[Congressional Bills 117th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 3071 Introduced in House (IH)]
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117th CONGRESS
1st Session
H. R. 3071
To amend the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968 to
authorize public safety officer death benefits to officers suffering
from post-traumatic stress disorder or acute stress disorder, and for
other purposes.
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IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
May 7, 2021
Mr. Trone (for himself and Mr. Reschenthaler) introduced the following
bill; which was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To amend the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968 to
authorize public safety officer death benefits to officers suffering
from post-traumatic stress disorder or acute stress disorder, and for
other purposes.
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 ``Public Safety Officer Support Act of
2021''.
SEC. 2. FINDINGS.
Congress finds the following:
(1) Every day, public safety officers, including police
officers, firefighters, emergency medical technicians, and
others, work to maintain the safety, health, and well-being of
the communities they serve.
(2) From time to time this means being called to respond to
stressful and potentially traumatic situations, sometimes even
putting their own lives in danger.
(3) This work not only puts them at risk for experiencing
harm, serious injury, and severe trauma, but also places them
at up to 25.6 times higher risk for developing post-traumatic
stress disorder when compared to those without such
experiences.
(4) Psychological evidence indicates law enforcement
officers experience significant job-related stressors and
exposures that may confer increased risk for mental health
morbidities (for example post-traumatic stress disorder, and
suicidal thoughts and behaviors), and hastened mortality.
(5) Public safety officers often do not have the resources
or support they need, leaving them at higher risk for long-term
mental health consequences.
(6) In 2017, the Department of Justice approved 481 Public
Safety Officer Benefit (PSOB) claims, but not one of them for
the over 240 public safety officers who died by suicide that
year.
(7) As it currently stands, officers who have died or are
disabled as a result of suicide or post-traumatic stress
disorder do not qualify for this program, despite officers
being more likely to die by suicide than in the line of duty.
SEC. 3. PUBLIC SAFETY OFFICER DEATH BENEFITS FOR POST-TRAUMATIC STRESS
DISORDER AND ACUTE STRESS DISORDER.
Section 1201 of the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of
1968 (34 U.S.C. 10281) is amended by adding at the end the following:
``(o) As determined by the Bureau--
``(1) post-traumatic stress disorder or acute stress
disorder suffered by a public safety officer, and diagnosed by
a licensed medical or mental health professional, shall be
presumed to constitute a personal injury within the meaning of
subsection (a), sustained in the line of duty by the officer,
if the officer, while on duty, engages in situations involving
stressful, tensional, or traumatic law enforcement, fire
suppression, rescue, hazardous material response, emergency
medical services (including responding to opioid overdoses, or
traumatic psychological or psychiatric distress calls), prison
security, disaster relief, or other emergency response
activity; and
``(2) in the case that a public safety officer described in
paragraph (1) dies by suicide (for purposes of a claim under
subsection (a)), or is permanently and totally disabled as a
result of post-traumatic stress disorder or acute stress
disorder, including as a result of attempted suicide (for
purposes of a claim under subsection (b)), such death or
disability shall be presumed to be a direct and proximate
result of such engagement,
unless competent psychological or medical evidence establishes that the
post-traumatic stress disorder or acute stress disorder was unrelated
to the engagement or was directly and proximately caused by something
other than the mere presence of post-traumatic stress disorder or acute
stress disorder risk factors. For purposes of paragraph (2), a public
safety officer shall be considered permanently and totally disabled as
a result of post-traumatic stress disorder or acute stress disorder if
the officer is unable to serve as a public safety officer in the same
or substantially similar role as the officer was serving prior to
suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder or acute stress
disorder.''.
SEC. 4. GAO REPORT.
On the date that is one year after the date of the enactment of
this Act, the Comptroller General of the United States shall submit to
Congress a report on benefits issued pursuant to subsection (o) of
section 1201 of the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968
(34 U.S.C. 10281), as added by this Act, and any recommendations to
improve such subsection.
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