[Congressional Record Volume 142, Number 131 (Friday, September 20, 1996)]
[Senate]
[Pages S11122-S11123]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
FEDERAL LAW ENFORCEMENT DEPENDENTS ASSISTANCE ACT OF 1996
Mr. LOTT. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate
proceed to the consideration of S. 2101, introduced earlier today by
Senator Specter, for himself and others.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will report.
The assistant legislative clerk read as follows:
A bill (S. 2101) to provide educational assistance to the
dependents of Federal law enforcement officials who are
killed or disabled in the performance of their duties.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Is there objection to the immediate
consideration of the bill?
There being no objection, the Senate proceeded to consider the bill.
Mr. SPECTER. Mr. President, I have sought recognition to comment on
legislation which the Senate is considering today, the Federal Law
Enforcement Dependents Assistance Act of 1996. This bipartisan
legislation is a revised version of S. 1243, which I introduced with
four cosponsors on September 14, 1995.
This legislation will provide educational assistance to spouses and
children of Federal law enforcement officers who are killed or totally
and permanently disabled in the line of duty. Similar educational
benefits are provided to the spouses and children of Armed Forces
personnel killed in the line of duty, but not to dependents of the
brave men and women in Federal law enforcement. I am advised that many
State and local governments provide educational and job training
assistance to dependents of law enforcement personnel. It is time to
level the playing field for Federal law enforcement.
I first became aware of this discrepancy when I met with Mrs. Karen
Degan, the widow of U.S. Marshal Bill Degan of Quincy, MA, who died
during the tragic shooting incident at Ruby Ridge in August, 1992. Bill
Degan left behind a loving wife and two sons, William and Brian, whom I
have also had the pleasure of meeting. Bill Degan had been in the
Marshals Service for 17 years at the time of his death. Karen Degan
began in 1993 to work with Congress to develop a program for higher
education assistance for dependents of slain Justice Department
officers. At her suggestion, I introduced S. 1243 on September 14,
1995, during the Ruby Ridge hearings, with bipartisan cosponsors from
the Judiciary Committee.
I would prefer that we did not have to worry about death and
disabling injuries for Federal law enforcement officers, but it is a
fact of life that we have lost a number of Federal law enforcement
officers in the line of duty in recent years. In my own State of
Pennsylvania, on March 22, 1996, FBI Special Agent Charles Reed was
killed in Philadelphia in a shootout with a suspect drug dealer during
an undercover drug investigation. Agent Reed lived in Lower Salford
Township, PA and is survived by his wife, Susan and children, Joshua,
age 21, Todd 18, and Kelley, 17. Similarly, two Washington, DC FBI
agents, Martha Martinez and Michael Miller, were slain in November
1995, in the Washington, DC police headquarters, leaving behind loved
ones of their own.
Since the introduction of S. 1243 last year, I have been working with
my colleagues and the administration to fashion legislation acceptable
to all parties. This revised bill makes the educational assistance
available to all Federal law enforcement officers, not just those
within the Justice Department. I would note that the program is subject
to appropriations and does not constitute an entitlement. Financial
assistance can last for up to 45 months of education or a proportional
period of time for a part-time program. Financial assistance will be
based on the amounts provided under the Veterans program, which is
currently $404 a month for fulltime students. Significantly, the
Attorney General may provide retroactive assistance to dependents
eligible under this program where a law enforcement officer was killed
in the line of duty on or after May 1, 1992.
This legislation is supported by the Federal Law Enforcement Officers
Association, and I ask unanimous consent to have printed in the Record
a letter to me from Victor Oboyski, dated September 18, 1996, which
reflects their views.
There being no objection, the material was ordered to be printed in
the Record, as follows:
Federal Law Enforcement
Officers Association,
September 18, 1996.
Hon. Arlen Specter,
U.S. Senate, Washington, DC.
Dear Senator Specter: On behalf of the over 12,000 members
of the Federal Law Enforcement Officers Association (FLEOA),
the largest association representing Federal criminal
investigators in the nation, I am pleased to inform you that
we fully support S. 1243, the ``Federal Law Enforcement
Dependents Assistance Act of 1996.'' I also want to thank you
for proposing this fine piece of legislation.
As you may already know, many state and local
municipalities currently have legislation which ensures that
the dependents of local officers killed or disabled in the
line of duty receive assistance towards education or job
training. Also, many local police agencies provide for the
continuing education of survivors under the same
circumstances. None of this exists at the Federal level. S.
1234 will correct this oversight regarding Federal law
enforcement officers.
If you or your staff wish to contact me please call 212-
637-6543, fax 212-637-6548.
Very truly yours,
Victor Oboyski,
National President.
Mr. BIDEN. Mr. President, I rise as a cosponsor of the Federal Law
Enforcement Dependents Assistance Act and to call on all of my Senate
colleagues to support this bill.
Unfortunately, over the past 2 years, many in this Congress have
taken the occasion--time and again--to second-guess and criticize law
enforcement officers. We heard these criticisms throughout the debate
on terrorism legislation--beginning last year, and it continues to this
day. As I have pointed out on the floor of the Senate before, I call on
us all to remember that it is the terrorists and the violent criminals
who deserve our contempt and it is law enforcement officers who deserve
our trust and respect.
This bill offers modest recognition of the tremendous service to our
Nation by Federal law enforcement officers--DEA agents, FBI agents,
U.S. marshals, border patrol officers, Customs officers, ATF agents,
Secret Service agents among many others. This bill does so by
authorizing the Federal Government to pay education benefits to the
children and spouses of Federal law enforcement officers who are killed
or suffer a total and permanent disability in the line of duty.
In doing so, this bill recognizes that by virtue of these officers
supreme sacrifice to the Nation, the families of these fallen officers
are no longer provided for. And, more importantly, this bill will offer
a tangible sign of the Nation's respect for those who gave their lives
in service to us all.
I urge my colleagues to support this bill, and I also want to put my
colleagues on notice that in the years ahead we must follow up by
actually appropriating the dollars necessary to deliver on today's
commitment.
I yield the floor.
Mr. LOTT. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the bill be
deemed read a third time, passed, the motion to reconsider be laid upon
the table, and any statements relating to the bill appear at the
appropriate place in the Record.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
The bill (S. 2101) was deemed read the third time and passed, as
follows:
S. 2101
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 ``Federal Law Enforcement
Dependents Assistance Act of 1996''.
[[Page S11123]]
SEC. 2. EDUCATIONAL ASSISTANCE TO DEPENDENTS OF SLAIN FEDERAL
LAW ENFORCEMENT OFFICERS.
Part L of title I of the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe
Streets Act of 1968 (42 U.S.C. 3796 et seq.) is amended by--
(1) inserting after the heading the following: ``Subpart
1--Death Benefits''; and
(2) adding at the end the following:
``Subpart 2--Educational Assistance to Dependents of Civilian Federal
Law Enforcement Officers Killed or Disabled in the Line of Duty
``SEC. 1211. PURPOSES.
``The purposes of this subpart are--
``(1) to enhance the appeal of service in civilian Federal
law enforcement agencies;
``(2) to extend the benefits of higher education to
qualified and deserving persons who, by virtue of the death
of or a total disability of an eligible officer, may not be
able to afford it otherwise; and
``(3) to allow the family members of eligible officers to
attain the vocational and educational status which they would
have attained had a parent or spouse not been killed or
disabled in the line of duty.
``SEC. 1212. BASIC ELIGIBILITY.
``(a) Benefits.--(1) Subject to the availability of
appropriations, the Attorney General shall provide financial
assistance to a dependent who attends a program of education
and is--
``(A) the child of any eligible Federal law enforcement
officer under subpart 1; or
``(B) the spouse of an officer described in subparagraph
(A) at the time of the officer's death or on the date of a
totally and permanently disabling injury.
``(2) Financial assistance under this subpart shall consist
of direct payments to an eligible dependent and shall be
computed on the basis set forth in section 3532 of title 38,
United States Code.
``(b) Duration of Benefits.--No dependent shall receive
assistance under this subpart for a period in excess of
forty-five months of full-time education or training or a
proportional period of time for a part-time program.
``(c) Age Limitation for Dependent Children.--No dependent
child shall be eligible for assistance under this subpart
after the child's 27th birthday absent a finding by the
Attorney General of extraordinary circumstances precluding
the child from pursuing a program of education.
``SEC. 1213. APPLICATIONS; APPROVAL.
``(a) Application.--A person seeking assistance under this
subpart shall submit an application to the Attorney General
in such form and containing such information as the Attorney
General reasonably may require.
``(b) Approval.--The Attorney General shall approve an
application for assistance under this subpart unless the
Attorney General finds that--
``(1) the dependent is not eligible for, is no longer
eligible for, or is not entitled to the assistance for which
application is made;
``(2) the dependent's selected educational institution
fails to meet a requirement under this subpart for
eligibility;
``(3) the dependent's enrollment in or pursuit of the
educational program selected would fail to meet the criteria
established in this subpart for programs; or
``(4) the dependent already is qualified by previous
education or training for the educational, professional, or
vocational objective for which the educational program is
offered.
``(c) Notification.--The Attorney General shall notify a
dependent applying for assistance under this subpart of
approval or disapproval of the application in writing.
``SEC. 1214. REGULATIONS.
The Attorney General may promulgate reasonable and
necessary regulations to implement this subpart.
``SEC. 1215. DISCONTINUATION FOR UNSATISFACTORY CONDUCT OR
PROGRESS.
``The Attorney General may discontinue assistance under
this subpart when the Attorney General finds that, according
to the regularly prescribed standards and practices of the
educational institution, the recipient fails to maintain
satisfactory progress as described in section 484(c) of the
Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1091(c)).
``SEC. 1216. SPECIAL RULE.
``(a) Retroactive Eligibility.--Notwithstanding any other
provision of law, each dependent of a Federal law enforcement
officer killed in the line of duty on or after May 1, 1992,
shall be eligible for assistance under this subpart, subject
to the other limitations of this subpart.
``(b) Retroactive Assistance.--The Attorney General may
provide retroactive assistance to dependents eligible under
this section for each month in which the dependent pursued a
program of education at an eligible educational institution.
The Attorney General shall apply the limitations contained in
this subpart to retroactive assistance.
``(c) Prospective Assistance.--The Attorney General may
provide prospective assistance to dependents eligible under
this section on the same basis as assistance to dependents
otherwise eligible. In applying the limitations on assistance
under this subpart, the Attorney General shall include
assistance provided retroactively. A dependent eligible under
this section may waive retroactive assistance and apply only
for prospective assistance on the same basis as dependents
otherwise eligible.
``SEC. 1217. DEFINITIONS.
``For purposes of this subpart:
``(1) The term `Attorney General' means the Attorney
General of the United States.
``(2) The term `Federal law enforcement officer' has the
same meaning as under subpart 1.
``(3) The term `program of education' means any curriculum
or any combination of unit courses or subjects pursued at an
eligible educational institution, which generally is accepted
as necessary to fulfill requirements for the attainment of a
predetermined and identified educational, professional, or
vocational objective. It includes course work for the
attainment of more than one objective if in addition to the
previous requirements, all the objectives generally are
recognized as reasonably related to a single career field.
``(4) The term `eligible educational institution' means an
institution which--
``(A) is described in section 481 of the Higher Education
Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1088), as in effect on the date of the
enactment of this section; and
``(B) is eligible to participate in programs under title IV
of such Act.
``SEC. 1218. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.
``There are authorized to be appropriated to carry out this
subpart such sums as may be necessary.''.
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