[Congressional Bills 113th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 1969 Introduced in House (IH)]

113th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 1969

   To increase Federal Pell Grants for the children of fallen police 
       officers, firefighters, and other public safety officers.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                              May 14, 2013

 Mr. Fitzpatrick (for himself, Mr. Grimm, Mr. Keating, Mr. King of New 
York, Mr. Nugent, Mr. Peters of Michigan, and Ms. Schwartz) introduced 
 the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Education 
                           and the Workforce

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
   To increase Federal Pell Grants for the children of fallen police 
       officers, firefighters, and other public safety officers.

    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 ``Children of Fallen Heroes 
Scholarship Act of 2013''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

    Congress finds the following:
            (1) The year 2012 was a deadly year for law enforcement 
        officers, with 126 men and women killed in the line of duty. 
        That year, 83 firefighters lost their lives and 21 emergency 
        medical services providers suffered fatalities in the line of 
        duty.
            (2) Congress recognizes the sacrifice of the families of 
        fallen public safety officers.
            (3) The financial loss for a family with children could be 
        detrimental for decades.
            (4) Families who have given the ultimate sacrifice deserve 
        the support of the American people as their children pursue 
        higher education.

SEC. 3. 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:
    ``(4)(A) Notwithstanding paragraph (1) or any other provision of 
this section, the expected family contribution of each student 
described in subparagraph (B) 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) Subparagraph (A) shall apply to any student at an institution 
of higher education--
            ``(i) whose parent or guardian--
                    ``(I) was actively serving as a police officer, 
                firefighter, or other public safety officer; and
                    ``(II) died as a result of performing a public 
                safety service; and
            ``(ii) who was 18 years or less, or was enrolled as a full-
        time or part-time student at an institution of higher 
        education, as of the time of the parent or guardian's death.
    ``(C) For purposes of this paragraph--
            ``(i) the term `police officer, firefighter, or other 
        public safety officer' means an individual who--
                    ``(I) is a law enforcement officer or firefighter 
                in a police department or fire department which is 
                organized and operated by a State or political 
                subdivision to provide police protection, firefighting 
                services, or emergency medical services for any area 
                within the jurisdiction of such State or political 
                subdivision;
                    ``(II) is an emergency medical services provider 
                who provides out-of-hospital emergency medical care, 
                including an emergency medical technician or paramedic; 
                or
                    ``(III) is a member of a qualified volunteer 
                emergency response organization who provides 
                firefighting services or emergency medical services; 
                and
            ``(ii) the term `qualified volunteer emergency response 
        organization' means any volunteer organization that--
                    ``(I) is organized and operated to provide 
                firefighting or emergency medical services for persons 
                in the State or political subdivision, as the case may 
                be; and
                    ``(II) is required (by written agreement) by the 
                State or political subdivision to furnish firefighting 
                or emergency medical services in such State or 
                political subdivision.''.

SEC. 4. EFFECTIVE DATE.

    The amendment made by section 3 of this Act shall apply with 
respect to Federal Pell Grants awarded for academic year 2014-2015, and 
each succeeding academic year.
                                 <all>