I 

117TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 3071 

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

authorize public safety officer death benefits to officers suffering from 

post-traumatic stress disorder or acute stress disorder, and for other 

purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

MAY 7, 2021 

Mr. TRONE (for himself and Mr. RESCHENTHALER) 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 to authorize public safety officer death benefits to officers suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder or acute stress disorder, 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 ‘‘Public Safety Officer 

5 Support Act of 2021’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

7 Congress finds the following: 


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1 (1) Every day, public safety officers, including 

2 police officers, firefighters, emergency medical tech3 nicians, and others, work to maintain the safety, 

4 health, and well-being of the communities they serve. 

5 (2) From time to time this means being called 

6 to respond to stressful and potentially traumatic sit7 uations, sometimes even putting their own lives in 

8 danger. 

9 (3) This work not only puts them at risk for ex10 periencing harm, serious injury, and severe trauma, 

11 but also places them at up to 25.6 times higher risk 

12 for developing post-traumatic stress disorder when 

13 compared to those without such experiences. 

14 (4) Psychological evidence indicates law en15 forcement officers experience significant job-related 

16 stressors and exposures that may confer increased 

17 risk for mental health morbidities (for example post18 traumatic stress disorder, and suicidal thoughts and 

19 behaviors), and hastened mortality. 

20 (5) Public safety officers often do not have the 

21 resources or support they need, leaving them at 

22 higher risk for long-term mental health con23 sequences. 

24 (6) In 2017, the Department of Justice ap25 proved 481 Public Safety Officer Benefit (PSOB) 


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1 claims, but not one of them for the over 240 public 

2 safety officers who died by suicide that year. 

3 (7) As it currently stands, officers who have 

4 died or are disabled as a result of suicide or post5 traumatic stress disorder do not qualify for this pro6 gram, despite officers being more likely to die by 

7 suicide than in the line of duty. 

8 SEC. 3. PUBLIC SAFETY OFFICER DEATH BENEFITS FOR 

9 POST-TRAUMATIC STRESS DISORDER AND 

10 ACUTE STRESS DISORDER. 

11 Section 1201 of the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe 

12 Streets Act of 1968 (34 U.S.C. 10281) is amended by 

13 adding at the end the following: 

14 ‘‘(o) As determined by the Bureau— 

15 ‘‘(1) post-traumatic stress disorder or acute 

16 stress disorder suffered by a public safety officer, 

17 and diagnosed by a licensed medical or mental 

18 health professional, shall be presumed to constitute 

19 a personal injury within the meaning of subsection 

20 (a), sustained in the line of duty by the officer, if 

21 the officer, while on duty, engages in situations in22 volving stressful, tensional, or traumatic law enforce23 ment, fire suppression, rescue, hazardous material 

24 response, emergency medical services (including re25 sponding to opioid overdoses, or traumatic psychoVerDate Sep 11 2014 06:24 Jun 22, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3071.IH H3071

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1 logical or psychiatric distress calls), prison security, 

2 disaster relief, or other emergency response activity; 

3 and 

4 ‘‘(2) in the case that a public safety officer de5 scribed in paragraph (1) dies by suicide (for pur6 poses of a claim under subsection (a)), or is perma7 nently and totally disabled as a result of post-trau8 matic stress disorder or acute stress disorder, in9 cluding as a result of attempted suicide (for pur10 poses of a claim under subsection (b)), such death 

11 or disability shall be presumed to be a direct and 

12 proximate result of such engagement, 

13 unless competent psychological or medical evidence estab14 lishes that the post-traumatic stress disorder or acute 

15 stress disorder was unrelated to the engagement or was 

16 directly and proximately caused by something other than 

17 the mere presence of post-traumatic stress disorder or 

18 acute stress disorder risk factors. For purposes of para19 graph (2), a public safety officer shall be considered per20 manently and totally disabled as a result of post-traumatic 

21 stress disorder or acute stress disorder if the officer is un22 able to serve as a public safety officer in the same or sub23 stantially similar role as the officer was serving prior to 

24 suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder or acute 

25 stress disorder.’’. 


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1 SEC. 4. GAO REPORT. 

2 On the date that is one year after the date of the 

3 enactment of this Act, the Comptroller General of the 

4 United States shall submit to Congress a report on bene5 fits issued pursuant to subsection (o) of section 1201 of 

6 the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968 

7 (34 U.S.C. 10281), as added by this Act, and any rec8 ommendations to improve such subsection. 

Æ 


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