[Congressional Bills 108th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 3565 Introduced in House (IH)]







108th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 3565

 To provide that a grantee may not receive the full amount of a block 
 grant under the Local Law Enforcement Block Grant program unless that 
grantee adopts a health standard establishing a legal presumption that 
  heart, lung, and respiratory disease are occupational diseases for 
 public safety officers and to provide that such diseases are presumed 
  to be sustained in the performance of duty, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                           November 20, 2003

  Mr. Stupak introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
    Committee on the Judiciary, and in addition to the Committee on 
 Government Reform, 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 committee concerned

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
 To provide that a grantee may not receive the full amount of a block 
 grant under the Local Law Enforcement Block Grant program unless that 
grantee adopts a health standard establishing a legal presumption that 
  heart, lung, and respiratory disease are occupational diseases for 
 public safety officers and to provide that such diseases are presumed 
  to be sustained in the performance of duty, and for other purposes.

    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 ``Law Enforcement Officers' Health 
Act''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

    Congress finds that--
            (1) the cumulative stress of a career in law enforcement 
        contributes significantly to the development of heart and lung 
        disease of law enforcement officers, giving rise to a 
        presumption that such stress caused such diseases;
            (2) hearings to determine an officer's entitlement to this 
        presumption usually result in the granting of such presumption;
            (3) such hearings are expensive, create an adversarial 
        relationship between the public employer and employee, and 
        cause delays in receiving critical treatment; and
            (4) the creation of such a presumption as a national health 
        standard will result in more efficient delivery of law 
        enforcement services nationwide.

SEC. 3. ELIGIBILITY FOR GRANTS.

    (a) In General.--An entity that fails to have in effect throughout 
the jurisdiction of that entity the policy described in subsection (b) 
shall not receive 10 percent of the funds that would otherwise be 
allocated to that entity under the Local Law Enforcement Block Grant 
Program of the Department of Justice, as described in appropriations 
Acts.
    (b) Policy Required.--The policy referred to in subsection (a) is a 
policy that, for each public safety officer (as defined in section 1204 
of the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968 (42 U.S.C. 
3796b)) employed in the jurisdiction of that entity, the following 
shall apply:
            (1) If that officer was so employed for a period of at 
        least 5 years and, prior to the time of initial employment, 
        passed a physical exam that revealed no evidence of heart, 
        lung, or respiratory disease, there shall be a rebuttable 
        presumption that any heart, lung, or respiratory disease 
        resulting in the death or permanent incapacity of that officer 
        is service connected.
            (2) If any heart, lung, or respiratory disease resulting in 
        the death or permanent incapacity of that officer is service 
        connected, that officer shall be entitled to all benefits, 
        including retirement, disability or workers compensation 
        benefits, provided to other public employees in the 
        jurisdiction of that entity for service-connected heart, lung, 
        or respiratory disease.
    (c) Reallocation.--Any funds that are not allocated for failure to 
comply with this Act shall be reallocated to entities that comply with 
this Act.

SEC. 4. FEDERAL LAW ENFORCEMENT OFFICERS.

    Chapter 81 of title 5 of the United States Code is amended as 
follows:
            (1) By inserting the following new section after section 
        8143A:

``SEC. 8143B. FEDERAL LAW ENFORCEMENT OFFICERS.

    ``In the case of each employee who is a public safety officer (as 
defined in section 1204 of the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets 
Act of 1968 (42 U.S.C. 3796b)) there shall be a rebuttable presumption 
for purposes of this subchapter that any heart, lung, or respiratory 
disease resulting in the death or permanent incapacity of that officer 
was sustained in the performance of duty if such officer--
            ``(1) was so employed for a period of at least 5 years, and
            ``(2) prior to the time of initial employment, passed a 
        physical exam that revealed no evidence of heart, lung, or 
        respiratory disease.''

SEC. 5. EFFECTIVE DATE.

    The provisions of section 3 of this Act shall apply to any funds 
allocated for any fiscal year beginning with fiscal year 2005.
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