Gottheimer announces new legislation to stop Trump cuts to firefighter cancer research and health care

NEW JERSEY — U.S. Congressman Josh Gottheimer (NJ-5) Monday joined local leaders and firefighters at the Englewood Fire Department to announce new legislation to fight back against the Trump Administration’s reckless cuts to firefighter cancer research and health care.

Gottheimer’s announcement follows the Trump Administration shutting down the National Firefighter Registry for Cancer, firing employees who investigate and prevent firefighter deaths, and halting all training at the National Fire Academy.

“It makes zero sense that the Trump Administration would turn their backs on first responders and on the families of our fallen heroes — gutting funding for cancer research and support for the World Trade Center Health Program. The Administration is literally admitting that the safety and lives of our first responders are not a priority. Well, they are to me, as I have said since day one,” said Gottheimer, a member of the Congressional Fire Services Caucus. “That’s why I am introducing new legislation — the Fight Fires and Fight Cancer Act — to stop the Administration from recklessly slashing programs that support firefighters’ safety, training, and health care. We must always get the backs of those who have ours.”

Between 2002 and 2019, cancer caused 66% of the professional firefighter line-of-duty deaths. Firefighters have a 14% higher risk of dying from cancer than the general public.

Cuts to Firefighter Cancer Research and Health Care

• The Administration is gutting the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH), which supports the World Trade Center Health Program.
  • The World Trade Center Health Program provides medical care for more than 137,000 9/11 survivors and first responders, more than double the number the program started helping in 2011.
  • NIOSH also oversees the National Firefighter Cancer Registry, which tracks incidences of cancer among firefighters, to better understand its causes, and to give departments information to better protect our bravest.
• The Administration also announced massive cuts to the U.S Forest Service, firing more than 700 support staff who help take on wildfire blazes like the one in Ocean County.
• Last month, the Administration also announced that they were ending nearly all free training courses for firefighters across the country at the National Fire Academy.

Gottheimer’s New Action to Get the Backs of our First Responders

• First, Gottheimer is announcing new legislation — the Fight Fires and Fight Cancer Act — to stop the Administration from recklessly slashing programs that support firefighters’ safety, training, and health care.
• Second, ​​Gottheimer is sending a letter to HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., demanding that he keep the Cancer Registry portal open and continue their work on firefighter-related cancer research.
  • ​​Gottheimer also joined 113 colleagues in sending a letter to Secretary Kennedy to reinstate the more than 1,500 NIOSH team members across the country who have been terminated, including those who support the World Trade Center Health Program and the Cancer Registry.
  • ​​Gottheimer also joined a bipartisan, bicameral letter to the Trump Administration demanding they reinstate all classes at the National Fire Academy.
  • Gottheimer also joined an effort with representatives from across the tri-state area demanding that President Trump and Secretary Kennedy explain exactly how all of these cuts will fully impact the World Trade Center Health Program.
• Gottheimer is also fighting to pass his bipartisan FIRE Cancer Act, which would provide federal investments so that all firefighters across America — whether volunteer or professional — can get access to preventative tests, including multi-cancer early detection tests.