggravated during active military, 14 naval, or air service, notwithstanding that there is no 15 record of evidence of such disease during a period of such 16 service. 17 ‘‘(b) SPECIFIED DISEASES.—The diseases specified 18 in this subsection are the following: 19 ‘‘(1) Heart disease. 20 ‘‘(2) Lung disease. 21 ‘‘(3) Brain cancer. 22 ‘‘(4) Cancer of the blood or lymphatic systems. 23 ‘‘(5) Leukemia. 24 ‘‘(6) Lymphoma (except Hodgkin’s disease). 25 ‘‘(7) Multiple myeloma. 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:43 May 19, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2111.IH H2111 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 2111 IH ‘‘(8) Bladder cancer. 1 ‘‘(9) Kidney cancer. 2 ‘‘(10) Cancer of the reproductive system (in- 3 cluding testicular cancer). 4 ‘‘(11) Cancer of the digestive system. 5 ‘‘(12) Colon cancer. 6 ‘‘(13) Liver cancer. 7 ‘‘(14) Skin cancer. 8 ‘‘(15) Lung cancer. 9 ‘‘(16) Breast cancer. 10 ‘‘(17) Each additional disease (if any) that the 11 Secretary determines in regulations prescribed under 12 this section— 13 ‘‘(A) warrants a presumption of service 14 connection by reason of having positive associa- 15 tion with firefighting; and 16 ‘‘(B) becomes manifest within the period 17 (if any) prescribed in such regulations in a vet- 18 eran described in subsection (c), notwithstand- 19 ing subsection (e). 20 ‘‘(c) COVERED VETERANS.—A veteran described in 21 this subsection is a veteran who— 22 ‘‘(1) is trained in fire suppression; and 23 ‘‘(2) served on active duty in a military occupa- 24 tional specialty or career field with a primary re- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:43 May 19, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2111.IH H2111 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 2111 IH sponsibility for firefighting or damage control for at 1 least five years in the aggregate. 2 ‘‘(d) DEGREE OF DISABILITY.—The degree of dis- 3 ability specified in this subsection is 10 percent or more. 4 ‘‘(e) PERIOD.—The period specified in this subsection 5 is within 15 years of the date on which the veteran sepa- 6 rated from active military, naval, or air service. 7 ‘‘(f) EFFECTIVE DATE OF AWARD.—The effective 8 date of an award under this section shall be determined 9 in accordance with section 5110 of this title.’’. 10 (b) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of sections 11 at the beginning of such chapter is amended by inserting 12 after the item relating to section 1118 the following new 13 item: 14 ‘‘1119. Presumptions of service connection for diseases associated with fire- fighting.’’. Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:43 May 19, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H2111.IH H2111 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS