II 

117TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 3474 

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 

JANUARY 11 (legislative day, JANUARY 10), 2022 

Ms. SINEMA (for herself, Mr. PORTMAN, Mr. PADILLA, and Mr. PETERS) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Finance 

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’’. 

6 SEC. 2. INCREASING DEATH GRATUITY FOR FEDERAL EM7 PLOYEES KILLED IN THE LINE OF DUTY. 

8 (a) AMENDMENTS TO TITLE 5, UNITED STATES

9 CODE.— 


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

2 55 of title 5, United States Code, is amended by 

3 adding at the end the following: 

4 ‘‘§ 5571. Employee death gratuity payments 

5 ‘‘(a) DEFINITION.— 

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

7 5561(2), in this section, the term ‘employee’ means 

8 an individual who has been determined by the Sec9 retary of Labor to be an employee within the mean10 ing of section 8101(1). 

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

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

13 Secretary of Labor. 

14 ‘‘(b) GRATUITY.— 

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

16 of an employee occurring on or after the date of en17 actment of this section, notwithstanding section 

18 8116, and in addition to any payment made under 

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

20 employing the employee shall pay from appropria21 tions made available for salaries and expenses of 

22 that agency a death gratuity to the person identified 

23 under subsection (c)(2), if the death of the em24 ployee— 


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

2 the line of duty of the employee; and 

3 ‘‘(B) is not— 

4 ‘‘(i) caused by willful misconduct of 

5 the employee; 

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

7 employee to bring about the injury or 

8 death of the employee or another; or 

9 ‘‘(iii) proximately caused by the in10 toxication of the injured employee. 

11 ‘‘(2) AMOUNT.— 

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

13 subparagraph (B), the amount of a death gra14 tuity paid under paragraph (1) with respect to 

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

16 each March 1 by the amount determined by the 

17 Secretary of Labor to represent the percentage 

18 change in the Consumer Price Index for All 

19 Urban Consumers (all items; United States city 

20 average) published for December of the pre21 ceding year over that Index published for the 

22 December of the year prior to the preceding 

year, adjusted to the nearest 1 23 ⁄10 of 1 percent. 

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

25 an employee compensated under a local comVerDate Sep 11 2014 01:14 Jan 12, 2022 Jkt 029200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3474.IS S3474

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1 pensation plan established under section 408 of 

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

3 3968), the amount of a death gratuity paid 

4 under paragraph (1) with respect to the em5 ployee shall be in an amount determined in 

6 rules issued by the Secretary of State. 

7 ‘‘(c) RECIPIENT OF PAYMENT.— 

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

9 ‘child’— 

10 ‘‘(A) includes— 

11 ‘‘(i) a natural child; and 

12 ‘‘(ii) an adopted child; and 

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

14 ‘‘(2) ORDER OF PRECEDENCE.—A death gra15 tuity paid under subsection (b) with respect to an 

16 employee shall be paid in the following order of prec17 edence: 

18 ‘‘(A)(i) To the beneficiary designated to re19 ceive the gratuity by the employee in a signed 

20 and witnessed writing that is received by the 

21 agency employing the employee before the date 

22 of the death of the employee. 

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

24 of beneficiary in a will, or another document 


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

2 or effect for the purposes of that clause. 

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

4 subparagraph (A), to the surviving spouse of 

5 the employee. 

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

7 applies, to the children of the employee (includ8 ing the descendant of any deceased child by 

9 representation) such that each such child re10 ceives an equal amount of the gratuity. 

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

12 (C) applies, to the surviving parents of the em13 ployee such that each such surviving parent re14 ceives an equal amount of the gratuity. 

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

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

17 administrator of the estate of the employee. 

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

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

20 laws of the State in which the employee is dom21 iciled, as of the date on which the employee 

22 dies, to receive the payment. 

23 ‘‘(d) TAX TREATMENT OF PAYMENTS.—For pur24 poses of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, with respect 

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1 ficiary under this section, that payment shall not be in2 cluded in the gross income of that beneficiary.’’. 

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.— 

9 (A) TABLE OF CHAPTERS.—In the table of 

10 subchapters for chapter 55 of title 5, United 

11 States Code, the item relating to subchapter 

12 VII is amended to read as follows: 

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

DISABILITY OR DEATH’’. 

13 (B) TABLE OF SECTIONS.—The table of 

14 sections for subchapter VII of chapter 55 of 

15 title 5, United States Code, is amended by add16 ing at the end the following: 

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

17 (b) AMENDMENT TO TITLE 49.—Section 

18 40122(g)(2) of title 49, United States Code, is amended— 

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

20 after the semicolon; 

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

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


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1 (3) by inserting after subparagraph (J), the fol2 lowing: 

3 ‘‘(K) section 5571, relating to death gratu4 ities resulting from an injury sustained in the 

5 line of duty.’’. 

6 SEC. 3. FUNERAL EXPENSES. 

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

8 States Code, is amended— 

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

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

11 and 

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

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

14 adjusted on March 1 of each year by the percentage 

15 amount determined by the Secretary of Labor under sec16 tion 8146a for that year.’’. 

17 (b) APPLICABILITY.—The amendment made by sub18 section (a)(2) shall apply with respect to any death occur19 ring on or after the date of enactment of this Act. 

20 SEC. 4. DEATH GRATUITY FOR INJURIES INCURRED IN 

21 CONNECTION WITH EMPLOYEE’S SERVICE 

22 WITH AN ARMED FORCE. 

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

24 amended— 

25 (1) in subsection (a)— 


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

2 inserting the following: 

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

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

5 striking ‘‘up to’’; and 

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

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

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

9 amount determined by the Secretary of Labor to 

10 represent the percentage change in the Consumer 

11 Price Index for All Urban Consumers (all items; 

12 United States city average) published for December 

13 of the preceding year over that Index published for 

14 the December of the year prior to the preceding 

year, adjusted to the nearest 1 15 ⁄10 of 1 percent.’’; 

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

17 following: 

18 ‘‘(c) RELATIONSHIP TO OTHER BENEFITS.—With re19 spect to a death occurring on or after the date of enact20 ment of the Honoring Civil Servants Killed in the Line 

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

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

23 gratuity provided under any other provision of Federal law 

24 based on the same death.’’; and 


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

2 following: 

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

4 not have any eligible survivors, as described in this 

5 subsection, and that person has not designated an 

6 alternate person to receive a payment under this sec7 tion, the payment shall be paid to the personal rep8 resentative of the person’s estate.’’. 

9 SEC. 5. AGENCY GRATUITY FOR DEATHS SUSTAINED IN 

10 THE LINE OF DUTY ABROAD. 

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

12 U.S.C. 3973) is amended— 

13 (1) in subsection (a)— 

14 (A) in the first sentence, by striking ‘‘de15 pendents’’ and inserting ‘‘beneficiaries’’; and 

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

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

18 ‘‘payable from any source’’; 

19 (2) by amending subsection (b) to read as fol20 lows: 

21 ‘‘(b) EXECUTIVE AGENCIES.—The head of an execu22 tive agency shall, pursuant to guidance issued under sub23 section (c), make a death gratuity payment authorized by 

24 this section to the surviving beneficiaries of— 


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

2 a result of injuries sustained in the performance of 

3 duty abroad while subject to the authority of the 

4 chief of mission pursuant to section 207; or 

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

6 in an uncompensated capacity for that agency 

7 abroad in support of a diplomatic mission, as identi8 fied in guidance issued under subsection (c), who 

9 dies as a result of injuries sustained in the perform10 ance of duty abroad.’’; 

11 (3) by amending subsection (d) to read as fol12 lows: 

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

14 UNITED STATES CODE.—A death gratuity payment shall 

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

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

17 (excluding a disease proximately caused by the employ18 ment) sustained in the performance of duty under section 

19 8102 of title 5, United States Code.’’; 

20 (4) by redesignating subsection (e) as sub21 section (g); 

22 (5) by inserting after subsection (d) the fol23 lowing: 

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

25 date of enactment of this subsection, the death gratuity 


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1 payable under this section shall be reduced by the amount 

2 of any death gratuity provided under section 5571 of title 

3 5, United States Code, based on the same death. 

4 ‘‘(f) TAX TREATMENT OF PAYMENTS.—For purposes 

5 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, with respect to any 

6 death gratuity payment made to a surviving beneficiary 

7 under this section, that payment shall not be included in 

8 the gross income of that beneficiary.’’; and 

9 (6) in subsection (g), as so redesignated by 

10 paragraph (4), by amending paragraph (2) to read 

11 as follows: 

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

13 the person or persons identified pursuant to the 

14 order of precedence established under section 

15 5571(c)(2) of title 5, United States Code.’’. 

16 SEC. 6. EMERGENCY SUPPLEMENTAL AUTHORIZATION. 

17 (a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section— 

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

19 authorized or required to make a payment under a 

20 covered provision; and 

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

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

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

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

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


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1 (C) section 413 of the Foreign Service Act 

2 of 1980 (22 U.S.C. 3973), as amended by sec3 tion 5 of this Act. 

4 (b) AUTHORIZATION.—If the head of an agency de5 termines, with the concurrence of the Director of the Of6 fice of Management and Budget, that a natural disaster, 

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

8 of the agency to make additional payments under a cov9 ered provision— 

10 (1) there are authorized to be appropriated to 

11 the agency such sums as may be necessary to make 

12 those additional payments; and 

13 (2) the head of the agency may make those ad14 ditional payments only to the extent additional 

15 amounts are made available for those purposes. 

16 (c) SENSE OF CONGRESS.—It is the sense of Con17 gress that, not later than 30 days after the date on which 

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

19 supplemental appropriations for the purposes described in 

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

21 to that request. 

Æ 


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