Good morning and thank you for being here. Uh my name is Butch Shanks. I have the honor of serving as the fire chief of for the St. Paul Fire Department. On behalf of our department, welcome to station one. I want to extend a special welcome to our union leaders who advocate tirelessly for uh for the firefighters across the nation. We have IFFF Local 21 President Kyle Thornberg here, IFFF Local President 82 Mark Lacauski here, and Minnesota Professional Firefighter President Scott Badness. You know, your work is your work is deeply appreciated. So, thank you. Uh Julie Pider, wife of Fallen Fire Captain Mike Pider. You know, your continued dedication is the reason we are here today. And I just want to say welcome and thank you for all your work you're doing. Mayor Melvin Carter, thank you for never wavering and declaring firefighter illness such as cancer as a line of duty injury. And tragically, sometimes those are line of duty deaths. Mayor Carter has never wavered on on um accepting those claims and calling them out intentionally as uh as as jobreated injury or death. So, thank you so much. >> Thank you. and Senate Senator Amy Clolobashar. You know, we met back in uh late June, early July. You know, you made it clear that your work was not finished on this on this act. You know, the passion you showed that day and your continued fight to secure benefits for firefighters and the for the families who have lost loved ones in the line of duty. It's it's just an inspiration, you know, coming off the heels of of 9/11 yesterday and and what what we've said from day one of 911 is is we'll never forget and and this act is very intentional on we will never forget. So, thank you. >> You know, St. Paul Fire Department. We're built on uh proud traditions of service and sacrifice and and we're doing everything we can to prevent cancer or diagnose the women and men of our fire department early on with cancer. Right now going on next door is is cancer screenings to determine if we can find find it early enough that we can we can provide treatment for our our people. Um, but the fact remains that over 70% of line of duty deaths in our profession are cancer related. And so no matter what we're, you know, I shouldn't say no matter what we're doing, we're doing our best to to call it out and and diagnose early on, but the fact remains that the chances are that um, you know, very likely some of our folks can get cancer. And so, you know, Captain Per's passing, you know, it's a solemn reminder of that service related illnesses are line of duty tragedies. And so, the Honoring Our Fallen Heroes Act is it's about ensuring the families left behind receive the recognition and support they deserve. You know, we always say, you know, I've heard everyone here say that families also serve, right? We we thank us for our service, but families also serve. And this act intentionally calls out and recognizes and provides benefits to the families that serve alongside of all of us that serve. So, thank you. You know, now it's my honor to introduce, you know, one of the champions for for not you just this act and just firefighters, but but for the fire profession in general, um our honorable mayor Melvin Carter. >> Go ahead. Go ahead, Melvin. Well, thank you, Chief. I appreciate that. Um, it's an honor to be here this morning. Senator, thank you for your championship of this of this work. Uh, it really means a lot to us uh to know that we have someone who uh is not just uh in Washington DC, but who is really representing us in Washington DC um and taking the concerns of our community members and our firefighters to Washington DC with us. Um, I'm always proud to stand behind you, to stand with you, and we appreciate your leadership on behalf of Minnesota and the entire country. Uh, to all of our firefighters here, thank you so much. The union leaders here, thank you all so much for your willingness to operate as true heroes in our community, you know, who who put yourselves in harm's way. The chief mentioned families serving. Um, and I'm one of those family members. All many of you know that my father was is a retired St. Paul police officer. And let me tell you, um, I was sure every day he went to work that there was something on a piece of paper that was a job description. Uh, for me, the number one job duty of our, uh, emergency responders, uh, is to keep yourselves safe, is to keep yourselves healthy, and to, uh, hug and kiss your children and family at the end of the day. And that's what this is about. Uh, Chief Ins, I want to thank you for hosting us. Uh, thank you for being uh, your voice in this work. And of course, Julie, um I'm honored to be with you again uh to celebrate Mike's life and legacy. Um and as you share your story, your courage uh and your strength uh is incredible to us all and we all draw inspiration from you as Mike lives on through you. So, thank you very much. Um, yesterday was the 24th anniversary of 9/11 when 343 firefighters made the ultimate sacrifice responding to the World Trade Center attacks. And today, 11,000 active and retired uh FDNY members have been diagnosed with at least one World Trade Center related disease. Over 3,500 are suffering from cancer. It's a stark reminder that the sacrifices of our first responders uh continue long after the smoke has cleared. A third generation firefighter, Captain Pider followed in the footsteps of of his father and his grandfather. He wore that uniform with pride and courage and was a firefighter in every sense of the word. Captain Pider showed up shift after shift undaunted by the dangers of this job. He battled fires, responded to emergencies, and carried others to safety without hesitation. But the risks he faced did not end when the flames went out. He was diagnosed with an aggressive form of acute myoid leukemia and passed August 26, 2020. After a six-month battle, 5 years ago last month, we lost a father, a husband, a son, a brother, a teammate, and a friend. We lost a man whose commitment to serving others was matched only by his love for his family and his fellow firefighters. His legacy will forever be etched into the story of our city, our state, our nation. Before he before his death, cancer was not considered a line of duty death which shut out families who literally gave their all to our communities, to our country, shut them out from federal supports. Even though the firefighters face a 9% higher risk of being diagnosed with cancer and a 14% higher risk of dying from cancer, through the steadfast advocacy of local 21 and the entire per family, Captain Pider became the first firefighter in Minnesota to be awarded the public safety officer death benefit after dying of occupational cancer. That decision was historic because it marked the very first time our nation officially recognized what firefighters have known for decades. The cancer caused by this work is in line of duty death, regardless of when it happens. This recognition set a precedent for every firefighter and every family who may one day face the same heartbreaking reality. The bipartisan Fallen Heroes Act expands the public safety officer death benefit to cover firefighters who die from jobrelated cancers and it goes a step further making sure that safeguarding our firefighters health is our priority. That's why we've invested in saunas in our fire stations. That's why we purchased the the state's first fully electric fire uh trucks. Uh that's why we're deploying new equipment that reduces exposure to carcinogens and new equipment uh to wash our wash our uniforms uh and everything else that we are doing because fulfilling the legacy of Captain Pider means leading the way in protecting those who protect us. And with that, I want to say thank you and welcome again and thank you for your leadership to our senator, US Senator Amy Clolobashar. Thank you. Thank you. >> Thanks so much, mayor, and thank you uh to all of you. I was saying I got up at 3:00 a.m. Minnesota time to get the 6 a.m. flight out of Washington. Got here uh because I really wanted to make this case now. The timing is really important because not only um the obvious with uh 911 and that anniversary and the memory of all the firefighters running to the building uh and all that we lost. I actually uh most remember that day. We all remember where we were. I was dropped my daughter, she was just starting school off at school and went over to uh one of the moms of one of her friends to drop off like a PTA check. And the mom was watching the TV and the tower collapsed and she said, "My husband's best friend is a firefighter in New York." And she saw the firefighters. He lost his life in that fire. And that's what when I always think about that, her saying that, never ever thinking uh that people would lose um so many loved ones and that happened that day. The other reason it is so timely is that we now know more and more and more about what caused these illnesses. Not only from 9/11, but what our military, what our troops have been seeing when they're stationed next to burn pits. And then of course, uh what our firefighters right here at home are experiencing. And the final reason it's timely is that we have a bill in front of us uh the national security bill. you know that once again in the Senate it is a incredible a jigsaw puzzle of trying to get everyone on someone will be for a bill when they're against it but we have thanks to Julie's work and so many of the other families across the nation uh added more and more sponsors Senator Kramer and I the Republican from North Dakota um lead the bill and we've added more and more sponsors we've cleared it through the judiciary committee which is not an easy thing to do just to give you a sense of it. The judiciary committee goes from like Cy Booker to Josh Holly. Okay, we got it through that and now we have both Senator Thun, the majority leader, and Senator Schumer, uh the minority leader, um favoring the bill and asking that it be put on the defense bill. So, that's where we are right now. Um if one or two of them object, then we're going to have to uh try to find another vehicle that might be easier, but that's what we're doing right now. Um, I want to thank uh these incredible local uh fire leaders that are with us. Assistant Chief Melquist, I mentioned Julie, I'll talk about her a little later. Um, we have got uh President Kyle Thornberg with us. We have um Mark Lakovski um from the U Minneapolis Local 82 president with us. Uh Scott Badness is with us from U Minnesota Professional Firefighters and many other leaders. So, I want to thank St. Paul firefighters in particular. They've always been the most visible face of Minnesota firefighters. Don't tell that to Minneapolis. Don't tell them. Don't uh uh when it comes to uh advocating for good policy and coming to Washington and making the case, I know last year St. Paul firefighters mayor responded to 50,000 calls. Wow. protecting people homes and businesses from fires, keeping people safe. Uh early Wednesday morning, just this week, the St. Paul Fire Department responded to a fire at a vacant duplex in the Railroad Island neighborhood. When firefighters arrived, flames had engulfed multiple floors. One firefighter was hospitalized. Unfortunately, the injuries were minor, but it is another reminder of the sacrifices firefighters are willing to make every single day you are called to put your lives on the live to save others. Uh you can't uh teach that kind of heroism. And before I go on, speaking of heroism, I do want to thank um the first responders um and all those at the scene of the uh horrific murder in Utah. Our uh thoughts of course and prayers are with the family of Charlie Kirk. Um and it is maybe you guys have one question on that we can talk about it later but uh it has been of course for us in Minnesota really difficult as we think back to our summer which included losing those uh little kids in the church which included uh the um assassination of Melissa Hortman and her husband and the shooting of uh Senator Hoffman. Um, and when you think about are there heroes in these stories, there's heroes in every story. Uh, there are heroes in every fire because people have literally signed up to put their own lives at risk for ours. Uh, there's heroes of those kids in that church and the police that ran into uh that scene and saved so many lives, the medics, the nurse that went into the MRI machine with the little kid. all of those things. That's what we think about when we think about heroes. It's uncommon selflessness, courage, and patriotism. So, let's talk about the bill. It's the least we can do. The honoring honoring our uh fallen heroes act. I mentioned I got Senator Kramer to lead the bill with me, but this bill was truly inspired not by politicians uh but by the late St. Paul Fire Captain Mike Pider. Um, the mayor talked about the captain and I saw a few little tears in some of the eyes of the people here that actually worked with him and knew him so much better um than I did or those of us that talk about his memory uh in Washington. But a 15-year career first with Maple Grove Fire Department, then moves over to St. Paul, 1600 fire runs, 4800 EMT runs. Um, and on the job, like so many of our firefighters, he gets exposed to toxic substances, gets acute myoid leukemia, as the mayor explained, and then just six months later leaves behind Julie and Matthew and Megan. But they weren't really left behind because they kind of then took the lead in the hardest of circumstances in that they led the charge uh not only in the state uh to change that law and not only for their family but for so many sadly that will follow in their footsteps uh but now is a model for what we can do federally. And I want to thank the union uh IFFF Local 21 uh for making this such a priority. That's how I first uh heard about this bill and they came to me with the idea and then all of a sudden the nationals uh decided they would uh be helpful as well and we really were able to get a lot of sponsors. So what the bill does is it ensures that firefighters and other emergency responders across the country who lose their lives to service related cancers or become permanently and totally disabled as a result of them are eligible to receive benefits under what we call the federal public safety officer benefits program. expanding the program to cover these illnesses honors the commitments that we've made and it makes sure that if someone has say retired but then gets cancer, it's not like they're cut off at that point. Those were some of the issues that a lot of people around the country have been dealing with where they actually get cancer but then they say, "Well, we don't know what it's from." And we're able to make this a very broad definition because of what we've seen out in the field. As I mentioned, the bill now in the Senate has 58 co-sponsors thanks to Julie. She probably talked to everyone. Okay, I talked to a few. Um, and has the broad support of everyone from Bernie Sanders to Ted Cruz. Okay, you're welcome. Um, and I will note it also built on the work that we did early on uh with the late fire lieutenant Brett Boss from Albert Lee and his family. And that's when we began this journey by creating a firefighter registry. And I co-sponsored that bill with a few others. But that actually was the beginning because then we were able to show the facts to show the numbers so then we could make the case uh for these benefits. Uh the honoring our fallen heroes act is about recognizing that not all on the job injuries are immediately apparent and that is one of the key things as I noted. But it's also about honoring uh Mike's memory and every firefighter, their family uh should have the solace knowing the hard job that they've taken on uh that there are people that are going to be there for them. So I want to thank you and I think we next up is Julie. That's what I thought. So I think I've given you an ample introduction, Julie. You incredible force not just in Minnesota but nationally. Thank you very much. >> Thank you so much. Thank you. >> Thank you. Okay. >> Feel like I'm having a full moment here. Um, before Mike became a firefighter, he was actually on your side of the camera, he was a he worked in the news, so I'm trying to remember what Mike would have done on that side. >> So, what did he do? >> He was a photojournalist. So, he had definitely had the height to get a good shot. So, um, just a little bit about Mike. Um, as it's you guys have heard so much about him already, but he passed. It was, uh, just five years ago. And so when Mike was diagnosed, it was Valentine's Day 2020, came out of the blue. We found out he had cancer and it was acute myoid leukemia and we lost him six months later. During that time, Mike was an aggressive chemo regiment in the hospital. We thought we would be able to be out in 30 days, but what happened in those 30 days was this thing called COVID. Mike um I was able to see Mike for 21 days in a row and then I got kicked out of the hospital. And after that, Mike spent another 50 days in the hospital. Could not see his firefighter family. Could not see us in person. And throughout that whole time, the words that Mike kept telling me was that no matter how bad it gets, somebody else has something worse going on. And through the whole five years, that has really resonated with me. Mike was always, anybody that worked with Mike knows he was always the king of oneliners. Um, but he always said things and he always meant it. and I have taken that to heart. Um, you ask how can it be any worse than losing your husband? But as I've advocated across this country in support of the Honoring Our Fallen Heroes Act, I have met so many families with little kids, little kids that will never grow up to know their father or mother. And I have two children who were inspired by their father. They knew him for 20 and 22 years. So, um, that's why I do what I do. I really feel that this is important to get this passed because families that have stood by their firefighter, their firefighter, whether it was a career that answered the tones or they were volunteer and they were pulled out of, you know, their house during the middle of the night, the families love and support what their their spouse does. And so if we can get anything passed to help those families, that's why it's important to me. So, I just want to thank again in person Senator Clolobachar. She has been an amazing model for so many of the families that I've met across this country. And she did it with grace. She introduced this in honor of Mike, but she also did it bipartisan. She reached across the river to Senator Kramer and together they introduced this. And I think that speaks a lot about you. And um our firefighters, as you guys know, they go out. They don't care what you do for a living. They don't care where you live. They don't care what you do for a job, just like they don't care what they don't they don't judge. And that's why I think you're bipartisan is to me means a lot. So, I just want to say thank you. >> Okay. Thanks, Julie. Thank you. >> All right. I I did I did want to clarify that for the mayor that across the river to Julie and me means the Red River, >> not the Mississippi. >> Sorry. >> Good morning everyone. My name is Jeremiah Milquist. I'm the assistant chief of operations and I'm a 25-year veteran of the St. Paul Fire Department. We are here today to honor the memory of Captain Pider, whose diagnosis and tragic passing is a story far too common among firefighters. His loss reminds us that the dangers we face don't end when the fires put out. Last year, our department offered voluntary enhanced cancer screenings just like the ones happening next door right now. I'll admit, like many of us, I was hesitant to go. I told myself, I feel fine. I'm healthy. But at the couragement of another firefighter, I decided to get screened. Not long after, I was told that some abnormal cells had been detected. Further testing thankfully showed that they had not developed into cancer. But the moment, that moment was sobering. I couldn't help but think, what if I hadn't gone? What if I listened to my own stubbornness and skipped the screening? This experience changed the way I look at my own health and the health of my brothers and sisters in the fire service. These screenings are more than a precaution. They're a lifeline. They give us a chance to be proactive when our own when our with our health and to catch problems early before they take away years from our lives and time from our families. On behalf of myself, and I believe I can speak for many firefighters and their families, we are generally grateful these screenings are available and that benefits exist for those who need them. They represent hope, prevention, and support for the people who give everything to protect our communities. If there's one message I want to leave with today, it's this. Don't wait until you feel something is wrong. Take advantage of the resources available and make your own health and wellness a priority. It could save your life. Thank you. With that, I want to bring back our amazing senator, Senator Clolobashard, to the podium. >> Thank you. >> Thank you. >> Okay. Very good. All right. >> Excellent. Anyone else? >> Yeah. Maybe we >> Anything? >> Hi. >> Can you just clarify? So, right now it sounds like the benefits are available. just making available to more people because they're capturing more people who otherwise wouldn't fall under that maybe perhaps more rigid definition of what a related >> injury. Exactly. So there is a program already in place but it is very narrow and it covers narrow from our purposes. It did help a lot of people after 911. It was 9/11 related cancer so you can imagine. So it covers those which of course we should have covered but then it covers COVID PTSD related suicides. It has this kind of group of them. And so what this does is just makes it very clear that this covers various kinds of cancers that would be related to exposure from uh going into these buildings and it really uh fixes a gap that is in the program. Now, >> so the capturing firefighters across the country now, >> right? And also capturing them after they've left. So if they're on active duty, they're going to be covered in their benefits by healthcare or different things, but some of them retire and then they get the very same kind of cancer that someone had before. That doesn't uh that doesn't get covered. So that's why and it also covers of course people who are permanently disabled um as I mentioned and it gives them support as well. So that's what it is and it's a couple hundred million over 10 years. So we've had find ways to pay for it which we have. >> What's the timeline for this potentially passing? It doesn't sound like it's an issue of getting Republican or Democratic support. >> Yeah. Yeah. With 58 we're almost over the magic number of 60. That's my job. Julie said when I get back that means you are like foolproof over uh any kind of filibuster. So um the then that doesn't mean the other people don't support it because we have a hundred of us, right? So the goal is to try to we're working on this defense bill which includes other security related things including officers and have a number of things in that bill to help Minnesota with the hanger for the um for the um PL the new planes that we're getting um out with the 133rd um and other things. But in that bill we have amendments. So, we are trying we're in a group of amendments basically uh that we're trying to get we um unanimous support for. It doesn't mean they'll all vote for the bill, but we have to get the amendment by them. So, that's what we're trying other vehicles. If we can't get it on that and the national firefighters have made this their number one and only priority on this bill, but if we don't get it on that, then we have the end of the year budget bill. there'll be other things that we would be able to try to attach it to because in the Senate you usually don't vote on one thing at a time because you have to get all 100 people to agree like a volleyball team resolution maybe. Um and then otherwise you have to combine them. It's just the way our rules work. That'll be a really interesting tidbit for you guys to use on the news. I know. Okay.