[Congressional Record Volume 167, Number 101 (Thursday, June 10, 2021)]
[Senate]
[Pages S4499-S4501]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
PROTECTING AMERICA'S FIRST RESPONDERS ACT OF 2021
Ms. CORTEZ MASTO. Madam President, I ask unanimous consent that the
Committee on the Judiciary be discharged from further consideration of
S. 1511 and the Senate proceed to its immediate consideration.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will report the bill by title.
The senior assistant legislative clerk read as follows:
A bill (S. 1511) to amend the Omnibus Crime Control and
Safe Streets Act of 1968 with respect to payments to certain
public safety officers who have become permanently and
totally disabled as a result of personal injuries sustained
in the line of duty, and for other purposes.
There being no objection, the committee was discharged, and the
Senate proceeded to consider the bill.
Ms. CORTEZ MASTO. I ask unanimous consent that the Grassley amendment
at the desk be agreed to, the bill, as amended, be considered read a
third time and passed, and the motions to reconsider be considered made
and laid upon the table.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
The amendment (No. 2118) was agreed to, as follows:
(Purpose: To improve the bill)
On page 2, strike lines 7 through 12 and insert the
following:
(1) in subsection (a), in the matter preceding paragraph
(1)--
(A) by striking ``the Bureau shall pay''; and
(B) by inserting ``, and calculated in accordance with
subsection (i), shall be payable by the Bureau'' after
``subsection (h)''.
The bill (S. 1511), as amended, was ordered to be engrossed for a
third reading, was read the third time, and passed as follows:
S. 1511
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 ``Protecting America's First
Responders Act of 2021''.
SEC. 2. PAYMENT OF DEATH AND DISABILITY BENEFITS UNDER PUBLIC
SAFETY OFFICERS' DEATH BENEFITS PROGRAM.
Section 1201 of title I of the Omnibus Crime Control and
Safe Streets Act of 1968 (34 U.S.C. 10281) is amended--
(1) in subsection (a), in the matter preceding paragraph
(1)--
(A) by striking ``the Bureau shall pay''; and
(B) by inserting ``, and calculated in accordance with
subsection (i), shall be payable by the Bureau'' after
``subsection (h)''.
(2) in subsection (b)--
(A) by striking ``the Bureau shall pay the same benefit''
and inserting ``a benefit shall be payable'';
(B) by striking ``that is payable under subsection (a) with
respect to the date on which the catastrophic injury
occurred,'' and inserting ``in the same amount that would be
payable, as of the date such injury was sustained
(including'';
(C) by inserting ``, and calculated in accordance with
subsection (i)), if such determination were a determination
under subsection (a)'' before ``: Provided, That''; and
(D) by striking ``necessary:'' and all that follows and
inserting ``necessary.'';
(3) in subsection (c), by striking ``$3,000'' and inserting
``$6,000, adjusted in accordance with subsection (h),'';
(4) in subsection (h), by striking ``subsection (a)'' and
inserting ``subsections (a) and (b) and the level of the
interim benefit payable immediately before such October 1
under subsection (c)'';
(5) by striking subsection (i) and inserting the following:
``(i) The amount payable under subsections (a) and (b),
with respect to the death or permanent and total disability
of a public safety officer, shall be the greater of--
``(1) the amount payable under the relevant subsection as
of the date of death or of the catastrophic injury of the
public safety officer; or
``(2) in any case in which the claim filed thereunder has
been pending for more than 365 days at the time of final
determination by the Bureau, the amount that would be payable
under the relevant subsection if the death or the
catastrophic injury of the public safety officer had occurred
on the date on which the Bureau makes such final
determination.''; and
(6) in subsection (m), by inserting ``, (b),'' after
``subsection (a)''.
SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS WITH RESPECT TO PUBLIC SAFETY OFFICERS'
DEATH BENEFITS PROGRAM.
Section 1204 of title I of the Omnibus Crime Control and
Safe Streets Act of 1968 (34 U.S.C. 10284) is amended--
(1) by redesignating paragraphs (1), (2), (3), (4), (5),
(6), (7), (8), and (9) as paragraphs (4), (5), (6), (7), (8),
(9), (10), (13), and (14), respectively;
(2) by striking paragraph (4), as so redesignated, and
inserting:
``(4) `catastrophic injury' means an injury, the direct and
proximate result of which is to permanently render an
individual functionally incapable (including through a
directly and proximately resulting neurocognitive disorder),
based on the state of medicine on the date on which the claim
is determined by the Bureau, of performing work, including
sedentary work: Provided, That, if it appears that a claimant
may be functionally capable of performing work--
``(A) the Bureau shall disregard work where any
compensation provided is de minimis, nominal, honorary, or
mere reimbursement of incidental expenses, such as--
``(i) work that involves ordinary or simple tasks, that
because of the claimed disability, the claimant cannot
perform without significantly more supervision,
accommodation, or assistance than is typically provided to an
individual without the claimed disability doing similar work;
[[Page S4500]]
``(ii) work that involves minimal duties that make few or
no demands on the claimant and are of little or no economic
value to the employer; or
``(iii) work that is performed primarily for therapeutic
purposes and aids the claimant in the physical or mental
recovery from the claimed disability; and
``(B) the claimant shall be presumed, absent clear and
convincing medical evidence to the contrary as determined by
the Bureau, to be functionally incapable of performing such
work if the direct and proximate result of the injury renders
the claimant--
``(i) blind;
``(ii) parapalegic; or
``(iii) quadriplegic;'';
(3) in paragraph (6), as so redesignated, by striking ``at
the time of the public safety officer's fatal or catastrophic
injury'' and inserting ``at the time of the public safety
officer's death or fatal injury (in connection with any claim
predicated upon such death or injury) or the date of the
public safety officer's catastrophic injury or of the final
determination by the Bureau of any claim predicated upon such
catastrophic injury'';
(4) in paragraph (7), as so redesignated, by inserting ``,
including an individual who, as such a member, engages in
scene security or traffic management as the primary or only
duty of the individual during emergency response'' before the
semicolon;
(5) in paragraph (9), as so redesignated by striking
``delinquency).,'' and inserting ``delinquency),'';
(6) in paragraph (13), as so redesignated, by inserting ``,
and includes (as may be prescribed by regulation hereunder) a
legally organized volunteer fire department that is a
nonprofit entity and provides services without regard to any
particular relationship (such as a subscription) a member of
the public may have with such a department'' before the
semicolon;
(7) in paragraph (14), as so redesignated,--
(A) by striking subparagraph (A) and inserting:
``(A) an individual serving a public agency in an official
capacity, with or without compensation, as a law enforcement
officer, as a firefighter, or as a chaplain: Provided, That
(notwithstanding section 1205(b)(2) or (3)) the Bureau shall,
absent clear and convincing evidence to the contrary as
determined by the Bureau, deem the actions outside of
jurisdiction taken by any such law enforcement officer or
firefighter, to have been taken while serving such public
agency in such capacity, in any case in which the principal
legal officer of such public agency, and the head of such
agency, together, certify that such actions--
``(i) were not unreasonable;
``(ii) would have been within the authority and line of
duty of such law enforcement officer or such firefighter to
take, had they been taken in a jurisdiction where such law
enforcement officer or firefighter was authorized to act, in
the ordinary course, in an official capacity; and
``(iii) would have resulted in the payment of full line-of-
duty death or disability benefits (as applicable), if any
such benefits typically were payable by (or with respect to
or on behalf of) such public agency, as of the date the
actions were taken;'';
(B) by redesignating subparagraphs (B), (C), (D), and (E)
as subparagraphs (C), (D), (E), and (F), respectively;
(C) by inserting after subparagraph (A), the following new
subparagraph:
``(B) a candidate officer who is engaging in an activity or
exercise that itself is a formal or required part of the
program in which the candidate officer is enrolled or
admitted, as provided in this section;''; and
(D) by striking subparagraph (E), as so redesignated, and
inserting the following:
``(E) a member of a rescue squad or ambulance crew who, as
authorized or licensed by law and by the applicable agency or
entity, is engaging in rescue activity or in the provision of
emergency medical services: Provided, That (notwithstanding
section 1205(b)(2) or (3)) the Bureau shall, absent clear and
convincing evidence to the contrary as determined by the
Bureau, deem the actions outside of jurisdiction taken by any
such member to have been thus authorized or licensed, in any
case in which the principal legal officer of such agency or
entity, and the head of such agency or entity, together,
certify that such actions--
``(i) were not unreasonable;
``(ii) would have been within the authority and line of
duty of such member to take, had they been taken in a
jurisdiction where such member was authorized or licensed by
law and by a pertinent agency or entity to act, in the
ordinary course; and
``(iii) would have resulted in the payment of full line-of-
duty death or disability benefits (as applicable), if any
such benefits typically were payable by (or with respect to
or on behalf of) such applicable agency or entity, as of the
date the action was taken;'';
(8) by inserting before paragraph (4), as so redesignated,
the following new paragraphs:
``(1) `action outside of jurisdiction' means an action, not
in the course of any compensated employment involving either
the performance of public safety activity or the provision of
security services, by a law enforcement officer, firefighter,
or member of a rescue squad or ambulance crew that--
``(A) was taken in a jurisdiction where--
``(i) the law enforcement officer or firefighter then was
not authorized to act, in the ordinary course, in an official
capacity; or
``(ii) the member of a rescue squad or ambulance crew then
was not authorized or licensed to act, in the ordinary
course, by law or by the applicable agency or entity;
``(B) then would have been within the authority and line of
duty of--
``(i) a law enforcement officer or a firefighter to take,
who was authorized to act, in the ordinary course, in an
official capacity, in the jurisdiction where the action was
taken; or
``(ii) a member of a rescue squad or ambulance crew to
take, who was authorized or licensed by law and by a
pertinent agency or entity to act, in the ordinary course, in
the jurisdiction where the action was taken; and
``(C) was, in an emergency situation that presented an
imminent and significant danger or threat to human life or of
serious bodily harm to any individual, taken--
``(i) by a law enforcement officer--
``(I) to prevent, halt, or respond to the immediate
consequences of a crime (including an incident of juvenile
delinquency); or
``(II) while engaging in a rescue activity or in the
provision of emergency medical services;
``(ii) by a firefighter--
``(I) while engaging in fire suppression; or
``(II) while engaging in a rescue activity or in the
provision of emergency medical services; or
``(iii) by a member of a rescue squad or ambulance crew,
while engaging in a rescue activity or in the provision of
emergency medical services;
``(2) `candidate officer' means an individual who is
enrolled or admitted, as a cadet or trainee, in a formal and
officially established program of instruction or of training
(such as a police or fire academy) that is specifically
intended to result upon completion, in the--
``(A) commissioning of such individual as a law enforcement
officer;
``(B) conferral upon such individual of official authority
to engage in fire suppression (as an officer or employee of a
public fire department or as an officially recognized or
designated member of a legally organized volunteer fire
department); or
``(C) granting to such individual official authorization or
license to engage in a rescue activity, or in the provision
of emergency medical services, as a member of a rescue squad,
or as a member of an ambulance crew that is (or is a part of)
the agency or entity that is sponsoring the individual's
enrollment or admission;
``(3) `blind' means an individual who has central visual
acuity of 20/200 or less in the better eye with the use of a
correcting lens or whose eye is accompanied by a limitation
in the fields of vision such that the widest diameter of the
visual field subtends an angle no greater than 20 degrees;'';
and
(9) in the matter following paragraph (10), as so
redesignated, by inserting the following new paragraphs:
``(11) `neurocognitive disorder' means a disorder that is
characterized by a clinically significant decline in
cognitive functioning and may include symptoms and signs such
as disturbances in memory, executive functioning (that is,
higher-level cognitive processes, such as, regulating
attention, planning, inhibiting responses, decision-making),
visual-spatial functioning, language, speech, perception,
insight, judgment, or an insensitivity to social standards;
and
``(12) `sedentary work' means work that--
``(A) involves lifting articles weighing no more than 10
pounds at a time or occasionally lifting or carrying articles
such as docket files, ledgers, or small tools; and
``(B) despite involving sitting on a regular basis, may
require walking or standing on an occasional basis.''.
SEC. 4. DUE DILIGENCE IN PAYING BENEFIT CLAIMS UNDER PUBLIC
SAFETY OFFICERS' DEATH BENEFITS PROGRAM.
Section 1206(b) of title I of the Omnibus Crime Control and
Safe Streets Act of 1968 (34 U.S.C. 10288(b)) is amended by
striking ``the Bureau may not'' and all that follows and
inserting the following: ``the Bureau--
``(1) may use available investigative tools, including
subpoenas, to--
``(A) adjudicate or to expedite the processing of the
benefit claim, if the Bureau deems such use to be necessary
to adjudicate or conducive to expediting the adjudication of
such claim; and
``(B) obtain information or documentation from third
parties, including public agencies, if the Bureau deems such
use to be necessary to adjudicate or conducive to expediting
the adjudication of a claim; and
``(2) may not abandon the benefit claim unless the Bureau
has used investigative tools, including subpoenas, to obtain
the information or documentation deemed necessary to
adjudicate such claim by the Bureau under subparagraph
(1)(B).''.
SEC. 5. EDUCATIONAL ASSISTANCE TO DEPENDENTS OF CERTAIN
PUBLIC SAFETY OFFICERS.
Section 1216(b) of title I of the Omnibus Crime Control and
Safe Streets Act of 1968 (34 U.S.C. 10306(b)) is amended, in
the first sentence, by striking ``may'' and inserting ``shall
(unless prospective assistance has been provided)''.
SEC. 6. TECHNICAL CORRECTION.
Section 1205(e)(3)(B) of the Omnibus Crime Control and
Safe Streets Act of 1968 (34 U.S.C. 10285(e)(3)(B)) is
amended by striking ``subparagraph (B)(ix)'' and inserting
``subparagraph (I)''.
[[Page S4501]]
SEC. 7. SUBPOENA POWER.
Section 806 of title I of the Omnibus Crime Control and
Safe Streets Act of 1968 (34 U.S.C. 10225) is amended--
(1) by inserting ``Attorney General, the'' before the
``Bureau of Justice Assistance'';
(2) by striking ``may appoint'' and inserting ``may appoint
(to be assigned or employed on an interim or as-needed basis)
such hearing examiners (who shall, if so designated by the
Attorney General, be understood to be comprised within the
meaning of ``special government employee'' under section 202
of title 18, United States Code)'';
(3) by striking ``under this chapter. The'' and inserting
``or other law. The Attorney General, the''; and
(4) by inserting ``conduct examinations'' after ``examine
witnesses,''.
SEC. 8. EFFECTIVE DATE; APPLICABILITY.
(a) In General.--Except as otherwise provided in this
section, the amendments made by this Act shall take effect on
the date of enactment of this Act.
(b) Applicability.--
(1) Certain injuries.--The amendments made to paragraphs
(2) and (7) of section 1204 of title I of the Omnibus Crime
Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968 (34 U.S.C. 10284) shall
apply with respect to injuries occurring on or after January
1, 2008.
(2) Matters pending.--Except as provided in paragraph (1),
the amendments made by this Act shall apply to any matter
pending, before the Bureau or otherwise, on the date of
enactment of this Act, or filed (consistent with pre-existing
effective dates) or accruing after that date.
(c) Effective Date for WTC Responders.--
(1) Certain new claims.--Not later than two years after the
effective date of this Act, a WTC responder may file a claim,
under section 1201(b) of title I of the Omnibus Crime Control
and Safe Streets Act of 1968 (34 U.S.C. 10281(b)), that is
predicated on a personal injury sustained in the line of duty
by such responder as a result of the September 11, 2001,
attacks, where--
(A) no claim under such section 1201(b) so predicated has
previously been filed; or
(B) a claim under such section 1201(b) so predicated had
previously been denied, in a final agency determination, on
the basis (in whole or in part) that the claimant was not
totally disabled.
(2) Claims for a deceased wtc responder.--Not later than
two years after the effective date of this Act, a claim may
be filed, constructively under section 1201(a) of title I of
the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968 (34
U.S.C. 10281(a)), where a WTC responder who otherwise could
have filed a claim pursuant to paragraph (1) has died before
such effective date (or dies not later than 365 days after
such effective date), or where a WTC responder has filed such
a claim but dies while it is pending before the Bureau:
Provided, That--
(A) no claim under such section 1201(a) otherwise shall
have been filed, or determined, in a final agency
determination; and
(B) if it is determined, in a final agency determination,
that a claim under such paragraph (1) would have been payable
had the WTC responder not died, then the WTC responder shall
irrebutably be presumed (solely for purposes of determining
to whom benefits otherwise pursuant to such paragraph (1) may
be payable under the claim filed constructively under such
section 1201(a)) to have died as the direct and proximate
result of the injury on which the claim under such paragraph
(1) would have been predicated.
(3) Difference in benefit pay.--In the event that a claim
under section 1201(b) of title I of the Omnibus Crime Control
and Safe Streets Act of 1968 (34 U.S.C. 10281(b)) and
predicated on an injury sustained in the line of duty by a
WTC responder as a result of the September 11, 2001, attacks
was approved, in a final agency determination, before the
effective date of this Act, the Bureau shall, upon
application filed (not later than three years after such
effective date of this Act) by the payee (or payees)
indicated in subparagraphs (A) or (B), pay a bonus in the
amount of the difference (if any) between the amount that was
paid pursuant to such determination and the amount that would
have been payable had the amendments made by this Act, other
than those indicated in subsection (b)(1), been in effect on
the date of such determination--
(A) to the WTC responder, if living on the date the
application is determined, in a final agency determination;
or
(B) if the WTC responder is not living on the date
indicated in subparagraph (A), to the individual (or
individuals), if living on such date, to whom benefits would
have been payable on such date under section 1201(a) of such
title I (34 U.S.C. 10281(a)) had the application been,
instead, a claim under such section 1201(a).
(4) Special limited rule of construction.--A claim filed
pursuant to paragraph (1) or
(2) shall be determined as though the date of catastrophic
injury of the public safety officer were the date of
enactment of this Act, for purposes of determining the amount
that may be payable.
____________________