[Congressional Record Volume 153, Number 185 (Wednesday, December 5, 2007)]
[Senate]
[Pages S14797-S14798]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

      By Mr. ENZI (for himself and Mrs. Feinstein):
  S. 2413. A bill to provide death and disability benefits for aerial 
firefighters who work on a contract basis for a public agency and 
suffer death or disability in the line of duty, and for other purposes; 
to the Committee on the Judiciary.
  Mr. ENZI. Mr. President, the 2007 fire season was one of the worst in 
recent history. Millions of acres burned across America. The fires 
destroyed homes, and their damage is estimated in the hundreds of 
millions of dollars. These fires would have been worse, if not for the 
skill and bravery of the aerial firefighters who risked their lives to 
fight them.
  Aerial firefighters take on the dangerous tasks of maneuvering aerial 
vehicles in and out of fire zones. Each time they step in a plane, 
their life is at risk. Unfortunately, while we expect aerial 
firefighters to risk their lives to help control fires, we refuse to 
provide their families with the knowledge that they will be made 
financially whole if their husband or wife dies in the line of duty.
  This is because aerial firefighters do not qualify for death benefits 
under the Public Safety Officers' Benefit, PSOB, program, which 
provides financial and educational benefits to individuals serving a 
public safety agency in an official capacity, on a paid or volunteer 
basis. Currently, those receiving benefits include, but are not limited 
to, law enforcement officers, firefighters, emergency medical 
technicians, ambulance crew members, and corrections officers.
  Senator Feinstein and I say that these pilots do the same work and 
take on the same risks as other public safety officers. They should get 
the same

[[Page S14798]]

benefits. That is the reason that we have introduced the Aerial 
Firefighter Relief Act of 2007. This important legislation will remedy 
this problem and makes aerial firefighters eligible for death benefits.
  The Department of Justice's Bureau of Justice Assistance, BJA, the 
agency that administers the PSOB, has ruled that aerial pilots are 
ineligible because they are contractors and not employed directly by 
the federal and state agencies involved in wildland fire management and 
suppression. The 1980 official finding that prohibits the pilots and 
their families from receiving benefits states that pilots are not ``a 
`public safety officer' as this term is defined in the PSOB ACT because 
[they are] not serving a public agency in an official capacity . . . as 
a fireman.''
  Unfortunately, pilots also often do not receive benefits from their 
employers. Federal agencies outsource air tanker missions to the 
lowest-cost private operators who do not provide benefits to keep their 
costs down. Some companies do offer a minimal amount of life insurance. 
However, it is expensive, both for the pilot and the contractor. In the 
``low cost'' competitive bid situation they are in, the contractors 
cannot afford to add more expenses to the payroll or they reduce their 
chances of winning a fire suppression contract--and go out of business. 
Other forms of life insurance are also difficult to obtain because of 
the dangerous nature of aerial firefighting.
  It is common sense legislation that deserves the support of my 
colleagues, and I am pleased to have Senator Feinstein as an original 
cosponsor. In the coming months, I look forward to working with the 
appropriate committees to move this legislation forward so that our 
brave aerial firefighters can take to the skies knowing that their 
families will be taken care of if they pass away taking care of our 
country.
  Mrs. FEINSTEIN. Mr. President, today I am pleased to cosponsor 
Senator Enzi's Aerial Firefighter Relief Act of 2007.
  On August 27, 2001, a California pilot named Larry Groff took off 
from Ukiah in State Air Tanker 87, doing what he loved, flying and 
fighting fires.
  Like thousands of contract firefighters hired by the Government, he 
figured that if anything ever happened to him, his family would be 
taken care of. But that day, while maneuvering above a north coast fire 
started by a couple of Hells Angels who had blown up their 
methamphetamine lab, Larry Groff died in a midair collision.
  Faced with the prospect of raising their 6 children alone, his widow, 
Christine Wells-Groff, filed a claim under the Public Safety Officers' 
Benefit Program. This PSOB Program provides a lump-sum payoff to 
survivors of any ``public safety officer,'' a term which can include 
not only actual government employees but also any volunteer or any 
person acting in a ``similar relationship of performing services as 
part of a public agency.''
  At the time of his death, Larry Groff had been flying a State-
operated air tanker. He was wearing a California Department of Forestry 
uniform. And after his death, the California agency for which he had 
worked issued an opinion stating that he was an officially recognized 
member of that agency. But he was also a contract employee.
  Because of that, Ms. Wells-Groff's PSOB claim was initially denied by 
the Bureau of Justice Affairs, based on its opinion that contract 
employees cannot qualify for PSOB benefits. Ms. Wells-Groff then 
appealed, and she later convinced a trial court that despite being a 
contract employee, her husband had held a ``similar relationship of 
performing services as part of a public agency,'' thereby qualifying 
him as a ``public safety officer'' entitled to PSOB benefits.
  Unfortunately, on July 3, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal 
Circuit reversed that decision. The appellate court agreed that Mr. 
Groff's facts might fall within the applicable regulation's key 
definition of a ``similar relationship'' but it said that the question 
of whether he had met this standard was not entirely clear and that it 
would defer to the Government's narrow interpretation of that language, 
absent further clarification from Congress.
  Following this decision, Ms. Wells-Groff petitioned the Supreme Court 
to take her case. However, it is unclear if the Court will hear the 
case, let alone decide in her favor. So today, I want to go on record 
to support the policy that these contract employees should be entitled 
to the same PSOB benefits as other injured firefighters and volunteers.
  The bill that Senator Enzi is introducing and that I am pleased to 
cosponsor will make it clear that survivors of aerial firefighters like 
Larry Groff who make the ultimate sacrifice should qualify for PSOB 
benefits. In addition, this legislation will clarify that the district 
court was right in the Wells-Groff case. Brave firefighters like Larry 
Groff, who regularly put their lives on the line in officially 
sanctioned aerial firefighting activities to protect us, do this 
country a great service.
  This bill will clarify that when actually up in the air carrying out 
official firefighting missions, contract employees will be deemed to 
hold a ``similar relationship of performing services as part of a 
public agency''--and meet the regulatory standard already in place--so 
that they are covered by the PSOB laws, and their survivors can receive 
the benefits they need and deserve.
  I urge my colleagues to support this legislation.
                                 ______