Senator Amy Klobuchar discusses ‘Honoring our Fallen Heroes Act’

(ABC 6 News) – U.S. Senator Amy Klobuchar joined Rochester Fire Chief Eric Kerska Monday to highlight her recently introduced ‘Honoring our Fallen Heroes Act.’

This bipartisan legislation would expand access to federal support for the families of firefighters and other first responders who pass away from cancers caused by exposure to carcinogens while in the line of duty.

“It is a really really tough thing to think that people that are there saving our lives. Either with medical emergencies as we see so often or fires are putting themselves at risk they know that when they walk into a burning building. There’s a risk to begin with but then to be thinking that they have long term risks just by breathing in the fumes and the smoke,” Klobuchar explained.

The legislation was introduced in honor of a St. Paul fire captain who passed away from an aggressive form of leukemia in 2020.