[Congressional Record Volume 158, Number 97 (Tuesday, June 26, 2012)]
[House]
[Pages H3994-H3997]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
PUBLIC SAFETY OFFICERS' BENEFITS IMPROVEMENTS ACT OF 2012
Mr. SMITH of Texas. Madam Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and
pass the bill (H.R. 4018) to improve the Public Safety Officers'
Benefits Program, as amended.
The Clerk read the title of the bill.
The text of the bill is as follows:
H.R. 4018
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of
the United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This title may be cited as the ``Public Safety Officers'
Benefits Improvements Act of 2012''.
SEC. 2. BENEFITS FOR CERTAIN NONPROFIT EMERGENCY MEDICAL
SERVICE PROVIDERS; MISCELLANEOUS AMENDMENTS.
(a) In General.--Title I of the Omnibus Crime Control and
Safe Streets Act of 1968 (42 U.S.C. 3711 et seq.) is
amended--
(1) in section 901(a) (42 U.S.C. 3791(a))--
(A) in paragraph (26), by striking ``and'' at the end;
(B) in paragraph (27), by striking the period at the end
and inserting ``; and''; and
(C) by adding at the end the following:
``(28) the term `hearing examiner' includes any medical or
claims examiner.'';
(2) in section 1201 (42 U.S.C. 3796)--
(A) in subsection (a), by striking ``follows:'' and all
that follows and inserting the following: ``follows (if the
payee indicated is living on the date on which the
determination is made)--
``(1) if there is no child who survived the public safety
officer, to the surviving spouse of the public safety
officer;
``(2) if there is at least 1 child who survived the public
safety officer and a surviving spouse of the public safety
officer, 50 percent to the surviving child (or children, in
equal shares) and 50 percent to the surviving spouse;
``(3) if there is no surviving spouse of the public safety
officer, to the surviving child (or children, in equal
shares);
``(4) if there is no surviving spouse of the public safety
officer and no surviving child--
``(A) to the surviving individual (or individuals, in
shares per the designation, or, otherwise, in equal shares)
designated by the public safety officer to receive benefits
under this subsection in the most recently executed
designation of beneficiary of the public safety officer on
file at the time of death with the public safety agency,
organization, or unit; or
``(B) if there is no individual qualifying under
subparagraph (A), to the surviving individual (or
individuals, in equal shares) designated by the public safety
officer to receive benefits under the most recently executed
life insurance policy of the public safety officer on file at
the time of death with the public safety agency,
organization, or unit;
``(5) if there is no individual qualifying under paragraph
(1), (2), (3), or (4), to the surviving parent (or parents,
in equal shares) of the public safety officer; or
``(6) if there is no individual qualifying under paragraph
(1), (2), (3), (4), or (5), to the surviving individual (or
individuals, in equal shares) who would qualify under the
definition of the term `child' under section 1204 but for
age.'';
(B) in subsection (b)--
(i) by striking ``direct result of a catastrophic'' and
inserting ``direct and proximate result of a personal'';
(ii) by striking ``pay,'' and all that follows through
``the same'' and inserting ``pay the same'';
(iii) by striking ``in any year'' and inserting ``to the
public safety officer (if living on the date on which the
determination is made)'';
(iv) by striking ``in such year, adjusted'' and inserting
``with respect to the date on which the catastrophic injury
occurred, as adjusted'';
(v) by striking ``, to such officer'';
(vi) by striking ``the total'' and all that follows through
``For'' and inserting ``for''; and
(vii) by striking ``That these'' and all that follows
through the period, and inserting ``That the amount payable
under this subsection shall be the amount payable as of the
date of catastrophic injury of such public safety officer.'';
(C) in subsection (f)--
(i) in paragraph (1), by striking ``, as amended (D.C.
Code, sec. 4-622); or'' and inserting a semicolon;
(ii) in paragraph (2)--
(I) by striking ``. Such beneficiaries shall only receive
benefits under such section 8191 that'' and inserting ``,
such that beneficiaries shall receive only such benefits
under such section 8191 as''; and
(II) by striking the period at the end and inserting ``;
or''; and
(iii) by adding at the end the following:
``(3) payments under the September 11th Victim Compensation
Fund of 2001 (49 U.S.C. 40101 note; Public Law 107-42).'';
(D) by amending subsection (k) to read as follows:
``(k) As determined by the Bureau, a heart attack, stroke,
or vascular rupture suffered by a public safety officer shall
be presumed to constitute a personal injury within the
meaning of subsection (a), sustained in the line of duty by
the officer and directly and proximately resulting in death,
if--
``(1) the public safety officer, while on duty--
``(A) engages in a situation involving nonroutine stressful
or strenuous physical law enforcement, fire suppression,
rescue, hazardous material response, emergency medical
services, prison security, disaster relief, or other
emergency response activity; or
``(B) participates in a training exercise involving
nonroutine stressful or strenuous physical activity;
``(2) the heart attack, stroke, or vascular rupture
commences--
``(A) while the officer is engaged or participating as
described in paragraph (1);
``(B) while the officer remains on that duty after being
engaged or participating as described in paragraph (1); or
``(C) not later than 24 hours after the officer is engaged
or participating as described in paragraph (1); and
``(3) the heart attack, stroke, or vascular rupture
directly and proximately results in the death of the public
safety officer,
unless competent medical evidence establishes that the heart
attack, stroke, or vascular rupture was unrelated to the
engagement or participation or was directly and proximately
caused by something other than the mere presence of
cardiovascular-disease risk factors.''; and
(E) by adding at the end the following:
``(n) The public safety agency, organization, or unit
responsible for maintaining on file an executed designation
of beneficiary or executed life insurance policy for purposes
of subsection (a)(4) shall maintain the confidentiality of
the designation or policy in the same manner as the agency,
organization, or unit maintains personnel or other similar
records of the public safety officer.'';
(3) in section 1202 (42 U.S.C. 3796a)--
(A) by striking ``death'', each place it appears except the
second place it appears, and inserting ``fatal''; and
(B) in paragraph (1), by striking ``or catastrophic
injury'' the second place it appears and inserting ``,
disability, or injury'';
(4) in section 1203 (42 U.S.C. 3796a-1)--
(A) in the section heading, by striking ``who have died in
the line of duty'' and inserting ``who have sustained fatal
or catastrophic injury in the line of duty''; and
(B) by striking ``who have died in the line of duty'' and
inserting ``who have sustained fatal or catastrophic injury
in the line of duty'';
(5) in section 1204 (42 U.S.C. 3796b)--
(A) in paragraph (1), by striking ``consequences of an
injury that'' and inserting ``an injury, the direct and
proximate consequences of which'';
(B) in paragraph (3)--
(i) in the matter preceding clause (i)--
(I) by inserting ``or permanently and totally disabled''
after ``deceased''; and
(II) by striking ``death'' and inserting ``fatal or
catastrophic injury''; and
(ii) by redesignating clauses (i), (ii), and (iii) as
subparagraphs (A), (B), and (C), respectively;
(C) in paragraph (5)--
(i) by striking ``post-mortem'' each place it appears and
inserting ``post-injury''; and
(ii) by redesignating clauses (i) and (ii) as subparagraphs
(A) and (B), respectively;
(D) in paragraph (7), by striking ``public employee member
of a rescue squad or ambulance crew;'' and inserting
``employee or volunteer member of a rescue squad or ambulance
crew (including a ground or air ambulance service) that--
``(A) is a public agency; or
``(B) is (or is a part of) a nonprofit entity serving the
public that--
``(i) is officially authorized or licensed to engage in
rescue activity or to provide emergency medical services; and
``(ii) engages in rescue activities or provides emergency
medical services as part of an official emergency response
system;''; and
(E) in paragraph (9)--
(i) in subparagraph (A), by striking ``as a chaplain, or as
a member of a rescue squad or ambulance crew;'' and inserting
``or as a chaplain;'';
(ii) in subparagraph (B)(ii), by striking ``or'' after the
semicolon;
(iii) in subparagraph (C)(ii), by striking the period and
inserting ``; or''; and
(iv) by adding at the end the following:
``(D) a member of a rescue squad or ambulance crew who, as
authorized or licensed by
[[Page H3995]]
law and by the applicable agency or entity, is engaging in
rescue activity or in the provision of emergency medical
services.''
(6) in section 1205 (42 U.S.C. 3796c), by adding at the end
the following:
``(d) Unless expressly provided otherwise, any reference in
this part to any provision of law not in this part shall be
understood to constitute a general reference under the
doctrine of incorporation by reference, and thus to include
any subsequent amendments to the provision.'';
(7) in each of subsections (a) and (b) of section 1212 (42
U.S.C. 3796d-1), sections 1213 and 1214 (42 U.S.C. 3796d-2
and 3796d-3), and subsections (b) and (c) of section 1216 (42
U.S.C. 3796d-5), by striking ``dependent'' each place it
appears and inserting ``person'';
(8) in section 1212 (42 U.S.C. 3796d-1)--
(A) in subsection (a)--
(i) in paragraph (1), in the matter preceding subparagraph
(A), by striking ``Subject'' and all that follows through ``,
the'' and inserting ``The''; and
(ii) in paragraph (3), by striking ``reduced by'' and all
that follows through ``(B) the amount'' and inserting
``reduced by the amount'';
(B) in subsection (c)--
(i) in the subsection heading, by striking ``Dependent'';
and
(ii) by striking ``dependent'';
(9) in paragraphs (2) and (3) of section 1213(b) (42 U.S.C.
3796d-2(b)), by striking ``dependent's'' each place it
appears and inserting ``person's'';
(10) in section 1216 (42 U.S.C. 3796d-5)--
(A) in subsection (a), by striking ``each dependent'' each
place it appears and inserting ``a spouse or child''; and
(B) by striking ``dependents'' each place it appears and
inserting ``a person''; and
(11) in section 1217(3)(A) (42 U.S.C. 3796d-6(3)(A)), by
striking ``described in'' and all that follows and inserting
``an institution of higher education, as defined in section
102 of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1002);
and''.
(b) Amendment Related to Expedited Payment for Public
Safety Officers Involved in the Prevention, Investigation,
Rescue, or Recovery Efforts Related to a Terrorist Attack.--
Section 611(a) of the Uniting and Strengthening America by
Providing Appropriate Tools Required to Intercept and
Obstruct Terrorism (USA PATRIOT ACT) Act of 2001 (42 U.S.C.
3796c-1(a)) is amended by inserting ``or an entity described
in section 1204(7)(B) of the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe
Streets Act of 1968 (42 U.S.C. 3796b(7)(B))'' after
``employed by such agency''.
(c) Technical and Conforming Amendment.--Section
402(l)(4)(C) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 is
amended--
(1) by striking ``section 1204(9)(A)'' and inserting
``section 1204(10)(A)''; and
(2) by striking ``42 U.S.C. 3796b(9)(A)'' and inserting
``42 U.S.C. 3796b(10)(A)''.
SEC. 3. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS; DETERMINATIONS;
APPEALS.
The matter under the heading ``public safety officers
benefits'' under the heading ``Office of Justice Programs''
under title II of division B of the Consolidated
Appropriations Act, 2008 (Public Law 110-161; 121 Stat. 1912;
42 U.S.C. 3796c-2) is amended--
(1) by striking ``decisions'' and inserting
``determinations'';
(2) by striking ``(including those, and any related
matters, pending)''; and
(3) by striking the period at the end and inserting the
following: ``: Provided further, That, on and after the date
of enactment of the Public Safety Officers' Benefits
Improvements Act of 2012, as to each such statute--
``(1) the provisions of section 1001(a)(4) of such title I
(42 U.S.C. 3793(a)(4)) shall apply;
``(2) payment (other than payment made pursuant to section
611 of the Uniting and Strengthening America by Providing
Appropriate Tools Required to Intercept and Obstruct
Terrorism (USA PATRIOT ACT) Act of 2001 (42 U.S.C. 3796c-1))
shall be made only upon a determination by the Bureau that
the facts legally warrant the payment;
``(3) any reference to section 1202 of such title I shall
be deemed to be a reference to paragraphs (2) and (3) of such
section 1202; and
``(4) a certification submitted under any such statute
(other than a certification submitted pursuant to section 611
of the Uniting and Strengthening America by Providing
Appropriate Tools Required to Intercept and Obstruct
Terrorism (USA PATRIOT ACT) Act of 2001 (42 U.S.C. 3796c-1))
may be accepted by the Bureau as prima facie evidence of the
facts asserted in the certification:
Provided further, That, on and after the date of enactment
of the Public Safety Officers' Benefits Improvements Act of
2012, no appeal shall bring any final determination of the
Bureau before any court for review unless notice of appeal is
filed (within the time specified herein and in the manner
prescribed for appeal to United States courts of appeals from
United States district courts) not later than 90 days after
the date on which the Bureau serves notice of the final
determination: Provided further, That any regulations
promulgated by the Bureau under such part (or any such
statute) before, on, or after the date of enactment of the
Public Safety Officers' Benefits Improvements Act of 2012
shall apply to any matter pending on, or filed or accruing
after, the effective date specified in the regulations.''.
SEC. 4. EFFECTIVE DATE.
(a) In General.--Except as provided in subsection (b), the
amendments made by this Act shall--
(1) take effect on the date of enactment of this Act; and
(2) apply to any matter pending, before the Bureau of
Justice Assistance or otherwise, on the date of enactment of
this Act, or filed or accruing after that date.
(b) Exceptions.--
(1) Rescue squads and ambulance crews.--For a member of a
rescue squad or ambulance crew (as defined in section 1204(7)
of title I of the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act
of 1968, as amended by this Act), the amendments made by this
Act shall apply to injuries sustained on or after June 1,
2009.
(2) Heart attacks, strokes, and vascular ruptures.--Section
1201(k) of title I of the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe
Streets Act of 1968, as amended by this Act, shall apply to
heart attacks, strokes, and vascular ruptures sustained on or
after December 15, 2003.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from
Texas (Mr. Smith) and the gentleman from Georgia (Mr. Johnson) each
will control 20 minutes.
The Chair recognizes the gentleman from Texas.
General Leave
Mr. SMITH of Texas. Madam Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all
Members may have 5 legislative days within which to revise and extend
their remarks and include extraneous materials on H.R. 4018, as
amended, currently under consideration.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the
gentleman from Texas?
There was no objection.
Mr. SMITH of Texas. Madam Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may
consume.
H.R. 4018, the Public Safety Officers' Benefits Improvements Act of
2012, amends an existing program within the Justice Department that
administers benefits to certain public safety officers killed or
disabled in the line of duty.
I commend Representative Michael Fitzpatrick for his leadership on
this issue and am pleased to be a cosponsor of this legislation.
The bill makes changes to the class of beneficiaries as well as some
common-sense, cost-saving reforms to the program.
Congress originally passed the Public Safety Officers' Benefits Act,
PSOB, in 1976. This program evolved from concern that State and local
public safety officers and their families were not being provided with
adequate death benefits. And that the low level of benefits might
impede recruitment efforts and impair morale.
Originally, the PSOB program provided only death benefits to the
survivors of officers killed in the line of duty. It was later expanded
to provide benefits to officers disabled in the line of duty and
education benefits to the spouses and children of officers killed or
disabled in the line of duty.
Congress has amended the PSOB program many times since its inception.
Some of the changes have resulted in inconsistencies within the law or
have unintentionally resulted in a delay in the PSOB benefit process.
For example, each PSOB claimant must be examined by an impartial
medical examiner who then advises the Justice Department regarding
their decision to award benefits. But the PSOB statute and its
regulations require that the medical examiner be hired from the city
where the officer was killed or injured.
This causes significant delays and adds expense in processing PSOB
claims and in administering the overall program.
The Department spends significant time and resources to find a
medical professional who is familiar with the PSOB program and its
requirements. That medical professional must also be available and
agree to perform the necessary medical exam. This process can take
weeks, if not months, to complete.
This bill provides a solution to this inefficiency. It allows the
Department to develop and draw from a pool of trusted, qualified
medical professionals to perform the necessary examinations across the
country. This is similar to how the PSOB program authorizes their
hearing examiners.
This simple change saves valuable time and taxpayer dollars. It also
ensures that the public safety officers and their families receive
these much-needed benefits more quickly.
H.R. 4018 also clarifies who are eligible beneficiaries when an
officer is killed in the line of duty. Currently, the payment of
benefits is often postponed, sometimes for years, while the issue of
who is the proper beneficiary is litigated.
This bill creates a new category of beneficiaries, ``adult children
of deceased public safety officers,'' to clarify eligible beneficiaries
in certain cases where there are none. These cases include when a
public safety officer's children are all adults, there is no surviving
spouse, no applicable designation of beneficiary is on file with the
public agency, and the officer's parents are deceased.
[[Page H3996]]
The PSOB benefits can currently be awarded to police officers,
firefighters, chaplains or certain members of a rescue squad or
ambulance crew who serve a public agency.
But PSOB benefits are not currently authorized for volunteer
emergency medical personnel. This bill fixes this inequity in a narrow
way that when combined with savings from other efficiencies made by the
bill, does not result in additional expense to the taxpayer.
I urge my colleagues to join me in support of this bill.
Madam Speaker, I yield 5 minutes to the gentleman from Pennsylvania
(Mr. Fitzpatrick), who is the sponsor of this legislation.
Mr. FITZPATRICK. Thank you, Chairman Smith, for your time and your
support and your leadership on this significant reform legislation.
Your staff has been wonderful to work with. I'd like to give special
recognition to Caroline Lynch and Art Baker, both of whom did a
fantastic job on this bill.
Madam Speaker, I rise to urge my colleagues to support these needed
reforms to the Public Safety Officers' Benefits Program. The Public
Safety Officers' Benefit Act created the program in 1976 to provide
benefits to the families of those first responders who die or become
disabled in the line of duty.
For the past 35 years, Congress has affirmed its support for the
program and these benefits. Now we have the opportunity, through needed
reforms, to make the PSOB program even better. This bill corrects a
tragic oversight in current law that unfairly excludes certain first
responders.
My inspiration for this bill, Madam Speaker, is Daniel McIntosh.
``Danny Mac,'' as he was known to his family and his friends, was a
veteran of the Bensalem Emergency Medical Services. Dan served numerous
other Bucks County communities both as a paramedic and as a volunteer
firefighter since 1993. He was a volunteer firefighter for the Point
Pleasant Fire Company and had achieved life member status. He was a
member of the Nottingham Fire Department, a newly sworn police officer
for the Hulmeville Police Department, and was a TAC Medic for the Bucks
County SWAT Team and for the Bucks County Hazardous Materials SWAT
Team. As we can see, Dan's life was dedicated to public service, and he
gave his life doing what he loved.
Danny suffered a fatal heart attack while in the performance of his
duties as a member of the Bensalem Rescue Squad. Because the entity
that he was working with was a nonprofit emergency medical service
provider, his family has been denied the PSOB benefit. This is unfair
treatment for those who put themselves in harm's way in service to
their communities. This bill would change that and ensure that families
like Danny's receive the benefits they deserve.
I recognize and I thank the McIntosh family for the sacrifice that
they made to our community. I also recognize the legacy of Dale Long, a
Vermont EMT, who was killed in an ambulance accident in 2009 and whose
life has motivated companion PSOB reform in the Senate. I am proud to
sponsor this legislation for them and for the loved ones of first
responders all across our great country.
Finally, Madam Speaker, this bill includes numerous taxpayer
protections and streamlines the delivery of benefits. Many of us came
to Congress on the promise to make government more efficient and more
effective, and this bill would do just that. Members supporting this
legislation will be able to report to their constituents that not only
are they being good stewards of the taxpayer dollars but that they are
also improving a program that provides widely supported benefits to our
Nation's first responders.
At this time, Madam Speaker, I note the support of many organizations
for the bill, including the American Ambulance Association, the
National Association of Emergency Medical Technicians, the National
Fraternal Order of Police, the National Association of Police
Organizations, as well as several rescue squads from across my home
State of Pennsylvania.
I want to again thank Chairman Smith and Ranking Member Conyers for
their leadership and for their support for this very important piece of
reform legislation. I urge my colleagues to support it as well.
Mr. JOHNSON of Georgia. Madam Speaker, I yield myself such time as I
may consume.
H.R. 4018, the Public Safety Officers' Benefits Improvements Act,
appropriately expands the scope of this important program to better
assist our public safety officers and their families. The PSOB program
has been an important means of supporting our public safety officers
since 1976, when the authorizing legislation was enacted.
Initially, the program provided death benefits for certain officers,
but it has since been expanded to apply to a wide range of those who
protect us to now include Federal, State and local police officers,
firefighters, public rescue squads, ambulance crews, and chaplains of
those agencies.
The PSOB program currently provides death benefits in the form of a
onetime financial payment to the eligible survivors of public safety
officers whose deaths are the direct and proximate result of a personal
injury sustained in the line of duty. The program also provides
financial assistance to help pay higher education costs for the spouses
and children of public safety officers for whom PSOB death or
disability benefits have been paid.
This bill extends the coverage of the program to members of nonprofit
rescue squads and ambulance crews who suffer fatal or catastrophic
injury as a result of their performances of certain specified public
safety activities within their specific lines of duty. The bill also
extends the coverage to vascular ruptures in addition to the existing
coverage of heart attacks and strokes occurring during non-routine
line-of-duty activities.
H.R. 4018 also includes a number of other provisions clarifying the
inconsistencies that have arisen due to prior amendments to the PSOB
Act, and it makes the administration of the program more efficient so
that these officers may more quickly obtain the benefits they and their
families deserve.
Our public safety officers willingly undergo long hours and often
dangerous conditions to protect all of us, and we all know that they
are not compensated at a level commensurate with the dangers they face
and the importance of the services that they provide. When they die or
become disabled because they are acting to help us, providing these
benefits is the right thing to do. I hope this bill will make this
program work even better during those unfortunate instances when it is
necessary.
I urge my colleagues to support this legislation, and I yield back
the balance of my time.
Mr. SMITH of Texas. Madam Speaker, I yield 4 minutes to the gentleman
from Texas, Judge Poe, who is a member of the Judiciary Committee.
Mr. POE of Texas. I would like to thank the chairman for the time.
I especially want to thank Representative Fitzpatrick from
Pennsylvania for introducing this important legislation, which makes
improvements and reforms the Public Safety Officers' Benefits Program.
This program is intended to expedite the processing of claims and
expand coverage to include some nonprofit emergency personnel who are
currently not covered by this important program.
The reason H.R. 4018 is important is that 72 police officers were
killed by perpetrators in 2011, and that number represents a 25 percent
increase from the previous year and a 75 percent increase from 2008.
One of these 72 was 38-year-old Houston police officer George Will.
He was killed by an out-of-control drunk driver. Officer Will was
investigating an accident. The drunk driver comes barreling, out of
control, down the freeway. Officer Will sees him coming and pushes a
witness out of the way so that witness to the first accident wouldn't
be hit. While doing so, the drunk driver ran over and killed Officer
Will. He left behind a wife, two stepchildren; and the wife he left
behind was pregnant. Also in 2011, a total of 61 on-duty firefighters
were killed in the United States.
So, in 1 year, that's 133 families who don't have a father or a
mother anymore.
{time} 1530
And the last thing these families should have to worry about after
facing
[[Page H3997]]
the loss of a father or mother first responder is financial
instability.
Madam Speaker, in my career as a judge and a former prosecutor in
Houston, I knew a lot of first responders. Some of them were later
killed in public service to our communities. Our Nation's police,
firefighters, and EMS workers are our true national treasures. They are
the ones that run into burning buildings when everybody else runs out
of those burning buildings. They are the ones that put their lives on
the line every day to keep us safe and protect our communities. They go
into the shadows and dark corners of our society looking for do-bads,
outlaws, and social misfits. This work, Madam Speaker, is dangerous.
When these Americans wake up every day, they need to be able to focus
on the duty they have before them, and they need to know that if, God
forbid, something happens to them on their duty shift, that their
family will be taken care of.
For all these reasons, I support H.R. 4018. I urge my colleagues to
support it. And once again, I thank the gentleman from Pennsylvania for
this legislation.
And that's just the way it is.
Mr. SMITH of Texas. Madam Speaker, I understand that the gentleman
from Georgia has yielded back his time; if so, I yield back the balance
of my time as well.
Ms. JACKSON LEE of Texas. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of
H.R. 4018, the ``Public Safety Officers' Benefits Improvements Act of
2012,'' which would modify the Public Safety Officers' Benefits Act
(PSOBA) of 1976 which currently provides benefits payments to certain
survivors of public safety officers who are killed or permanently and
totally disabled in the line of duty. Under current law, the families
of public safety officers who have died as a result of injuries
sustained in the line of duty are eligible for a one-time payment of
about $320,000. Public safety officers who have been permanently
disabled are eligible for the same payment, but this payment is subject
to the availability of appropriated funds.
As a Ranking Member of the Homeland Security Committee, Subcommittee
on Transportation Security and Infrastructure, I am well aware that
there are currently gaps in the laws as it pertains to those safety
officers who put their lives on the line but may not have the high
profiles of police officers or firefighters. Nevertheless, for those
unsung heroes and faithful men and women who continually place their
own well being in danger for the sake of saving the lives of strangers,
this bill is a mere step in the right direction by expanding the types
of benefits available to their families when serious injuries or deaths
occur.
H.R. 4018 narrows the eligibility of members of rescue squads or
ambulance crews for benefits under the PSOB program; as a result, some
individuals would no longer receive benefits that they could receive
under current laws.
The bill prevents individuals from receiving certain benefits under
the program if they receive payments from the September 11th Victim
Compensation Fund of 2001. Likewise, this legislation would make many
technical and administrative changes that aim to expedite the
processing of claims for benefits.
Over the years the Public Safety Officers' Benefits Act has been
amended to expand the scope of the definitions ``member of a rescue
squad or ambulance crew'' and ``public safety officer.'' This
definition now includes an officially recognized or designated employee
or volunteer member of a rescue squad or ambulance crew that is a
public agency of a nonprofit entity serving the public that is
officially authorized or licensed to engage in rescue activity or to
provide emergency medical services and that is officially designated as
a prehospital emergency medical response agency.
The Act provides death benefits in the form of a single financial
payment to eligible survivors of public safety officers whose death is
the direct and proximate result of a personal injury during the
performance of duty. Additionally the Act provides for financial
assistance to help pay higher education costs for the children and
spouses of public safety officers for whom disability benefits have
been paid.
This bill is needed to efficiently support the families devastated by
death or catastrophic injuries sustained while acting in the official
capacity of a public safety officer's job. It is my hope that by
supporting this bill Congress can come together to better accommodate,
acknowledge and assist the brave public safety officers who sustain
injuries while serving members of their communities across this great
country.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. The question is on the motion offered by the
gentleman from Texas (Mr. Smith) that the House suspend the rules and
pass the bill, H.R. 4018, as amended.
The question was taken.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. In the opinion of the Chair, two-thirds
being in the affirmative, the ayes have it.
Mr. JOHNSON of Georgia. Madam Speaker, I object to the vote on the
ground that a quorum is not present and make the point of order that a
quorum is not present.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to clause 8 of rule XX, further
proceedings on this question will be postponed.
The point of no quorum is considered withdrawn.
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