[Congressional Bills 108th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 459 Enrolled Bill (ENR)]

        S.459

                       One Hundred Eighth Congress

                                 of the

                        United States of America


                          AT THE FIRST SESSION

          Begun and held at the City of Washington on Tuesday,
           the seventh day of January, two thousand and three


                                 An Act


 
To ensure that a public safety officer who suffers a fatal heart attack 
 or stroke while on duty shall be presumed to have died in the line of 
      duty for purposes of public safety officer survivor benefits.

    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 ``Hometown Heroes Survivors Benefits 
Act of 2003''.
SEC. 2. FATAL HEART ATTACK OR STROKE ON DUTY PRESUMED TO BE DEATH IN 
LINE OF DUTY FOR PURPOSES OF PUBLIC SAFETY OFFICER SURVIVOR BENEFITS.
    Section 1201 of the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 
1968 (42 U.S.C. 3796) is amended by adding at the end the following:
    ``(k) For purposes of this section, if a public safety officer dies 
as the direct and proximate result of a heart attack or stroke, that 
officer shall be presumed to have died as the direct and proximate 
result of a personal injury sustained in the line of duty, if--
        ``(1) that officer, while on duty--
            ``(A) engaged in a situation, and such engagement involved 
        nonroutine stressful or strenuous physical law enforcement, 
        fire suppression, rescue, hazardous material response, 
        emergency medical services, prison security, disaster relief, 
        or other emergency response activity; or
            ``(B) participated in a training exercise, and such 
        participation involved nonroutine stressful or strenuous 
        physical activity;
        ``(2) that officer died as a result of a heart attack or stroke 
    suffered--
            ``(A) while engaging or participating as described under 
        paragraph (1);
            ``(B) while still on that duty after so engaging or 
        participating; or
            ``(C) not later than 24 hours after so engaging or 
        participating; and
        ``(3) such presumption is not overcome by competent medical 
    evidence to the contrary.
    ``(l) For purposes of subsection (k), `nonroutine stressful or 
strenuous physical' excludes actions of a clerical, administrative, or 
nonmanual nature.''.

                               Speaker of the House of Representatives.

                            Vice President of the United States and    
                                               President of the Senate.