I 
116TH CONGRESS 
2D SESSION 
H. R. 6509 
To amend the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968 to 
provide public safety officer death and disability benefits for certain 
public safety officers who contract COVID-19, and for other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
APRIL 14, 2020 
Mr. NADLER (for himself, Mr. ROSE of New York, and Mr. PASCRELL) intro-
duced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on the Ju-
diciary 
A BILL 
To amend the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets 
Act of 1968 to provide public safety officer death and 
disability benefits for certain public safety officers who 
contract COVID-19, 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 Officer 
Pandemic Response Act of 2020’’. 
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SEC. 2. DEATH AND DISABILITY BENEFITS FOR PUBLIC 
SAFETY OFFICERS IMPACTED BY COVID-19. 
Section 1201 of the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe 
Streets Act of 1968 (34 U.S.C. 10281) is amended by 
adding at the end the following new subsection: 
‘‘(o) For purposes of this part: 
‘‘(1) COVID-19 shall be presumed to constitute 
a personal injury within the meaning of subsection 
(a), sustained in the line of duty by a public safety 
officer and directly and proximately resulting in 
death, unless such officer was not on duty during 
the 45-day period prior to being diagnosed with 
COVID-19. 
‘‘(2) The Attorney General shall accept claims, 
including supplemental claims, under this section 
from an individual who— 
‘‘(A) was serving as a public safety officer 
and was injured or disabled in the line of duty 
as a result of the terrorist attacks on the 
United States that occurred on September 11, 
2001, or in the aftermath of such attacks devel-
oped a condition described in section 3312(a) of 
the Public Health Service Act (42 U.S.C. 
300mm–22(a)); and 
‘‘(B) was diagnosed with COVID-19 dur-
ing the period described in paragraph (3), 
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which, in combination with the injury or dis-
ability described in subparagraph (A), perma-
nently and totally disabled or directly and 
proximately resulted in the death of the indi-
vidual. 
In assessing a claim under this paragraph, the pre-
sumption of causation described in paragraph (1) 
shall apply. 
‘‘(3) The presumption described in paragraph 
(1) shall apply with respect to a diagnosis of 
COVID-19 beginning on January 20, 2020, and 
ending on the date that is one year after the emer-
gency period (as such term is defined in section 
1135(g) of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 
1320b–5(g))) based on the COVID-19 public health 
emergency ends. 
‘‘(p) In determining whether the personal injury re-
sulting from COVID-19 was a catastrophic injury, the At-
torney General’s inquiry shall be limited to whether the 
individual is permanently prevented from performing any 
gainful work as a public safety officer.’’. 
Æ 
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