[Congressional Record Volume 149, Number 35 (Wednesday, March 5, 2003)]
[House]
[Page H1522]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




           SUPPORT THE HOMETOWN HEROES SURVIVOR BENEFITS ACT

  (Mr. ETHERIDGE asked and was given permission to address the House 
for 1 minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. ETHERIDGE. Madam Speaker, our Nation's firefighters, law 
enforcement officers and EMS workers are truly our hometown heroes. 
When we call them, they risk their lives for all of us.
  The Federal Public Safety Officers Benefit provides the families of 
public safety officers who are killed in the line of duty with a one-
time financial benefit. Yet too often the families of public safety 
officers who are killed by or die of a heart attack or stroke while 
performing their duties are denied these benefits.
  Last week, with the gentleman from Pennsylvania (Mr. Weldon), the 
gentleman from Maryland (Mr. Hoyer) and over 70 of my colleagues, I 
reintroduced this Hometown Heroes Survivor Benefit Act to correct this 
technicality in the law. H.R. 919 is a bipartisan bill to provide the 
benefits to the families of public safety officers who are killed by 
heart attack or stroke while on duty or within 24 hours after 
participating in a training exercise or responding to an emergency 
situation.
  Madam Speaker, this is exactly the type of bipartisan legislation 
that should pass this House, and I urge all my colleagues to join me in 
honoring our hometown heroes by supporting H.R. 919.

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