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H.R. 6943 — what changed

Public Safety Officer Support Act of 2022

From Introduced in House to Reported in House. 3 sections amended and 1 added between Introduced in House and Reported in House.

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)
This means public safety officers are routinely called to respond to stressful and potentially traumatic situations, often putting their own lives in danger.
(3)
changed This work not only puts public safety officers at risk at-risk for experiencing harm, serious injury, and cumulative and acute trauma, but also places them at up to 25.6 times higher risk for developing post-traumatic stress disorder when compared to individuals without such experiences.
(4)
Psychological evidence indicates that law enforcement officers experience significant job-related stressors and exposures that may confer increased risk for mental health morbidities (such as post-traumatic stress disorder and suicidal thoughts, ideation, intents, 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)
Whereas, although the Department of Defense already considers servicemember suicides to be line-of-duty deaths and provides Federal support to eligible surviving families, the Federal Government does not recognize public safety officer suicides as deaths in the line of duty.
(7)
changed In 2017, the Department of Justice approved 481 claims under the Public Safety Officers' Officers’ Benefits Program under subpart 1 of part L of title I of the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968 (34 U.S.C. 10281 et seq.), but not one of them for the more than 240 public safety officers who died by suicide that year.
(8)
changed Public safety officers who have died or are disabled as a result of suicide or post-traumatic stress disorder do not qualify for the Public Safety Officers' Officers’ Benefits Program, despite the fact that public safety officers are more likely to die by suicide than from any other line-of-duty cause of death.

Sec. 3 Public safety officer death benefits for post-traumatic stress disorder and acute stress disorder

(a)
In general— Section 1201 of title I 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:

changed “(o) Post-Traumatic Post-traumatic stress disorder and acute stress disorder

“(1) Definitions—In this section:

“(A) Mass casualty event—The term mass casualty event means an incident resulting in casualties to not fewer than 3 victims, including—

“(i) an incident that exceeds the normal resources for emergency response available in the jurisdiction where the incident takes place; and

“(ii) an incident that results in a sudden temporal surge of injured individuals necessitating emergency services.

“(B) Mass fatality event—The term mass fatality event means an incident resulting in the fatalities of not fewer than 3 individuals at 1 or more locations close to one another with a common cause.

“(C) Mass shooting—The term mass shooting means a multiple homicide incident in which not fewer than 3 victims are killed—

“(i) with a firearm;

“(ii) within 1 event; and

“(iii) in 1 or more locations in close proximity.

changed “(2) Personal injury sustained in line of duty“(D) Exposed—The term exposed includes—

changed “(A) In general—Except as provided in subparagraph (B), as determined by the Bureau—“(i) directly experiencing or witnessing an event; or

changed “(i) 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 “(ii) being subjected, in the line an intense way, to aversive consequences 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 event (including responding to opioid overdoses, or traumatic psychological or psychiatric distress calls), prison security, disaster relief, or other emergency response activity;a public safety officer collecting human remains).

changed “(ii) post-traumatic stress disorder or acute stress disorder suffered by “(E) Traumatic event—The term traumatic eventmeans, in the case of a public safety officer who has contacted or attempted exposed to contact the employee assistance program of the agency or entity an event, an event that the officer serves, a licensed medical or mental health professional, suicide prevention services, or another mental health assistance service in order to receive help, treatment, or diagnosis for post-traumatic stress disorder or acute stress disorder, 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; andis—

changed “(iii) post-traumatic stress disorder or acute stress disorder suffered by “(i) a public safety officer who engages in homicide, suicide, or the violent or gruesome death of another individual (including such a response to death resulting from a mass casualty incident, event, mass death incident, fatality event, or mass shooting involving stressful, tensional, or traumatic law enforcement, fire suppression, rescue, hazardous material response, prison security, disaster relief, or other emergency response activity shall be presumed to constitute a personal injury within the meaning of subsection (a), sustained in the line of duty by the officer.shooting);

changed “(B) Exceptions“(ii) a harrowing circumstance posing an extraordinary and significant danger or threat to the life of or of serious bodily harm to any individual (including such a circumstance as a mass casualty event, mass fatality event, or mass shooting); or

changed “(i) Disorder unrelated to engagement—Subparagraph (A) shall not apply if the Bureau establishes, by clear and convincing evidence, and based on competent psychological or medical evidence, that the post-traumatic stress disorder or acute stress disorder was completely unrelated to engagement in situations described in clause (i), (ii), or (iii) “(iii) an act of that subparagraph.criminal sexual violence committed against any individual.

changed “(ii) Other direct and proximate cause—Subparagraph (A) shall not apply if competent psychological or medical evidence establishes that the post-traumatic stress disorder or acute stress disorder was directly and proximately caused “(2) Personal injury sustained in line of duty—As determined by something other than the mere presence of post-traumatic stress disorder or acute stress disorder risk factors.Bureau—

changed “(3) Death “(A) post-traumatic stress disorder, acute stress disorder, or disabilitytrauma and stress related disorders 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 was exposed, while on duty, to one or more traumatic events and such exposure was a substantial factor in the disorder;

changed “(A) In general“(B) post-traumatic stress disorder, acute stress disorder, or trauma and stress related disorders, suffered by a public safety officer who has contacted or attempted to contact the employee assistance program of the agency or entity that the officer serves, a licensed medical or mental health professional, suicide prevention services, or another mental health assistance service in order to receive help, treatment, or diagnosis for post-traumatic stress disorder or acute stress disorder, 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, was exposed, while on duty, to one or more traumatic events and such exposure was a substantial factor in the disorder; and

changed “(i) Death “(C) post-traumatic stress disorder, acute stress disorder, or trauma and stress related disorders, suffered by suicide of any officer—For purposes of a claim under subsection (a), if a public safety officer described in clause (i), (ii), who was exposed, while on duty, to one or (iii) of paragraph (2)(A) of this subsection dies by suicide, that death more traumatic events shall be presumed to be constitute a direct and proximate result personal injury within the meaning of subsection (a), sustained in the post-traumatic stress disorder or acute stress disorder suffered line of duty by the public safety officer.officer if such exposure was a substantial factor in the disorder.

changed “(ii) Disability of diagnosed officers—For purposes “(3) Presumption of a claim under subsection (b), if a death or total disability—A public safety officer described in paragraph (2)(A)(i) of this subsection is shall be presumed to have died or become permanently and totally disabled as a result of (within the post-traumatic stress disorder meaning of subsection (a) or acute stress disorder suffered by the public safety officer, including (b)) as a result of attempted suicide, that disability shall be presumed to be a the direct and proximate result of a personal injury sustained in the post-traumatic stress disorder or acute stress disorder suffered line of duty, if (as determined by the public safety officer.Bureau) the officer either—

changed “(iii) Disability of non-diagnosed officers due “(A) took an action, which action was intended to attempted suicide—For purposes of a claim under subsection (b), if a public safety officer described bring about the officer’s death and directly and proximately resulted in clause (ii) such officer’s death or (iii) of paragraph (2)(A) of this subsection is permanently permanent and totally disabled as a result of attempted suicide, that total disability shall be presumed and exposure to be one or more traumatic events was a direct and proximate result of substantial factor in the post-traumatic stress disorder or acute stress disorder suffered action taken by the public safety officer.officer; or

changed “(B) Permanent and total disability—For purposes of clauses (ii) and (iii) of subparagraph (A), an individual shall be considered permanently and totally disabled as a result of took an attempted suicide or action within 45 days of post-traumatic stress disorder or acute stress disorder if the individual is unable end of exposure to serve as a public safety officer in the same or a substantially similar role as the individual traumatic event, which action was serving prior intended to bring about the attempted suicide or prior to suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder officer’s death and directly and proximately resulted in such officer’s death or acute stress disorder, respectively.permanent and total disability, if such action was not inconsistent with a psychiatric disorder.

“(4) Applicability of limitations on benefits

“(A) Intentional actions—Section 1202(a)(1) shall not apply to any claim for a benefit under this part that is payable in accordance with this subsection.

“(B) Substance use—Section 1202(a)(2) shall not preclude the payment of a benefit under this part if the benefit is otherwise payable in accordance with this subsection.”

(b)
added Retroactive applicability—
(1)
added In general— Except as provided in paragraph (2), the amendments made by this section shall—
(A)
added take effect on the date of enactment of this Act; and
(B)
added apply to any matter pending, before the Bureau of Justice Assistance or otherwise, on the date of enactment of this Act, or filed (consistent with pre-existing effective dates) or accruing after that date.
(2)
added Exceptions— The amendments made by this section shall apply to any action taken by a public safety officer described in paragraph (3) of section 1201(o) of title I of the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968 (as added by this Act) that occurred on or after January 1, 2019.
(b)
removed Retroactive applicability— The amendment made by subsection (a) shall take effect as if enacted on January 1, 2019, and shall apply to any public safety officer who dies or is permanently and totally disabled on or after that date.

Sec. 4 Technical fixes

(a)
added Subpoena power; employment of hearing officers; authority to hold hearings— Section 806 of title I of the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968 is amended by—
(1)
added striking “by the Attorney General”;
(2)
added inserting “Assistant” before “Attorney” everywhere it appears;
(3)
added striking “Code)” and inserting “Code (without regard to the days limitation prescribed therein), but shall, in no event, be understood to be (or to have the authority of) officers of the United States)”;
(4)
added striking “necessary to carry out” and inserting “necessary or convenient to assist them in carrying out”;
(5)
added striking “or any” and inserting “, or (subject to such limitations as the appointing authority may, in its sole discretion, impose from time to time) any”;
(6)
added inserting a comma after “thereby”;
(7)
added striking “duties under this title” and inserting “duties under any law administered by or under the Office”;
(8)
added striking “such hearing examiners” the second place it appears; and
(9)
added striking “examinations and” and inserting “examinations, and”.
(b)
added Definitions— Section 1204 of title I of the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968 is amended—
(1)
added in paragraph (11), by striking “; and” and inserting “;”;
(2)
added in paragraph (12)(B), by striking “basis.” and inserting “basis;”; and
(3)
added in paragraph (14), by redesignating the second subparagraph (F) as subparagraph (G).

removed Not later than 1 year after the date of enactment of this Act, the Comptroller General of the United States shall submit to Congress a report that details benefits issued pursuant to subsection (o) of section 1201 of title I of the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968 (34 U.S.C. 10281), as added by section 3, and includes any recommendations to improve that subsection.

Sec. 5 GAO report

added

added Not later than 1 year after the date of enactment of this Act, the Comptroller General of the United States shall submit to Congress a report that details benefits issued pursuant to subsection (o) of section 1201 of title I of the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968 (34 U.S.C. 10281), as added by section 3, and includes any recommendations to improve that subsection.