[Congressional Record Volume 163, Number 84 (Tuesday, May 16, 2017)]
[Senate]
[Pages S2969-S2970]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                           TEXT OF AMENDMENTS

  SA 216. Mr. ALEXANDER (for Mr. Grassley) proposed an amendment to the 
bill S. 419, 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 2017''.

     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.
       ``(3) If the head of a State, local, or Federal 
     administrative or investigative agency, in consultation with 
     the principal legal officer of the agency, provides a 
     certification of facts regarding eligibility for death or 
     disability benefits, the Bureau shall adopt the factual 
     findings, if the factual findings are supported by 
     substantial evidence.''; 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) Not later than 180 days after the date of enactment 
     of this subsection, the Bureau shall publish on the public 
     website of the Bureau a report, and shall update such report 
     on such website not less than once every 180 days thereafter, 
     containing--
       ``(A) the total number of claims for which a final 
     determination has been made during the 180-day period 
     preceding the report;
       ``(B) 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;
       ``(C) 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;
       ``(D) 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;
       ``(E) for each claim described in subparagraph (D), a 
     detailed description of the basis for delay;
       ``(F) 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 relating to exposure due to the 
     September 11th, 2001, terrorism attacks for which a final 
     determination has not been made;
       ``(G) 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;
       ``(H) for each claim described in subparagraph (G), a 
     detailed description of the basis for delay;
       ``(I) 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;
       ``(J) 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;
       ``(K) 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;
       ``(L) the average number of claims processed per reviewer 
     of the Bureau during the 180-day period preceding the report;
       ``(M) 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;
       ``(N) 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
       ``(O) 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 clause (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 clause (i) for 
     which the Bureau has made a final determination; and
       ``(iv) the number of claims described in clause (i) for 
     which the Bureau has not made a final determination.
       ``(3) Not later than 2 years after the date of enactment of 
     this subsection, and 2 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.''.

[[Page S2970]]

  


     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, and such 
     information is not readily available to the claimant, 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--
       ``(1) shall presume that none of the limitations described 
     in subsection (a) apply; and
       ``(2) shall not determine that a limitation described in 
     subsection (a) applies, absent clear and convincing 
     evidence.''.

     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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