[Congressional Bills 117th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 6943 Introduced in House (IH)]

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117th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                H. R. 6943

  To amend the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968 to 
 authorize public safety officer death benefits to officers suffering 
 from post-traumatic stress disorder or acute stress disorder, and for 
                            other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             March 7, 2022

Mr. Trone (for himself and Mr. Reschenthaler) introduced the following 
       bill; which was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
  To amend the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968 to 
 authorize public safety officer death benefits to officers suffering 
 from post-traumatic stress disorder or acute stress disorder, 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 ``Public Safety Officer Support Act of 
2022''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

    Congress finds the following:
            (1) Every day, public safety officers, including police 
        officers, firefighters, emergency medical technicians, and 
        others, work to maintain the safety, health, and well-being of 
        the communities they serve.
            (2) This means public safety officers are routinely called 
        to respond to stressful and potentially traumatic situations, 
        often putting their own lives in danger.
            (3) This work not only puts public safety officers at risk 
        for experiencing harm, serious injury, and cumulative and acute 
        trauma, but also places them at up to 25.6 times higher risk 
        for developing post-traumatic stress disorder when compared to 
        individuals without such experiences.
            (4) Psychological evidence indicates that law enforcement 
        officers experience significant job-related stressors and 
        exposures that may confer increased risk for mental health 
        morbidities (such as post-traumatic stress disorder and 
        suicidal thoughts, ideation, intents, and behaviors) and 
        hastened mortality.
            (5) Public safety officers often do not have the resources 
        or support they need, leaving them at higher risk for long-term 
        mental health consequences.
            (6) Whereas, although the Department of Defense already 
        considers servicemember suicides to be line-of-duty deaths and 
        provides Federal support to eligible surviving families, the 
        Federal Government does not recognize public safety officer 
        suicides as deaths in the line of duty.
            (7) In 2017, the Department of Justice approved 481 claims 
        under the Public Safety Officers' Benefits Program under 
        subpart 1 of part L of title I of the Omnibus Crime Control and 
        Safe Streets Act of 1968 (34 U.S.C. 10281 et seq.), but not one 
        of them for the more than 240 public safety officers who died 
        by suicide that year.
            (8) Public safety officers who have died or are disabled as 
        a result of suicide or post-traumatic stress disorder do not 
        qualify for the Public Safety Officers' Benefits Program, 
        despite the fact that public safety officers are more likely to 
        die by suicide than from any other line-of-duty cause of death.

SEC. 3. PUBLIC SAFETY OFFICER DEATH BENEFITS FOR POST-TRAUMATIC STRESS 
              DISORDER AND ACUTE STRESS DISORDER.

    (a) In General.--Section 1201 of title I of the Omnibus Crime 
Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968 (34 U.S.C. 10281) is amended by 
adding at the end the following:
    ``(o) Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder and Acute Stress Disorder.--
            ``(1) Definitions.--In this section:
                    ``(A) Mass casualty event.--The term `mass casualty 
                event' means an incident resulting in casualties to not 
                fewer than 3 victims, including--
                            ``(i) an incident that exceeds the normal 
                        resources for emergency response available in 
                        the jurisdiction where the incident takes 
                        place; and
                            ``(ii) an incident that results in a sudden 
                        temporal surge of injured individuals 
                        necessitating emergency services.
                    ``(B) Mass fatality event.--The term `mass fatality 
                event' means an incident resulting in the fatalities of 
                not fewer than 3 individuals at 1 or more locations 
                close to one another with a common cause.
                    ``(C) Mass shooting.--The term `mass shooting' 
                means a multiple homicide incident in which not fewer 
                than 3 victims are killed--
                            ``(i) with a firearm;
                            ``(ii) within 1 event; and
                            ``(iii) in 1 or more locations in close 
                        proximity.
            ``(2) Personal injury sustained in line of duty.--
                    ``(A) In general.--Except as provided in 
                subparagraph (B), as determined by the Bureau--
                            ``(i) post-traumatic stress disorder or 
                        acute stress disorder suffered by a public 
                        safety officer, and diagnosed by a licensed 
                        medical or mental health professional, shall be 
                        presumed to constitute a personal injury within 
                        the meaning of subsection (a), sustained in the 
                        line of duty by the officer, if the officer, 
                        while on duty, engages in situations involving 
                        stressful, tensional, or traumatic law 
                        enforcement, fire suppression, rescue, 
                        hazardous material response, emergency medical 
                        services (including responding to opioid 
                        overdoses, or traumatic psychological or 
                        psychiatric distress calls), prison security, 
                        disaster relief, or other emergency response 
                        activity;
                            ``(ii) post-traumatic stress disorder or 
                        acute stress disorder suffered by a public 
                        safety officer who has contacted or attempted 
                        to contact the employee assistance program of 
                        the agency or entity that the officer serves, a 
                        licensed medical or mental health professional, 
                        suicide prevention services, or another mental 
                        health assistance service in order to receive 
                        help, treatment, or diagnosis for post-
                        traumatic stress disorder or acute stress 
                        disorder, shall be presumed to constitute a 
                        personal injury within the meaning of 
                        subsection (a), sustained in the line of duty 
                        by the officer, if the officer, while on duty, 
                        engages in situations involving stressful, 
                        tensional, or traumatic law enforcement, fire 
                        suppression, rescue, hazardous material 
                        response, emergency medical services (including 
                        responding to opioid overdoses, or traumatic 
                        psychological or psychiatric distress calls), 
                        prison security, disaster relief, or other 
                        emergency response activity; and
                            ``(iii) post-traumatic stress disorder or 
                        acute stress disorder suffered by a public 
                        safety officer who engages in a response to a 
                        mass casualty incident, mass death incident, or 
                        mass shooting involving stressful, tensional, 
                        or traumatic law enforcement, fire suppression, 
                        rescue, hazardous material response, prison 
                        security, disaster relief, or other emergency 
                        response activity shall be presumed to 
                        constitute a personal injury within the meaning 
                        of subsection (a), sustained in the line of 
                        duty by the officer.
                    ``(B) Exceptions.--
                            ``(i) Disorder unrelated to engagement.--
                        Subparagraph (A) shall not apply if the Bureau 
                        establishes, by clear and convincing evidence, 
                        and based on competent psychological or medical 
                        evidence, that the post-traumatic stress 
                        disorder or acute stress disorder was 
                        completely unrelated to engagement in 
                        situations described in clause (i), (ii), or 
                        (iii) of that subparagraph.
                            ``(ii) Other direct and proximate cause.--
                        Subparagraph (A) shall not apply if competent 
                        psychological or medical evidence establishes 
                        that the post-traumatic stress disorder or 
                        acute stress disorder was directly and 
                        proximately caused by something other than the 
                        mere presence of post-traumatic stress disorder 
                        or acute stress disorder risk factors.
            ``(3) Death or disability.--
                    ``(A) In general.--
                            ``(i) Death by suicide of any officer.--For 
                        purposes of a claim under subsection (a), if a 
                        public safety officer described in clause (i), 
                        (ii), or (iii) of paragraph (2)(A) of this 
                        subsection dies by suicide, that death shall be 
                        presumed to be a direct and proximate result of 
                        the post-traumatic stress disorder or acute 
                        stress disorder suffered by the public safety 
                        officer.
                            ``(ii) Disability of diagnosed officers.--
                        For purposes of a claim under subsection (b), 
                        if a public safety officer described in 
                        paragraph (2)(A)(i) of this subsection is 
                        permanently and totally disabled as a result of 
                        the post-traumatic stress disorder or acute 
                        stress disorder suffered by the public safety 
                        officer, including as a result of attempted 
                        suicide, that disability shall be presumed to 
                        be a direct and proximate result of the post-
                        traumatic stress disorder or acute stress 
                        disorder suffered by the public safety officer.
                            ``(iii) Disability of non-diagnosed 
                        officers due to attempted suicide.--For 
                        purposes of a claim under subsection (b), if a 
                        public safety officer described in clause (ii) 
                        or (iii) of paragraph (2)(A) of this subsection 
                        is permanently and totally disabled as a result 
                        of attempted suicide, that disability shall be 
                        presumed to be a direct and proximate result of 
                        the post-traumatic stress disorder or acute 
                        stress disorder suffered by the public safety 
                        officer.
                    ``(B) Permanent and total disability.--For purposes 
                of clauses (ii) and (iii) of subparagraph (A), an 
                individual shall be considered permanently and totally 
                disabled as a result of an attempted suicide or of 
                post-traumatic stress disorder or acute stress disorder 
                if the individual is unable to serve as a public safety 
                officer in the same or a substantially similar role as 
                the individual was serving prior to the attempted 
                suicide or prior to suffering from post-traumatic 
                stress disorder or acute stress disorder, respectively.
            ``(4) Applicability of limitations on benefits.--
                    ``(A) Intentional actions.--Section 1202(a)(1) 
                shall not apply to any claim for a benefit under this 
                part that is payable in accordance with this 
                subsection.
                    ``(B) Substance use.--Section 1202(a)(2) shall not 
                preclude the payment of a benefit under this part if 
                the benefit is otherwise payable in accordance with 
                this subsection.''.
    (b) Retroactive Applicability.--The amendment made by subsection 
(a) shall take effect as if enacted on January 1, 2019, and shall apply 
to any public safety officer who dies or is permanently and totally 
disabled on or after that date.

SEC. 4. GAO REPORT.

    Not later than 1 year after the date of enactment of this Act, the 
Comptroller General of the United States shall submit to Congress a 
report that details benefits issued pursuant to subsection (o) of 
section 1201 of title I of the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets 
Act of 1968 (34 U.S.C. 10281), as added by section 3, and includes any 
recommendations to improve that subsection.
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