I 

108TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 2837

To provide for compassionate payments with regard to individuals who contracted human immunodeficiency virus due to the provision of a contaminated blood transfusion, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JULY 23, 2003

Mr. PRICE of North Carolina (for himself and Mr. DEAL of Georgia) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Energy 

and Commerce, and in addition to the Committee on Ways and Means, 

for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case 

for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the 

committee concerned 

A BILL

To provide for compassionate payments with regard to individuals who contracted human immunodeficiency virus 

due to the provision of a contaminated blood transfusion, 

and for other purposes.

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE; TABLE OF CONTENTS. 

4 (a) SHORT TITLE.—This Act may be cited as the 

5 ‘‘Steve Grissom Relief Fund Act of 2003’’. 
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1 (b) TABLE OF CONTENTS.—The table of contents of 

2 this Act is as follows:

Sec. 1. Short title; table of contents. 

TITLE I—RELIEF FUND 

Sec. 101. Steve Grissom relief fund. 

Sec. 102. Compassionate payments. 

Sec. 103. Determination and payment. 

Sec. 104. Limitation on transfer of rights and number of petitions. 

Sec. 105. Time limitation. 

Sec. 106. Certain claims not affected by payment. 

Sec. 107. Definitions. 

TITLE II—TREATMENT OF CERTAIN PAYMENTS UNDER THE SSI 

PROGRAM 

Sec. 201. Treatment of certain payments under the SSI program.

3 TITLE I—RELIEF FUND 

4 SEC. 101. STEVE GRISSOM RELIEF FUND. 

5 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.—There is established in the 

6 Treasury of the United States a trust fund to be known 

7 as the ‘‘Steve Grissom Relief Fund’’, which shall be ad8 ministered by the Secretary of the Treasury. 

9 (b) INVESTMENT OF AMOUNTS IN FUND.—Amounts 

10 in the Fund shall be invested in accordance with section 

11 9702 of title 31, United States Code, and any interest on 

12 and proceeds from any such investment shall be credited 

13 to and become part of the Fund. 

14 (c) AVAILABILITY OF FUND.—Amounts in the Fund 

15 shall be available only for disbursement by the Secretary 

16 of Health and Human Services under section 103. 

17 (d) TERMINATION.—The Fund shall terminate upon 

18 the expiration of the 5-year period beginning on the date 
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1 of the enactment of this Act. If all of the amounts in the 

2 Fund have not been expended by the end of the 5-year 

3 period, investments of amounts in the Fund shall be liq4 uidated, the receipts of such liquidation shall be deposited 

5 in the Fund, and all funds remaining in the Fund shall 

6 be deposited in the miscellaneous receipts account in the 

7 Treasury of the United States. 

8 (e) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There 

9 are authorized to be appropriated to the Fund such sums 

10 as may be necessary to carry out this title. 

11 SEC. 102. COMPASSIONATE PAYMENTS. 

12 (a) IN GENERAL.—If the conditions described in sub13 section (b) are met and if there are sufficient amounts 

14 in the Fund to make each payment, the Secretary shall 

15 make a single payment of $100,000 from the Fund to any 

16 individual who has an HIV infection, or who is diagnosed 

17 with AIDS, and who is described in one of the following 

18 paragraphs: 

19 (1) The individual was treated with HIV con20 taminated blood transfusion, HIV contaminated 

21 blood components, HIV contaminated human tissue, 

22 or HIV contaminated organs (excluding anti-hemo23 philiac factor) in the United States. 

24 (2) The individual— 
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1 (A) is the lawful spouse of an individual 

2 described in paragraph (1); or 

3 (B) is the former lawful spouse of an indi4 vidual described in paragraph (1), was the law5 ful spouse of the individual at any time after 

6 the individual described in paragraph (1) was 

7 treated as described in such paragraph, and 

8 through medical documentation can assert rea9 sonable certainty of transmission of HIV from 

10 the individual described in paragraph (1). 

11 (3) The individual acquired the HIV infection 

12 through perinatal transmission from a parent who is 

13 an individual described in paragraph (1) or (2). 

14 (b) CONDITIONS.—The conditions described in this 

15 subsection are, with respect to an individual, as follows: 

16 (1) SUBMISSION OF MEDICAL DOCUMENTATION

17 OF HIV INFECTION.—

18 (A) IN GENERAL.—The individual submits 

19 to the Secretary written medical documentation 

20 that demonstrates that—

21 (i) the individual has (or had) an HIV 

22 infection;

23 (ii) in the case of an individual de24 scribed in subsection (a)(1), the individual 

25 was treated with a blood transfusion, blood 
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1 components, human tissue, or organs (ex2 cluding anti-hemophiliac factor) provided 

3 by a medical professional in the United 

4 States; 

5 (iii) prior to the treatment described 

6 in clause (ii), there was no evidence of 

7 HIV infection with respect to the indi8 vidual involved; and 

9 (iv) a comprehensive physical exam10 ination, or HIV testing, was conducted 

11 after the treatment described in clause (ii) 

12 and reveals evidence of HIV infection, and 

13 that evidence, together with other medical 

14 records, indicates the probable trans15 mission of the HIV to the individual 

16 through such treatment. 

17 (B) WAIVERS.—The Secretary may waive 

18 the requirements of subparagraph (A) with re19 spect to an individual if the Secretary deter20 mines that the individual is unable to provide 

21 the documentation required under such sub22 paragraph because the documents involved were 

23 destroyed or otherwise made unavailable as a 

24 result of the occurrence of a natural disaster or
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1 other circumstance beyond the control of the in2 dividual. 

3 (2) PETITION.—A petition for the payment is 

4 filed with the Secretary by or on behalf of the indi5 vidual. 

6 (3) DETERMINATION.—The Secretary deter7 mines, in accordance with section 103(b), that the 

8 petition meets the requirements of this title. 

9 (c) FRAUD.—Any individual who—

10 (1) knowingly and willfully makes or causes to 

11 be made any false statement or representation of a 

12 material fact in connection with any documentation 

13 provided under this subsection; or 

14 (2) having knowledge of the occurrence of any 

15 event affecting his or her initial or continued right 

16 to any payment under this title conceals or fails to 

17 disclose such event with an intent fraudulently to se18 cure such payment; 

19 shall be fined not more than $100,000 or imprisoned for 

20 not more than 5 years, or both. 

21 SEC. 103. DETERMINATION AND PAYMENT. 

22 (a) ESTABLISHMENT OF FILING PROCEDURES.—The 

23 Secretary shall establish procedures under which individ24 uals may submit petitions for payment under this title. 

25 The procedures shall include a requirement that each peti-
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1 tion filed under this title include written medical docu2 mentation that the relevant individual described in section 

3 102(a)(1) received the treatment described in such sec4 tion. 

5 (b) DETERMINATION.—For each petition filed under 

6 this title, the Secretary shall determine whether the peti7 tion meets the requirements of this title. 

8 (c) PAYMENT.—

9 (1) IN GENERAL.—To the extent there are suf10 ficient amounts in the Fund to cover each payment, 

11 the Secretary shall pay, from the Fund, each peti12 tion that the Secretary determines meets the re13 quirements of this title in the order received. 

14 (2) PAYMENTS IN CASE OF DECEASED INDIVID15 UALS.—

16 (A) IN GENERAL.—In the case of an indi17 vidual referred to in section 102(a) who was di18 agnosed with AIDS and who is deceased at the 

19 time that payment is made under this section 

20 on a petition filed by or on behalf of the indi21 vidual, the payment shall be made as follows: 

22 (i) If the individual is survived by a 

23 spouse who is living at the time of pay24 ment, the payment shall be made to such 

25 surviving spouse. 
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1 (ii) If the individual is not survived by 

2 a spouse described in clause (i), the pay3 ment shall be made in equal shares to all 

4 children of the individual who are living at 

5 the time of the payment. 

6 (iii) If the individual is not survived 

7 by a person described in clause (i) or (ii), 

8 the payment shall be made in equal shares 

9 to the parents of the individual who are 

10 living at the time of the payment. 

11 (iv) If the individual is not survived 

12 by a person described in clause (i), (ii), or 

13 (iii), the payment shall revert back to the 

14 Fund. 

15 (B) FILING OF PETITION BY SURVIVOR.—

16 If an individual eligible for payment under sec17 tion 102(a) dies before filing a petition under 

18 this title, a survivor of the individual may file 

19 a petition for payment under this title on behalf 

20 of the individual if the survivor may receive 

21 payment under subparagraph (A). 

22 (C) DEFINITIONS.—For purposes of this 

23 paragraph: 

24 (i) SPOUSE.—The term ‘‘spouse’’ 

25 means an individual who was lawfully mar-
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1 ried to the relevant individual at the time 

2 of death. 

3 (ii) CHILD.—The term ‘‘child’’ in4 cludes a recognized natural child, a step5 child who lived with the relevant individual 

6 in a regular parent-child relationship, and 

7 an adopted child. 

8 (iii) PARENT.—The term ‘‘parent’’ in9 cludes fathers and mothers through adop10 tion. 

11 (3) TIMING OF PAYMENT.—The Secretary may 

12 not make a payment on a petition under this title 

13 before the expiration of the 120-day period begin14 ning on the date of the enactment of this Act or 

15 after the expiration of the 5-year period beginning 

16 on the date of the enactment of this Act. 

17 (d) ACTION ON PETITIONS.—The Secretary shall 

18 complete the determination required by subsection (b) re19 garding a petition not later than 120 days after the date 

20 the petition is filed under this title. 

21 (e) HUMANITARIAN NATURE OF PAYMENT.—This 

22 title does not create or admit any claim of or on behalf 

23 of the individual against the United States or against any 

24 officer, employee, or agent thereof acting within the scope 

25 of employment or agency that relates to an HIV infection
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1 arising from a treatment described in section 102(a)(1). 

2 A payment under this title shall, however, when accepted 

3 by or on behalf of the individual, be in full satisfaction 

4 of all such claims by or on behalf of that individual. 

5 (f) TERMINATION OF DUTIES OF SECRETARY.—The 

6 duties of the Secretary under this section shall cease when 

7 the Fund terminates. 

8 (g) TREATMENT OF PAYMENTS UNDER OTHER

9 LAWS.—A payment under subsection (c)(1) to an indi10 vidual—

11 (1) shall be treated for purposes of the Internal 

12 Revenue Code of 1986 as damages described in sec13 tion 104(a)(2) of such Code; 

14 (2) shall not be included as income or resources 

15 for purposes of determining the eligibility of the in16 dividual to receive benefits described in section 

17 3803(c)(2)(C) of title 31, United States Code, or the 

18 amount of such benefits, and such benefits shall not 

19 be secondary to, conditioned upon reimbursement 

20 from, or subject to any reduction because of receipt 

21 of, any such payment; and 

22 (3) shall not be treated as a third party pay23 ment or payment in relation to a legal liability with 

24 respect to such benefits and shall not be subject 

25 (whether by subrogation or otherwise) to recovery, 
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1 recoupment, reimbursement, or collection with re2 spect to such benefits (including the Federal or 

3 State governments or any entity that provides such 

4 benefits under a contract). 

5 (h) REGULATORY AUTHORITY.—The Secretary may 

6 issue regulations necessary to carry out this title. 

7 (i) TIME OF ISSUANCE OF PROCEDURES.—The Sec8 retary shall, through the promulgation of appropriate reg9 ulations, guidelines, or otherwise, first establish the proce10 dures to carry out this title not later than 120 days after 

11 the date of the enactment of this Act. 

12 SEC. 104. LIMITATION ON TRANSFER OF RIGHTS AND NUM13 BER OF PETITIONS. 

14 (a) RIGHTS NOT ASSIGNABLE OR TRANSFERABLE.—

15 Any right under this title shall not be assignable or trans16 ferable. 

17 (b) ONE PETITION WITH RESPECT TO EACH VIC18 TIM.—With respect to each individual described in para19 graph (1), (2), or (3) of section 102(a), the Secretary may 

20 not make payment with respect to more than one petition 

21 filed in respect to an individual. 

22 SEC. 105. TIME LIMITATION. 

23 The Secretary may not make any payment with re24 spect to any petition filed under this title unless the peti-
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1 tion is filed within 5 years after the date of the enactment 

2 of this Act. 

3 SEC. 106. CERTAIN CLAIMS NOT AFFECTED BY PAYMENT. 

4 A payment made under section 103(c)(1) shall not 

5 be considered as any form of compensation, or reimburse6 ment for a loss, for purposes of imposing liability on the 

7 individual receiving the payment, on the basis of such re8 ceipt, to repay any insurance carrier for insurance pay9 ments or to repay any person on account of worker’s com10 pensation payments. A payment under this title shall not 

11 affect any claim against an insurance carrier with respect 

12 to insurance or against any person with respect to work13 er’s compensation. 

14 SEC. 107. DEFINITIONS. 

15 For purposes of this title: 

16 (1) AIDS.—The term ‘‘AIDS’’ means acquired 

17 immune deficiency syndrome. 

18 (2) FUND.—The term ‘‘Fund’’ means the Steve 

19 Grissom Relief Fund. 

20 (3) HIV.—The term ‘‘HIV’’ means human im21 munodeficiency virus. 

22 (4) SECRETARY.—Unless otherwise provided, 

23 the term ‘‘Secretary’’ means the Secretary of Health 

24 and Human Services. 
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1 TITLE II—TREATMENT OF CER2 TAIN PAYMENTS UNDER THE 

3 SSI PROGRAM 

4 SEC. 201. TREATMENT OF CERTAIN PAYMENTS UNDER THE 

5 SSI PROGRAM. 

6 (a) IN GENERAL.—Notwithstanding any other provi7 sion of law, the payments described in subsection (b) shall 

8 not be considered income or resources in determining eligi9 bility for, or the amount of supplemental security income 

10 benefits under, title XVI of the Social Security Act. 

11 (b) GOVERNMENT PAYMENTS DESCRIBED.—The 

12 payments described in this subsection are payments made 

13 from the Fund established pursuant to section 101 of this 

14 Act.

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