I 
118TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 5883 
To provide and expand gratuities for employees killed in the line of duty, 
and for other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
OCTOBER 3, 2023 
Mr. CONNOLLY (for himself and Mr. FITZPATRICK) introduced the following 
bill 
OCTOBER 25, 2023 
Referred to the Committee on Oversight and Accountability, and in addition 
to the Committees on Foreign Affairs, Armed Services, Veterans’ Affairs, 
Transportation and Infrastructure, Homeland Security, and Ways and 
Means, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in 
each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdic-
tion of the committee concerned 
A BILL 
To provide and expand gratuities for employees killed in 
the line of duty, and for other purposes. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Honoring Civil Serv-
ants Killed in the Line of Duty Act’’. 
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SEC. 2. INCREASING DEATH GRATUITY FOR FEDERAL EM-
PLOYEES KILLED IN THE LINE OF DUTY. 
(a) AMENDMENTS
TO TITLE 5, UNITED STATES 
CODE.— 
(1) IN GENERAL.—Subchapter VII of chapter 
55 of title 5, United States Code, is amended by 
adding at the end the following: 
‘‘§ 5571. Employee death gratuity payments 
‘‘(a) DEFINITION.— 
‘‘(1) IN
GENERAL.—Notwithstanding section 
5561(2), in this section, the term ‘employee’ means 
an individual who has been determined by the Sec-
retary of Labor to be an employee within the mean-
ing of section 8101(1), but not including any indi-
vidual described under subparagraph (D) of such 
section. 
‘‘(2) EXCLUSIVE AUTHORITY.—A determination 
described in paragraph (1) may be made only by the 
Secretary of Labor. 
‘‘(b) GRATUITY.— 
‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—With respect to the death 
of an employee, the head of the agency at which the 
employee was employed shall pay from appropria-
tions made available for salaries and expenses of 
that agency a death gratuity to the person identified 
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under subsection (c)(2), if the death of the em-
ployee— 
‘‘(A) results from injuries incurred— 
‘‘(i) in connection with such employ-
ee’s employment with the Federal Govern-
ment; or 
‘‘(ii) as a result of a criminal act, an 
act of terrorism, a natural disaster, or any 
other circumstance as determined by the 
agency head; and 
‘‘(B) is not— 
‘‘(i) caused by willful misconduct of 
the employee, as determined by a review 
conducted by the applicable office of In-
spector General; 
‘‘(ii) caused by the intention of the 
employee to bring about the injury or 
death of the employee or another; or 
‘‘(iii) proximately caused by the in-
toxication or self-impairment of the em-
ployee. 
‘‘(2) AMOUNT.— 
‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in 
subparagraph (B), the amount of a death gra-
tuity paid under paragraph (1) with respect to 
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an employee shall be $100,000, as adjusted 
each March 1 by the amount determined by the 
Secretary of Labor to represent the percentage 
change in the Consumer Price Index for All 
Urban Consumers (all items; United States city 
average) published for December of the pre-
ceding year over that Index published for the 
December of the year prior to the preceding 
year, adjusted to the nearest 1⁄10 of 1 percent. 
‘‘(B) LOCAL COMPENSATION PLANS.—For 
an employee compensated under a local com-
pensation plan established under section 408 of 
the Foreign Service Act of 1980 (22 U.S.C. 
3968), the amount of a death gratuity paid 
under paragraph (1) with respect to the em-
ployee shall be in an amount determined in 
rules issued by the Secretary of State. 
‘‘(c) RECIPIENT OF PAYMENT.— 
‘‘(1) CHILD DEFINED.—In this subsection, the 
term ‘child’ means a child of an employee of any 
age, including— 
‘‘(A) an adopted child or a stepchild; and 
‘‘(B) a foster child but only if the child 
lives with the employee in a regular parent-child 
relationship. 
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‘‘(2) ORDER OF PRECEDENCE.—A death gra-
tuity paid under subsection (b) with respect to an 
employee shall be paid in the following order of prec-
edence: 
‘‘(A)(i) To the beneficiary designated to re-
ceive the gratuity by the employee in a signed 
and witnessed official Federal Government form 
that is received by the agency employing the 
employee before the date of the death of the 
employee. 
‘‘(ii) A designation, change, or cancellation 
of beneficiary in a will, or another document 
not described in clause (i), shall have no force 
or effect for the purposes of that clause. 
‘‘(B) If there is no beneficiary described in 
subparagraph (A), to the surviving spouse of 
the employee. 
‘‘(C) If neither subparagraph (A) nor (B) 
applies, to any child (or grandchild if the child 
who is the parent of such grandchild is de-
ceased) such that each such child or grandchild 
(as the case may be) receives an equal amount 
of the gratuity. 
‘‘(D) If none of subparagraph (A), (B), or 
(C) applies, to the surviving parents of the em-
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ployee such that each such surviving parent re-
ceives an equal amount of the gratuity. 
‘‘(E) If none of subparagraphs (A) through 
(D) applies, to the duly appointed executor or 
administrator of the estate of the employee. 
‘‘(F) If none of subparagraphs (A) through 
(E) applies, to the person designated according 
to the laws of the State in which the insured in-
dividual legally resided. 
‘‘(d) TAX TREATMENT.—A payment under this sec-
tion shall not be includible in the gross income of the re-
cipient for purposes of the Internal Revenue Code of 
1986.’’. 
(2) REPEAL OF DEATH GRATUITY PAYMENT AU-
THORITY.—Section 651 of the Treasury, Postal 
Service, and General Government Appropriations 
Act, 1997 (5 U.S.C. 8133 note) is repealed. 
(3) TECHNICAL
AND
CONFORMING
AMEND-
MENTS.— 
(A) SUBCHAPTER HEADING.—The heading 
for subchapter VII of chapter 55 of title 5, 
United States Code, is amended by striking 
‘‘EMPLOYEES’’ and inserting ‘‘PERSONS 
AND PAYMENTS FOR DISABILITY OR 
DEATH’’. 
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(B) OTHER CONFORMING CHANGES.—The 
table of sections for chapter 55 of title 5, 
United States Code, is amended— 
(i) by striking the item relating to 
subchapter VII and inserting the following: 
‘‘SUBCHAPTER VII—PAYMENTS TO MISSING PERSONS AND PAYMENTS FOR 
DISABILITY OR DEATH’’; 
and 
(ii) by inserting after the item relating 
to section 5570 the following: 
‘‘5571. Employee death gratuity payments.’’. 
(b) OTHER EMPLOYEES.— 
(1) FAA.—Section 40122(g)(2) of title 49, 
United States Code, is amended— 
(A) in subparagraph (I)(iii), by striking 
‘‘and’’ after the semicolon; 
(B) in subparagraph (J), by striking the 
period at the end and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and 
(C) by inserting after subparagraph (J), 
the following: 
‘‘(K) section 5571, relating to death gratu-
ities resulting from an injury sustained in the 
line of duty.’’. 
(2) 
CERTAIN
TSA
EMPLOYEES.—Section 
111(d)(2) of the Aviation and Transportation Secu-
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rity Act (49 U.S.C. 44935 note) is amended by add-
ing at the end the following: 
‘‘(C) DEATH GRATUITY.—Section 5571 of 
title 5, United States Code, shall apply to any 
individual appointed under paragraph (1).’’. 
(3) VHA EMPLOYEES.—Section 7425 of title 
38, United States Code, is amended by adding at 
the end the following: 
‘‘(d) Notwithstanding any other provision of this sub-
chapter, the Administration shall provide, with respect to 
individuals appointed to any position described in section 
7421(b) who are employed for compensation by the Ad-
ministration, the death gratuity under section 5571 of title 
5.’’. 
(c) APPLICABILITY.—The amendments made by sub-
section (a) and (b) shall apply with respect to any death 
occurring on or after the date of enactment of this Act. 
SEC. 3. FUNERAL EXPENSES. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—Section 8134(a) of title 5, United 
States Code, is amended— 
(1) by inserting ‘‘(1)’’ after ‘‘(a)’’; 
(2) by striking ‘‘$800’’ and inserting ‘‘$8,800’’; 
and 
(3) by adding at the end the following: 
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‘‘(2) The amount described in paragraph (1) shall be 
adjusted on March 1 of each year by the percentage 
amount determined by the Secretary of Labor under sec-
tion 8146a for that year. 
‘‘(3) A payment under this subsection shall not be 
includible in the gross income of the recipient for purposes 
of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986.’’. 
(b) APPLICABILITY.—The amendments made by sub-
section (a) shall apply with respect to any death occurring 
on or after the date of enactment of this Act. 
SEC. 4. DEATH GRATUITY FOR INJURIES INCURRED IN 
CONNECTION WITH EMPLOYEE’S SERVICE 
WITH AN ARMED FORCE. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—Section 8102a of title 5, United 
States Code, is amended— 
(1) in subsection (a)— 
(A) by striking ‘‘The United States’’ and 
inserting the following: 
‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The United States’’; 
(B) in paragraph (1), as so designated, by 
striking ‘‘up to’’; and 
(C) by adding at the end the following: 
‘‘(2) ADJUSTMENT.—The amount described in 
paragraph (1) shall be adjusted each March 1 by the 
amount determined by the Secretary of Labor to 
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represent the percentage change in the Consumer 
Price Index for All Urban Consumers (all items; 
United States city average) published for December 
of the preceding year over that Index published for 
the December of the year prior to the preceding 
year, adjusted to the nearest 1⁄10 of 1 percent.’’; 
(2) by striking subsection (c) and inserting the 
following: 
‘‘(c) RELATIONSHIP TO OTHER BENEFITS.—With re-
spect to a death occurring on or after the date of enact-
ment of the Honoring Civil Servants Killed in the Line 
of Duty Act, any compensation otherwise payable to an 
individual under this section in connection with any death 
shall be reduced by any amounts payable to such indi-
vidual under any other program funded in whole or in part 
by the United States (excluding any amount payable 
under section 5569(d)) in connection with such death.’’; 
(3) in subsection (d), by adding at the end the 
following: 
‘‘(7) If a person covered by this section does 
not have any eligible survivors, as described in this 
subsection, and that person has not designated an 
alternate person to receive a payment under this sec-
tion, the payment shall be paid to the personal rep-
resentative of the person’s estate.’’; and 
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