I 
114TH CONGRESS 
2D SESSION 
H. R. 5743 
To require adequate reporting on the Public Safety Officers’ Benefit program, 
and for other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
JULY 12, 2016 
Mr. KING of New York (for himself, Mr. PASCRELL, and Mr. REICHERT) in-
troduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on the 
Judiciary 
A BILL 
To require adequate reporting on the Public Safety Officers’ 
Benefit program, 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 ‘‘Public Safety Officers’ 
Benefits Improvement Act of 2016’’. 
SEC. 2. REPORTS. 
Section 1205 of title I of the Omnibus Crime Control 
and Safe Streets Act of 1968 (42 U.S.C. 3796c) is amend-
ed— 
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(1) in subsection (a), by inserting ‘‘Rules, regu-
lations, and procedures issued under this part may 
include regulations based on standards developed by 
another Federal agency for programs related to pub-
lic safety officer death or disability claims.’’ before 
the last sentence; 
(2) in subsection (b)— 
(A) by inserting ‘‘(1)’’ before ‘‘In making’’; 
and 
(B) by adding at the end the following: 
‘‘(2) In making a determination under section 1201, 
the Bureau shall give substantial weight to the evidence 
and all findings of fact presented by a State, local, or Fed-
eral administrative or investigative agency regarding eligi-
bility for death or disability benefits.’’; and 
(3) by adding at the end the following: 
‘‘(e)(1)(A) Not later than 30 days after the date of 
enactment of this subsection, the Bureau shall make avail-
able on the public website of the Bureau information on 
all death, disability, and educational assistance claims sub-
mitted under this part that are pending as of the date 
on which the information is made available. 
‘‘(B) Not less frequently than once per week, the Bu-
reau shall make available on the public website of the Bu-
reau updated information with respect to all death, dis-
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ability, and educational assistance claims submitted under 
this part that are pending as of the date on which the 
information is made available. 
‘‘(C) The information made available under this para-
graph shall include— 
‘‘(i) for each pending claim— 
‘‘(I) the date on which the claim was sub-
mitted to the Bureau; 
‘‘(II) the State of residence of the claim-
ant; 
‘‘(III) an anonymized, identifying claim 
number; and 
‘‘(IV) the nature of the claim; and 
‘‘(ii) the total number of pending claims that 
were submitted to the Bureau more than 1 year be-
fore the date on which the information is made 
available. 
‘‘(2)(A) Not later than 180 days after the date of 
enactment of this subsection, and every 180 days there-
after, the Bureau shall submit to Congress a report on 
the death, disability, and educational assistance claims 
submitted under this part. 
‘‘(B) Each report submitted under subparagraph (A) 
shall include information on— 
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‘‘(i) the total number of claims for which a final 
determination has been made during the 180-day pe-
riod preceding the report; 
‘‘(ii) the amount of time required to process 
each claim for which a final determination has been 
made during the 180-day period preceding the re-
port; 
‘‘(iii) as of the last day of the 180-day period 
preceding the report, the total number of claims sub-
mitted to the Bureau on or before that date for 
which a final determination has not been made; 
‘‘(iv) as of the last day of the 180-day period 
preceding the report, the total number of claims sub-
mitted to the Bureau on or before the date that is 
1 year before that date for which a final determina-
tion has not been made; 
‘‘(v) for each claim described in clause (iv), a 
detailed description of the basis for delay; 
‘‘(vi) as of the last day of the 180-day period 
preceding the report, the total number of claims sub-
mitted to the Bureau on or before that date relating 
to exposure due to the September 11, 2001, ter-
rorism attacks for which a final determination has 
not been made; 
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‘‘(vii) as of the last day of the 180-day period 
preceding the report, the total number of claims sub-
mitted to the Bureau on or before the date that is 
1 year before that date relating to exposure due to 
the September 11, 2001, terrorism attacks for which 
a final determination has not been made; 
‘‘(viii) for each claim described in clause (vii), 
a detailed description of the basis for delay; 
‘‘(ix) the total number of claims submitted to 
the Bureau relating to exposure due to the Sep-
tember 11, 2001, terrorism attacks for which a final 
determination was made during the 180-day period 
preceding the report, and the average award amount 
for any such claims that were approved; 
‘‘(x) the result of each claim for which a final 
determination was made during the 180-day period 
preceding the report, including the number of claims 
rejected and the basis for any denial of benefits; 
‘‘(xi) the number of final determinations which 
were appealed during the 180-day period preceding 
the report, regardless of when the final determina-
tion was first made; 
‘‘(xii) the average number of claims processed 
per reviewer of the Bureau during the 180-day pe-
riod preceding the report; 
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‘‘(xiii) for any claim submitted to the Bureau 
that required the submission of additional informa-
tion from a public agency, and for which the public 
agency completed providing all of the required infor-
mation during the 180-day period preceding the re-
port, the average length of the period beginning on 
the date the public agency was contacted by the Bu-
reau and ending on the date on which the public 
agency submitted all required information to the Bu-
reau; 
‘‘(xiv) for any claim submitted to the Bureau 
for which the Bureau issued a subpoena to a public 
agency during the 180-day period preceding the re-
port in order to obtain information or documentation 
necessary to determine the claim, the name of the 
public agency, the date on which the subpoena was 
issued, and the dates on which the public agency 
was contacted by the Bureau before the issuance of 
the subpoena; and 
‘‘(xv) information on the compliance of the Bu-
reau with the obligation to offset award amounts 
under section 1201(f)(3), including— 
‘‘(I) the number of claims that are eligible 
for compensation under both this part and the 
September 11th Victim Compensation Fund of 
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2001 (49 U.S.C. 40101 note; Public Law 107– 
42) (commonly referred to as the ‘VCF’); 
‘‘(II) for each claim described in subclause 
(I) for which compensation has been paid under 
the VCF, the amount of compensation paid 
under the VCF; 
‘‘(III) the number of claims described in 
subclause (I) for which the Bureau has made a 
final determination; and 
‘‘(IV) the number of claims described in 
subclause (I) for which the Bureau has not 
made a final determination. 
‘‘(3) Not later than 5 years after the date of enact-
ment of the Public Safety Officers’ Benefits Improvement 
Act of 2016, and every 5 years thereafter, the Comptroller 
General of the United States shall— 
‘‘(A) conduct a study on the compliance of the 
Bureau with the obligation to offset award amounts 
under section 1201(f)(3); and 
‘‘(B) submit to Congress a report on the study 
conducted under subparagraph (A) that includes an 
assessment of whether the Bureau has provided the 
information required under subparagraph (B)(ix) of 
paragraph (2) of this subsection in each report re-
quired under that paragraph. 
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‘‘(4) In this subsection, the term ‘nature of the claim’ 
means whether the claim is a claim for— 
‘‘(A) benefits under this subpart with respect to 
the death of a public safety officer; 
‘‘(B) benefits under this subpart with respect to 
the disability of a public safety officer; or 
‘‘(C) education assistance under subpart 2.’’. 
SEC. 3. AGE LIMITATION FOR CHILDREN. 
Section 1212(c) of title I of the Omnibus Crime Con-
trol and Safe Streets Act of 1968 (42 U.S.C. 3796d–1(c)) 
is amended— 
(1) by striking ‘‘No child’’ and inserting the fol-
lowing: 
‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Subject to paragraph (2), 
no child’’; and 
(2) by adding at the end the following: 
‘‘(2) DELAYED APPROVALS.— 
‘‘(A) EDUCATIONAL ASSISTANCE APPLICA-
TION.—If a claim for assistance under this sub-
part is approved more than 1 year after the 
date on which the application for such assist-
ance is filed with the Attorney General, the age 
limitation under this subsection shall be ex-
tended by the length of the period— 
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‘‘(i) beginning on the day after the 
date that is 1 year after the date on which 
the application is filed; and 
‘‘(ii) ending on the date on which the 
application is approved. 
‘‘(B) CLAIM FOR BENEFITS FOR DEATH OR 
PERMANENT AND TOTAL DISABILITY.—In addi-
tion to an extension under subparagraph (A), if 
any, for an application for assistance under this 
subpart that relates to a claim for benefits 
under subpart 1 that was approved more than 
1 year after the date on which the claim was 
filed with the Attorney General, the age limita-
tion under this subsection shall be extended by 
the length of the period— 
‘‘(i) beginning on the day after the 
date that is 1 year after the date on which 
the claim for benefits is submitted; and 
‘‘(ii) ending on the date on which the 
claim for benefits is approved.’’. 
SEC. 4. DUE DILIGENCE IN PAYING BENEFIT CLAIMS. 
Subpart 1 of part L of title I of the Omnibus Crime 
Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968 (42 U.S.C. 3796 
et seq.) is amended by adding at the end the following: 
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‘‘SEC. 1206. DUE DILIGENCE IN PAYING BENEFIT CLAIMS. 
‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—The Bureau, with all due dili-
gence, shall expeditiously attempt to obtain the informa-
tion and documentation necessary to adjudicate a benefit 
claim filed under this part, including a claim for financial 
assistance under subpart 2. 
‘‘(b) SUFFICIENT INFORMATION UNAVAILABLE.—If 
a benefit claim filed under this part, including a claim for 
financial assistance under subpart 2, is unable to be adju-
dicated by the Bureau because of a lack of information 
or documentation from a third party, such as a public 
agency, the Bureau may not abandon the benefit claim 
unless the Bureau has utilized the investigative tools avail-
able to the Bureau to obtain the necessary information 
or documentation, including subpoenas.’’. 
SEC. 5. PRESUMPTION THAT OFFICER ACTED PROPERLY. 
Section 1202 of title I of the Omnibus Crime Control 
and Safe Streets Act of 1968 (42 U.S.C. 3796a) is amend-
ed— 
(1) by striking ‘‘No benefit’’ and inserting the 
following: 
‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—No benefit’’; and 
(2) by adding at the end the following: 
‘‘(b) PRESUMPTION.—In determining whether a ben-
efit is payable under this part, the Bureau shall— 
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‘‘(1) presume that none of the limitations de-
scribed in subsection (a) apply; and 
‘‘(2) have the burden of establishing by clear 
and convincing evidence that a limitation described 
in subsection (a) applies.’’. 
SEC. 6. EFFECTIVE DATE; APPLICABILITY. 
The amendments made by this Act shall— 
(1) take effect on the date of enactment of this 
Act; and 
(2) apply to any benefit claim or application 
under part L of title I of the Omnibus Crime Con-
trol and Safe Streets Act of 1968 (42 U.S.C. 3796 
et seq.) that is— 
(A) pending before the Bureau of Justice 
Assistance on the date of enactment; or 
(B) received by the Bureau on or after the 
date of enactment of this Act. 
Æ 
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