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A day after the 24th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks, several Minnesota leaders came together to push for the passage of the federal “Honoring Our Fallen Heroes Act.”

The legislation, which would expand access to federal support for the families of first responders who die or are permanently disabled from service-related cancers, has bipartisan support at the U.S. Capitol but is still awaiting a final push over the finish line.

That’s why the family of a fallen St. Paul firefighter and city leaders joined U.S. Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.) on Friday to highlight the importance of the bill.

Captain Mike Paidar spent nine years serving Maple Grove and 15 years in St. Paul as a firefighter after a career as a photojournalist at 5 EYEWITNESS NEWS.

He worked more than 1,300 fires in his career but was later diagnosed with a rare type of cancer known as acute myeloid leukemia. Unfortunately, he died in 2020, just six months after starting his battle with cancer.

Paidar’s wife, Julie, has traveled the country advocating for this bill and says she’s seen how important this support is for many Americans.

“As I’ve advocated across this country in support of the ‘Honor Our Fallen Heroes Act,’ I have met so many families with little kids that will never grow up to know their father or mother,” Julie said at a press conference Friday. “I have two children who were inspired by their father; they knew him for 20 and 22 years, so 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, whether it was a career that answered the tones or they were volunteer and they were pulled out of their house during the middle of the night, the families love and support what their spouse does so if we can get anything passed to help those families, that’s why it’s important to me.”

Statistics show that firefighters have a nearly 10% higher risk of developing cancer, and nearly 70% of firefighter line-of-duty deaths are due to cancer.

A year later, Minnesota recognized his death as a line-of-duty death, a first for the state and something that the Firefighter Cancer Survivor Network called “groundbreaking” with the potential to help so many families.

Paidar’s death helped spur change locally but also sparked the push for nationwide change with the “Honoring Our Fallen Heroes Act.”

The bill was unanimously advanced out of the Senate Judiciary Committee in May. Klobuchar says it still has a long road but is confident it will get final approval eventually.