[House Report 111-132]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]


111th Congress                                                   Report
                        HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
 1st Session                                                    111-132

======================================================================



 
                     FALLEN HEROES FLAG ACT OF 2009

                                _______
                                

  June 3, 2009.--Committed to the Committee of the Whole House on the 
              State of the Union and ordered to be printed

                                _______
                                

Mr. Brady of Pennsylvania, from the Committee on House Administration, 
                        submitted the following

                              R E P O R T

                        [To accompany H.R. 415]

      [Including cost estimate of the Congressional Budget Office]

  The Committee on House Administration, to whom was referred 
the bill (H.R. 415) to provide Capitol-flown flags to the 
immediate family of fire fighters, law enforcement officers, 
emergency medical technicians, and other rescue workers who are 
killed in the line of duty, having considered the same, report 
favorably thereon without amendment and recommend that the bill 
do pass.

                       PURPOSE OF THE LEGISLATION

    H.R. 415 would provide for Capitol-flown flags to be given 
to the immediate families of fire fighters, law enforcement 
officers, emergency medical technicians, and other rescue 
workers who are killed in the line of duty.

                              BILL SUMMARY

    H.R. 415 would provide a Capitol-flown flag to the 
immediate family of a firefighter, law enforcement officer, 
emergency technician, or other rescue worker who dies in the 
line of duty. Additionally, the family will receive a 
certificate, prepared by the office of the Clerk of the House, 
signed by the Speaker of the House and the Representative 
presenting the flag expressing sympathy on behalf of the House 
of Representatives. The flag and certificate will be provided 
at no expense to the family.

                        COMMITTEE CONSIDERATION

    On March 25, 2009, the Committee on House Administration, 
by voice vote, ordered the H.R. 415 reported favorably without 
amendment. No recorded votes were taken during the 
consideration of the bill.

                    BACKGROUND AND NEED FOR H.R. 415

    Across the country, brave public servants selflessly put 
their lives at risk for the protection of others. On rare 
occasions, these fire fighters, law enforcement officers, 
emergency technicians, and other rescue workers make the 
ultimate sacrifice.
    H.R. 415 would provide a simple and eloquent tribute to 
these fallen heroes. A Capitol-flown flag would express 
national sympathy and gratitude to the families of those who 
gave their lives for others.

                   ANALYSIS OF THE BILL (AS REPORTED)

    H.R. 415 was introduced by Representative Peter T. King of 
New York on January 9, 2009. The bill directs the Clerk of the 
House to implement regulations and procedures, subject to the 
approval of the Committee on House Administration, to provide a 
flag flown over the U.S. Capitol building at the request of the 
family of a rescue worker who died in the line of duty.
    A section by section analysis of the bill is as follows:
    Section 1. Designates the bill as the ``Fallen Heroes Flag 
Act of 2009''.
    Section 2. Subsection (a) entitles the family of a 
firefighter, law enforcement officer, emergency technician or 
other rescue worker who died in the line of duty to request a 
Capitol-flown flag with a certificate described in Subsection 
(c).
    Subsection (b) assures that the flag will be provided 
without cost to the requesting family.
    Subsection (c) describes the certificate to accompany the 
flag as an expression of sympathy on behalf of the House of 
Representatives. It will be signed by the Speaker of the House 
and the Representative providing the flag.
    Subsection (d) defines the term ``Capitol-flown flag'' as a 
United States flag flown over the United States Capitol in 
honor of the deceased individual for whom such flag is 
requested; and the term ``Representative'' to include a 
Delegate or Resident Commissioner to the Congress.
    Section 3. subsection (a) requires the Clerk of the House 
of Representatives to issue regulations and procedures for 
carrying out this act.
    Subsection (b) requires that the regulations issued by the 
Clerk be approved by the Committee on House Administration.
    Section 4. authorizes appropriations from applicable 
accounts of the House of Representatives for fiscal year 2009 
and each succeeding fiscal year.
    Section 5. states that this bill will take effect 
immediately after the procedures created by the Clerk are 
approved by the Committee on House Administration.

               MATTERS REQUIRED UNDER RULES OF THE HOUSE

Committee votes

    Clause 3(b) of House Rule XIII requires the results of each 
recorded vote on an amendment or motion to report, together 
with the names of those voting for and against, to be printed 
in the committee report. No recorded votes were taken during 
the committee's consideration of H.R. 415.

Constitutional authority

    Clause 3(d)(1) of House Rule XIII requires each committee 
report on a public bill or joint resolution to include a 
statement citing the specific constitutional power(s) granted 
to the Congress on which the Committee relies for enactment of 
the measure under consideration.
    The Committee cites the legislative power broadly granted 
to Congress in Article I.

Congressional Budget Office estimate

    Clause 3(c)(3) of House Rule XIII requires the report of a 
committee on a measure which has been approved by the committee 
to include a cost estimate prepared by the Director of the 
Congressional Budget Office pursuant to section 402 of the CBA, 
if timely submitted. The Director submitted the following 
estimate:

                                     U.S. Congress,
                               Congressional Budget Office,
                                    Washington, DC, March 30, 2009.
Hon. Robert A. Brady,
Chairman, Committee on House Administration,
House of Representatives, Washington, DC.
    Dear Mr. Chairman: The Congressional Budget Office has 
prepared the enclosed cost estimate for H.R. 415, the Fallen 
Heroes Flag Act of 2009.
    If you wish further details on this estimate, we will be 
pleased to provide them. The CBO staff contacts are Matthew 
Pickford and Deborah Reis.
            Sincerely,
                                              Douglas W. Elmendorf.
    Enclosure.

H.R. 415--Fallen Heroes Flag Act of 2009

    H.R. 415 would authorize members of the U.S. House of 
Representatives to provide, free of charge, U.S. flags flown 
over the U.S. Capitol to the immediate families of fire 
fighters, law enforcement officers, and other rescue workers 
who died in the line of duty. (Currently, representatives may 
provide flags, but at a price to the requestor--usually about 
$24 plus shipping costs.) The bill would require the Clerk of 
the House of Representatives to establish procedures, request 
forms, and guidelines for providing the flags and accompanying 
certificates.
    Based on the current costs of obtaining and mailing flags 
and on the small number of likely recipients in any given year, 
CBO estimates that implementing H.R. 415 would not have a 
significant impact on discretionary spending. Depending on 
whether the new regulations would allow families of individuals 
who died before the bill's enactment to request a flag, it is 
possible that the costs of providing flags could be higher in 
the first few years of the program (to process a potential 
backlog of such requests), but we estimate that, even in those 
years, total annual costs would be insignificant. The bill 
would have no effect on direct spending or revenues.
    H.R. 415 contains no intergovernmental or private-sector 
mandates as defined in the Unfunded Mandates Reform Act and 
would not affect the budgets of state, local, or tribal 
governments.
    The CBO staff contacts for this estimate are Matthew 
Pickford and Deborah Reis. The estimate was approved by Theresa 
Gullo, Deputy Assistant Director for Budget Analysis.

Oversight findings

    Clause 3(c)(1) of rule XIII requires each committee report 
to contain oversight findings and recommendations required 
pursuant to clause 2(b)(1) of House rule X. The Committee on 
House Administration has general oversight responsibility for 
the Office of the Clerk.
    In the course of the Committee's continuing oversight of 
the Office of the Clerk, the Committee noted the benefit of 
honoring the service of rescue workers.

Federal mandates

    Section 423 of the CBA requires a committee report on any 
public bill or joint resolution that includes a federal mandate 
to include specific information about such mandates. The 
Committee states that H.R. 415 includes no federal mandates.

Preemption clarification

    Section 423 of the CBA requires a committee report on any 
public bill or joint resolution to include a committee 
statement on the extent to which the measure is intended to 
preempt state or local law. The Committee states that H.R. 415 
is not intended to preempt any state or local law.

Statement of general performance goals and objectives

    Clause 3(c)(4) of House rule XIII requires a committee 
report on a measure to include a statement of general 
performance goals and objectives. The Committee finds that the 
objective of H.R. 415 is to honor the service and sacrifice of 
rescue workers.

Congressional ``earmarks''

    Clause 9 of House rule XXI requires a committee report on a 
bill or joint resolution to contain an identification of 
congressional ``earmarks,'' limited tax benefits, limited 
tariff benefits, and the names of requesting Members. H.R. 415 
contains no such items.

                                  
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