[Congressional Record Volume 150, Number 74 (Tuesday, June 1, 2004)]
[House]
[Pages H3572-H3573]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
FALLEN FIREFIGHTER, 14-YEAR OLD CHRISTOPHER KANGAS, DENIED BENEFITS
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the
gentleman from Pennsylvania (Mr. Weldon) is recognized for 5 minutes.
Mr. WELDON of Pennsylvania. Mr. Speaker, sometimes the bureaucrats in
this city just do not get it. Before coming to Congress, Mr. Speaker, I
was an educator, but I was also a volunteer firefighter and a fire
chief in my home State of Pennsylvania. There are 32,000 fire
departments across this country, and 85 percent of them are volunteers.
There are 1.2 million men and women each year who risk their lives to
protect the properties in their towns and that of their neighbors from
the ravages of fire. Each year, 100 of them are killed in the line of
duty, most of them volunteers.
Mr. Speaker, the Congress established a Public Safety Officers'
Benefits Act for these brave heroes years ago. In establishing this
program, the Federal Government did not set any age limitations.
Rather, the Federal Government said where a firefighter is recognized
by his or her State, that firefighter is eligible for public safety
officer benefits.
In some States, the age for firefighters is 18. In other States, it
is 16. In others, it is 14. In my State of Pennsylvania, where we have
2,600 fire departments, you can be 14 years of age to be a firefighter,
a recognized firefighter in a local fire department. There are certain
rules on what kind of work you can perform at the scene of a fire, but
you are a legitimate firefighter, and, therefore, you are eligible for
Federal public safety officer benefits.
On May 4, 2002, Mr. Speaker, 14-year-old Christopher Kangas was
killed responding to a fire in Brookhaven Borough, Delaware County,
Pennsylvania. His bicycle was run over by a vehicle, and he was killed
at the scene, one block from the firehouse. He was a regular
firefighter. He had trained, he knew what he could do and what he could
not do at the scene, and he was recognized by the Borough of Brookhaven
and by the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania as a firefighter.
When he passed away, and they gave full honors to him, the Borough of
Brookhaven provided the full benefits to his family as a fallen
firefighter. The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania recognized Chris Kangas
as a fallen firefighter and gave him full honors.
Mr. Speaker, the representative of the President of the United States
to the Fire Service, the U.S. Fire Administrator Dave Paulison, sent a
letter of condolence to the family, recognizing Chris Kangas as a
firefighter. But the bureaucrats over at the Department of Justice who
administer a program that Congress enacted ruled now for the second
time that Chris Kangas was not a firefighter. The bureaucrats in
Washington determined that he could not be a firefighter, even though
the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and the Brookhaven Fire Department
legally maintained Chris Kangas on their rolls.
Mr. Speaker, this is outrageous. Regardless of age, Chris Kangas was
a firefighter; and he was killed in the line of duty. No bureaucracy,
no bureaucrat in the Department of Justice should be able to determine
who is a firefighter. We have had firefighters who were in their 60s
and 70s directing traffic at a fire scene and were killed and were
recognized by the Federal Government's Department of Justice as a
fallen firefighter. So a 70-year-old can be a firefighter but a 14-
year-old recognized by a legitimate State authority cannot.
Mr. Speaker, this is outrageous. It is appalling. It is a disservice
to every volunteer in America. Those one million volunteers out there
are joining with me in demanding that Congress change this terrible
action by the Department of Justice.
Therefore, today I have introduced legislation, H.R. 4472,
cosponsored by all the cochairs of the Congressional Fire and EMS
Caucus, the gentleman from Maryland (Mr. Hoyer), the gentleman from New
York (Mr. Boehlert), the gentleman from New Jersey (Mr. Andrews), the
gentleman from New Jersey (Mr. Pascrell), and the gentleman from
Michigan (Mr. Smith). We are calling for the immediate definitional
change so that everyone understands a firefighter in a State,
determined by that State's laws, is a firefighter under the guidance of
Federal regulations for death benefits.
No bureaucrat in Washington should be allowed to make that decision.
It is a slap in the face to the Kangas family and to every firefighter
across America. I urge the White House to join with us in asking for
the courts to move in on this in an appeal, but I ask my colleagues to
cosponsor H.R. 4472 to correct this gross action so that Chris Kangas'
name can be added to the National Fallen Firefighters Memorial at
Emmitsburg, to be recognized for the American hero that he was and that
he is.
Mr. Speaker, I submit herewith for the Record an op-ed that I
produced on this story.
On May 4, 2002, Christopher Kangas, a 14-year-old junior
firefighter with the Brookhaven Fire Department, was struck
by a car and killed while riding his bicycle in response to a
fire emergency. Christopher's death struck a devastating blow
to the Kangas family, the Brookhaven Fire Department and the
local community. His death was a horrendous tragedy and
marked the loss of a true local hero.
Make no mistake--regardless of his age Christopher Kangas
was a firefighter killed in the line of duty. As a member of
Congress with direct legislative oversight on homeland
security and first responder issues for 18 years, founder of
the Congressional Fire and EMS Caucus, a former junior member
of my local department and former volunteer fire chief, it is
my professional and expert opinion that Christopher Kangas
met every conceivable definition of a firefighter. I am not
alone in that opinion--The Brookhaven Fire Department,
Brookhaven Fire Chief Rob Montella, Brookhaven Borough and
the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania all agree. The Commonwealth
of Pennsylvania and the Borough of Brookhaven awarded the
deceased public safety officer benefits to the Kangas family,
recognizing his death as occurring in the line of duty as an
official member of the fire department.
This week, the Kangas family, the Brookhaven Fire
Department, the local community and firefighters across the
country suffered a second devastating blow when the
Department of Justice (DOJ) announced its ruling denying
Christopher Kangas full firefighter status under the Public
Safety Officers' Benefits Act (PSOB). As a result, his family
will not receive a $267,000 line-of-duty benefit. Even more
damaging than the loss of monetary benefit is the fact that
Christopher will not take his rightful place at the National
Fallen Firefighters Memorial in Emmitsburg, Maryland, along
side his fellow fallen heroes. Inexplicably, the DOJ
determined that Christopher was not a ``public safety
officer'' under the PSOB Act. In so ruling, the DOJ not
only ignored the facts, but also the letter and spirit of
the law.
When Congress passed the PSOB Act, it intended to provide
benefits to any firefighter serving as an officially
recognized member of a legally organized fire department.
There is no question that the Brookhaven Fire Department is a
legally organized department and that they officially
recognized Christopher as a firefighter. With its ruling, the
DOJ is inappropriately rewriting the law and narrowing the
definition of firefighter to exclude individuals based on
age.
The Act does not contain a single requirement based on age
or the type of activities that must be met to entitle an
individual to benefits. The Act clearly and simply states
that an officially recognized firefighter
[[Page H3573]]
killed in the line of duty is entitled to benefits. Whether a
30-year-old firefighter is killed manning a hose, a 60-year-
old firefighter is killed directing traffic at the scene, or
a 14 year-old firefighter is killed while mobilizing
supplies, providing emergency medical supplies or performing
many other duties necessary for the suppression of fire, he
or she should be entitled to benefits. On May 4th, 2002, like
thousands of Junior Firefighters across the country do every
day. Christopher Kangas fulfilled his duty and answered the
call to a fire emergency. Tragically, while answering that
call, he was killed in the line of duty. As a result of DOJ's
ruling an entire class of firefighters who serve, protect and
die while responding to an emergency are now deemed
inconsequential.
Congress never intended for the PSOB Act to make judgment
calls about what roles a firefighter must perform to entitle
them to benefits. Furthermore, Congress made no distinction
with regards to the specific tasks that an officer must be
able to perform at the scene of a fire to be considered a
public safety officer. In fact, most firefighter fatalities
arise from causes other than burns and asphyxiation. Every
year, more public safety officers are injured or killed in
motor vehicle and other incidents on the highway at the
scene of an emergency or while en route or leaving the
scene of an emergency than by fire or smoke. The DOJ's
ruling completely ignores the every day risks that our
first responders face when responding to emergencies. More
disturbing, is the thoughtless message the ruling sends to
Junior Firefighters across the country that they are
somehow less important or meaningful to the fire service
than adult firefighters.
Although not surprised by the DOJ's ruling, I am appalled
by the lack of understanding displayed by the Department's
myopic decision. In response, I will introduce the
Christopher Kangas Fallen Firefighter Apprentice Act to
retroactively prevent the DOJ from denying firefighter
eligibility for PSOB status based on age. When passed,
Christopher Kangas and all junior firefighters will be given
the status they deserve.
Fighting fires requires preparation, dedication and above
all else--teamwork. Each member of the team must perform his
individual duty to the fullest extent of his or her ability
and accept the inherent risk of their position. Only when
each member of the team performs their assigned duty, can the
entire team achieve success. The firefighter providing
maintenance on the equipment, operating a hose, searching a
building, providing first aid to the injured or directing
traffic on the scene all assume a risk to their safety and
play vital role in the team's success. Firefighters across
the country understand the importance of teamwork and
heroically accept the risk that their duty requires.
Christopher Kangas understood this principle and bravely
faced the risk of his position, let's hope his memory will
force the DOJ to come to that same understanding and honor
those like Christopher that have paid the ultimate sacrifice
protecting our communities.
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