Washington, D.C. –Today, U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-OH) took to the Senate floor to honor the memory of Dayton Detective Jorge DelRio. Detective DelRio was killed in the line of duty while serving a drug-related search warrant in Dayton.
Tag: U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown
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![[Veterans Day News] Brown urges Senate to take action on Agent Orange bill](https://lovelandmagazine.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/02/sherrod_brown_feature-unage-100x65.jpg)
[Veterans Day News] Brown urges Senate to take action on Agent Orange bill
Washington, D.C. – On the Senate floor yesterday, U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-OH), a member of the Senate Veterans’ Affairs Committee, led his colleagues in urging the President to take action on behalf of thousands of Vietnam veterans across the country living with chronic health conditions, by expanding the Department of Veterans’ Affairs’ list of medical conditions associated with exposure to Agent Orange to include Parkinsonism, Bladder Cancer, Hypertension, and Hypothyroidism. Republicans rejected Brown’s measure.
Thousands of veterans – many of whom are aging and in urgent need of critical health care and other benefits – have waited far too long for a final decision that should have been made by the VA in 2016.
“Thousands of veterans – many of whom are aging and in urgent need of critical health care and other benefits – have waited far too long for a final decision that should have been made by the VA in 2016. I urge my colleagues to add Parkinsonism, Bladder Cancer, Hypertension and Hypothyroidism to the list of presumptive health outcomes for service-connected exposure to Agent Orange without further delay,” said Brown.
Currently, VA provides presumptions for seven of the fourteen health outcomes for which the National Academy of Medicine (NAM) has found a suggestive association between herbicide exposure and a particular medical condition. However, the four aforementioned conditions have yet to be recognized by VA, making it difficult for veterans to receive care and benefits for these illnesses. In fact, hypertension is now recognized by NAM as having sufficient association, or an even stronger link, with herbicide exposure. A presumption of exposure means that if a veteran served in a specific area during a defined time frame, VA will presume that they were exposed to certain harmful chemicals or environmental hazards.
According to internal documents obtained by a veteran through the Freedom of Information Act, Office of Management and Budget Director Mick Mulvaney and other White House officials objected to then VA Secretary David Shulkin’s recommendation to add three health conditions — Bladder Cancer, Parkinsonism, and Hypothyroidism — to the list of conditions eligible for Agent Orange benefits in October 2017, denying approximately 83,000 veterans faster access to disability compensation and health benefits.
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Sen. Brown honors Clermont County Detective Bill Brewer killed in the line of duty
Washington, D.C. – On the Senate floor on February 12, U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-OH) honored Clermont County Detective Bill Brewer, who was killed in the line of duty.
Brown’s full remarks:
On Friday, Ohio laid to rest a dedicated public servant, Detective Bill Brewer.
Detective Brewer devoted two decades of his life to the police force, and he made the ultimate sacrifice to keep his fellow Ohioans safe. He laid down his life while doing his job, responding to a desperate 911 call with fellow Clermont County officers and working to protect the people he served in Pierce Township.
In the days since Detective Brewer’s passing, we’ve heard stories of his incredible service to his community and his family.
Last Sunday, officers from all over Southwest Ohio joined a procession escorting Detective Brewer home to Clermont County. In his home of Amelia, his community lined the route, paying tribute to their fallen hero. Hundreds attended a memorial service on Friday, while hundreds more watched on video. It’s a fitting recognition of the sacrifice this man made for the people he loved.
Detective Brewer was a proud son of Williamsburg, Ohio, and a star high school athlete. He was a family man, and our hearts break for his wife of 13 years, Jamie, and his five-year-old son Braxton. As they mourn this incredible loss, we hope they take comfort in the outpouring of support and honor for their husband and father.
To his fellow officers, he was a devoted friend, colleague, and mentor. One of them told the press that Detective Brewer was always “fair and kindhearted,” and that he would “give the shirt off his back for anyone in need.”
Detective Brewer’s legacy will live on through the many lives he touched.
In times of tragedy, Ohioans always rise to the occasion, and we have witnessed an outpouring of community support in the days since Officer Brewer was taken from us.
While no gesture can ever repay him or his loved ones for their sacrifice, today we honor this hero’s memory and lift up the entire Clermont County community.
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Sherrod Brown announces $28,572 to Goshen Township Fire and EMS
Washington, D.C. – U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-OH) has announced that the U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s (DHS) Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) has awarded a total of $163,811 to two Clermont County fire departments for operations and safety through the Assistance to Firefighters Grants (AFG) Program.The funds include:
- $135,239 to the Wayne Township Fire and Rescue
- $28,572 to the Goshen Township Fire and EMS
“Ohio firefighters and first-responders work every day to protect our families,” said Brown.“We must support our first-responder organizations so that communities in Clermont County have the resources to shield families and homes from fire hazards.”
The AFG Program supports fire departments across the country to ensure the safety of both first-responders and the public. The program provides funds for supplemental training, upgrades to protective equipment, facility modifications, and other supplies that protect firefighters and first-responders in moments of crisis. Grants are awarded to fire department-based and non-affiliated EMS organizations that best address the priorities of the AFG Program. More information about the AFG Program can be found here.
Interested fire departments can contact Brown’s grant coordinator to receive information about federal grant opportunities by clicking here.
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Firefighter Cancer Registry Act signed by President
Loveland, Ohio – Today, President Trump signed U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown’s (D-OH) bipartisan legislation to establish a voluntary cancer registry for firefighters into law. Brown’s bill, the Firefighter Cancer Registry Act, requires the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to create and maintain a voluntary registry to collect data on cancer incidence among firefighters.
Loveland/Symmes Fire Chief Otto Huber said in reaction to the announcement, “Any data collection that will assist the national fire service in evaluating the risk associated with Firefighting will go along way to improving how we manage risk on the fire ground.”
The data collected by the registry will be used with existing state data to better assess and prevent cancer among firefighters. The Senate passed Brown’s bill by unanimous consent in May.
“Ohio firefighters put their lives on the line every day,” said Brown. “The enactment of the Firefighter Cancer Registry Act will help ensure we’re using all of the tools at our disposal to prevent and treat cancer in first responders who sacrifice their own safety to protect others.”
Huber said, “Today’s modern construction and products of combustion from petroleum based furnishing place our members in a higher risk then ever. We must rethink how we deploy and how we protect our members against today’s risks.”
In addition to establishing the volunteer registry, Brown’s bill requires the CDC to develop a strategy to maximize participation, develop guidance for state agencies, encourage inclusion among participants and to seek feedback from nonfederal experts. The CDC would also be required to ensure the data collected is made public and accessible for research.
“I am pleased that the national spot light is on this subject. We need to work collaboratively to improve fire ground safety and reduce the exposure to our members of the products of combustion,” said Huber.
Findings from a Study of Cancer among U.S. Fire Fighters
In 2010, the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) began a multi-year study of nearly 30,000 fire fighters from the Chicago, Philadelphia, and San Francisco Fire Departments to better understand the potential link between fire fighting and cancer. The study was a joint effort led by researchers at NIOSH in collaboration with researchers at the National Cancer Institute and the University of California at Davis Department of Public Health Sciences, and supported in part by the U.S Fire Administration. This study was completed in late 2015.
What we found
The fire fighters we studied showed higher rates of certain types of cancer than the general U.S. population.
Based on U.S. cancer rates:
●● Fire fighters in our study had a greater number of cancer diagnoses and cancer-related deaths.○● These were mostly digestive, oral, respiratory, and urinary cancers.
●● There were about twice as many fire fighters with malignant mesothelioma, a rare type of cancer caused by exposure to asbestos.○● Exposure to asbestos while fire fighting is the most likely explanation for this.●● There were more cases of certain cancers among younger fire fighters.
○● For example, fire fighters in our study who were under 65 years of age had more bladder and prostate cancers than expected.
When comparing fire fighters in our study to each other:
- ●● The chance of lung cancer diagnosis or death increased with amount of time spent at fires.
- ●● The chance of leukemia death increased with the number of fire runs.
