I 

111TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 959 

To increase Federal Pell Grants for the children of fallen public safety 

officers, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

FEBRUARY 10, 2009 

Mr. PATRICK J. MURPHY of Pennsylvania (for himself and Mr. PLATTS) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Education and Labor, and in addition to the Committee on the Judiciary, 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 increase Federal Pell Grants for the children of fallen 

public safety officers, 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 ‘‘Officer Daniel Faulk5 ner Children of Fallen Heroes Scholarship Act of 2009’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. CALCULATION OF FEDERAL PELL GRANT ELIGI2 BILITY. 

3 Section 401(f) of the Higher Education Act of 1965 

4 (20 U.S.C. 1070a(f)) is amended by adding at the end 

5 the following new paragraph: 

6 ‘‘(5)(A) Notwithstanding paragraph (1) or any 

7 other provision of this section, the expected family 

8 contribution of each student described in subpara9 graph (C) shall be deemed to be zero for the period 

10 during which each such student is eligible to receive 

11 a Federal Pell Grant under subsection (c). 

12 ‘‘(B) The amount by which a Federal Pell 

13 Grant is increased to any student under subpara14 graph (A) shall not be considered in determining 

15 that student’s need for any other grant or work as16 sistance under this title, except that in no case shall 

17 the total amount of student financial assistance 

18 awarded to a student under this title exceed that 

19 student’s cost of attendance, as defined in section 

20 472. 

21 ‘‘(C) Subparagraph (A) shall apply to any stu22 dent at an institution of higher education— 

23 ‘‘(i) whose parent or legal guardian— 

24 ‘‘(I) was actively serving as a public 

25 safety officer; and 


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1 ‘‘(II) died in the line of duty while 

2 performing as a public safety officer; and 

3 ‘‘(ii) who was 18 years of age or less, or 

4 was enrolled as a full-time or part-time student 

5 at an institution of higher education, as of the 

6 time of such parent or legal guardian’s death. 

7 ‘‘(D) For purposes of this paragraph— 

8 ‘‘(i) the term ‘public safety officer’ means 

9 an individual serving a public agency in an offi10 cial capacity, with or without compensation, as 

11 a law enforcement officer, as a firefighter, or as 

12 a member of a rescue squad or ambulance crew; 

13 ‘‘(ii) the term ‘law enforcement officer’ 

14 means an individual who— 

15 ‘‘(I) is authorized by law to engage in 

16 or supervise the prevention, detection, in17 vestigation, or prosecution of, or the incar18 ceration of any person for, any violation of 

19 law; and 

20 ‘‘(II) has statutory powers of arrest or 

21 apprehension; 

22 ‘‘(iii) the term ‘firefighter’ means an indi23 vidual who is trained in the suppression of fire 

24 or hazardous-materials response and has the 

25 legal authority to engage in these duties; 


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1 ‘‘(iv) the term ‘member of a rescue squad 

2 or ambulance crew’ means an individual who is 

3 an officially recognized or designated public em4 ployee member of a rescue squad or ambulance 

5 crew; and 

6 ‘‘(v) the term ‘public agency’ means the 

7 United States, any State of the United States, 

8 the District of Columbia, the Commonwealth of 

9 Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands of the United 

10 States, Guam, American Samoa, the Trust Ter11 ritory of the Pacific Islands, the Commonwealth 

12 of the Northern Mariana Islands, any territory 

13 or possession of the United States, or any unit 

14 of local government, department, agency, or in15 strumentality of any of the foregoing, and the 

16 Amtrak Police and Federal Reserve Police de17 partments.’’. 

18 SEC. 3. CALCULATION OF EDUCATIONAL ASSISTANCE TO 

19 DEPENDENTS OF PUBLIC SAFETY OFFICERS. 

20 Section 1212(a) of title I of the Omnibus Crime Con21 trol and Safe Streets Act of 1968 (42 U.S.C. 3796d–1(a)) 

22 is amended— 

23 (1) in paragraph (2), striking ‘‘paragraph (3)’’ 

24 and inserting ‘‘paragraphs (3) and (4)’’; 


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1 (2) in paragraph (3)(A), by striking ‘‘sources to 

2 which the eligible dependent would otherwise be enti3 tled to receive’’ and inserting ‘‘sources the eligible 

4 dependent receives, except as provided in paragraph 

5 (4)’’; and 

6 (3) by adding at the end the following new 

7 paragraph: 

8 ‘‘(4) The amount described in subparagraph 

9 (A) of paragraph (3) shall not include the amount 

10 by which a Federal Pell Grant to a student is in11 creased under section 401(f)(5)(A) of the Higher 

12 Education Act of 1965.’’. 

13 SEC. 4. EFFECTIVE DATE. 

14 The amendments made by this Act shall apply with 

15 respect to Federal Pell Grants awarded for academic year 

16 2010–2011, and each succeeding academic year. 

Æ 


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