[Congressional Record Volume 149, Number 73 (Thursday, May 15, 2003)]
[Senate]
[Pages S6567-S6568]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




             HOMETOWN HEROES SURVIVORS BENEFITS ACT OF 2003

  Mr. FRIST. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Judiciary 
Committee be discharged from further consideration of S. 459 and that 
the Senate then proceed to its immediate consideration.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered. The clerk 
will report the bill by title.

[[Page S6568]]

  The assistant legislative clerk read as follows:

       A bill (S. 459) 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.
  There being no objection, the Senate proceeded to consider the bill.
  Mr. FRIST. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the bill be 
read three times, passed, the motion to reconsider be laid upon the 
table, with no intervening action or debate, and that any statements 
relating to the bill be printed in the Record.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
  The bill (S. 459) was read three times and passed, as follows:

                                 S. 459

       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 1986 (42 U.S.C. 3796) is amended by adding at the end 
     of 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 suffered while on duty, or not later than 24 
     hours after participating in a training exercise or 
     responding to an emergency situation, that officer shall be 
     presumed to have died as the direct and proximate result of a 
     personal injury sustained in the line of duty.''.

     SEC. 3. APPLICABILITY.

       Section 1201(k) of the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe 
     Streets Act of 1968, as added by section 2, shall apply to 
     deaths occurring on or after January 1, 2003.

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