,i #aaith ,,congress #ast ,session ,h4 ,r4 #gje ,,in ,,the ,,house ,,of ,,representatives ,january #bc1 #bjbe,ms4 ,strickland 7for herself and ,mr4 ,lawler7 introduced the following bill2 which was referred to the ,committee on ,armed ,services ,a ,,bill ,to direct the ,secretary of ,defense to establish a compensation fund for military firefighters exposed to ,,pfas4 #a4 ,compensation fund for military firefighters 7a7 ,program and fund established ,not later than two years after the date of enactment of this ,act1 the ,secretary of ,defense shall establish a program and fund to be known as the ,military ,firefighters ,compensation ,fund4 7b7 ,purpose of program ,the purpose of the compensation program is to provide for timely1 uniform1 and adequate compensation to current and former military firefighters and1 where applicable1 survivors of such employees1 suffering from illnesses incurred by such employees in the performance of duty for the ,department of ,defense and certain of its contractors and subcontractors due to exposure to per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances1 or ,,pfas4 7c7 ,,pfas exposure ,current and former military firefighters shall1 in the absence of substantial evidence to the contrary1 be determined to have been exposed to ,,pfas in the performance of duty for the purposes of the compensation program if such firefighter was employed at a military installation1 facility of the ,national ,guard1 of formerly used defense site during a period when ,,pfas would have been present at such facility4 7d7 ,compensation provided ,a current or former military firefighter1 or the survivor of such firefighter if the firefighter is deceased1 shall receive compensation for the disability or death of that employee from that employee's occupational illness4 7e7 ,payments in the case of deceased persons 7#a7 ,claim filed ,in the case of a military firefighter who is deceased at the time of payment of compensation under this section1 whether or not the death is the result of the firefighter's occupational illness1 such payment may be made only as follows3 7,a7 ,if the military firefighter is survived by a spouse who is living at the time of payment1 such payment shall be made to such surviving spouse4 7,b7 ,if there is no surviving spouse described in subparagraph 7,a71 such payment shall be made in equal shares to all children of the military firefighter who are living at the time of payment4 7,c7 ,if there is no surviving spouse described in subparagraph 7,a7 and if there are no children described in subparagraph 7,b71 such payment shall be made in equal shares to the parents of the military firefighter who are living at the time of payment4 7,d7 ,if there is no surviving spouse described in subparagraph 7,a71 and if there are no children described in subparagraph 7,b7 or parents described in subparagraph 7,c71 such payment shall be made in equal shares to all grandchildren of the military firefighter who are living at the time of payment4 7,e7 ,if there is no surviving spouse described in subparagraph 7,a71 and if there are no children described in subparagraph 7,b71 parents described in subparagraph 7,c71 or grandchildren described in subparagraph 7,d71 then such payment shall be made in equal shares to the grandparents of the military firefighter who are living at the time of payment4 7,f7 ,notwithstanding the other provisions of this paragraph1 if there is-- 7i7 a surviving spouse described in subparagraph 7,a72 and 7ii7 at least one child of the military firefighter who is living and a minor at the time of payment and who is not a recognized natural child or adopted child of such surviving spouse1 then half of such payment shall be made to such surviving spouse1 and the other half of such payment shall be made in equal shares to each child of the military firefighter who is living and a minor at the time of payment4 7#b7 ,before filing of claim ,if a current or former military firefighter eligible for payment dies before filing a claim under this section1 a survivor of that firefighter who may receive payment under paragraph 7#a7 may file a claim for such payment4 7#c7 ,definitions ,in this subsection3 7,a7 ,the term child includes a recognized natural child1 a stepchild who lived with an individual in a regular parent-child relationship1 or an adopted child4 7,b7 ,the term grandchild means the child of a child of an individual4 7,c7 ,the term grandparent means the parent of a parent of an individual4 7,d7 ,the term parent includes fathers and mothers through adoption4 7,e7 ,the term spouse means the wife or husband of a deceased individual who was married to such individual for at least one year immediately before such death4 7f7 ,medical benefits provided ,the ,secretary shall furnish1 to an individual receiving medical benefits under this section for an illness1 the services1 appliances1 and supplies prescribed or recommended by a qualified physician for that illness4 7g7 ,transportation and expenses ,the individual may be furnished necessary and reasonable transportation and expenses incident to the securing of such services1 appliances1 and supplies4 7h7 ,commencement of benefits ,an individual receiving benefits under this section shall be furnished those benefits as of the date on which that individual submitted the claim for those benefits in accordance with this section4 7i7 ,definitions ,in this section3 7#a7 ,the term military firefighter means a member of the ,armed ,forces or a civilian employee of the ,department of ,defense whose military occupational specialty or primary duties are fire suppression and prevention4 7#b7 ,the term military installation has the meaning given such term in section #bhja7;c77#d7 of title #aj1 ,united ,states ,code4 7#c7 ,the term ,,pfas means perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances4 7#d7 ,the term perfluoroalkyl substance means a man-made chemical of which all the carbon atoms are fully fluorinated carbon atoms4 7#e7 ,the term polyfluoroalkyl substance means a man-made chemical with at least one fully fluorinated carbon atom and at least one nonfluorinated carbon atom4 7j7 ,authorization for compensation fund ,there is hereby authorized such sums as may be necessary to carry out this section4