II 

114TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 3473 

To increase outdated death gratuities and funeral allowances for Federal 

civilian employees killed in the line of duty, to expand the scope of 

eligible beneficiaries, to codify tax treatment, to change offset requirements, to harmonize death gratuities across Federal agencies, and for 

other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

NOVEMBER 17, 2016 

Ms. MIKULSKI (for herself, Mr. CARDIN, and Mr. WARNER) introduced the 

following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Finance 

A BILL 

To increase outdated death gratuities and funeral allowances 

for Federal civilian employees killed in the line of duty, 

to expand the scope of eligible beneficiaries, to codify 

tax treatment, to change offset requirements, to harmonize death gratuities across Federal agencies, 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 ‘‘Death Gratuity Equity 

5 Act of 2016’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. INCREASING THE DEATH GRATUITY FOR A FED2 ERAL CIVILIAN EMPLOYEE KILLED IN THE 

3 LINE OF DUTY. 

4 (a) AMENDMENT TO TITLE 5.—Subchapter VII of 

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

6 adding at the end the following: 

7 ‘‘§ 5571. Certain employee death gratuities payable by 

8 reason of death of a Federal civilian em9 ployee resulting from an injury sustained 

10 in the line of duty 

11 ‘‘(a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section— 

12 ‘‘(1) the term ‘child’— 

13 ‘‘(A) includes— 

14 ‘‘(i) a natural child; and 

15 ‘‘(ii) an adopted child; and 

16 ‘‘(B) does not include a stepchild who has 

17 not been adopted by the applicable civilian em18 ployee; and 

19 ‘‘(2) the term ‘civilian employee’ means an indi20 vidual who the Secretary of Labor has determined is 

21 an employee, as defined in section 8101(1). 

22 ‘‘(b) DEATH GRATUITY AUTHORIZED.— 

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

24 8116, and in addition to any payment made under 

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

26 shall pay from appropriations made available for salVerDate Sep 11 2014 04:02 Nov 19, 2016 Jkt 069200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3473.IS S3473

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1 aries and expenses of that agency a death gratuity 

2 for the death of a civilian employee of that agency 

3 occurring on or after the date of enactment of this 

4 section if the death of the civilian employee— 

5 ‘‘(A) resulted from an injury sustained in 

6 the line of duty; and 

7 ‘‘(B) did not result from— 

8 ‘‘(i) natural causes; or 

9 ‘‘(ii) serious and willful misconduct by 

10 the civilian employee. 

11 ‘‘(2) PAYMENT.—A death gratuity paid under 

12 paragraph (1) shall be— 

13 ‘‘(A) in the amount described in subsection 

14 (c); and 

15 ‘‘(B) paid to a person described in sub16 section (d). 

17 ‘‘(c) AMOUNTS AVAILABLE.— 

18 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in para19 graph (2), the amount of a death gratuity paid 

20 under this section shall be— 

21 ‘‘(A) $100,000 per civilian employee; and 

22 ‘‘(B) adjusted annually on March 1 of each 

23 year by the amount determined by the Sec24 retary of Labor to represent the percentage dif25 ference between the Consumer Price Index (all 


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1 items; United States city average) published for 

2 December of the preceding year and that price 

3 index published for the December of the year 

4 before the preceding year, adjusted to the nearest 1 5 ⁄10 of 1 percent. 

6 ‘‘(2) LOCAL COMPENSATION PLAN.—The 

7 amount of a death gratuity paid in relation to the 

8 death of a civilian employee compensated under a 

9 local compensation plan established under section 

10 408 of the Foreign Service Act of 1980 (22 U.S.C. 

11 3968) shall be determined by regulations promul12 gated by the Secretary of State. 

13 ‘‘(d) EXECUTION OF PAYMENT.— 

14 ‘‘(1) ESTABLISHMENT OF CLAIM.—Upon the 

15 establishment of a valid claim for a death gratuity 

16 under this section, payment shall be made— 

17 ‘‘(A) to a person who— 

18 ‘‘(i) survives a civilian employee on 

19 the date of the death of the civilian em20 ployee; and 

21 ‘‘(ii) is alive on the date that title to 

22 the payment arises; and 

23 ‘‘(B) in the order of precedence established 

24 under paragraph (2). 


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1 ‘‘(2) ORDER OF PAYMENT.—The order of prece2 dence established under this paragraph is as follows: 

3 ‘‘(A)(i) To a beneficiary designated by the 

4 civilian employee in a signed and witnessed 

5 writing that— 

6 ‘‘(I) is received by the agency employ7 ing the civilian employee before the date of 

8 the death of the civilian employee; and 

9 ‘‘(II) specifies that the beneficiary 

10 shall receive an amount payable under this 

11 section. 

12 ‘‘(ii) A will or other document that is not 

13 executed and filed as described in clause (i) 

14 shall not constitute a writing under clause (i) 

15 and such a will or other document shall have no 

16 force or effect. 

17 ‘‘(B) If there is no beneficiary designated 

18 under subparagraph (A), to the surviving 

19 spouse of the civilian employee. 

20 ‘‘(C) If subparagraphs (A) and (B) do not 

21 apply, to— 

22 ‘‘(i) the child or children of the civil23 ian employee; and 


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1 ‘‘(ii) any descendants of a deceased 

2 child or children of the civilian employee by 

3 representation. 

4 ‘‘(D) If subparagraphs (A), (B), and (C) 

5 do not apply, to the surviving parent or parents 

6 of the civilian employee. 

7 ‘‘(E) If subparagraphs (A) through (D) do 

8 not apply, to the duly appointed executor or ad9 ministrator of the estate of the civilian em10 ployee. 

11 ‘‘(F) If subparagraphs (A) through (E) do 

12 not apply, to the person entitled to the payment 

13 under the laws of the domicile of the civilian 

14 employee on the date of the death of the civilian 

15 employee. 

16 ‘‘(e) PAYMENT NOT GROSS INCOME.—A payment 

17 under this section shall not be considered gross income 

18 of a person described in subsection (d)(2) under section 

19 61 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986.’’. 

20 (b) AMENDMENTS TO TITLE 49.—Section 

21 40122(g)(2) of title 49, United States Code, is amended— 

22 (1) by redesignating subparagraphs (C) through 

23 (J) as subparagraphs (D) through (K), respectively; 

24 and 


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1 (2) by inserting after subparagraph (B) the fol2 lowing: 

3 ‘‘(C) section 5571, relating to a death gra4 tuity resulting from an injury sustained in the 

5 line of duty;’’. 

6 (c) TECHNICAL AND CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.— 

7 Chapter 55 of title 5, United States Code, is amended— 

8 (1) in the heading for subchapter VII, by strik9 ing ‘‘EMPLOYEES’’ and inserting ‘‘PERSONS 

10 AND PAYMENTS FOR DISABILITY OR 

11 DEATH’’; and 

12 (2) in the table of sections— 

13 (A) by striking the item relating to sub14 chapter VII and inserting the following: 

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

DISABILITY OR DEATH’’; 

15 and 

16 (B) by inserting after the item relating to 

17 section 5570 the following: 

‘‘5571. Certain employee death gratuities payable by reason of death of a Federal civilian employee resulting from an injury sustained in the 

line of duty.’’. 

18 SEC. 3. REPEAL OF 1996 DEATH GRATUITY PAYMENT AU19 THORITY. 

20 Section 651 of the Treasury, Postal Service, and 

21 General Government Appropriations Act, 1997 (5 U.S.C. 

22 8133 note; Public Law 104–208) is repealed. 


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1 SEC. 4. FUNERAL AND BURIAL EXPENSES. 

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

3 States Code, is amended by striking subsection (a) and 

4 inserting the following: 

5 ‘‘(a)(1) For deaths occurring on or after the date of 

6 enactment of the Death Gratuity Equity Act of 2016, if 

7 death results from an injury sustained in the performance 

8 of duty, the United States shall pay, to the personal rep9 resentative of the deceased or otherwise, funeral and bur10 ial expenses not to exceed $8,800, in the discretion of the 

11 Secretary of Labor. 

12 ‘‘(2) The maximum payment permitted under para13 graph (1) shall be adjusted annually on March 1 of each 

14 year in accordance with the adjustment described in sec15 tion 8146a.’’. 

16 (b) APPLICABILITY.—Section 8134(a) of title 5, 

17 United States Code, as in effect on the day before the date 

18 of enactment of this Act, shall apply to a death occurring 

19 before the date of enactment of this Act without regard 

20 to whether payment is made before, on, or after the date 

21 of enactment of this Act. 

22 SEC. 5. FEDERAL EMPLOYEES’ COMPENSATION ACT DEATH 

23 GRATUITY. 

24 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 8102a of title 5, United 

25 States Code, is amended— 


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1 (1) by striking subsection (a) and inserting the 

2 following: 

3 ‘‘(a) DEATH GRATUITY AUTHORIZED.— 

4 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.— 

5 ‘‘(A) PAYMENT.—Except as provided in 

6 paragraph (2), for deaths occurring on or after 

7 the date of enactment of the Death Gratuity 

8 Equity Act of 2016, the United States shall pay 

9 a death gratuity of $100,000 to or for the eligi10 ble survivor under subsection (d) immediately 

11 upon receiving official notification of the death 

12 of an employee who dies of injuries incurred in 

13 connection with the service of that employee 

14 with an Armed Force in a contingency oper15 ation. 

16 ‘‘(B) ADJUSTMENT.—The amount under 

17 subparagraph (A) shall be adjusted annually on 

18 March 1 of each year by the amount deter19 mined by the Secretary of Labor to represent 

20 the percentage difference between the Con21 sumer Price Index (all items; United States city 

22 average) published for December of the pre23 ceding year and that price index published for 

24 the December of the year before the preceding 

year, adjusted to the nearest 1 25 ⁄10 of 1 percent. 


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1 ‘‘(C) NO REDUCTION.—The death gratuity 

2 payable under subparagraph (A) shall not be 

3 reduced by the amount of any other death gra4 tuity provided under any other law of the 

5 United States that is based on the same death. 

6 ‘‘(2) COMPENSATION FOR NONCITIZENS AND

7 NONRESIDENTS.—For claims arising under section 

8 8137, the amount of the death gratuity shall be sub9 ject to that section and the regulations promulgated 

10 under that section.’’; 

11 (2) by striking subsection (c); 

12 (3) by redesignating subsections (d) and (e) as 

13 subsections (c) and (d), respectively; and 

14 (4) in subsection (c), as so redesignated, by 

15 adding at the end the following: 

16 ‘‘(7) If there are no eligible survivors, as de17 scribed in paragraphs (1) through (6), and the em18 ployee has not designated another person to receive 

19 an amount payable under this section, that amount 

20 shall be paid to the personal representative of the es21 tate of the employee.’’. 

22 (b) APPLICABILITY.—Section 8102a of title 5, United 

23 States Code, as in effect on the day before the date of 

24 enactment of this Act, shall apply to a death occurring 

25 before the date of enactment of this Act without regard 


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1 to whether payment is made before, on, or after the date 

2 of enactment of this Act. 

3 SEC. 6. AGENCY GRATUITY FOR DEATHS SUSTAINED IN 

4 THE PERFORMANCE OF DUTY ABROAD. 

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

6 U.S.C. 3973) is amended— 

7 (1) in subsection (a)— 

8 (A) in the first sentence, by striking ‘‘de9 pendents’’ and inserting ‘‘beneficiary’’; and 

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

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

12 ‘‘payable from any source’’; 

13 (2) by amending subsection (b) to read as fol14 lows: 

15 ‘‘(b) EXECUTIVE AGENCIES.—The head of an execu16 tive agency shall, pursuant to guidance issued under sub17 section (c), make a death gratuity payment authorized by 

18 this section to the surviving beneficiary of— 

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

20 a result of injuries sustained in the performance of 

21 duty abroad while subject to the authority of the 

22 chief of mission pursuant to section 207; or 

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

24 in an uncompensated capacity for that agency 

25 abroad in support of a diplomatic mission, as identiVerDate Sep 11 2014 04:02 Nov 19, 2016 Jkt 069200 PO 00000 Frm 00011 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3473.IS S3473

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1 fied in guidance issued under subsection (c), who 

2 dies as a result of injuries sustained in the perform3 ance of duty abroad.’’; 

4 (3) by amending subsection (d) to read as fol5 lows: 

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

7 UNITED STATES CODE.—A death gratuity payment may 

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

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

10 (excluding a disease proximately caused by the employ11 ment) sustained in the performance of duty under section 

12 8102 of title 5, United States Code.’’; 

13 (4) by redesignating subsection (e) as sub14 section (g); 

15 (5) by inserting after subsection (d) the fol16 lowing: 

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

18 date of enactment of this subsection, the death gratuity 

19 payable under this section shall be reduced by the amount 

20 of any death gratuity provided under section 5571 of title 

21 5, United States Code, based on the same death. 

22 ‘‘(f) TAX TREATMENT.—A payment under this sec23 tion shall not be considered gross income of a surviving 

24 beneficiary under section 61 of the Internal Revenue Code 

25 of 1986.’’; and 


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

2 amending paragraph (2) to read as follows: 

3 ‘‘(2) the term ‘surviving beneficiary’ means the 

4 person identified under the order of precedence es5 tablished under section 5571(d)(2) of title 5, United 

6 States Code.’’. 

7 SEC. 7. EMERGENCY SUPPLEMENTAL AUTHORIZATION IN 

8 THE EVENT OF THE INABILITY OF AN AGEN9 CY TO MEET THE REQUIREMENTS OF THIS 

10 ACT. 

11 (a) IN GENERAL.—If the head of an agency (as de12 fined in section 5561 of title 5, United States Code) deter13 mines, with the concurrence of the Director of the Office 

14 of Management and Budget, that a natural disaster, act 

15 of terrorism, or other incident results in the inability of 

16 the agency to meet the requirements of this Act and the 

17 amendments made by this Act, additional amounts are au18 thorized to be appropriated to make additional pay19 ments— 

20 (1) under— 

21 (A) section 5571(b) of title 5, United 

22 States Code, as added by section 2(a); 

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

24 Code, as amended by section 5; and 


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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 6; and 

4 (2) that would exceed the amount available to 

5 the agency without the additional appropriations. 

6 (b) ADDITIONAL PAYMENTS.—A payment authorized 

7 under subsection (a) may be made only if additional ap8 propriations are provided for a purpose described in that 

9 subsection. 

10 (c) CONGRESSIONAL VOTE.—It is the sense of Con11 gress that Congress should vote on a request for additional 

12 appropriations under this section not later than 30 days 

13 after the date of submission of such a request to Congress. 

Æ 


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