[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.

                          ____________________