[Congressional Record Volume 162, Number 170 (Tuesday, November 29, 2016)]
[Senate]
[Pages S6556-S6557]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
SA 5113. Mr. McCONNELL (for Mr. Grassley (for himself, Mrs.
Gillibrand, Mr. Hatch, Mr. Blunt, Mr. Schumer, and Mr. Coons)) proposed
an amendment to the bill S. 2944, to require adequate reporting on the
Public Safety Officers' Benefits program, and for other purposes; as
follows:
Strike all after the enacting clause and insert the
following:
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ``Public Safety Officers'
Benefits Improvement Act of 2016''.
SEC. 2. REPORTS.
Section 1205 of title I of the Omnibus Crime Control and
Safe Streets Act of 1968 (42 U.S.C. 3796c) is amended--
(1) in subsection (a), by inserting ``Rules, regulations,
and procedures issued under this part may include regulations
based on standards developed by another Federal agency for
programs related to public safety officer death or disability
claims.'' before the last sentence;
(2) in subsection (b)--
(A) by inserting ``(1)'' before ``In making''; and
(B) by adding at the end the following:
``(2) In making a determination under section 1201, the
Bureau shall give substantial weight to the evidence and all
findings of fact presented by a State, local, or Federal
administrative or investigative agency regarding eligibility
for death or disability benefits.''; and
(3) by adding at the end the following:
``(e)(1)(A) Not later than 30 days after the date of
enactment of this subsection, the Bureau shall make available
on the public website of the Bureau information on all death,
disability, and educational assistance claims submitted under
this part that are pending as of the date on which the
information is made available.
``(B) Not less frequently than once per week, the Bureau
shall make available on the public website of the Bureau
updated information with respect to all death, disability,
and educational assistance claims submitted under this part
that are pending as of the date on which the information is
made available.
``(C) The information made available under this paragraph
shall include--
``(i) for each pending claim--
``(I) the date on which the claim was submitted to the
Bureau;
``(II) the State of residence of the claimant;
``(III) an anonymized, identifying claim number; and
``(IV) the nature of the claim; and
``(ii) the total number of pending claims that were
submitted to the Bureau more than 1 year before the date on
which the information is made available.
``(2)(A) Not later than 180 days after the date of
enactment of this subsection, and every 180 days thereafter,
the Bureau shall submit to Congress a report on the death,
disability, and educational assistance claims submitted under
this part.
``(B) Each report submitted under subparagraph (A) shall
include information on--
``(i) the total number of claims for which a final
determination has been made during the 180-day period
preceding the report;
``(ii) the amount of time required to process each claim
for which a final determination has been made during the 180-
day period preceding the report;
``(iii) as of the last day of the 180-day period preceding
the report, the total number of claims submitted to the
Bureau on or before that date for which a final determination
has not been made;
``(iv) as of the last day of the 180-day period preceding
the report, the total number of claims submitted to the
Bureau on or before the date that is 1 year before that date
for which a final determination has not been made;
``(v) for each claim described in clause (iv), a detailed
description of the basis for delay;
``(vi) as of the last day of the 180-day period preceding
the report, the total number
[[Page S6557]]
of claims submitted to the Bureau on or before that date
relating to exposure due to the September 11th, 2001,
terrorism attacks for which a final determination has not
been made;
``(vii) as of the last day of the 180-day period preceding
the report, the total number of claims submitted to the
Bureau on or before the date that is 1 year before that date
relating to exposure due to the September 11th, 2001,
terrorism attacks for which a final determination has not
been made;
``(viii) for each claim described in clause (vii), a
detailed description of the basis for delay;
``(ix) the total number of claims submitted to the Bureau
relating to exposure due to the September 11th, 2001,
terrorism attacks for which a final determination was made
during the 180-day period preceding the report, and the
average award amount for any such claims that were approved;
``(x) the result of each claim for which a final
determination was made during the 180-day period preceding
the report, including the number of claims rejected and the
basis for any denial of benefits;
``(xi) the number of final determinations which were
appealed during the 180-day period preceding the report,
regardless of when the final determination was first made;
``(xii) the average number of claims processed per reviewer
of the Bureau during the 180-day period preceding the report;
``(xiii) for any claim submitted to the Bureau that
required the submission of additional information from a
public agency, and for which the public agency completed
providing all of the required information during the 180-day
period preceding the report, the average length of the period
beginning on the date the public agency was contacted by the
Bureau and ending on the date on which the public agency
submitted all required information to the Bureau;
``(xiv) for any claim submitted to the Bureau for which the
Bureau issued a subpoena to a public agency during the 180-
day period preceding the report in order to obtain
information or documentation necessary to determine the
claim, the name of the public agency, the date on which the
subpoena was issued, and the dates on which the public agency
was contacted by the Bureau before the issuance of the
subpoena; and
``(xv) information on the compliance of the Bureau with the
obligation to offset award amounts under section 1201(f)(3),
including--
``(I) the number of claims that are eligible for
compensation under both this part and the September 11th
Victim Compensation Fund of 2001 (49 U.S.C. 40101 note;
Public Law 107-42) (commonly referred to as the `VCF');
``(II) for each claim described in subclause (I) for which
compensation has been paid under the VCF, the amount of
compensation paid under the VCF;
``(III) the number of claims described in subclause (I) for
which the Bureau has made a final determination; and
``(IV) the number of claims described in subclause (I) for
which the Bureau has not made a final determination.
``(3) Not later than 5 years after the date of enactment of
the Public Safety Officers' Benefits Improvement Act of 2016,
and every 5 years thereafter, the Comptroller General of the
United States shall--
``(A) conduct a study on the compliance of the Bureau with
the obligation to offset award amounts under section
1201(f)(3); and
``(B) submit to Congress a report on the study conducted
under subparagraph (A) that includes an assessment of whether
the Bureau has provided the information required under
subparagraph (B)(ix) of paragraph (2) of this subsection in
each report required under that paragraph.
``(4) In this subsection, the term `nature of the claim'
means whether the claim is a claim for--
``(A) benefits under this subpart with respect to the death
of a public safety officer;
``(B) benefits under this subpart with respect to the
disability of a public safety officer; or
``(C) education assistance under subpart 2.''.
SEC. 3. AGE LIMITATION FOR CHILDREN.
Section 1212(c) of title I of the Omnibus Crime Control and
Safe Streets Act of 1968 (42 U.S.C. 3796d-1(c)) is amended--
(1) by striking ``No child'' and inserting the following:
``(1) In general.--Subject to paragraph (2), no child'';
and
(2) by adding at the end the following:
``(2) Delayed approvals.--
``(A) Educational assistance application.--If a claim for
assistance under this subpart is approved more than 1 year
after the date on which the application for such assistance
is filed with the Attorney General, the age limitation under
this subsection shall be extended by the length of the
period--
``(i) beginning on the day after the date that is 1 year
after the date on which the application is filed; and
``(ii) ending on the date on which the application is
approved.
``(B) Claim for benefits for death or permanent and total
disability.--In addition to an extension under subparagraph
(A), if any, for an application for assistance under this
subpart that relates to a claim for benefits under subpart 1
that was approved more than 1 year after the date on which
the claim was filed with the Attorney General, the age
limitation under this subsection shall be extended by the
length of the period--
``(i) beginning on the day after the date that is 1 year
after the date on which the claim for benefits is submitted;
and
``(ii) ending on the date on which the claim for benefits
is approved.''.
SEC. 4. DUE DILIGENCE IN PAYING BENEFIT CLAIMS.
Subpart 1 of 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 adding at the end the following:
``SEC. 1206. DUE DILIGENCE IN PAYING BENEFIT CLAIMS.
``(a) In General.--The Bureau, with all due diligence,
shall expeditiously attempt to obtain the information and
documentation necessary to adjudicate a benefit claim filed
under this part, including a claim for financial assistance
under subpart 2.
``(b) Sufficient Information Unavailable.--If a benefit
claim filed under this part, including a claim for financial
assistance under subpart 2, is unable to be adjudicated by
the Bureau because of a lack of information or documentation
from a third party, such as a public agency, the Bureau may
not abandon the benefit claim unless the Bureau has utilized
the investigative tools available to the Bureau to obtain the
necessary information or documentation, including
subpoenas.''.
SEC. 5. PRESUMPTION THAT OFFICER ACTED PROPERLY.
Section 1202 of title I of the Omnibus Crime Control and
Safe Streets Act of 1968 (42 U.S.C. 3796a) is amended--
(1) by striking ``No benefit'' and inserting the following:
``(a) In General.--No benefit''; and
(2) by adding at the end the following:
``(b) Presumption.--In determining whether a benefit is
payable under this part, the Bureau shall--
``(1) presume that none of the limitations described in
subsection (a) apply; and
``(2) have the burden of establishing by clear and
convincing evidence that a limitation described in subsection
(a) applies.''.
SEC. 6. EFFECTIVE DATE; APPLICABILITY.
The amendments made by this Act shall--
(1) take effect on the date of enactment of this Act; and
(2) apply to any benefit claim or application under part L
of title I of the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act
of 1968 (42 U.S.C. 3796 et seq.) that is--
(A) pending before the Bureau of Justice Assistance on the
date of enactment; or
(B) received by the Bureau on or after the date of
enactment of this Act.
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