I 

117TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 2936 

To amend the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968 with 

respect to payments to certain public safety officers who have become 

permanently and totally disabled as a result of personal injuries sustained 

in the line of duty, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

APRIL 30, 2021 

Mr. PASCRELL (for himself, Mr. COURTNEY, Mr. O’HALLERAN, Ms. 

BROWNLEY, Mr. RUTHERFORD, Mr. FITZPATRICK, Mr. BACON, Mr. 

MULLIN, and Mr. GARBARINO) introduced the following bill; which was 

referred to the Committee on the Judiciary 

A BILL 

To amend the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets 

Act of 1968 with respect to payments to certain public 

safety officers who have become permanently and totally 

disabled as a result of personal injuries sustained in 

the line of duty, 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 ‘‘Protecting America’s 

5 First Responders Act of 2021’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. PAYMENT OF DEATH AND DISABILITY BENEFITS 

2 UNDER PUBLIC SAFETY OFFICERS’ DEATH 

3 BENEFITS PROGRAM. 

4 Section 1201 of title I of the Omnibus Crime Control 

5 and Safe Streets Act of 1968 (34 U.S.C. 10281) is amend6 ed— 

7 (1) in subsection (a), by striking ‘‘the Bureau 

8 shall pay a benefit of $250,000, adjusted in accord9 ance with subsection (h)’’ and inserting ‘‘a benefit of 

10 $250,000, adjusted in accordance with subsection 

11 (h), and calculated in accordance with subsection (i), 

12 shall be payable by the Bureau’’; 

13 (2) in subsection (b)— 

14 (A) by striking ‘‘the Bureau shall pay the 

15 same benefit’’ and inserting ‘‘a benefit shall be 

16 payable’’; 

17 (B) by striking ‘‘that is payable under sub18 section (a) with respect to the date on which 

19 the catastrophic injury occurred,’’ and inserting 

20 ‘‘in the same amount that would be payable, as 

21 of the date such injury was sustained (includ22 ing’’; 

23 (C) by inserting ‘‘, and calculated in ac24 cordance with subsection (i)), if such deter25 mination were a determination under subsection 

26 (a)’’ before ‘‘: Provided, That’’; and 


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1 (D) by striking ‘‘necessary:’’ and all that 

2 follows and inserting ‘‘necessary.’’; 

3 (3) in subsection (c), by striking ‘‘$3,000’’ and 

4 inserting ‘‘$6,000, adjusted in accordance with sub5 section (h),’’; 

6 (4) in subsection (h), by striking ‘‘subsection 

7 (a)’’ and inserting ‘‘subsections (a) and (b) and the 

8 level of the interim benefit payable immediately be9 fore such October 1 under subsection (c)’’; 

10 (5) by striking subsection (i) and inserting the 

11 following: 

12 ‘‘(i) The amount payable under subsections (a) and 

13 (b), with respect to the death or permanent and total dis14 ability of a public safety officer, shall be the greater of— 

15 ‘‘(1) the amount payable under the relevant 

16 subsection as of the date of death or the cata17 strophic injury of the public safety officer; or 

18 ‘‘(2) in any case in which the claim filed there19 under has been pending for more than 365 days at 

20 the time of final determination by the Bureau, the 

21 amount that would be payable under the relevant 

22 subsection if the death or the catastrophic injury of 

23 the public safety officer had occurred on the date on 

24 which the Bureau makes such final determination.’’; 

25 and 


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1 (6) in subsection (m), by inserting ‘‘, (b),’’ after 

2 ‘‘subsection (a)’’. 

3 SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS WITH RESPECT TO PUBLIC SAFETY 

4 OFFICERS’ DEATH BENEFITS PROGRAM. 

5 Section 1204 of title I of the Omnibus Crime Control 

6 and Safe Streets Act of 1968 (34 U.S.C. 10284) is amend7 ed— 

8 (1) by redesignating paragraphs (1), (2), (3), 

9 (4), (5), (6), (7), (8), and (9) as paragraphs (4), 

10 (5), (6), (7), (8), (9), (10), (13), and (14), respec11 tively; 

12 (2) by striking paragraph (4), as so redesig13 nated, and inserting: 

14 ‘‘(4) ‘catastrophic injury’ means an injury, the 

15 direct and proximate result of which is to perma16 nently render an individual functionally incapable 

17 (including through a directly and proximately result18 ing neurocognitive disorder), based on the state of 

19 medicine on the date on which the claim is deter20 mined by the Bureau, of performing work, including 

21 sedentary work: Provided, That, if it appears that a 

22 claimant may be functionally capable of performing 

23 work— 

24 ‘‘(A) the Bureau shall disregard work 

25 where any compensation provided is de-minimis, 


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1 nominal, honorary, or mere reimbursement of 

2 incidental expenses, such as— 

3 ‘‘(i) work that involves ordinary or 

4 simple tasks, that because of the claimed 

5 disability, the claimant cannot perform 

6 without significantly more supervision, ac7 commodation, or assistance than is typi8 cally provided to an individual without the 

9 claimed disability doing similar work; 

10 ‘‘(ii) work that involves minimal du11 ties that make few or no demands on the 

12 claimant and are of little or no economic 

13 value to the employer; or 

14 ‘‘(iii) work that is performed primarily 

15 for therapeutic purposes and aids the 

16 claimant in the physical or mental recovery 

17 from the claimed disability; and 

18 ‘‘(B) the claimant shall be presumed, ab19 sent clear and convincing medical evidence to 

20 the contrary as determined by the Bureau, to 

21 be functionally incapable of performing such 

22 work if the direct and proximate result of the 

23 injury renders the claimant— 

24 ‘‘(i) blind; 

25 ‘‘(ii) parapalegic; or 


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1 ‘‘(iii) quadriplegic;’’; 

2 (3) in paragraph (6), as so redesignated, by 

3 striking ‘‘as of the date of the public safety officer’s 

4 fatal or catastrophic injury’’ and inserting ‘‘at the 

5 time of the public safety officer’s death or fatal in6 jury (in connection with any claim predicated upon 

7 such death or injury) or the date of the public safety 

8 officer’s catastrophic injury or of the final deter9 mination by the Bureau of any claim predicated 

10 upon such catastrophic injury’’; 

11 (4) in paragraph (7), as so redesignated, by in12 serting ‘‘, including an individual who, as such a 

13 member, engages in scene security or traffic man14 agement as the primary or only duty of the indi15 vidual during emergency response’’ before the semi16 colon; and 

17 (5) in paragraph (9), as so redesignated by 

18 striking ‘‘delinquency).,’’ and inserting ‘‘delin19 quency),’’; 

20 (6) in paragraph (13), as so redesignated, by 

21 inserting ‘‘, and includes (as may be prescribed by 

22 regulation hereunder) a legally organized volunteer 

23 fire department that is a nonprofit entity and pro24 vides services without regard to any particular rela25 tionship (such as a subscription) a member of the 


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1 public may have with such a department’’ before the 

2 semicolon; 

3 (7) in paragraph (14), as so redesignated,— 

4 (A) by striking subparagraph (A) and in5 serting: 

6 ‘‘(A) an individual serving a public agency 

7 in an official capacity, with or without com8 pensation, as a law enforcement officer, as a 

9 firefighter, or as a chaplain: Provided, That 

10 (notwithstanding section 1205(b)(2) or (3)) the 

11 Bureau shall, absent clear and convincing evi12 dence to the contrary as determined by the Bu13 reau, deem the actions outside of jurisdiction 

14 taken by any such law enforcement officer or 

15 firefighter, to have been taken while serving 

16 such public agency in such capacity, in any case 

17 in which the principal legal officer of such pub18 lic agency, and the head of such agency, to19 gether, certify that such actions— 

20 ‘‘(i) were not unreasonable; 

21 ‘‘(ii) would have been within the au22 thority and line of duty of such law en23 forcement officer or such firefighter to 

24 take, had they been taken in a jurisdiction 

25 where such law enforcement officer or fireVerDate Sep 11 2014 16:51 Jun 23, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2936.IH H2936

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1 fighter was authorized to act, in the ordi2 nary course, in an official capacity; and 

3 ‘‘(iii) would have resulted in the pay4 ment of full line-of-duty death or disability 

5 benefits (as applicable), if any such bene6 fits typically were payable by (or with re7 spect to or on behalf of) such public agen8 cy, as of the date the actions were taken;’’; 

9 (B) by redesignating subparagraphs (B), 

10 (C), (D), and (E) as subparagraphs (C), (D), 

11 (E), and (F), respectively; 

12 (C) by inserting after subparagraph (A), 

13 the following new subparagraph: 

14 ‘‘(B) a candidate officer who is engaging in 

15 an activity or exercise that itself is a formal or 

16 required part of the program in which the can17 didate officer is enrolled or admitted, as pro18 vided in this section;’’; and 

19 (D) by striking subparagraph (E), as so 

20 redesignated, and inserting the following: 

21 ‘‘(E) a member of a rescue squad or ambu22 lance crew who, as authorized or licensed by 

23 law and by the applicable agency or entity, is 

24 engaging in rescue activity or in the provision 

25 of emergency medical services: Provided, That 


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1 (notwithstanding section 1205(b)(2) or (3)) the 

2 Bureau shall, absent clear and convincing evi3 dence to the contrary as determined by the Bu4 reau, deem the actions outside of jurisdiction 

5 taken by any such member to have been thus 

6 authorized or licensed, in any case in which the 

7 principal legal officer of such agency or entity, 

8 and the head of such agency or entity together, 

9 certify that such actions— 

10 ‘‘(i) were not unreasonable; 

11 ‘‘(ii) would have been within the au12 thority and line of duty of such member to 

13 take, had they been taken in a jurisdiction 

14 where such member was authorized or li15 censed by law and by a pertinent agency or 

16 entity to act, in the ordinary course; and 

17 ‘‘(iii) would have resulted in the pay18 ment of full line-of-duty death or disability 

19 benefits (as applicable), if any such bene20 fits typically were payable by (or with re21 spect to or on behalf of) such applicable 

22 agency or entity, as of the date the action 

23 was taken;’’; 

24 (8) by inserting before paragraph (4), as so re25 designated, the following new paragraphs: 


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1 ‘‘(1) ‘action outside of jurisdiction’ means an 

2 action, not in the course of any compensated em3 ployment involving either the performance of public 

4 safety activity or the provision of security services, 

5 by a law enforcement officer, firefighter, or member 

6 of a rescue squad or ambulance crew that— 

7 ‘‘(A) was taken in a jurisdiction where— 

8 ‘‘(i) the law enforcement officer or 

9 firefighter then was not authorized to act, 

10 in the ordinary course, in an official capac11 ity; or 

12 ‘‘(ii) the member of a rescue squad or 

13 ambulance crew then was not authorized 

14 or licensed to act, in the ordinary course, 

15 by law or by the applicable agency or enti16 ty; 

17 ‘‘(B) then would have been within the au18 thority and line of duty of— 

19 ‘‘(i) a law enforcement officer or a 

20 firefighter to take, who was authorized to 

21 act, in the ordinary course, in an official 

22 capacity, in the jurisdiction where the ac23 tion was taken; or 

24 ‘‘(ii) a member of a rescue squad or 

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1 ized or licensed by law and by a pertinent 

2 agency or entity to act, in the ordinary 

3 course, in the jurisdiction where the action 

4 was taken; and 

5 ‘‘(C) was, in an emergency situation that 

6 presented an imminent and significant danger 

7 or threat to human life or of serious bodily 

8 harm to any individual, taken— 

9 ‘‘(i) by a law enforcement officer— 

10 ‘‘(I) to prevent, halt, or respond 

11 to the immediate consequences of a 

12 crime (including an incident of juve13 nile delinquency); or 

14 ‘‘(II) while engaging in a rescue 

15 activity or in the provision of emer16 gency medical services; or 

17 ‘‘(ii) by a firefighter— 

18 ‘‘(I) while engaging in fire sup19 pression; or 

20 ‘‘(II) while engaging in a rescue 

21 activity or in the provision of emer22 gency medical services; or 

23 ‘‘(iii) by a member of a rescue squad 

24 or ambulance crew, while engaging in a 


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1 rescue activity or in the provision of emer2 gency medical services; 

3 ‘‘(2) ‘candidate officer’ means an individual who 

4 is enrolled or admitted, as a cadet or trainee, in a 

5 formal and officially established program of instruc6 tion or of training (such as a police or fire academy) 

7 that is specifically intended to result upon comple8 tion, in the— 

9 ‘‘(A) commissioning of such individual as a 

10 law enforcement officer; 

11 ‘‘(B) conferral upon such individual of offi12 cial authority to engage in fire suppression (as 

13 an officer or employee of a public fire depart14 ment or as an officially recognized or des15 ignated member of a legally organized volunteer 

16 fire department); or 

17 ‘‘(C) granting to such individual official 

18 authorization or license to engage in a rescue 

19 activity, or in the provision of emergency med20 ical services, as a member of a rescue squad, or 

21 as a member of an ambulance crew that is (or 

22 is a part of) the agency or entity that is spon23 soring the individual’s enrollment or admission; 

24 ‘‘(3) ‘blind’ means an individual who has cen25 tral visual acuity of 20/200 or less in the better eye 


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1 with the use of a correcting lens or whose eye is ac2 companied by a limitation in the fields of vision such 

3 that the widest diameter of the visual field subtends 

4 an angle no greater than 20 degrees;’’; and 

5 (9) in the matter following paragraph (10), as 

6 so redesignated, by inserting the following new para7 graphs: 

8 ‘‘(11) ‘neurocognitive disorder’ means a dis9 order that is characterized by a clinically significant 

10 decline in cognitive functioning and may include 

11 symptoms and signs such as disturbances in mem12 ory, executive functioning (that is, higher-level cog13 nitive processes, such as, regulating attention, plan14 ning, inhibiting responses, decision-making), visual15 spatial functioning, language, speech, perception, in16 sight, judgment, or an insensitivity to social stand17 ards; and 

18 ‘‘(12) ‘sedentary work’ means work that— 

19 ‘‘(A) involves lifting articles weighing no 

20 more than 10 pounds at a time or occasionally 

21 lifting or carrying articles such as docket files, 

22 ledgers, or small tools; and 

23 ‘‘(B) despite involving sitting on a regular 

24 basis, may require walking or standing on an 

25 occasional basis.’’. 


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1 SEC. 4. DUE DILIGENCE IN PAYING BENEFIT CLAIMS 

2 UNDER PUBLIC SAFETY OFFICERS’ DEATH 

3 BENEFITS PROGRAM. 

4 Section 1206(b) of title I of the Omnibus Crime Con5 trol and Safe Streets Act of 1968 (34 U.S.C. 10288(b)) 

6 is amended by striking ‘‘the Bureau may not’’ and all that 

7 follows and inserting the following: ‘‘the Bureau— 

8 ‘‘(1) may use available investigative tools, in9 cluding subpoenas, to— 

10 ‘‘(A) adjudicate or to expedite the proc11 essing of the benefit claim, if the Bureau deems 

12 such use to be necessary to adjudicate or con13 ducive to expediting the adjudication of such 

14 claim; and 

15 ‘‘(B) obtain information or documentation 

16 from third parties, including public agencies, if 

17 the Bureau deems such use to be necessary to 

18 adjudicate or conducive to expediting the adju19 dication of a claim; and 

20 ‘‘(2) may not abandon the benefit claim unless 

21 the Bureau has used investigative tools, including 

22 subpoenas, to obtain the information or documenta23 tion deemed necessary to adjudicate such claim by 

24 the Bureau under subparagraph (1)(B).’’. 


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1 SEC. 5. EDUCATIONAL ASSISTANCE TO DEPENDENTS OF 

2 CERTAIN PUBLIC SAFETY OFFICERS. 

3 Section 1216(b) of title I of the Omnibus Crime Con4 trol and Safe Streets Act of 1968 (34 U.S.C. 10306(b)) 

5 is amended, in the first sentence, by striking ‘‘may’’ and 

6 inserting ‘‘shall (unless prospective assistance has been 

7 provided)’’. 

8 SEC. 6. TECHNICAL CORRECTION. 

9 Section 1205(e)(3)(B) of the Omnibus Crime Control 

10 and Safe Streets Act of 1968 (34 U.S.C. 10285(e)(3)(B)) 

11 is amended by striking ‘‘subparagraph (B)(ix)’’ and in12 serting ‘‘subparagraph (I)’’. 

13 SEC. 7. SUBPOENA POWER. 

14 Section 806 of title I of the Omnibus Crime Control 

15 and Safe Streets Act of 1968 (34 U.S.C. 10225) is amend16 ed— 

17 (1) by inserting ‘‘Attorney General, the’’ before 

18 the ‘‘Bureau of Justice Assistance’’; 

19 (2) by striking ‘‘may appoint’’ and inserting 

20 ‘‘may appoint (to be assigned or employed on an in21 terim or as-needed basis) such hearing examiners 

22 (who shall, if so designated by the Attorney General, 

23 be understood to be comprised within the meaning 

24 of ‘‘special government employee’’ under section 202 

25 of title 18, United States Code)’’; 


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1 (3) by striking ‘‘under this chapter. The’’ and 

2 inserting ‘‘or other law. The Attorney General, the’’; 

3 and 

4 (4) by inserting ‘‘conduct examinations’’ after 

5 ‘‘examine witnesses,’’. 

6 SEC. 8. EFFECTIVE DATE; APPLICABILITY. 

7 (a) IN GENERAL.—Except as otherwise provided in 

8 this section, the amendments made by this Act shall take 

9 effect on the date of enactment of this Act. 

10 (b) APPLICABILITY.— 

11 (1) CERTAIN INJURIES.—The amendments 

12 made to paragraphs (2) and (7) of section 1204 of 

13 title I of the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe 

14 Streets Act of 1968 (34 U.S.C. 10284) shall apply 

15 with respect to injuries occurring on or after Janu16 ary 1, 2008. 

17 (2) MATTERS PENDING.—Except as provided in 

18 paragraph (1), the amendments made by this Act 

19 shall apply to any matter pending, before the Bu20 reau or otherwise, on the date of enactment of this 

21 Act, or filed (consistent with pre-existing effective 

22 dates) or accruing after that date. 

23 (c) EFFECTIVE DATE FOR WTC RESPONDERS.— 

24 (1) CERTAIN NEW CLAIMS.—Not later than two 

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1 sponder may file a claim, under section 1201(b) of 

2 title I of the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe 

3 Streets Act of 1968 (34 U.S.C. 10281(b)), that is 

4 predicated on a personal injury sustained in the line 

5 of duty by such responder as a result of the Sep6 tember 11, 2001, attacks, where— 

7 (A) no claim under such section 1201(b) 

8 so predicated has previously been filed; or 

9 (B) a claim under such section 1201(b) so 

10 predicated had previously been denied, in a 

11 final agency determination, on the basis (in 

12 whole or in part) that the claimant was not to13 tally disabled. 

14 (2) CLAIMS FOR A DECEASED WTC RE15 SPONDER.—Not later than two years after the effec16 tive date of this Act, a claim may be filed, construc17 tively under section 1201(a) of title I of the Omni18 bus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968 (34 

19 U.S.C. 10281(a)), where a WTC responder who oth20 erwise could have filed a claim pursuant to para21 graph (1) has died before such effective date (or dies 

22 not later than 365 days after such effective date), or 

23 where a WTC responder has filed such a claim but 

24 dies while it is pending before the Bureau: Provided, 

25 That— 


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1 (A) no claim under such section 1201(a) 

2 otherwise shall have been filed, or determined, 

3 in a final agency determination; and 

4 (B) if it is determined, in a final agency 

5 determination, that a claim under such para6 graph (1) would have been payable had the 

7 WTC responder not died, then the WTC re8 sponder shall irrebutably be presumed (solely 

9 for purposes of determining to whom benefits 

10 otherwise pursuant to such paragraph (1) may 

11 be payable under the claim filed constructively 

12 under such section 1201(a)) to have died as the 

13 direct and proximate result of the injury on 

14 which the claim under such paragraph (1) 

15 would have been predicated. 

16 (3) DIFFERENCE IN BENEFIT PAY.—In the 

17 event that a claim under section 1201(b) of title I 

18 of the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act 

19 of 1968 (34 U.S.C. 10281(b)) and predicated on an 

20 injury sustained in the line of duty by a WTC re21 sponder as a result of the September 11, 2001, at22 tacks was approved, in a final agency determination, 

23 before the effective date of this Act, the Bureau 

24 shall, upon application filed (not later than three 

25 years after such effective date of this Act) by the 


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1 payee (or payees) indicated in subparagraphs (A) or 

2 (B), pay a bonus in the amount of the difference (if 

3 any) between the amount that was paid pursuant to 

4 such determination and the amount that would have 

5 been payable had the amendments made by this Act, 

6 other than those indicated in subsection (b)(1), been 

7 in effect on the date of such determination— 

8 (A) to the WTC responder, if living on the 

9 date the application is determined, in a final 

10 agency determination; or 

11 (B) if the WTC responder is not living on 

12 the date indicated in subparagraph (A), to the 

13 individual (or individuals), if living on such 

14 date, to whom benefits would have been payable 

15 on such date under section 1201(a) of such title 

16 I (34 U.S.C. 10281(a)) had the application 

17 been, instead, a claim under such section 

18 1201(a). 

19 (4) SPECIAL LIMITED RULE OF CONSTRUC20 TION.—A claim filed pursuant to paragraph (1) or 

21 (2) shall be determined as though the date of cata22 strophic injury of the public safety officer were the 

23 date of enactment of this Act, for purposes of deter24 mining the amount that may be payable. 

Æ 


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