79–006 

111TH CONGRESS REPORT " ! HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 1st Session 111–132 

FALLEN HEROES FLAG ACT OF 2009 

JUNE 3, 2009.—Committed to the Committee of the Whole House on the State of 

the Union and ordered to be printed 

Mr. BRADY of Pennsylvania, from the Committee on House 

Administration, submitted the following 

R E P O R T 

[To accompany H.R. 415] 

[Including cost estimate of the Congressional Budget Office] 

The Committee on House Administration, to whom was referred 

the bill (H.R. 415) to provide Capitol-flown flags to the immediate 

family of fire fighters, law enforcement officers, emergency medical 

technicians, and other rescue workers who are killed in the line of 

duty, having considered the same, report favorably thereon without 

amendment and recommend that the bill do pass. 

PURPOSE OF THE LEGISLATION

H.R. 415 would provide for Capitol-flown flags to be given to the 

immediate families of fire fighters, law enforcement officers, emergency medical technicians, and other rescue workers who are killed 

in the line of duty. 

BILL SUMMARY

H.R. 415 would provide a Capitol-flown flag to the immediate 

family of a firefighter, law enforcement officer, emergency technician, or other rescue worker who dies in the line of duty. Additionally, the family will receive a certificate, prepared by the office of 

the Clerk of the House, signed by the Speaker of the House and 

the Representative presenting the flag expressing sympathy on behalf of the House of Representatives. The flag and certificate will 

be provided at no expense to the family. 

COMMITTEE CONSIDERATION

On March 25, 2009, the Committee on House Administration, by 

voice vote, ordered the H.R. 415 reported favorably without amendVerDate Nov 24 2008 04:58 Jun 04, 2009 Jkt 079006 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6659 Sfmt 6602 E:\HR\OC\HR132.XXX HR132

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ment. No recorded votes were taken during the consideration of the 

bill. 

BACKGROUND AND NEED FOR H.R. 415

Across the country, brave public servants selflessly put their 

lives at risk for the protection of others. On rare occasions, these 

fire fighters, law enforcement officers, emergency technicians, and 

other rescue workers make the ultimate sacrifice. 

H.R. 415 would provide a simple and eloquent tribute to these 

fallen heroes. A Capitol-flown flag would express national sympathy and gratitude to the families of those who gave their lives 

for others. 

ANALYSIS OF THE BILL (AS REPORTED)

H.R. 415 was introduced by Representative Peter T. King of New 

York on January 9, 2009. The bill directs the Clerk of the House 

to implement regulations and procedures, subject to the approval 

of the Committee on House Administration, to provide a flag flown 

over the U.S. Capitol building at the request of the family of a rescue worker who died in the line of duty. 

A section by section analysis of the bill is as follows: 

Section 1. Designates the bill as the ‘‘Fallen Heroes Flag Act of 

2009’’. 

Section 2. Subsection (a) entitles the family of a firefighter, law 

enforcement officer, emergency technician or other rescue worker 

who died in the line of duty to request a Capitol-flown flag with 

a certificate described in Subsection (c). 

Subsection (b) assures that the flag will be provided without cost 

to the requesting family. 

Subsection (c) describes the certificate to accompany the flag as 

an expression of sympathy on behalf of the House of Representatives. It will be signed by the Speaker of the House and the Representative providing the flag. 

Subsection (d) defines the term ‘‘Capitol-flown flag’’ as a United 

States flag flown over the United States Capitol in honor of the deceased individual for whom such flag is requested; and the term 

‘‘Representative’’ to include a Delegate or Resident Commissioner 

to the Congress. 

Section 3. subsection (a) requires the Clerk of the House of Representatives to issue regulations and procedures for carrying out 

this act. 

Subsection (b) requires that the regulations issued by the Clerk 

be approved by the Committee on House Administration. 

Section 4. authorizes appropriations from applicable accounts of 

the House of Representatives for fiscal year 2009 and each succeeding fiscal year. 

Section 5. states that this bill will take effect immediately after 

the procedures created by the Clerk are approved by the Committee on House Administration. 

MATTERS REQUIRED UNDER RULES OF THE HOUSE

Committee votes 

Clause 3(b) of House Rule XIII requires the results of each recorded vote on an amendment or motion to report, together with 


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the names of those voting for and against, to be printed in the committee report. No recorded votes were taken during the committee’s 

consideration of H.R. 415. 

Constitutional authority 

Clause 3(d)(1) of House Rule XIII requires each committee report 

on a public bill or joint resolution to include a statement citing the 

specific constitutional power(s) granted to the Congress on which 

the Committee relies for enactment of the measure under consideration. 

The Committee cites the legislative power broadly granted to 

Congress in Article I. 

Congressional Budget Office estimate 

Clause 3(c)(3) of House Rule XIII requires the report of a committee on a measure which has been approved by the committee to 

include a cost estimate prepared by the Director of the Congressional Budget Office pursuant to section 402 of the CBA, if timely 

submitted. The Director submitted the following estimate: 

U.S. CONGRESS, 

CONGRESSIONAL BUDGET OFFICE, 

Washington, DC, March 30, 2009. 

Hon. ROBERT A. BRADY, Chairman, Committee on House Administration, 

House of Representatives, Washington, DC. 

DEAR MR. CHAIRMAN: The Congressional Budget Office has prepared the enclosed cost estimate for H.R. 415, the Fallen Heroes 

Flag Act of 2009. 

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

to provide them. The CBO staff contacts are Matthew Pickford and 

Deborah Reis. 

Sincerely, 

DOUGLAS W. ELMENDORF. 

Enclosure. 

H.R. 415—Fallen Heroes Flag Act of 2009 

H.R. 415 would authorize members of the U.S. House of Representatives to provide, free of charge, U.S. flags flown over the 

U.S. Capitol to the immediate families of fire fighters, law enforcement officers, and other rescue workers who died in the line of 

duty. (Currently, representatives may provide flags, but at a price 

to the requestor—usually about $24 plus shipping costs.) The bill 

would require the Clerk of the House of Representatives to establish procedures, request forms, and guidelines for providing the 

flags and accompanying certificates. 

Based on the current costs of obtaining and mailing flags and on 

the small number of likely recipients in any given year, CBO estimates that implementing H.R. 415 would not have a significant impact on discretionary spending. Depending on whether the new regulations would allow families of individuals who died before the 

bill’s enactment to request a flag, it is possible that the costs of 

providing flags could be higher in the first few years of the program (to process a potential backlog of such requests), but we estimate that, even in those years, total annual costs would be insigVerDate Nov 24 2008 04:58 Jun 04, 2009 Jkt 079006 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6659 Sfmt 6602 E:\HR\OC\HR132.XXX HR132

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nificant. The bill would have no effect on direct spending or revenues. 

H.R. 415 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. 

The CBO staff contacts for this estimate are Matthew Pickford 

and Deborah Reis. The estimate was approved by Theresa Gullo, 

Deputy Assistant Director for Budget Analysis. 

Oversight findings 

Clause 3(c)(1) of rule XIII requires each committee report to contain oversight findings and recommendations required pursuant to 

clause 2(b)(1) of House rule X. The Committee on House Administration has general oversight responsibility for the Office of the 

Clerk. 

In the course of the Committee’s continuing oversight of the Office of the Clerk, the Committee noted the benefit of honoring the 

service of rescue workers. 

Federal mandates 

Section 423 of the CBA requires a committee report on any public bill or joint resolution that includes a federal mandate to include 

specific information about such mandates. The Committee states 

that H.R. 415 includes no federal mandates. 

Preemption clarification 

Section 423 of the CBA requires a committee report on any public bill or joint resolution to include a committee statement on the 

extent to which the measure is intended to preempt state or local 

law. The Committee states that H.R. 415 is not intended to preempt any state or local law. 

Statement of general performance goals and objectives 

Clause 3(c)(4) of House rule XIII requires a committee report on 

a measure to include a statement of general performance goals and 

objectives. The Committee finds that the objective of H.R. 415 is to 

honor the service and sacrifice of rescue workers. 

Congressional ‘‘earmarks’’ 

Clause 9 of House rule XXI requires a committee report on a bill 

or joint resolution to contain an identification of congressional ‘‘earmarks,’’ limited tax benefits, limited tariff benefits, and the names 

of requesting Members. H.R. 415 contains no such items. 

Æ 


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