I 

116TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 5637 

To amend title 38, United States Code, to establish presumptions of service 

connection for diseases associated with firefighting. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JANUARY 16, 2020 

Ms. SPANBERGER (for herself, Mr. BACON, Ms. SLOTKIN, Ms. STEFANIK, Mr. 

COLE, Mr. MITCHELL, Ms. HOULAHAN, Mr. FITZPATRICK, and Mr. 

GOTTHEIMER) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 

Committee on Veterans’ Affairs 

A BILL 

To amend title 38, United States Code, to establish presumptions of service connection for diseases associated with 

firefighting. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Michael Lecik Military 

5 Firefighters Protection Act’’. 

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1 SEC. 2. PRESUMPTIONS OF SERVICE CONNECTION FOR DIS2 EASES ASSOCIATED WITH FIREFIGHTING. 

3 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.—Subchapter II of chapter 11 

4 of title 38, United States Code, is amended by adding at 

5 the end the following new section: 

6 ‘‘§ 1119. Presumptions of service connection for dis7 eases associated with firefighting 

8 ‘‘(a) SERVICE CONNECTION.—For the purposes of 

9 section 1110 of this title, and subject to section 1113 of 

10 this title, a disease specified in subsection (b) becoming 

11 manifest in a veteran described in subsection (c) to a de12 gree of disability specified in subsection (d) and within the 

13 period specified in subsection (e) shall be considered to 

14 have been incurred in or aggravated during active military, 

15 naval, or air service, notwithstanding that there is no 

16 record of evidence of such disease during a period of such 

17 service. 

18 ‘‘(b) SPECIFIED DISEASES.—The diseases specified 

19 in this subsection are the following: 

20 ‘‘(1) Heart disease. 

21 ‘‘(2) Lung disease. 

22 ‘‘(3) Brain cancer. 

23 ‘‘(4) Cancer of the blood or lymphatic systems. 

24 ‘‘(5) Leukemia. 

25 ‘‘(6) Lymphoma (except Hodgkin’s disease). 

26 ‘‘(7) Multiple myeloma. 

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1 ‘‘(8) Bladder cancer. 

2 ‘‘(9) Kidney cancer. 

3 ‘‘(10) Cancer of the reproductive system (in4 cluding testicular cancer). 

5 ‘‘(11) Cancer of the digestive system. 

6 ‘‘(12) Colon cancer. 

7 ‘‘(13) Liver cancer. 

8 ‘‘(14) Skin cancer. 

9 ‘‘(15) Lung cancer. 

10 ‘‘(16) Breast cancer. 

11 ‘‘(17) Each additional disease (if any) that the 

12 Secretary determines in regulations prescribed under 

13 this section— 

14 ‘‘(A) warrants a presumption of service 

15 connection by reason of having positive associa16 tion with firefighting; and 

17 ‘‘(B) becomes manifest within the period 

18 (if any) prescribed in such regulations in a vet19 eran described in subsection (c), notwithstand20 ing subsection (e). 

21 ‘‘(c) COVERED VETERANS.—A veteran described in 

22 this subsection is a veteran who— 

23 ‘‘(1) is trained in fire suppression; and 

24 ‘‘(2) served on active duty in a military occupa25 tional specialty or career field with a primary reVerDate Sep 11 2014 23:05 Jan 17, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5637.IH H5637
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1 sponsibility for firefighting or damage control for at 

2 least five years in the aggregate. 

3 ‘‘(d) DEGREE OF DISABILITY.—The degree of dis4 ability specified in this subsection is 10 percent or more. 

5 ‘‘(e) PERIOD.—The period specified in this subsection 

6 is within 15 years of the date on which the veteran sepa7 rated from active military, naval, or air service. 

8 ‘‘(f) EFFECTIVE DATE OF AWARD.—The effective 

9 date of an award under this section shall be determined 

10 in accordance with section 5110 of this title.’’. 

11 (b) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of sections 

12 at the beginning of such chapter is amended by inserting 

13 after the item relating to section 1118 the following new 

14 item: 

‘‘1119. Presumptions of service connection for diseases associated with firefighting.’’. 

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