[Congressional Bills 104th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 1243 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

  1st Session
                                S. 1243

  To provide educational assistance to the dependents of Federal law 
enforcement officials who are killed or disabled in the performance of 
                             their duties.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

           September 14 (legislative day, September 5), 1995

 Mr. Specter (for himself, Mr. Kohl, Mr. Grassley, Mr. Leahy, and Mrs. 
  Feinstein) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and 
               referred to the Committee on the Judiciary

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
  To provide educational assistance to the dependents of Federal law 
enforcement officials who are killed or disabled in the performance of 
                             their duties.
    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. PURPOSES.

    The purposes of this Act are--
            (1) to enhance the appeal of service in the law enforcement 
        agencies of the United States Department of Justice;
            (2) to extend benefits of a higher education to qualified 
        and deserving young persons who by virtue of the death of or 
        total disability of an eligible officer are not otherwise able 
        to afford the same; and
            (3) to allow such family members to attain the vocational 
        and educational status which such individual might normally 
        have aspired to and obtained had a parent not been killed or 
        disabled in the service of the country.

SEC. 2. BASIC ENTITLEMENT.

    (a) Benefits.--(1) Except as provided in subsection (b), an 
eligible dependent shall be entitled to educational assistance under 
this subpart for a period of one month for each month or fraction 
thereof of the eligible officer's service in a Federal law enforcement 
agency.
    (2) Such educational assistance shall consist of direct payments 
to--
            (A) an educational institution or institution of higher 
        learning for an eligible dependent's tuition, room, board, and 
        other charges imposed by such institution; and
            (B) the eligible dependent for an educational assistance 
        allowances to meet, in part, the cost of fees, supplies, books, 
        equipment and other educational costs, which allowances shall 
        be computed on the same basis set forth in title 38, subchapter 
        IV of the United States Code.
    (b) Benefits for Dependents of Officers Killed.--For each eligible 
dependent of an eligible officer who is killed in the line of duty, 
criteria established in subsection (a) shall not apply. Such eligible 
dependents shall be eligible to receive the benefits provided by this 
subpart for the maximum period of eligibility set forth in subsection 
(e).
    (c) Maximum Benefits.--No eligible dependent shall receive 
educational assistance under this subpart for a period in excess of 
forty-five months.

SEC. 3. TIME LIMITATIONS FOR COMPLETING A PROGRAM OF EDUCATION.

    No educational assistance shall be paid to or for an eligible 
dependent after--
            (1) ten years after the date on which the eligible officer 
        was killed or permanently and totally disabled; or
            (2) the eligible dependent's twenty-seventh birthday, 
        whichever occurs later.
SEC. 4. EDUCATIONAL AND VOCATIONAL COUNSELING.

    (a) Counseling Services.--The Attorney General shall make available 
to an eligible dependent upon such person's request, counseling 
services, including such educational and vocational counseling and 
guidance, testing, and other assistance as the Attorney General deems 
necessary to aid such person in selecting--
            (1) an educational or training objective and an educational 
        institution or training establishment appropriate for the 
        attainment of such objective; or
            (2) an employment objective that would be likely to provide 
        such eligible dependent with satisfactory employment 
        opportunities in light of such person's personal circumstances.
    (b) Notification.--The Attorney General shall take appropriate 
steps (including individual notification where feasible) to acquaint 
all eligible persons with the availability and advantages of such 
counseling services.
    (c) Service Providers.--For purposes of this subpart, the Attorney 
General may provide by interagency agreement with Federal, or State 
agency to provide the services specified.

SEC. 5. APPLICATIONS; APPROVAL.

    (a) Application.--Any eligible dependent who desires to initiate a 
program of education under this subpart shall submit an application to 
the Attorney General in such form and containing such information as 
the Attorney General may reasonably require.
    (b) Approval.--The Attorney General shall approve such application 
unless the Attorney General finds that--
            (1) such dependent is not eligible or is not longer 
        eligible for or entitled to the educational assistance for 
        which application is made;
            (2) the eligible dependent selected educational institution 
        or training establishment fails to meet any requirement of this 
        subpart;
            (3) the eligible dependent's enrollment in, or pursuit of, 
        the program of education selected would violate a provision of 
        this subpart; or
            (4) the eligible dependent is already qualified by reason 
        of previous education or training, for the educational, 
        professional, or vocational objective for which the program of 
        education is offered.
    (c) Acceptance.--The Attorney General shall notify an eligible 
dependent of approval or disapproval of such dependent's application.

SEC. 6. STANDARDS.

    The Attorney General shall promulgate rules and regulations 
regarding unacceptable courses or programs of study for which funding 
will not be provided under this subpart.

SEC. 7. DISCONTINUANCE FOR UNSATISFACTORY CONDUCT OR PROGRESS.

    (a) Discontinuation.--The Attorney General shall discontinue the 
direct payment to an educational institution or institution of higher 
education and educational assistance allowance of an eligible dependent 
if, at any time, the Attorney General finds that according to the 
regularly prescribed standards and practices of the educational 
institution, the dependent's conduct or progress is unsatisfactory.
    (b) Renewal.--The Attorney General may review the payment of the 
educational assistance allowance if the Attorney General finds that--
            (1) the cause of the unsatisfactory conduct or progress of 
        the eligible dependent has been removed; and
            (2) the program which the eligible dependent now proposes 
        to pursue (whether the same or revised) is suitable to the 
        eligible dependent's interests, and abilities.

SEC. 8. SPECIAL RULE.

    Notwithstanding any other provisions of law and any other general 
or special law to the contrary, the Attorney General is authorized and 
directed to reimburse or pay each eligible dependent of an eligible 
officer who was killed in the performance of duties on or after July 1, 
1992, but before the effective date of this statute, an amount 
equivalent to--
            (1) the full cost of tuition, room and board, and other 
        charges paid or for the eligible dependent to, and imposed on, 
        an eligible dependent by an educational institution or 
        institution of higher education; and
            (2) a retroactive educational assistance allowance for each 
        month in which the eligible dependent attended an educational 
        institution or institution of higher education, up to the date 
        of the payment. Following this initial payment, further 
        benefits will be paid to or for the benefit of such eligible 
        dependents in accordance with this chapter.
SEC. 9. DEFINITIONS.

    For purposes of this Act:
            (1) The term ``Federal law enforcement agency'' means the 
        Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco 
        and Firearms, the Drug Enforcement Administration, the United 
        States Marshals Service, and any other federal agency directly 
        engaged in the enforcement of the criminal laws of the United 
        States, or the apprehension of individuals subject to criminal 
        prosecution by the United States.
            (2) The term ``eligible officer'' means any agent, special 
        agent, marshal, deputy, or assistant marshal or other similar 
        field officer by whatever name or title such officer is known 
        in a Federal law enforcement agency who has served at least one 
        hundred and eighty days and who is either killed in the 
        performance of duties or suffers injuries that are totally and 
        permanently disabling while performing such duties.
            (3) The term ``eligible dependent'' means the child of any 
        eligible officer who is a ``dependent'' (as defined in section 
        152 of the Internal Revenue Code) or spouse of an eligible 
        officer at the time of such officer's death or on the date of 
        total and disabling injury.
            (4) The term ``program of education'' shall mean any 
        curriculum or any combination of unit courses or subjects 
        pursued at an educational institution which is generally 
        accepted as necessary to fulfill requirements for the 
        attainment of a pre- determined and identified educational, 
        professional, or vocational objective. Such term also means any 
        curriculum of unit course or subjects pursued at an educational 
        institution which fulfill requirements for the attainment of 
        more than one predetermined and identified educational, 
        professional, or vocational objective if all the objectives 
        pursued as generally recognized as being reasonably related to 
        a single career field. To pursue any other course of study, an 
        eligible dependent shall apply to the AG for approval.
            (5) The term ``educational institution'' means any public 
        or private elementary school, secondary school, vocational 
        school, correspondence school, business school, junior college, 
        teachers' college, college, normal school, professional school, 
        university, or scientific or technical institutions, or other 
        accredited institutions furnishing education for adults.
            (6) The term ``institution of higher learning'' means a 
        college, university, or similar institution, including a 
        technical or business school, offering postsecondary level 
        academic instruction that leads to an associate or higher 
        degree if the school is empowered by the appropriate State 
        educational authority under State law to grant an associate or 
        higher degree. When there is no State law to authorize the 
        granting of a degree, the school may be recognized as an 
        institution of higher learning if it is accredited for degree 
        programs by a recognized accrediting agency. Such term shall 
        also include a hospital offering educational programs at the 
        post-secondary level without regard to whether the hospital 
        grants a postsecondary degree. Such term shall also include an 
        educational institution which is not located in a State, which 
        offers a course leading to a standard college degree, or the 
        equivalent, and which is recognized as such by the Secretary of 
        Education (or comparable official) of the country or other 
        jurisdiction in which the institution is located.
            (7) The term ``standard college degree'' means an associate 
        or higher degree awarded by--
                    (A) an institution of higher learning that is 
                accredited as a collegiate institution by a recognized 
                regional or national accrediting agency;
                    (B) an institution of higher learning that is a 
                ``candidate'' for accreditation as that term is used by 
                the regional or national accrediting agencies; or
                    (C) an institution of higher learning upon 
                completion of a course which is accredited by an agency 
                recognized to accredit specialized degree-level 
                programs. For the purpose of this section, the 
                accrediting agency must be one recognized by the 
                Secretary of Education under the provisions of section 
                1775 of this title 38.
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