II 

112TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 1696 

To improve the Public Safety Officers’ Benefits Program. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

OCTOBER 12, 2011 

Mr. LEAHY (for himself, Ms. MIKULSKI, Ms. LANDRIEU, and Mr. CARDIN) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary 

A BILL 

To improve the Public Safety Officers’ Benefits Program. 

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. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Public Safety Officers’ 

5 Benefits Improvements Act of 2011’’. 

6 SEC. 2. BENEFITS FOR CERTAIN NONPROFIT EMERGENCY 

7 MEDICAL SERVICE PROVIDERS AND CERTAIN 

8 TRAINEES; MISCELLANEOUS AMENDMENTS. 

9 (a) IN GENERAL.—Title I of the Omnibus Crime 

10 Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968 (42 U.S.C. 3711 

11 et seq.) is amended— 


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1 (1) in section 901(a) (42 U.S.C. 3791(a))— 

2 (A) in paragraph (26), by striking ‘‘and’’ 

3 at the end; 

4 (B) in paragraph (27), by striking the pe5 riod at the end and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and 

6 (C) by adding at the end the following: 

7 ‘‘(28) the term ‘hearing examiner’ includes any 

8 medical or claims examiner.’’; 

9 (2) in section 1201 (42 U.S.C. 3796)— 

10 (A) in subsection (a), by striking ‘‘fol11 lows:’’ and all that follows and inserting the fol12 lowing: ‘‘follows (if the payee indicated is living 

13 on the date on which the determination is 

14 made)— 

15 ‘‘(1) if there is no child who survived the public 

16 safety officer, to the surviving spouse of the public 

17 safety officer; 

18 ‘‘(2) if there is at least 1 child who survived the 

19 public safety officer and a surviving spouse of the 

20 public safety officer, 50 percent to the surviving 

21 child (or children, in equal shares) and 50 percent 

22 to the surviving spouse; 

23 ‘‘(3) if there is no surviving spouse of the public 

24 safety officer, to the surviving child (or children, in 

25 equal shares); 


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1 ‘‘(4) if there is no surviving spouse of the public 

2 safety officer and no surviving child— 

3 ‘‘(A) to the surviving individual (or individ4 uals, in shares per the designation, or, other5 wise, in equal shares) designated by the public 

6 safety officer to receive benefits under this sub7 section in the most recently executed designa8 tion of beneficiary of the public safety officer on 

9 file at the time of death with the public safety 

10 agency, organization, or unit; or 

11 ‘‘(B) if there is no individual qualifying 

12 under subparagraph (A), to the surviving indi13 vidual (or individuals, in equal shares) des14 ignated by the public safety officer to receive 

15 benefits under the most recently executed life 

16 insurance policy of the public safety officer on 

17 file at the time of death with the public safety 

18 agency, organization, or unit; 

19 ‘‘(5) if there is no individual qualifying under 

20 paragraph (1), (2), (3), or (4), to the surviving par21 ent (or parents, in equal shares) of the public safety 

22 officer; or 

23 ‘‘(6) if there is no individual qualifying under 

24 paragraph (1), (2), (3), (4), or (5), to the surviving 

25 individual (or individuals, in equal shares) who 


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1 would qualify under the definition of the term ‘child’ 

2 under section 1204 but for age.’’; 

3 (B) in subsection (b)— 

4 (i) by striking ‘‘direct result of a cata5 strophic’’ and inserting ‘‘direct and proxi6 mate result of a personal’’; 

7 (ii) by striking ‘‘pay,’’ and all that fol8 lows through ‘‘the same’’ and inserting 

9 ‘‘pay the same’’; 

10 (iii) by striking ‘‘in any year’’ and in11 serting ‘‘to the public safety officer (if liv12 ing on the date on which the determination 

13 is made)’’; 

14 (iv) by striking ‘‘in such year, ad15 justed’’ and inserting ‘‘with respect to the 

16 date on which the catastrophic injury oc17 curred, as adjusted’’; 

18 (v) by striking ‘‘, to such officer’’; 

19 (vi) by striking ‘‘the total’’ and all 

20 that follows through ‘‘For’’ and inserting 

21 ‘‘for’’; and 

22 (vii) by striking ‘‘That these’’ and all 

23 that follows through the period, and insert24 ing ‘‘That the amount payable under this 

25 subsection shall be the amount payable as 


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1 of the date of catastrophic injury of such 

2 public safety officer.’’; 

3 (C) in subsection (f)— 

4 (i) in paragraph (1), by striking ‘‘, as 

5 amended (D.C. Code, sec. 4–622); or’’ and 

6 inserting a semicolon; 

7 (ii) in paragraph (2)— 

8 (I) by striking ‘‘. Such bene9 ficiaries shall only receive benefits 

10 under such section 8191 that’’ and in11 serting ‘‘, such that beneficiaries shall 

12 receive only such benefits under such 

13 section 8191 as’’; and 

14 (II) by striking the period at the 

15 end and inserting ‘‘; or’’; and 

16 (iii) by adding at the end the fol17 lowing: 

18 ‘‘(3) payments under the September 11th Vic19 tim Compensation Fund of 2001 (49 U.S.C. 40101 

20 note; Public Law 107–42).’’; 

21 (D) by amending subsection (k) to read as 

22 follows: 

23 ‘‘(k) As determined by the Bureau, a heart attack, 

24 stroke, or vascular rupture suffered by a public safety offi25 cer shall be presumed to constitute a personal injury withVerDate Mar 15 2010 22:48 Oct 13, 2011 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1696.IS S1696

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1 in the meaning of subsection (a), sustained in the line of 

2 duty by the officer and directly and proximately resulting 

3 in death, if— 

4 ‘‘(1) the public safety officer, while on duty— 

5 ‘‘(A) engages in a situation involving non6 routine stressful or strenuous physical law en7 forcement, fire suppression, rescue, hazardous 

8 material response, emergency medical services, 

9 prison security, disaster relief, or other emer10 gency response activity; or 

11 ‘‘(B) participates in a training exercise in12 volving nonroutine stressful or strenuous phys13 ical activity; 

14 ‘‘(2) the heart attack, stroke, or vascular rup15 ture commences— 

16 ‘‘(A) while the officer is engaged or partici17 pating as described in paragraph (1); 

18 ‘‘(B) while the officer remains on that duty 

19 after being engaged or participating as de20 scribed in paragraph (1); or 

21 ‘‘(C) not later than 24 hours after the offi22 cer is engaged or participating as described in 

23 paragraph (1); and 


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1 ‘‘(3) the heart attack, stroke, or vascular rup2 ture directly and proximately results in the death of 

3 the public safety officer, 

4 unless competent medical evidence establishes that the 

5 heart attack, stroke, or vascular rupture was unrelated to 

6 the engagement or participation or was directly and proxi7 mately caused by something other than the mere presence 

8 of cardiovascular-disease risk factors.’’; and 

9 (E) by adding at the end the following: 

10 ‘‘(n) The public safety agency, organization, or unit 

11 responsible for maintaining on file an executed designation 

12 of beneficiary or executed life insurance policy for pur13 poses of subsection (a)(4) shall maintain the confiden14 tiality of the designation or policy in the same manner 

15 as the agency, organization, or unit maintains personnel 

16 or other similar records of the public safety officer.’’; 

17 (3) in section 1202 (42 U.S.C. 3796a)— 

18 (A) by striking ‘‘death’’, each place it ap19 pears except the second place it appears, and 

20 inserting ‘‘fatal’’; and 

21 (B) in paragraph (1), by striking ‘‘or cata22 strophic injury’’ the second place it appears and 

23 inserting ‘‘, disability, or injury’’; 

24 (4) in section 1203 (42 U.S.C. 3796a–1)— 


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1 (A) in the section heading, by striking 

2 ‘‘WHO HAVE DIED IN THE LINE OF DUTY’’ 

3 and inserting ‘‘WHO HAVE SUSTAINED

4 FATAL OR CATASTROPHIC INJURY IN THE

5 LINE OF DUTY’’; and 

6 (B) by striking ‘‘who have died in the line 

7 of duty’’ and inserting ‘‘who have sustained 

8 fatal or catastrophic injury in the line of duty’’; 

9 (5) in section 1204 (42 U.S.C. 3796b)— 

10 (A) by redesignating paragraphs (1) 

11 through (9) as paragraphs (2) through (10), re12 spectively; 

13 (B) by inserting before paragraph (2), as 

14 so redesignated, the following: 

15 ‘‘(1) ‘candidate-officer’ means an individual who 

16 is officially enrolled or admitted, as a cadet or train17 ee, in an officially recognized, formal program of in18 struction or training (such as a police or fire acad19 emy) that is solely and specifically intended to re20 sult, directly or immediately upon completion, in— 

21 ‘‘(A) commissioning as a law enforcement 

22 officer; 

23 ‘‘(B) conferral of authority to engage in 

24 fire suppression (as an officer or employee of a 

25 public fire department or as an officially recogVerDate Mar 15 2010 22:48 Oct 13, 2011 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1696.IS S1696

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1 nized or designated member of a legally orga2 nized volunteer fire department); or 

3 ‘‘(C) the granting of official authorization 

4 or license to engage in rescue activity or in the 

5 provision of emergency medical services as a 

6 member of a rescue squad or ambulance crew 

7 that is (or is a part of) the agency or entity 

8 sponsoring the enrollment or admission of the 

9 individual;’’; 

10 (C) in paragraph (2), as so redesignated, 

11 by striking ‘‘consequences of an injury that’’ 

12 and inserting ‘‘an injury, the direct and proxi13 mate consequences of which’’; 

14 (D) in paragraph (4), as so redesignated— 

15 (i) in the matter preceding clause 

16 (i)— 

17 (I) by inserting ‘‘or permanently 

18 and totally disabled’’ after ‘‘de19 ceased’’; and 

20 (II) by striking ‘‘death’’ and in21 serting ‘‘fatal or catastrophic injury’’; 

22 and 

23 (ii) by redesignating clauses (i), (ii), 

24 and (iii) as subparagraphs (A), (B), and 

25 (C), respectively; 


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1 (E) in paragraph (6), as so redesignated— 

2 (i) by striking ‘‘post-mortem’’ each 

3 place it appears and inserting ‘‘post-in4 jury’’; and 

5 (ii) by redesignating clauses (i) and 

6 (ii) as subparagraphs (A) and (B), respec7 tively; 

8 (F) in paragraph (8), as so redesignated, 

9 by striking ‘‘public employee member of a res10 cue squad or ambulance crew;’’ and inserting 

11 ‘‘employee or volunteer member of a rescue 

12 squad or ambulance crew (including a ground 

13 or air ambulance service) that— 

14 ‘‘(i) is a public agency; or 

15 ‘‘(ii) is (or is a part of) a nonprofit 

16 entity serving the public that— 

17 ‘‘(I) is officially authorized or li18 censed to engage in rescue activity or 

19 to provide emergency medical services; 

20 and 

21 ‘‘(II) is officially designated as a 

22 prehospital emergency medical re23 sponse agency;’’; and 

24 (G) in paragraph (10), as so redesig25 nated— 


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1 (i) in subparagraph (A), by striking 

2 ‘‘as a chaplain, or as a member of a rescue 

3 squad or ambulance crew;’’ and inserting 

4 ‘‘or as a chaplain;’’; 

5 (ii) in subparagraph (B)(ii), by strik6 ing ‘‘or’’ after the semicolon; 

7 (iii) in subparagraph (C)(ii), by strik8 ing the period and inserting a semicolon; 

9 and 

10 (iv) by adding at the end the fol11 lowing: 

12 ‘‘(D) a member of a rescue squad or am13 bulance crew who, as authorized or licensed by 

14 law and by the applicable agency or entity (and 

15 as designated by such agency or entity), is en16 gaging in rescue activity or in the provision of 

17 emergency medical services; or 

18 ‘‘(E) a candidate-officer who is engaging in 

19 an activity or exercise— 

20 ‘‘(i) that is a formal or required part 

21 of the program described in paragraph (1); 

22 and 

23 ‘‘(ii) that poses or is designed to sim24 ulate situations that pose significant dan25 gers, threats, or hazards.’’; 


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1 (6) in section 1205 (42 U.S.C. 3796c), by add2 ing at the end the following: 

3 ‘‘(d) Unless expressly provided otherwise, any ref4 erence in this part to any provision of law not in this part 

5 shall be understood to constitute a general reference under 

6 the doctrine of incorporation by reference, and thus to in7 clude any subsequent amendments to the provision.’’; 

8 (7) in each of subsections (a) and (b) of section 

9 1212 (42 U.S.C. 3796d–1), sections 1213 and 1214 

10 (42 U.S.C. 3796d–2 and 3796d–3), and subsections 

11 (b) and (c) of section 1216 (42 U.S.C. 3796d–5), by 

12 striking ‘‘dependent’’ each place it appears and in13 serting ‘‘person’’; 

14 (8) in section 1212 (42 U.S.C. 3796d–1)— 

15 (A) in subsection (a)— 

16 (i) in paragraph (1), in the matter 

17 preceding subparagraph (A), by striking 

18 ‘‘Subject’’ and all that follows through ‘‘, 

19 the’’ and inserting ‘‘The’’; and 

20 (ii) in paragraph (3), by striking ‘‘re21 duced by’’ and all that follows through 

22 ‘‘(B) the amount’’ and inserting ‘‘reduced 

23 by the amount’’; 

24 (B) in subsection (c)— 


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1 (i) in the subsection heading, by strik2 ing ‘‘DEPENDENT’’; and 

3 (ii) by striking ‘‘dependent’’; 

4 (9) in section 1213(b)(2) (42 U.S.C. 3796d– 

5 2(b)(2)), by striking ‘‘dependent’s’’ each place it ap6 pears and inserting ‘‘person’s’’; 

7 (10) in section 1216 (42 U.S.C. 3796d–5)— 

8 (A) in subsection (a), by striking ‘‘each de9 pendent’’ each place it appears and inserting ‘‘a 

10 spouse or child’’; and 

11 (B) by striking ‘‘dependents’’ each place it 

12 appears and inserting ‘‘a person’’; and 

13 (11) in section 1217(3)(A) (42 U.S.C. 3796d– 

14 6(3)(A)), by striking ‘‘described in’’ and all that fol15 lows and inserting ‘‘an institution of higher edu16 cation, as defined in section 102 of the Higher Edu17 cation Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1002); and’’. 

18 (b) TECHNICAL AND CONFORMING AMENDMENT.— 

19 Section 402(l)(4)(C) of the Internal Revenue Code of 

20 1986 is amended— 

21 (1) by striking ‘‘section 1204(9)(A)’’ and in22 serting ‘‘section 1204(10)(A)’’; and 

23 (2) by striking ‘‘42 U.S.C. 3796b(9)(A)’’ and 

24 inserting ‘‘42 U.S.C. 3796b(10)(A)’’. 


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1 SEC. 3. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS; DETER2 MINATIONS; APPEALS. 

3 The matter under the heading ‘‘PUBLIC SAFETY OF4 FICERS BENEFITS’’ under the heading ‘‘OFFICE OF JUS5 TICE PROGRAMS’’ under title II of division B of the Con6 solidated Appropriations Act, 2008 (Public Law 110–161; 

7 121 Stat. 1912; 42 U.S.C. 3796c–2) is amended— 

8 (1) by striking ‘‘decisions’’ and inserting ‘‘de9 terminations’’; 

10 (2) by striking ‘‘(including those, and any re11 lated matters, pending)’’; and 

12 (3) by striking the period at the end and insert13 ing the following: ‘‘: Provided further, That, on and 

14 after the date of enactment of the Public Safety Of15 ficers’ Benefits Improvements Act of 2011, as to 

16 each such statute— 

17 ‘‘(1) the provisions of section 1001(a)(4) of 

18 such title I (42 U.S.C. 3793(a)(4)) shall apply; 

19 ‘‘(2) payment shall be made only upon a deter20 mination by the Bureau that the facts legally war21 rant the payment; 

22 ‘‘(3) any reference to section 1202 of such title 

23 I shall be deemed to be a reference to paragraphs 

24 (2) and (3) of such section 1202; and 

25 ‘‘(4) a certification submitted under any such 

26 statute may be accepted by the Bureau as prima 


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1 facie evidence of the facts asserted in the certifi2 cation: 

3 Provided further, That, on and after the date of enactment 

4 of the Public Safety Officers’ Benefits Improvements Act 

5 of 2011, no appeal shall bring any final determination of 

6 the Bureau before any court for review unless notice of 

7 appeal is filed (within the time specified herein and in the 

8 manner prescribed for appeal to United States courts of 

9 appeals from United States district courts) not later than 

10 90 days after the date on which the Bureau serves notice 

11 of the final determination: Provided further, That any reg12 ulations promulgated by the Bureau under such part (or 

13 any such statute) before, on, or after the date of enact14 ment of the Public Safety Officers’ Benefits Improvements 

15 Act of 2011 shall apply to any matter pending on, or filed 

16 or accruing after, the effective date specified in the regula17 tions, except as the Bureau may indicate otherwise.’’. 

18 SEC. 4. EFFECTIVE DATE. 

19 (a) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in subsection 

20 (b), the amendments made by this Act shall— 

21 (1) take effect on the date of enactment of this 

22 Act; and 

23 (2) apply to any matter pending, before the Bu24 reau of Justice Assistance or otherwise, on the date 


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1 of enactment of this Act, or filed or accruing after 

2 that date. 

3 (b) EXCEPTIONS.— 

4 (1) RESCUE SQUADS AND AMBULANCE

5 CREWS.—For a member of a rescue squad or ambu6 lance crew (as defined in section 1204(8) of title I 

7 of the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act 

8 of 1968, as amended by this Act), the amendments 

9 made by this Act shall apply to injuries sustained on 

10 or after June 1, 2009. 

11 (2) HEART ATTACKS, STROKES, AND VASCULAR

12 RUPTURES.—Section 1201(k) of title I of the Omni13 bus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968, as 

14 amended by this Act, shall apply to heart attacks, 

15 strokes, and vascular ruptures sustained on or after 

16 December 15, 2003. 

17 (3) CANDIDATE-OFFICERS.—For a candidate18 officer (as defined in section 1204(1) of the title I 

19 of the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act 

20 of 1968, as amended by this Act), the amendments 

21 made by this Act shall apply to injuries sustained on 

22 or after the date of enactment of this Act. 

Æ 


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