[Congressional Bills 104th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 2101 Enrolled Bill (ENR)]
S.2101
One Hundred Fourth Congress
of the
United States of America
AT THE SECOND SESSION
Begun and held at the City of Washington on Wednesday,
the third day of January, one thousand nine hundred and ninety-six
An Act
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. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ``Federal Law Enforcement Dependents
Assistance Act of 1996''.
SEC. 2. EDUCATIONAL ASSISTANCE TO DEPENDENTS OF SLAIN FEDERAL LAW
ENFORCEMENT OFFICERS.
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--
(1) inserting after the heading the following:
``Subpart 1--Death Benefits'';
and
(2) adding at the end the following:
``Subpart 2--Educational Assistance to Dependents of Civilian Federal
Law Enforcement Officers Killed or Disabled in the Line of Duty
``SEC. 1211. PURPOSES.
``The purposes of this subpart are--
``(1) to enhance the appeal of service in civilian Federal law
enforcement agencies;
``(2) to extend the benefits of higher education to qualified
and deserving persons who, by virtue of the death of or total
disability of an eligible officer, may not be able to afford it
otherwise; and
``(3) to allow the family members of eligible officers to
attain the vocational and educational status which they would have
attained had a parent or spouse not been killed or disabled in the
line of duty.
``SEC. 1212. BASIC ELIGIBILITY.
``(a) Benefits.--(1) Subject to the availability of appropriations,
the Attorney General shall provide financial assistance to a dependent
who attends a program of education and is--
``(A) the child of any eligible Federal law enforcement officer
under subpart 1; or
``(B) the spouse of an officer described in subparagraph (A) at
the time of the officer's death or on the date of a totally and
permanently disabling injury.
``(2) Financial assistance under this subpart shall consist of
direct payments to an eligible dependent and shall be computed on the
basis set forth in section 3532 of title 38, United States Code.
``(b) Duration of Benefits.--No dependent shall receive assistance
under this subpart for a period in excess of forty-five months of full-
time education or training or a proportional period of time for a part-
time program.
``(c) Age Limitation for Dependent Children.--No dependent child
shall be eligible for assistance under this subpart after the child's
27th birthday absent a finding by the Attorney General of extraordinary
circumstances precluding the child from pursuing a program of
education.
``SEC. 1213. APPLICATIONS; APPROVAL.
``(a) Application.--A person seeking assistance under this subpart
shall submit an application to the Attorney General in such form and
containing such information as the Attorney General reasonably may
require.
``(b) Approval.--The Attorney General shall approve an application
for assistance under this subpart unless the Attorney General finds
that--
``(1) the dependent is not eligible for, is no longer eligible
for, or is not entitled to the assistance for which application is
made;
``(2) the dependent's selected educational institution fails to
meet a requirement under this subpart for eligibility;
``(3) the dependent's enrollment in or pursuit of the
educational program selected would fail to meet the criteria
established in this subpart for programs; or
``(4) the dependent already is qualified by previous education
or training for the educational, professional, or vocational
objective for which the educational program is offered.
``(c) Notification.--The Attorney General shall notify a dependent
applying for assistance under this subpart of approval or disapproval
of the application in writing.
``SEC. 1214. REGULATIONS.
The Attorney General may promulgate reasonable and necessary
regulations to implement this subpart.
``SEC. 1215. DISCONTINUATION FOR UNSATISFACTORY CONDUCT OR PROGRESS.
``The Attorney General may discontinue assistance under this
subpart when the Attorney General finds that, according to the
regularly prescribed standards and practices of the educational
institution, the recipient fails to maintain satisfactory progress as
described in section 484(c) of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20
U.S.C. 1091(c)).
``SEC. 1216. SPECIAL RULE.
``(a) Retroactive Eligibility.--Notwithstanding any other provision
of law, each dependent of a Federal law enforcement officer killed in
the line of duty on or after May 1, 1992, shall be eligible for
assistance under this subpart, subject to the other limitations of this
subpart.
``(b) Retroactive Assistance.--The Attorney General may provide
retroactive assistance to dependents eligible under this section for
each month in which the dependent pursued a program of education at an
eligible educational institution. The Attorney General shall apply the
limitations contained in this subpart to retroactive assistance.
``(c) Prospective Assistance.--The Attorney General may provide
prospective assistance to dependents eligible under this section on the
same basis as assistance to dependents otherwise eligible. In applying
the limitations on assistance under this subpart, the Attorney General
shall include assistance provided retroactively. A dependent eligible
under this section may waive retroactive assistance and apply only for
prospective assistance on the same basis as dependents otherwise
eligible.
``SEC. 1217. DEFINITIONS.
``For purposes of this subpart:
``(1) The term `Attorney General' means the Attorney General of
the United States.
``(2) The term `Federal law enforcement officer' has the same
meaning as under subpart 1.
``(3) The term `program of education' means any curriculum or
any combination of unit courses or subjects pursued at an eligible
educational institution, which generally is accepted as necessary
to fulfill requirements for the attainment of a predetermined and
identified educational, professional, or vocational objective. It
includes course work for the attainment of more than one objective
if in addition to the previous requirements, all the objectives
generally are recognized as reasonably related to a single career
field.
``(4) The term `eligible educational institution' means an
institution which--
``(A) is described in section 481 of the Higher Education
Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1088), as in effect on the date of the
enactment of this section; and
``(B) is eligible to participate in programs under title IV
of such Act.
``SEC. 1218. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.
``There are authorized to be appropriated to carry out this subpart
such sums as may be necessary.''.
Speaker of the House of Representatives.
Vice President of the United States and
President of the Senate.