[Congressional Record Volume 168, Number 158 (Thursday, September 29, 2022)]
[Senate]
[Pages S5753-S5754]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
SA 6228. Ms. SINEMA submitted an amendment intended to be proposed to
amendment SA 5499 submitted by Mr. Reed (for himself and Mr. Inhofe)
and intended to be proposed to the bill H.R. 7900, to authorize
appropriations for fiscal year 2023 for military activities of the
Department of Defense, for military construction, and for defense
activities of the Department of Energy, to prescribe military personnel
strengths for such fiscal year, and for other purposes; which was
ordered to lie on the table; as follows:
At the appropriate place, insert the following:
SEC. ____. INCREASE OF DEATH GRATUITIES AND FUNERAL
ALLOWANCES FOR FEDERAL EMPLOYEES.
(a) Short Title.--This section may be cited as the
``Honoring Civil Servants Killed in the Line of Duty Act''.
(b) Increasing Death Gratuity for Federal Employees Killed
in the Line of Duty.--
(1) Amendments to title 5, united states code.--
(A) In general.--Subchapter VII of chapter 55 of title 5,
United States Code, is amended by adding at the end the
following:
``Sec. 5571. Employee death gratuity payments
``(a) Definition.--
``(1) In general.--Notwithstanding section 5561(2), in this
section, the term `employee' means an individual who has been
determined by the Secretary of Labor to be an employee within
the meaning of section 8101(1), but does not include any
individual described in subparagraph (D) of section 8101(1).
``(2) Exclusive authority.--A determination described in
paragraph (1) may be made only by the Secretary of Labor.
``(b) Gratuity.--
``(1) In general.--With respect to the death of an employee
occurring on or after the date of enactment of this section,
notwithstanding section 8116, and in addition to any payment
made under subchapter I of chapter 81, the head of the agency
employing the employee shall pay from appropriations made
available for salaries and expenses of that agency a death
gratuity to the person identified under subsection (c)(2), if
the death of the employee--
``(A) results from injury sustained while in the line of
duty of the employee; and
``(B) is not--
``(i) caused by willful misconduct of the employee;
``(ii) caused by the intention of the employee to bring
about the injury or death of the employee or another; or
``(iii) proximately caused by the intoxication of the
injured employee.
``(2) Amount.--
``(A) In general.--Except as provided in subparagraph (B),
the amount of a death gratuity paid under paragraph (1) with
respect to an employee shall be $100,000, as adjusted each
March 1 by the amount determined by the Secretary of Labor to
represent the percentage change in the Consumer Price Index
for All Urban Consumers (all items; United States city
average) published for December of the preceding year over
that Index published for the December of the year prior to
the preceding year, adjusted to the nearest \1/10\ of 1
percent.
``(B) Local compensation plans.--For an employee
compensated under a local compensation plan established under
section 408 of the Foreign Service Act of 1980 (22 U.S.C.
3968), the amount of a death gratuity paid under paragraph
(1) with respect to the employee shall be in an amount
determined in rules issued by the Secretary of State.
``(c) Recipient of Payment.--
``(1) Definition.--In this subsection, the term `child'--
``(A) includes--
``(i) a natural child; and
``(ii) an adopted child; and
``(B) does not include a stepchild.
``(2) Order of precedence.--A death gratuity paid under
subsection (b) with respect to an employee shall be paid in
the following order of precedence:
``(A)(i) To the beneficiary designated to receive the
gratuity by the employee in a signed and witnessed writing
that is received by the agency employing the employee before
the date of the death of the employee.
``(ii) A designation, change, or cancellation of
beneficiary in a will, or another document not described in
clause (i), shall have no force or effect for the purposes of
that clause.
``(B) If there is no beneficiary described in subparagraph
(A), to the surviving spouse of the employee.
``(C) If neither subparagraph (A) nor (B) applies, to the
children of the employee (including the descendant of any
deceased child by representation) such that each such child
receives an equal amount of the gratuity.
``(D) If none of subparagraph (A), (B), or (C) applies, to
the surviving parents of the employee such that each such
surviving parent receives an equal amount of the gratuity.
``(E) If none of subparagraphs (A) through (D) applies, to
the duly appointed executor or administrator of the estate of
the employee.
``(F) If none of subparagraphs (A) through (E) applies, to
the person entitled, under the laws of the State in which the
employee is domiciled, as of the date on which the employee
dies, to receive the payment.''.
(B) Repeal of death gratuity payment authority.--Section
651 of the Treasury, Postal Service, and General Government
Appropriations Act, 1997 (5 U.S.C. 8133 note) is repealed.
(C) Technical and conforming amendments.--
(i) Subchapter heading.--The heading for subchapter VII of
chapter 55 of title 5, United States Code, is amended by
striking ``EMPLOYEES'' and inserting ``PERSONS AND PAYMENTS
FOR DISABILITY OR DEATH''.
(ii) Other conforming changes.--The table of sections for
chapter 55 of title 5, United States Code, is amended--
(I) by striking the item relating to subchapter VII and
inserting the following:
``subchapter vii--payments to missing persons and payments for
disability or death''; and
(II) by inserting after the item relating to section 5570
the following:
``5571. Employee death gratuity payments.''.
(2) Amendment to title 49.--Section 40122(g)(2) of title
49, United States Code, is amended--
(A) in subparagraph (I)(iii), by striking ``and'' after the
semicolon;
(B) in subparagraph (J), by striking the period at the end
and inserting ``; and''; and
(C) by inserting after subparagraph (J), the following:
``(K) section 5571, relating to death gratuities resulting
from an injury sustained in the line of duty.''.
(c) Funeral Expenses.--
(1) In general.--Section 8134(a) of title 5, United States
Code, is amended--
(A) by inserting ``(1)'' after ``(a)'';
(B) by striking ``$800'' and inserting ``$8,800''; and
(C) by adding at the end the following:
``(2) The amount described in paragraph (1) shall be
adjusted on March 1 of each year by the percentage amount
determined by the Secretary of Labor under section 8146a for
that year.''.
(2) Applicability.--The amendment made by paragraph (1)(B)
shall apply with respect to any death occurring on or after
the date of enactment of this Act.
(d) Death Gratuity for Injuries Incurred in Connection With
Employee's Service With an Armed Force.--Section 8102a of
title 5, United States Code, is amended--
(1) in subsection (a)--
(A) by striking ``The United States'' and inserting the
following:
``(1) In general.--The United States'';
(B) in paragraph (1), as so designated, by striking ``up
to''; and
(C) by adding at the end the following:
``(2) Adjustment.--The amount described in paragraph (1)
shall be adjusted each March 1 by the amount determined by
the Secretary of Labor to represent the percentage change in
the Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (all items;
United States city average) published for December of the
preceding year over that Index published for the December of
the year prior to the preceding year, adjusted to the nearest
\1/10\ of 1 percent.'';
(2) by striking subsection (c) and inserting the following:
``(c) Relationship to Other Benefits.--With respect to a
death occurring on or after the date of enactment of the
Honoring Civil Servants Killed in the Line of Duty Act, the
death gratuity payable under this section may not be reduced
by the amount of any other death gratuity provided under any
other provision of Federal law based on the same death.'';
and
(3) in subsection (d), by adding at the end the following:
``(7) If a person covered by this section does not have any
eligible survivors, as described in this subsection, and that
person has not designated an alternate person to receive a
payment under this section, the payment shall be paid to the
personal representative of the person's estate.''.
[[Page S5754]]
(e) Agency Gratuity for Deaths Sustained in the Line of
Duty Abroad.--Section 413 of the Foreign Service Act of 1980
(22 U.S.C. 3973) is amended--
(1) in subsection (a)--
(A) in the first sentence, by striking ``dependents'' and
inserting ``beneficiaries''; and
(B) in the second sentence, by inserting ``, except as
provided in subsection (e)'' after ``payable from any
source'';
(2) by amending subsection (b) to read as follows:
``(b) Executive Agencies.--The head of an executive agency
shall, pursuant to guidance issued under subsection (c), make
a death gratuity payment authorized by this section to the
surviving beneficiaries of--
``(1) any employee of that agency who dies as a result of
injuries sustained in the performance of duty abroad while
subject to the authority of the chief of mission pursuant to
section 207; or
``(2) an individual in a special category serving in an
uncompensated capacity for that agency abroad in support of a
diplomatic mission, as identified in guidance issued under
subsection (c), who dies as a result of injuries sustained in
the performance of duty abroad.'';
(3) by striking subsection (d);
(4) by inserting after subsection (c) the following:
``(d) Eligibility Under Chapter 81 of Title 5, United
States Code.--A death gratuity payment shall be made under
this section only if the death is determined by the Secretary
of Labor to have resulted from an injury (excluding a disease
proximately caused by the employment) sustained in the
performance of duty under section 8102 of title 5, United
States Code.'';
(5) by redesignating subsection (e) as subsection (f);
(6) by inserting after subsection (d), as added by
paragraph (4), the following:
``(e) Offset.--For deaths occurring on or after the date of
enactment of the Honoring Civil Servants Killed in the Line
of Duty Act, the death gratuity payable under this section
shall be reduced by the amount of any death gratuity provided
under section 5571 of title 5, United States Code, based on
the same death.''; and
(7) in subsection (f), as so redesignated by paragraph (5),
by amending paragraph (2) to read as follows:
``(2) the term `surviving beneficiaries' means the person
or persons identified pursuant to the order of precedence
established under section 5571(c)(2) of title 5, United
States Code.''.
(f) Emergency Supplemental Authorization.--
(1) Definitions.--In this subsection--
(A) the term ``agency'' means an agency that is authorized
or required to make a payment under a covered provision; and
(B) the term ``covered provision'' means--
(i) section 5571 of title 5, United States Code, as added
by subsection (b);
(ii) section 8102a of title 5, United States Code, as
amended by subsection (d); or
(iii) section 413 of the Foreign Service Act of 1980 (22
U.S.C. 3973), as amended by subsection (e).
(2) Authorization.--If the head of an agency determines,
with the concurrence of the Director of the Office of
Management and Budget, that a natural disaster, act of
terrorism, or other incident results in the inability of the
agency to make additional payments under a covered
provision--
(A) there are authorized to be appropriated to the agency
such sums as may be necessary to make those additional
payments; and
(B) the head of the agency may make those additional
payments only to the extent additional amounts are made
available for those purposes.
(3) Sense of congress.--It is the sense of Congress that,
not later than 30 days after the date on which the head of an
agency submits to Congress a request for supplemental
appropriations for the purposes described in paragraph (2),
Congress should take action with respect to that request.
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