Last month, Hurricanes Milton and Helene devastated parts of the southern United States. As families evacuated and started to rebuild, firefighters, police officers, and emergency personnel were a constant presence including the Minnesota National Guard who went down to help. This is what our first responders do everyday across our country and throughout our state: whether responding to wildfires, floods, tornados, shootings, or gas leaks, our first responders put their lives on the line to keep us safe.

Tragically in Minnesota this year we have lost a number of officers and firefighters, including a Park Ranger in Voyageurs National Park who died saving the lives of a family of stranded boaters.

These deaths have been a somber reminder of the risks our first responders face every day. We need more men and women like them to answer the call of duty. And we need to support those who choose to go into public safety. That’s why I have fought to increase funding for grants that provide equipment and training for first responders. I’ve long led the bipartisan effort to strengthen the federal program which has helped fund the hiring of over 136,000 police officers. Minnesota has received over $41 million in the last five years from this program, and I am advocating for major funding for it in the end of year budget.

I’m also focused on giving police the tools they need to keep fentanyl off our streets. That’s why I worked to pass legislation to declare fentanyl trafficking a national emergency and impose tough new sanctions on fentanyl traffickers. I fought to get cutting-edge technology to detect and intercept drugs at our border, and am leading legislation to crack down on online drug dealing by requiring social media companies to report drug trafficking on their platforms to law enforcement.

We also need to invest in our fire departments and ensure they have the funding they need to hire and train firefighters and purchase life-saving equipment. That is why this year I worked to enact the bipartisan Fire Grants and Safety Act, which in 2024 alone has provided Minnesota with over $21 million to hire more firefighters and provide them with critical protective gear, emergency vehicles, training, and more.

Keeping first responders safe on the job is only one piece of the puzzle though. We also need to take care of these heroes when their service is done. That means looking out for those who suffer from serious illnesses, including cancer, as a result of service.

I’m working across the aisle with Senator (Kevin) Cramer from North Dakota to pass bipartisan legislation to ensure that firefighters and other emergency responders who lose their lives to cancer or become permanently and totally disabled as a result of work-related exposures get the federal benefits they deserve.

I was inspired by the late St. Paul Fire Captain Mike Paidar who was diagnosed with an aggressive form of Acute Myeloid Leukemia. He died in 2020 and his wife Julie worked with his fellow firefighters to make the case that Mike’s cancer resulted from his job. Because of their efforts, the Minnesota Department of Public Safety awarded line-of-duty benefits to his family. It marked the first time that Minnesota extended death benefits to the family of a firefighter who died of cancer.

I am also working to carry forward the memory of the late Fire Lieutenant Brett Boss from Albert Lea who lost a ten-year battle with cancer in 2022. Even through the hardest fight of his life, Brett never stopped advocating for other firefighters living with cancer. That’s why I helped lead the effort to establish the National Fire Cancer Registry, which will help us better understand the types of cancers that firefighters face, and why I have continued to fight to ensure that the registry is funded.

I know Minnesotans are forever grateful for the sacrifices of our first responders. I am committed to getting our firefighters and police officers the support they need to do their jobs and making sure we support their families when tragedy strikes. It is the least we can do for our country’s heroes.

— Amy Klobuchar represents the state of Minnesota in the U.S. Senate