Honoring Our Fallen Heroes Act of 2023

Honoring Our Fallen Heroes Act of 2023

This bill extends death and disability benefits under the Public Safety Officers' Benefits Program (PSOB) to certain public safety officers who suffer from exposure-related cancer while on duty and their survivors. The PSOB program provides death, disability, and education benefits to public safety officers who are killed or injured in the line of duty and their survivors.

The bill specifies that exposure-related cancer shall be presumed to constitute a personal injury in the line of duty if

• the public safety officer was exposed to or in contact with heat, radiation, or a carcinogen that is linked to an exposure-related cancer;
• the officer began serving as an officer not later than 5 years before the date of the diagnosis of an exposure-related cancer and the diagnosis occurred not later than 15 years after the last date of active service; and
• the exposure-related cancer directly and proximately resulted in the death or permanent and total disability of the officer.

The Department of Justice's Bureau of Justice Assistance (BJA) must periodically review the definition of exposure-related cancer. It directs the BJA to add additional cancers to the definition under certain circumstances (e.g., a petition process).