I 
111TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION 
H. R. 959 
To increase Federal Pell Grants for the children of fallen public safety 
officers, and for other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
FEBRUARY 10, 2009 
Mr. PATRICK J. MURPHY of Pennsylvania (for himself and Mr. PLATTS) intro-
duced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Edu-
cation and Labor, and in addition to the Committee on the Judiciary, for 
a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for 
consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the com-
mittee concerned 
A BILL 
To increase Federal Pell Grants for the children of fallen 
public safety officers, 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 ‘‘Officer Daniel Faulk-
ner Children of Fallen Heroes Scholarship Act of 2009’’. 
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SEC. 2. CALCULATION OF FEDERAL PELL GRANT ELIGI-
BILITY. 
Section 401(f) of the Higher Education Act of 1965 
(20 U.S.C. 1070a(f)) is amended by adding at the end 
the following new paragraph: 
‘‘(5)(A) Notwithstanding paragraph (1) or any 
other provision of this section, the expected family 
contribution of each student described in subpara-
graph (C) shall be deemed to be zero for the period 
during which each such student is eligible to receive 
a Federal Pell Grant under subsection (c). 
‘‘(B) The amount by which a Federal Pell 
Grant is increased to any student under subpara-
graph (A) shall not be considered in determining 
that student’s need for any other grant or work as-
sistance under this title, except that in no case shall 
the total amount of student financial assistance 
awarded to a student under this title exceed that 
student’s cost of attendance, as defined in section 
472. 
‘‘(C) Subparagraph (A) shall apply to any stu-
dent at an institution of higher education— 
‘‘(i) whose parent or legal guardian— 
‘‘(I) was actively serving as a public 
safety officer; and 
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‘‘(II) died in the line of duty while 
performing as a public safety officer; and 
‘‘(ii) who was 18 years of age or less, or 
was enrolled as a full-time or part-time student 
at an institution of higher education, as of the 
time of such parent or legal guardian’s death. 
‘‘(D) For purposes of this paragraph— 
‘‘(i) the term ‘public safety officer’ means 
an individual serving a public agency in an offi-
cial capacity, with or without compensation, as 
a law enforcement officer, as a firefighter, or as 
a member of a rescue squad or ambulance crew; 
‘‘(ii) the term ‘law enforcement officer’ 
means an individual who— 
‘‘(I) is authorized by law to engage in 
or supervise the prevention, detection, in-
vestigation, or prosecution of, or the incar-
ceration of any person for, any violation of 
law; and 
‘‘(II) has statutory powers of arrest or 
apprehension; 
‘‘(iii) the term ‘firefighter’ means an indi-
vidual who is trained in the suppression of fire 
or hazardous-materials response and has the 
legal authority to engage in these duties; 
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‘‘(iv) the term ‘member of a rescue squad 
or ambulance crew’ means an individual who is 
an officially recognized or designated public em-
ployee member of a rescue squad or ambulance 
crew; and 
‘‘(v) the term ‘public agency’ means the 
United States, any State of the United States, 
the District of Columbia, the Commonwealth of 
Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands of the United 
States, Guam, American Samoa, the Trust Ter-
ritory of the Pacific Islands, the Commonwealth 
of the Northern Mariana Islands, any territory 
or possession of the United States, or any unit 
of local government, department, agency, or in-
strumentality of any of the foregoing, and the 
Amtrak Police and Federal Reserve Police de-
partments.’’. 
SEC. 3. CALCULATION OF EDUCATIONAL ASSISTANCE TO 
DEPENDENTS OF PUBLIC SAFETY OFFICERS. 
Section 1212(a) of title I of the Omnibus Crime Con-
trol and Safe Streets Act of 1968 (42 U.S.C. 3796d–1(a)) 
is amended— 
(1) in paragraph (2), striking ‘‘paragraph (3)’’ 
and inserting ‘‘paragraphs (3) and (4)’’; 
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(2) in paragraph (3)(A), by striking ‘‘sources to 
which the eligible dependent would otherwise be enti-
tled to receive’’ and inserting ‘‘sources the eligible 
dependent receives, except as provided in paragraph 
(4)’’; and 
(3) by adding at the end the following new 
paragraph: 
‘‘(4) The amount described in subparagraph 
(A) of paragraph (3) shall not include the amount 
by which a Federal Pell Grant to a student is in-
creased under section 401(f)(5)(A) of the Higher 
Education Act of 1965.’’. 
SEC. 4. EFFECTIVE DATE. 
The amendments made by this Act shall apply with 
respect to Federal Pell Grants awarded for academic year 
2010–2011, and each succeeding academic year. 
Æ 
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