II 

Calendar No. 385 

118TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 3029 

[Report No. 118–174] 

To amend title 5, United States Code, to increase death gratuities and 

funeral allowances for Federal employees, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

OCTOBER 4, 2023 

Ms. SINEMA (for herself, Mr. HAGERTY, Mr. PADILLA, and Mr. HAWLEY) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs 

MAY 9, 2024 

Reported by Mr. PETERS, with an amendment 

[Insert the part printed in italic] 

A BILL 

To amend title 5, United States Code, to increase death 

gratuities and funeral allowances for Federal employees, 

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. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Honoring Civil Serv5 ants Killed in the Line of Duty Act’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. INCREASING DEATH GRATUITY FOR FEDERAL EM2 PLOYEES KILLED IN THE LINE OF DUTY. 

3 (a) AMENDMENTS TO TITLE 5, UNITED STATES

4 CODE.— 

5 (1) IN GENERAL.—Subchapter VII of chapter 

6 55 of title 5, United States Code, is amended by 

7 adding at the end the following: 

8 ‘‘§ 5571. Employee death gratuity payments 

9 ‘‘(a) DEFINITION.— 

10 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Notwithstanding section 

11 5561(2), in this section, the term ‘employee’ means 

12 an individual who has been determined by the Sec13 retary of Labor to be an employee within the mean14 ing of section 8101(1), but not including any indi15 vidual described in subparagraph (D) of section 

16 8101(1). 

17 ‘‘(2) EXCLUSIVE AUTHORITY.—A determination 

18 described in paragraph (1) may be made only by the 

19 Secretary of Labor. 

20 ‘‘(b) GRATUITY.— 

21 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—With respect to the death 

22 of an employee occurring on or after the date of en23 actment of this section, notwithstanding section 

24 8116, and in addition to any payment made under 

25 subchapter I of chapter 81, the head of the agency 

26 employing the employee shall pay from appropriaVerDate Sep 11 2014 01:47 May 10, 2024 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3029.RS S3029

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1 tions made available for salaries and expenses of 

2 that agency a death gratuity to the person identified 

3 under subsection (c)(2), if the death of the em4 ployee— 

5 ‘‘(A) results from injury sustained while in 

6 the line of duty of the employee; and 

7 ‘‘(B) is not— 

8 ‘‘(i) caused by willful misconduct of 

9 the employee; 

10 ‘‘(ii) caused by the intention of the 

11 employee to bring about the injury or 

12 death of the employee or another; or 

13 ‘‘(iii) proximately caused by the in14 toxication of the injured employee. 

15 ‘‘(2) AMOUNT.— 

16 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in 

17 subparagraph (B), the amount of a death gra18 tuity paid under paragraph (1) with respect to 

19 an employee shall be $100,000, as adjusted 

20 each March 1 by the amount determined by the 

21 Secretary of Labor to represent the percentage 

22 change in the Consumer Price Index for All 

23 Urban Consumers (all items; United States city 

24 average) published for December of the pre25 ceding year over that Index published for the 


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1 December of the year prior to the preceding 

year, adjusted to the nearest 1 2 ⁄10 of 1 percent. 

3 ‘‘(B) LOCAL COMPENSATION PLANS.—For 

4 an employee compensated under a local com5 pensation plan established under section 408 of 

6 the Foreign Service Act of 1980 (22 U.S.C. 

7 3968), the amount of a death gratuity paid 

8 under paragraph (1) with respect to the em9 ployee shall be in an amount determined in 

10 rules issued by the Secretary of State. 

11 ‘‘(c) RECIPIENT OF PAYMENT.— 

12 ‘‘(1) DEFINITION.—In this subsection, the term 

13 ‘child’— 

14 ‘‘(A) includes— 

15 ‘‘(i) a natural child; and 

16 ‘‘(ii) an adopted child; and 

17 ‘‘(B) does not include a stepchild. 

18 ‘‘(2) ORDER OF PRECEDENCE.—A death gra19 tuity paid under subsection (b) with respect to an 

20 employee shall be paid in the following order of prec21 edence: 

22 ‘‘(A)(i) To the beneficiary designated to re23 ceive the gratuity by the employee in a signed 

24 and witnessed writing that is received by the 


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1 agency employing the employee before the date 

2 of the death of the employee. 

3 ‘‘(ii) A designation, change, or cancellation 

4 of beneficiary in a will, or another document 

5 not described in clause (i), shall have no force 

6 or effect for the purposes of that clause. 

7 ‘‘(B) If there is no beneficiary described in 

8 subparagraph (A), to the surviving spouse of 

9 the employee. 

10 ‘‘(C) If neither subparagraph (A) nor (B) 

11 applies, to the children of the employee (includ12 ing the descendant of any deceased child by 

13 representation) such that each such child re14 ceives an equal amount of the gratuity. 

15 ‘‘(D) If none of subparagraph (A), (B), or 

16 (C) applies, to the surviving parents of the em17 ployee such that each such surviving parent re18 ceives an equal amount of the gratuity. 

19 ‘‘(E) If none of subparagraphs (A) through 

20 (D) applies, to the duly appointed executor or 

21 administrator of the estate of the employee. 

22 ‘‘(F) If none of subparagraphs (A) through 

23 (E) applies, to the person entitled, under the 

24 laws of the State in which the employee is domVerDate Sep 11 2014 01:47 May 10, 2024 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3029.RS S3029

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1 iciled, as of the date on which the employee 

2 dies, to receive the payment.’’. 

3 (2) REPEAL OF DEATH GRATUITY PAYMENT AU4 THORITY.—Section 651 of the Treasury, Postal 

5 Service, and General Government Appropriations 

6 Act, 1997 (5 U.S.C. 8133 note) is repealed. 

7 (3) TECHNICAL AND CONFORMING AMEND8 MENTS.—The table of sections for chapter 55 of title 

9 5, United States Code, is amended— 

10 (A) by striking the item relating to sub11 chapter VII and inserting the following: 

‘‘SUBCHAPTER VII—PAYMENTS TO MISSING PERSONS AND PAYMENTS FOR

DISABILITY OR DEATH’’; AND

12 (B) by inserting after the item relating to 

13 section 5570 the following: 

‘‘5571. Employee death gratuity payments.’’. 

14 (4) ADDITIONAL TECHNICAL AND CONFORMING

15 AMENDMENT.—The heading for subchapter VII of 

16 chapter 55 of title 5, United States Code, is amended 

17 by striking ‘‘Employees’’ and inserting ‘‘Persons 

18 and Payments for Disability or Death’’. 

19 (b) AMENDMENT TO TITLE 49.—Section 

20 40122(g)(2) of title 49, United States Code, is amended— 

21 (1) in subparagraph (I)(iii), by striking ‘‘and’’ 

22 after the semicolon; 


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1 (2) in subparagraph (J), by striking the period 

2 at the end and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and 

3 (3) by inserting after subparagraph (J) the fol4 lowing: 

5 ‘‘(K) section 5571, relating to death gratu6 ities resulting from an injury sustained in the 

7 line of duty.’’. 

8 SEC. 3. FUNERAL EXPENSES. 

9 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 8134(a) of title 5, United 

10 States Code, is amended— 

11 (1) by inserting ‘‘(1)’’ after ‘‘(a)’’; 

12 (2) by striking ‘‘$800’’ and inserting ‘‘$8,800’’; 

13 and 

14 (3) by adding at the end the following: 

15 ‘‘(2) The amount described in paragraph (1) shall be 

16 adjusted on March 1 of each year by the percentage 

17 amount determined by the Secretary of Labor under sec18 tion 8146a for that year.’’. 

19 (b) APPLICABILITY.—The amendment made by sub20 section (a)(2) shall apply with respect to any death occur21 ring on or after the date of enactment of this Act. 


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1 SEC. 4. DEATH GRATUITY FOR INJURIES INCURRED IN 

2 CONNECTION WITH EMPLOYEE’S SERVICE 

3 WITH AN ARMED FORCE. 

4 Section 8102a of title 5, United States Code, is 

5 amended— 

6 (1) in subsection (a)— 

7 (A) by striking ‘‘The United States’’ and 

8 inserting the following: 

9 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The United States’’; 

10 (B) in paragraph (1), as so designated, by 

11 striking ‘‘up to’’; and 

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

13 ‘‘(2) ADJUSTMENT.—The amount described in 

14 paragraph (1) shall be adjusted each March 1 by the 

15 amount determined by the Secretary of Labor to 

16 represent the percentage change in the Consumer 

17 Price Index for All Urban Consumers (all items; 

18 United States city average) published for December 

19 of the preceding year over that Index published for 

20 the December of the year prior to the preceding 

year, adjusted to the nearest 1 21 ⁄10 of 1 percent.’’; 

22 (2) by striking subsection (c) and inserting the 

23 following: 

24 ‘‘(c) RELATIONSHIP TO OTHER BENEFITS.—With re25 spect to a death occurring on or after the date of enact26 ment of the Honoring Civil Servants Killed in the Line 


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1 of Duty Act, the death gratuity payable under this section 

2 may not be reduced by the amount of any other death 

3 gratuity provided under any other provision of Federal law 

4 based on the same death.’’; and 

5 (3) in subsection (d), by adding at the end the 

6 following: 

7 ‘‘(7) If a person covered by this section does 

8 not have any eligible survivors, as described in this 

9 subsection, and that person has not designated an 

10 alternate person to receive a payment under this sec11 tion, the payment shall be paid to the personal rep12 resentative of the person’s estate.’’. 

13 SEC. 5. AGENCY GRATUITY FOR DEATHS SUSTAINED IN 

14 THE LINE OF DUTY ABROAD. 

15 Section 413 of the Foreign Service Act of 1980 (22 

16 U.S.C. 3973) is amended— 

17 (1) in subsection (a)— 

18 (A) in the first sentence, by striking ‘‘de19 pendents’’ and inserting ‘‘beneficiaries’’; and 

20 (B) in the second sentence, by inserting ‘‘, 

21 except as provided in subsection (e)’’ after 

22 ‘‘payable from any source’’; 

23 (2) by amending subsection (b) to read as fol24 lows: 


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1 ‘‘(b) EXECUTIVE AGENCIES.—The head of an execu2 tive agency shall, pursuant to guidance issued under sub3 section (c), make a death gratuity payment authorized by 

4 this section to the surviving beneficiaries of— 

5 ‘‘(1) any employee of that agency who dies as 

6 a result of injuries sustained in the performance of 

7 duty abroad while subject to the authority of the 

8 chief of mission pursuant to section 207; or 

9 ‘‘(2) an individual in a special category serving 

10 in an uncompensated capacity for that agency 

11 abroad in support of a diplomatic mission, as identi12 fied in guidance issued under subsection (c), who 

13 dies as a result of injuries sustained in the perform14 ance of duty abroad.’’; 

15 (3) by striking subsection (d); 

16 (4) by inserting after subsection (c) the fol17 lowing: 

18 ‘‘(d) ELIGIBILITY UNDER CHAPTER 81 OF TITLE 5, 

19 UNITED STATES CODE.—A death gratuity payment shall 

20 be made under this section only if the death is determined 

21 by the Secretary of Labor to have resulted from an injury 

22 (excluding a disease proximately caused by the employ23 ment) sustained in the performance of duty under section 

24 8102 of title 5, United States Code.’’; 


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1 (5) by redesignating subsection (e) as sub2 section (f); 

3 (6) by inserting after subsection (d), as added 

4 by paragraph (4), the following: 

5 ‘‘(e) OFFSET.—For deaths occurring on or after the 

6 date of enactment of the Honoring Civil Servants Killed 

7 in the Line of Duty Act, the death gratuity payable under 

8 this section shall be reduced by the amount of any death 

9 gratuity provided under section 5571 of title 5, United 

10 States Code, based on the same death.’’; and 

11 (7) in subsection (f), as so redesignated by 

12 paragraph (5), by amending paragraph (2) to read 

13 as follows: 

14 ‘‘(2) the term ‘surviving beneficiaries’ means 

15 the person or persons identified pursuant to the 

16 order of precedence established under section 

17 5571(c)(2) of title 5, United States Code.’’. 

18 SEC. 6. EMERGENCY SUPPLEMENTAL AUTHORIZATION. 

19 (a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section— 

20 (1) the term ‘‘agency’’ means an agency that is 

21 authorized or required to make a payment under a 

22 covered provision; and 

23 (2) the term ‘‘covered provision’’ means— 

24 (A) section 5571 of title 5, United States 

25 Code, as added by section 2 of this Act; 


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1 (B) section 8102a of title 5, United States 

2 Code, as amended by section 4 of this Act; or 

3 (C) section 413 of the Foreign Service Act 

4 of 1980 (22 U.S.C. 3973), as amended by sec5 tion 5 of this Act. 

6 (b) AUTHORIZATION.—If the head of an agency de7 termines, with the concurrence of the Director of the Of8 fice of Management and Budget, that a natural disaster, 

9 act of terrorism, or other incident results in the inability 

10 of the agency to make additional payments under a cov11 ered provision— 

12 (1) there are authorized to be appropriated to 

13 the agency such sums as may be necessary to make 

14 those additional payments; and 

15 (2) the head of the agency may make those ad16 ditional payments only to the extent additional 

17 amounts are made available for those purposes. 

18 (c) SENSE OF CONGRESS.—It is the sense of Con19 gress that, not later than 30 days after the date on which 

20 the head of an agency submits to Congress a request for 

21 supplemental appropriations for the purposes described in 

22 subsection (b), Congress should take action with respect 

23 to that request. 


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1 SEC. 7. PERSONAL CONSUMPTION EXPENDITURES PRICE 

2 INDEX. 

3 (a) EMPLOYEE DEATH GRATUITY PAYMENTS.—Sec4 tion 5571(b)(2)(A) of title 5, United States Code, as added 

5 by section 2 of this Act, is amended by striking ‘‘Consumer 

6 Price Index for All Urban Consumers (all items; United 

7 States city average)’’ and inserting ‘‘Personal Consumption 

8 Expenditures Price Index’’. 

9 (b) DEATH GRATUITY FOR INJURIES INCURRED IN

10 CONNECTION WITH EMPLOYEE’S SERVICE WITH AN ARMED

11 FORCE.—Paragraph (2) of section 8102a(a) of title 5, 

12 United States Code, as added by section 4(1)(C) of this Act, 

13 is amended by striking ‘‘Consumer Price Index for All 

14 Urban Consumers (all items; United States city average)’’ 

15 and inserting ‘‘Personal Consumption Expenditures Price 

16 Index’’. 

17 SEC. 8. REPORTING REQUIREMENTS. 

18 (a) IN GENERAL.— 

19 (1) DEFINITION.—In this subsection, the term 

20 ‘‘agency’’ has the meaning given the term in section 

21 5561 of title 5, United States Code. 

22 (2) REQUIREMENT.—If the head of an agency 

23 makes a death gratuity payment under section 5571 

24 of title 5, United States Code, as added by section 2 

25 of this Act, the agency head shall, not later than 15 

26 business days after the date on which the agency head 


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1 makes that payment, submit to the Comptroller Gen2 eral of the United States a notification regarding that 

3 payment. 

4 (b) GAO REPORTS.—Not later than 1 year after the 

5 date of enactment of this Act, and annually thereafter, the 

6 Comptroller General of the United States shall submit to 

7 the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental 

8 Affairs of the Senate and the Committee on Oversight and 

9 Accountability of the House of Representatives a report re10 garding the aggregate amount of death gratuities paid 

11 under section 5571 of title 5, United States Code, as added 

12 by section 2 of this Act, during the year covered by the re13 port. 

14 (c) AUDIT.—Not later than 3 years after the date of 

15 enactment of this Act, the Comptroller General of the United 

16 States shall— 

17 (1) perform an audit regarding death gratuities 

18 paid under section 5571 of title 5, United States 

19 Code, as added by section 2 of this Act; 

20 (2) as part of the audit performed under para21 graph (1), determine the frequency with which future 

22 audits of the payments described in that paragraph 

23 shall occur; and 

24 (3) submit to the Committee on Homeland Secu25 rity and Governmental Affairs of the Senate and the 


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1 Committee on Oversight and Accountability of the 

2 House of Representatives the results of the audit per3 formed under paragraph (1). 


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Calendar No. 385 

118TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 3029 

[Report No. 118–174] 

A BILL 

To amend title 5, United States Code, to increase 

eral employees, and for other purposes. death gratuities and funeral allowances for FedMAY 9, 2024 

Reported with an amendment 


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