99–006

107TH CONGRESS REPORT " ! HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 2d Session 107–384

MYCHAL JUDGE POLICE AND FIRE CHAPLAINS PUBLIC

SAFETY OFFICERS’ BENEFIT ACT OF 2002

APRIL 9, 2002.—Committed to the Committee of the Whole House on the State of

the Union and ordered to be printed

Mr. SENSENBRENNER, from the Committee on the Judiciary,

submitted the following

R E P O R T

[To accompany H.R. 3297]

[Including cost estimate of the Congressional Budget Office]

The Committee on the Judiciary, to whom was referred the bill

(H.R. 3297) to amend the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets

Act of 1968 to ensure that chaplains killed in the line of duty receive public safety officer death benefits, having considered the

same, reports favorably thereon with an amendment and recommends that the bill as amended do pass.

CONTENTS

Page

The Amendment ...................................................................................................... 1

Purpose and Summary ............................................................................................ 2

Background and Need for the Legislation ............................................................. 2

Hearings ................................................................................................................... 3

Committee Consideration ........................................................................................ 3

Vote of the Committee ............................................................................................. 3

Committee Oversight Findings ............................................................................... 3

Performance Goals and Objectives ......................................................................... 3

New Budget Authority and Tax Expenditures ...................................................... 4

Congressional Budget Office Cost Estimate .......................................................... 4

Constitutional Authority Statement ...................................................................... 5

Section-by-Section Analysis and Discussion .......................................................... 5

Changes in Existing Law Made by the Bill, as Reported ..................................... 6

Markup Transcript .................................................................................................. 7

The amendment is as follows:

Strike all after the enacting clause and insert the following:

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Mychal Judge Police and Fire Chaplains Public

Safety Officers’ Benefit Act of 2002’’.

2

SEC. 2. BENEFITS FOR CHAPLAINS.

(a) IN GENERAL.—Section 1204 of the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets

Act of 1968 (42 U.S.C. 3796b) is amended—

(1) by redesignating paragraphs (2) through (7) as (3) through (8), respectively;

(2) by inserting after paragraph (1) the following:

‘‘(2) ‘chaplain’ means any individual serving as an officially recognized or

designated member of a legally organized volunteer fire department or legally

organized police department, or an officially recognized or designated public employee of a legally organized fire or police department who was responding to

a fire, rescue, or police emergency;’’; and

(3) in subparagraph (A) of paragraph (8), as redesignated by paragraph (1),

by inserting after ‘‘firefighter,’’ the following: ‘‘as a chaplain,’’.

(b) ELIGIBLE BENEFICIARIES.—Section 1201(a) of such Act (42 U.S.C. 3796(a)) is

amended—

(1) in paragraph (3), by striking ‘‘or’’ at the end;

(2) by redesignating paragraph (4) as paragraph (5); and

(3) by inserting after paragraph (3) the following new paragraph:

‘‘(4) if there is no surviving spouse or surviving child, to the individual designated by such officer as beneficiary under such officer’s most recently executed life insurance policy, provided that such individual survived such officer;

or’’.

(c) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by this section shall take effect

on September 11, 2001, and shall apply to injuries or deaths that occur in the line

of duty on or after such date.

PURPOSE AND SUMMARY

The purpose of H.R. 3297 is to restructure the Public Safety Officers Benefits program administered by the Bureau of Justice Assistance by specifically including chaplains as a position covered

within law enforcement and firefighting units as well as broadening those who may receive such benefits in the event of a death

in the line of duty by including as a potential beneficiary the

named persons who are listed on the most recently executed life insurance policy. Currently, the definition is such that it is not clear

whether chaplains who are employed by police and fire departments and who die in the line of duty are allowed Public Safety Officer Benefits and, when benefits are paid, beneficiaries are limited

to spouses, children, and parents.

BACKGROUND AND NEED FOR THE LEGISLATION

On September 11, 2001, Father Mychal F. Judge, chaplain with

the New York City Fire Department, was struck in the head by debris at the World Trade Center, as he was ministering to victims

of the horrific event. He died as a result and was survived only by

his two sisters.

Under 42 U.S.C. § 3796, the Bureau of Justice Assistance (BJA)

is allowed to determine whether or not a public officer has died as

a direct or proximate cause of a personal injury sustained in the

line of duty, and if such criteria is met the Bureau is directed to

pay a monetary benefit of $250,000 to such officers surviving family members. Although the BJA decided Father Judge was eligible

for payment of death benefits, none were paid to his life insurance

beneficiaries as they did not meet the qualifications of 42 U.S.C.

§ 3796(a). Father Judge had never married, never had children,

and had outlived his parents, thus no individual qualified as a beneficiary under existing law. However, Father Judge was survived

by his two sisters, both of whom were ineligible under current law

to receive the death benefit.

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Currently, 42 U.S.C. § 3796b defines the term ‘‘public safety officers’’ for the purpose of determining who is eligible for the Public

Safety Officers Benefit. Those eligible are limited in scope to law

enforcement officers, firefighters, members of rescue teams or ambulance crews, an employee of FEMA under certain conditions, and

members of State, local, or tribal emergency management or civil

defense agencies who are performing official duties in cooperation

with FEMA . Although the language of existing law could be interpreted to include chaplains, H.R. 3297 would resolve any existing

ambiguity. The bill specifically names the chaplain as a recognized

subdivision of public servant who may benefit from the Public Safety Officers Benefits as long as they are associated with either a police or fire department and are responding to a fire, rescue, or police emergency.

Additionally, H.R. 3297 would expand the list of who would be

allowed to receive such a benefit in the event of a death which occurred in the line of duty. Current law restricts such beneficiaries

to the spouse, child, or parent of the decedent. H.R. 3297 would expand this list, which would still give priority to spouses and children, but in the event that neither survived the officer, would allow

the monetary benefit to be paid to the individual designated by

such officer as beneficiary under that officer’s most recently executed life insurance policy. In the event that there was no such individual named or that an individual so named did not survive the

officer, the benefit would then be paid to the parents of the officer.

HEARINGS

No hearings were held on H.R. 3297.

COMMITTEE CONSIDERATION

On March 7, 2002, the Committee met in open session and ordered favorably reported the bill H.R. 3297 with amendment by

voice vote, a quorum being present.

VOTE OF THE COMMITTEE

An amendment was offered by Mr. Nadler (for himself and Mr.

Sensenbrenner) to insert language on page 3, lines 2 through 5, by

striking ‘‘person’’ in both places such term appears and inserting

‘‘individual’’. The amendment was agreed to by voice vote.

COMMITTEE OVERSIGHT FINDINGS

In compliance with clause 3(c)(1) of rule XIII of the Rules of the

House of Representatives, the Committee reports that the findings

and recommendations of the Committee, based on oversight activities under clause 2(b)(1) of rule X of the Rules of the House of Representatives, are incorporated in the descriptive portions of this report.

PERFORMANCE GOALS AND OBJECTIVES

H.R. 3297 does not authorize funding. Therefore, clause 3(c) of

rule XIII of the Rules of the House of Representatives is inapplicable.

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NEW BUDGET AUTHORITY AND TAX EXPENDITURES

Clause 3(c)(2) of House rule XIII is inapplicable because this legislation does not provide new budgetary authority or increased tax

expenditures.

CONGRESSIONAL BUDGET OFFICE COST ESTIMATE

In compliance with clause 3(c)(3) of rule XIII of the Rules of the

House of Representatives, the Committee sets forth, with respect to

the bill, H.R. 3297, the following estimate and comparison prepared

by the Director of the Congressional Budget Office under section

402 of the Congressional Budget Act of 1974:

U.S. CONGRESS,

CONGRESSIONAL BUDGET OFFICE,

Washington, DC, March 28, 2002.

Hon. F. JAMES SENSENBRENNER, Jr., Chairman,

Committee on the Judiciary,

House of Representatives, Washington, DC.

DEAR MR. CHAIRMAN: The Congressional Budget Office has prepared the enclosed cost estimate for H.R. 3297, the Mychal Judge

Police and Fire Chaplains Public Safety Officers’ Benefit Act of

2001.

If you wish further details on this estimate, we will be pleased

to provide them. The CBO staff contact is Mark Grabowicz, who

can be reached at 226–2860.

Sincerely,

DAN L. CRIPPEN, Director.

Enclosure

cc: Honorable John Conyers, Jr.

Ranking Member

H.R. 3297—Mychal Judge Police and Fire Chaplains Public Safety

Officers’ Benefit Act of 2001.

CBO estimates that enacting H.R. 3297 would increase direct

spending by about $2 million in fiscal year 2002 and by less than

$500,000 in each year thereafter. Because the bill would affect direct spending, pay-as-you-go procedures would apply. H.R. 3297

contains no intergovernmental or private-sector mandates as defined in the Unfunded Mandates Reform Act and would not affect

the budgets of state, local, or tribal governments.

For incidents occurring on or after September 11, 2001, H.R.

3297 would make chaplains of fire and police departments eligible

for the benefits available to public safety officers who have died or

who have been permanently disabled as a result of injuries sustained in the line of duty. Under current law, the families of public

safety officers who have died as a result of such injuries are eligible

for a payment of $250,000. Officers who have been permanently

disabled are eligible for the same payment; however, this payment

is subject to the availability of appropriations. Based on information from the Department of Justice, CBO estimates that this provision of H.R. 3297 would cost less than $500,000 annually because

it is extremely rare for a police or fire chaplain to be killed in the

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line of duty. There was one fire department chaplain killed in the

September 11th attacks in New York: Father Mychal Judge.

In addition, for incidents occurring on or after September 11,

2001, H.R. 3297 would expand the list of eligible recipients for the

$250,000 death benefit. The bill would allow for payments to individuals that are named on a deceased officer’s life insurance policy

other than spouses, children, and parents, who currently are eligible to receive the $250,000 payment.

Of the approximately 450 public safety officers killed in the September 11th attacks, there are 10 individuals known to have died

without spouses, children, or parents, so the $250,000 death benefit

will not be paid under current law. Based on information from the

Department of Justice and from associations representing police officers and firefighters, CBO expects that a majority of the 10 deceased individuals had life insurance policies, thus the beneficiaries

of those policies would be eligible for a $250,000 payment under

H.R. 3297. We estimate that enacting H.R. 3297 would increase direct spending by about $2 million in fiscal year 2002.

For fiscal year 2003 and subsequent years, CBO estimates that

H.R. 3297 would cost less than $500,000 annually for death benefits paid to life insurance beneficiaries. The events of September

11, 2001, resulted in an unusually high number of public safety officer deaths that affect Federal payments in fiscal year 2002; in

most years, payments to survivors of public safety officers have

numbered about 200. It is very unusual for an officer to die in the

line of duty with no spouse, children, or parents, according to associations for police officers and firefighters. Aside from the 10 cases

resulting from the attacks of September 11, 2001, there have been

no such cases reported in recent years.

The CBO staff contact for this estimate is Mark Grabowicz, who

can be reached at 226–2860. This estimate was approved by Peter

H. Fontaine, Deputy Assistant Director for Budget Analysis.

CONSTITUTIONAL AUTHORITY STATEMENT

Pursuant to clause 3(d)(1) of rule XIII of the Rules of the House

of Representatives, the Committee finds the authority for this legislation in Article I, section 8, clause 18 of the Constitution.

SECTION-BY-SECTION ANALYSIS AND DISCUSSION

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE

This act may be cited as the ‘‘Mychal Judge Police and Fire

Chaplains Public Safety Officers’ Benefit Act of 2002.’’

SECTION 2. BENEFITS FOR CHAPLAINS

Subsection (a) amends section 1204 of the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968 (42 U.S.C. 3796(b)) to make chaplains eligible for the Public Safety Officers Benefit. It also defines

the term ‘‘chaplain’’ as any individual serving as an officially recognized or designated member of a legally organized volunteer fire

department or legally organized police department, or an officially

recognized or designated public employee of a legally organized fire

or police department who was responding to a fire, rescue, or police

emergency.

6

Subsection (b) amends section 1201(a) of the Omnibus Crime

Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968 (42 U.S.C. 3796(a)) to expand

eligible beneficiaries to include individuals named on life insurance

policies.

Subsection (c) makes H.R. 3297 retroactive, stating that ‘‘the

amendments made by this section shall take effect on September

11, 2001, and shall apply to injuries or deaths that occur in the line

of duty on or after such date.’’

CHANGES IN EXISTING LAW MADE BY THE BILL, AS REPORTED

In compliance with clause 3(e) of rule XIII of the Rules of the

House of Representatives, changes in existing law made by the bill,

as reported, are shown as follows (existing law proposed to be omitted is enclosed in black brackets, new matter is printed in italics,

existing law in which no change is proposed is shown in roman):

OMNIBUS CRIME CONTROL AND SAFE STREETS ACT OF

1968

* * * * * * *

TITLE I—JUSTICE SYSTEM IMPROVEMENT

* * * * * * *

PART L—PUBLIC SAFETY OFFICERS’ DEATH BENEFITS

Subpart 1—Death Benefits

PAYMENTS

SEC. 1201. (a) In any case in which the Bureau of Justice Assistance (hereinafter in this part referred to as the ‘‘Bureau’’) determines, under regulations issued pursuant to this part, that a public

safety officer has died as the direct and proximate result of a personal injury sustained in the line of duty, the Bureau shall pay a

benefit of $250,000, adjusted in accordance with subsection (h), as

follows:

(1) * * *

* * * * * * *

(3) if there is no surviving spouse, to the child or children

of such officer in equal shares; øor¿

(4) if there is no surviving spouse or surviving child, to the

individual designated by such officer as beneficiary under such

officer’s most recently executed life insurance policy, provided

that such individual survived such officer; or

ø(4)¿ (5) if none of the above, to the parent or parents of

such officer in equal shares.

* * * * * * *

DEFINITIONS

SEC. 1204. As used in this part—

(1) * * *

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(2) ‘‘chaplain’’ means any individual serving as an officially

recognized or designated member of a legally organized volunteer fire department or legally organized police department, or

an officially recognized or designated public employee of a legally organized fire or police department who was responding

to a fire, rescue, or police emergency;

ø(2)¿ (3) ‘‘child’’ means any natural, illegitimate, adopted,

or posthumous child or stepchild of a deceased public safety officer who, at the time of the public safety officer’s death, is— (i) * * *

* * * * * * *

ø(3)¿ (4) ‘‘firefighter’’ includes an individual serving as an

official recognized or designated member of a legally organized

volunteer fire department and an officially recognized or designated public employee member of a rescue squad or ambulance crew;

ø(4)¿ (5) ‘‘intoxication’’ means a disturbance of mental or

physical faculties resulting from the introduction of alcohol

into the body as evidence by— (i) * * *

* * * * * * *

or resulting from drugs or other substances in the body;

ø(5)¿ (6) ‘‘law enforcement officer’’ means an individual involved in crime and juvenile delinquency control or reduction,

or enforcement of the laws, including, but not limited to, police,

corrections, probation, parole, and judicial officers;

ø(6)¿ (7) ‘‘public agency’’ means the United States, any

State of the United States, the District of Columbia, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands of the United

States, Guam, American Samoa, the Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands, the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, and any territory or possession of the United States, or

any unit of local government, agency, or instrumentality of any

of the foregoing; and

ø(7)¿ (8) ‘‘public safety officer’’ means— (A) an individual serving a public agency in an official

capacity, with or without compensation, as a law enforcement officer, as a firefighter, as a chaplain, or as a member of a rescue squad or ambulance crew;

* * * * * * *

MARKUP TRANSCRIPT

BUSINESS MEETING

THURSDAY, MARCH 7, 2002

HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, COMMITTEE ON THE JUDICIARY, Washington, DC.

The Committee met, pursuant to notice, at 9:35 a.m., in Room

2141, Rayburn House Office Building, Hon. F. James Sensenbrenner, Jr. [Chairman of the Committee] presiding.

Chairman SENSENBRENNER. The Committee will be in order.

[Intervening business.]

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Pursuant to notice, I now call up the bill H.R. 3297, the ‘‘Mychal

Judge Police and Fire Chaplains Public Safety Officers’ Benefit Act

of 2001’’ for purposes of markup and move its favorable recommendation to the House. Without objection, the bill will be considered as read and open for amendment at any time.

[The bill, H.R. 3297, follows:]

9

10

Chairman SENSENBRENNER. I ask unanimous consent that all

Members, including the Chair, be allowed to insert opening statements in the record at this point in time, and recognize the gentleman from New York, Mr. Nadler, for an amendment.

[The prepared statement of Mr. Sensenbrenner follows:]

PREPARED STATEMENT OF THE HONORABLE F. JAMES SENSENBRENNER, JR., A

REPRESENTATIVE IN CONGRESS FROM THE STATE OF WISCONSIN

Once again, this Committee has reason to visit the events of September 11.

Through the tragedy of that day, we have heard countless stories, and have tried

to do what we could as a Committee to remedy that which we may legislatively address. H.R. 3297 is one such remedy which stems from one such story.

Father Mychal F. Judge, a priest who years earlier had consoled the families of

TWA Flight 800 after it exploded off of Long Island and who had gone on a recent

peace mission to Northern Ireland, had been a chaplain with the New York City

Fire Department since 1992. Acting in his capacity as chaplain, he was present at

the World Trade Center after the attack commenced, ministering to the victims of

that horrendous deed, when a rain of debris showered over him, resulting in his

death.

H.R. 3297 is given a short name in recognition of Father Judge and his efforts,

while addressing two concerns brought up under current law which his situation

has brought to light. Under current law, the Bureau of Justice Assistance is directed

to make payment of monetary benefits to survivors of public safety officers who are

killed in the line of duty. This bill addresses any ambiguity which may exist in existing legal language, specifically naming chaplains who are in service as being covered by the same criteria as other public service officers. Additionally, this bill

would allow for the beneficiary under that officer’s most recently executed life insurance policy to receive the monetary benefit administered by the Bureau of Justice

Assistance in the case that the deceased had neither a spouse or a child left as a

survivor.

I urge all Members to support H.R. 3297.

[The prepared statement of Mr. Nadler follows:]

11

PREPARED STATEMENT OF THE HONORABLE JERROLD NADLER, A REPRESENTATIVE IN

CONGRESS FROM THE STATE OF NEW YORK

The ‘‘Mychal Judge Police and Fire Chaplains Public Safety Officers’ Benefit Act

of 2001′′

Thank you for yielding time.

I ask unanimous consent to include in the record this letter from the National

Association of Police Organizations in support of H.R. 3297. Thank you.

Mr. Chairman, I strongly support the Mychal Judge Police and Fire Chaplains

Public Safety Officers’ Benefit Act.

I worked closely with Rep. Manzullo on this bill to extend the Public Safety Officers Benefit Program (PSOB) to chaplains, and I want to thank the Chairman for

bringing this bill before the Committee for a markup so expeditiously.

Franciscan Friar Mychal Judge was a pastor at the Church of St. Francis of Assisi

on West 31st Street in Manhattan. He was a well known New York City Fire Department Chaplain and he helped console the families of the victims of Trans World

Airways Flight 800 that crashed off the coast of Long Island in 1996.

On September 11, 2001, when the first plane hit tower Tower 1 of the World

Trade Center, Father Judge joined his fellow firefighters by rushing to the scene.

New York City Mayor Rudy Guiliani later said he saw the Chaplain at the scene

and asked him to pray for us. The Chaplain was there providing support and administering last rites to the suffering victims of the attacks.

Tragically, Father Judge was killed at the World Trade Center. Clearly, Father

Judge provided heroic service to our nation and ought to be eligible for the PSOB

program.

As you know, the PSOB provides financial and emotional assistance to the families of public safety officers killed in the line of duty and to officers who are permanently and totally disabled as the result of traumatic injuries sustained in the line

of duty.

Father Judge is one of several chaplains who have died in the line of duty. This

bill would acknowledge their service to our country by clarifying their eligibility in

the PSOB program and by enabling their designated beneficiaries to access the benefits provided by the program.

I fully support this bill and I urge my colleagues to support it as well.

Mr. NADLER. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

Before I offer the amendment, I ask unanimous consent to include in the record this letter in support of the bill from the National Association of Police Organizations.

Chairman SENSENBRENNER. Without objection.

[The information referred to follows:]

12

Mr. NADLER. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I have an amendment

at the desk.

Chairman SENSENBRENNER. Without objection, the clerk will report the amendment. And without objection, the amendment is considered as read.

[The amendment follows:]

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Chairman SENSENBRENNER. The gentleman from New York is

recognized for 5 minutes.

And without objection, the amendment is adopted. [Laughter.]

Mr. NADLER. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

Chairman SENSENBRENNER. Are there further amendments?

Hearing none, the question occurs on the motion to report the bill

H.R. 3297 favorably as amended. The Chair notes the presence of

a reporting quorum.

All in favor say aye.

Opposed, no.

The ayes appear to have it. The ayes have it. The motion to report favorably is adopted. Without objection, the bill will be reported favorably to the House in the form of a single amendment

in the nature of a substitute, incorporating the amendment adopted

today.

Without objection, the Chair is authorized to move to go to conference pursuant to House Rules. Without objection, the staff is directed to make any technical and conforming changes. And all

Members will be given 2 days as provided by House Rules in which

to submit additional dissenting, supplemental, or minority views.

And there being no further business to come before the Committee, the Committee stands adjourned.

[Whereupon, at 11:25 a.m., the Committee was adjourned.]

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