[Congressional Bills 111th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 959 Introduced in House (IH)]

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) 
 introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on 
Education 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 committee 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 Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Officer Daniel Faulkner Children of 
Fallen Heroes Scholarship Act of 2009''.

SEC. 2. CALCULATION OF FEDERAL PELL GRANT ELIGIBILITY.

    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 subparagraph (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 subparagraph (A) shall not be considered 
        in determining that student's need for any other grant or work 
        assistance 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 student at an 
        institution of higher education--
                    ``(i) whose parent or legal guardian--
                            ``(I) was actively serving as a public 
                        safety officer; and
                            ``(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 official 
                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, 
                        investigation, or prosecution of, or the 
                        incarceration of any person for, any violation 
                        of law; and
                            ``(II) has statutory powers of arrest or 
                        apprehension;
                    ``(iii) the term `firefighter' means an individual 
                who is trained in the suppression of fire or hazardous-
                materials response and has the legal authority to 
                engage in these duties;
                    ``(iv) the term `member of a rescue squad or 
                ambulance crew' means an individual who is an 
                officially recognized or designated public employee 
                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 Territory 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 
                instrumentality of any of the foregoing, and the Amtrak 
                Police and Federal Reserve Police departments.''.

SEC. 3. CALCULATION OF EDUCATIONAL ASSISTANCE TO DEPENDENTS OF PUBLIC 
              SAFETY OFFICERS.

    Section 1212(a) of title I of the Omnibus Crime Control 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)'';
            (2) in paragraph (3)(A), by striking ``sources to which the 
        eligible dependent would otherwise be entitled 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 increased 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.
                                 <all>