Protecting America’s First Responders Act of 2021

Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the 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, as amended.

Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members have 5 legislative days to revise and extend their remarks and include extraneous material on the bill under consideration.

Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

Mr. Speaker, I support S. 1511, the Protecting America's First Responders Act of 2021, which will make important improvements to the Department of Justice Public Safety Officers' Benefits Program.

Every day, public safety officers put their lives on the line for the greater good of those whom they have taken an oath to serve and protect. Unfortunately, some of those brave men and women make the ultimate sacrifice and die while in the line of duty.

The Public Safety Officers' Benefits Program, which is administered by the Justice Department's Bureau of Justice Assistance, was established in 1976 to provide certain benefits to families of these officers, as well as to officers who are disabled as a result of their service.

A death benefit is provided to eligible survivors of public safety officers whose deaths are sustained in or due to actions in the line of duty.

An education benefit is provided to spouses and children of public safety officers killed or disabled while on duty, and the program provides disability benefits to officers catastrophically injured in the line of duty.

This program provides critical support to these officers and their families, and it is important that Congress continually oversee implementation and periodically update it to make it more effective and more efficient. That is what this bill would do.

Specifically, the bill would expand the program's restrictive definition of disability so that permanently disabled first responders are able to perform work for therapeutic purposes, work that involves simple tasks, or work that provides special accommodations and still receive PSOB benefits.

The bill would provide for retroactive disability benefits to public safety officers who responded to the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, allowing those first responders who became permanently disabled as a result of their work at Ground Zero to reapply for disability benefits under the bill's expanded disability definition.

I am not from New York. I represent Texas. But I was at the edge of the creation of the Homeland Security Committee, which was generated around the tragic terrorist acts of 9/11, and interacted with those individuals who, time after time, went onto the smoldering grounds of Ground Zero to recover the remains of all who had fallen on that day.

They never stopped, Mr. Speaker, month after month, day after day. We honored those persons in the 20th commemoration of 9/11. I will speak about that as we continue this debate. There was no more moving, powerful, tragic, or devastating a moment in America's life, among others.

This bill would address lengthy delays in processing benefit claims by permitting the DOJ to use subpoena power to expedite claims so that impacted officers and families aren't left waiting for their owed relief during the most difficult of times.

For cases pending longer than 365 days, the bill would index the award amount to the date of the final determination, rather than the date of death or injury, so that families aren't financially penalized for any delays.

The bill would extend benefits to certain public safety officers not currently covered, including Good Samaritan officers who act outside of their jurisdiction in an emergency situation, trainee officers, and fire police who handle traffic and crime scene management.

The bill would close a loophole in the program where children born after the death or disability of a public safety officer are not able to receive education benefits and mandate that the DOJ provide backpay of educational benefits to children previously left out.

Finally, this bill also includes an extension of Safeguarding America's First Responders Act concerning the provision of benefits for officers who contract COVID-19 in the line of duty.

I thank the gentleman from New Jersey, my dear friend, Representative Bill Pascrell, for his leadership of the House companion to this bill and his longstanding service as champion of the Congressional Fire Services Caucus, which I am delighted to have been a part of, and I urge all of my colleagues to support this bill today.

Mr. Speaker, I support S. 1511, the ``Protecting America's First Responders Act of 2021,'' which will make important improvements to the Department of Justice's Public Safety Officers' Benefits program.

Every day, public safety officers put their lives on the line for the greater good of those whom they have taken an oath to serve and protect.

Unfortunately, some of these brave men and women make the ultimate sacrifice and die while in the line of duty.

The Public Safety Officers' Benefit Program, which is administered by the Justice Department's Bureau of Justice Assistance, was established in 1976 to provide certain benefits to the families of these officers as well as to officers who are disabled as a result of their service.

A death benefit is provided to eligible survivors of public safety officers whose deaths are sustained in or due to actions in the line of duty.

An education benefit is provided to spouses and children of public safety officers killed or disabled while on duty.

And, the Program provides disability benefits to officers catastrophically injured in the line-of-duty.

This Program provides critical support to these officers and their families, and it is important that Congress continually oversee its implementation and periodically update it to make it more effective and more efficient. That is what this bill would do.

Specifically, the bill would expand the Program's restrictive definition of disability so that permanently disabled first responders are able to perform work for therapeutic purposes, work that involves simple tasks, or work that provides special accommodations and still receive PSOB benefits.

The bill would provide for retroactive disability benefits to public safety officers who responded to the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks, allowing those first responders who became permanently disabled as a result of their work at Ground Zero to re-apply for disability benefits under the bill's expanded disability definition.

The bill would address lengthy delays in processing benefit claims by permitting DOJ to use subpoena power to expedite claims, so that impacted officers and families aren't left waiting for their owed relief during the most difficult of times.

For cases pending longer than 365 days, the bill would index the award amount to the date of final determination, rather than the date of death or injury, so families aren't financially penalized for any delays.

The bill would extend benefits to certain public safety officers not currently covered, including Good Samaritan officers who act outside of their jurisdiction in an emergency situation, trainee officers, and fire-police who handle traffic and crime scene management.

And the bill would close a loophole in the Program where children born after the death or disability of a public safety officer are not able to receive education benefits, and mandate that DOJ provide back pay of educational benefits to children previously left out.

Finally, this bill also includes an extension of the Safeguarding America's First Responders Act concerning the provision of benefits for officers who contract COVID-19 in the line of duty.

I thank the Gentleman from New Jersey, Representative Bill Pascrell, for his leadership of the House companion to this bill, and I urge all my colleagues to support this bill today.

Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, it is my privilege to yield again to the distinguished gentleman from New Jersey, Mr. Pascrell, who I have worked with, as have many others, as he has been on the front lines of helping first responders. He continues to do it, and I will continue to work with him.

Mr. Speaker, I yield 5 minutes to the gentleman from New Jersey (Mr. Pascrell).

Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from California (Mr. Ruiz), who is a committed emergency medicine physician and chair of the Hispanic Caucus and co-chair of the bipartisan COVID- 19 Task Force.

Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from Connecticut (Mr. Courtney), another committed advocate for first responders and who has continued his work on that issue.

Mr. Speaker, I yield myself the balance of my time. You have seen the bipartisan and bicameral support of this legislation. I am grateful for that because I think this is an important statement in the midst of intense negotiations on Build Back Better and the INVEST Act, which will be an enormous gift to the American people, including our law enforcement, first responders, firefighters, and others. We now take a

moment to ensure that there are special benefits for public safety officers.

As I indicated, I had the privilege of being in New York at Ground Zero for the 20th commemoration and to hear stories of family members where the pain is still deeply embedded, to see babies that are relatives of the deceased that they never got a chance to see.

It was an honor to see the children of those who perished speak. They were just babies when their loved ones lost their lives in the line of duty in a brave manner.

The visual that I had in getting to that area during the recovery, still going on months later, hearing the whistle blow, seeing the gurneys come in carried by firefighters and others, the remains placed gently on that gurney makes this even more potent and powerful and important to be able to help.

In addition, there are two deputies who were wounded in the same tragic incident as the death of Deputy Atkins, and they, too, need comfort and support, and potential benefits that are necessary for their continued survival. I think this legislation impacts any number of men and women around this Nation.

Having participated with Local 341 President Marty Lancton just this past weekend at the Fire Memorial in Houston, Texas, to note those firefighters who passed in this last year--some suffering from COVID- 19, others that we are remembering who died in fires and other tragic incidents--this emphasizes more and more the importance of this legislation.

The Public Safety Officers' Benefits Program is an important program to address the terrible circumstances in which officers give their lives or are disabled due to their actions in the line of duty. Now we work to improve and strengthen this program in the ways we have discussed today.

I thank the gentleman from New Jersey (Mr. Pascrell) and all of the cosponsors. I was glad to also have the commitment of our House Judiciary Committee as well as the work of Senator Grassley.

This is a bipartisan bill that was adopted by the Senate by unanimous consent, and therefore I ask my colleagues to join me in supporting this legislation so the President can sign it into law.

Mr. Speaker, the Public Safety Officers' Benefits Program is an important program to address the terrible circumstances in which officers give their lives or are disabled due to their actions in the line of duty.

Now, we work to improve and strengthen this program in the ways we have discussed today.

This is bipartisan bill that was adopted by the Senate by unanimous consent.

I ask that my colleagues join me in supporting this legislation so that the President can sign it into law.

Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, on that I demand the yeas and nays.

Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentlewoman for yielding.

It is good to have something bipartisan on this floor, I will tell you that.

Mr. Speaker, during this devastating pandemic, our Nation's first responders have stood heroically on the very front lines keeping communities across America safe. Our firefighters, police, and EMS go to work every day, and they risk their lives and the lives of their families.

In my own district, we lost Paterson police officer Frank Scorpo and Passaic firefighter Israel Tolentino to COVID. These men made the ultimate sacrifice for their communities.

My heart bleeds for all of our fallen first responders and their families. Last year was the deadliest ever for our Nation's public safety officers. COVID has made it clear as day that more must be done to support these heroes.

As long-time co-chair of the Law Enforcement Caucus and the Fire Services Caucus, I have been proud to lead efforts to pass the bipartisan Protecting America's First Responders Act with Senator Chuck Grassley.

I want to thank Senator Grassley for working together to get this bill across the finish line. He has been a good partner to shepherd this through the other Chamber.

Currently, the Public Safety Officers' Benefits Program only provides disability benefits to first responders who can never again perform any compensated work at all. This is so restrictive that officers practically need to be in a vegetative state to qualify.

Our bill will guarantee that first responders and their families get their owed benefits without delay or red tape.

Our legislation will expand the disability definition so permanently injured first responders can still receive benefits and perform work that is for therapeutic purposes, involves simple tasks, and provides special accommodations.

Our legislation also provides retroactive disability benefits to injured 9/11 first responders.

The bill extends these critical officer safety benefits to groups unfairly left out of the program. This includes trainees, fire police officers, and Good Samaritan first responders who protect the public while off duty.

Importantly, our bill extends the statutory presumption that guarantees the families of first responders fallen to COVID-19 receive full public safety officer benefits.

I was glad to work alongside Chairman Nadler to pass this presumption into law last year. I thank him for his efforts to bring the Protecting America's First Responders Act to the floor today. It is especially important because our bill provides an extension of this critical provision.

Finally, I want to recognize the fire and police organizations who support our bill. Thank you to the Fraternal Order of Police, the Federal Law Enforcement Officers Association, the National Association of Police Organizations, the International Association of Fire Chiefs, and the National Volunteer Fire Council. I especially want to

recognize the International Association of Fire Fighters for their recent support.

Mr. Speaker, I include in the Record statements from each of these organizations.

Stakeholder Support for Protecting America's First Responders Act (S.

1511 / H.R. 2936)

Edward A. Kelly, General President of the International

Association of Firefighters (IAFF): ``On behalf of the

325,000 professional fire fighters and emergency medical

personnel of the International Association of Fire Fighters,

I respectfully request you vote in favor of S. 1511, the

Protecting America's First Responders Act (PAFRA). This

bipartisan legislation will help ensure the families of fire

fighters and emergency medical personnel who are disabled or

die in the line of duty receive the compensation and benefits

they deserve.

The Public Safety Officer Benefit (PSOB) provides

guaranteed death and disability benefits to emergency

responders who die or are disabled in the line of duty.

Unfortunately, current law places significant limits on

program awards, leaving the families of deceased or injured

public safety officers without deserved recompense. PAFRA

corrects these oversights by ensuring disabled responders may

qualify for necessary benefits, extending benefits to fire

department cadets who are killed or injured in the course of

their training, extending benefits to children of public

safety officers who had not been born at the time of the

officer's death or disability, and extending benefits for

officers who die from COVID-19 for the duration of the public

health emergency.

Fire fighters and emergency medical responders make

significant sacrifices to serve their communities everyday,

and should not need to worry about their families' financial

security should they sustain lasting injuries or lose their

life in the line of duty. PAFRA will help ensure responders'

families are cared for in the face of catastrophe, and

deserves your affirmative vote.''

Ken Stuebing, Acting President and Chairman of the Board of

the International Association of Fire Chiefs (IAFC): ``I

would like to thank Representative Pascrell for introducing

the Protecting America's First Responders Act. This

legislation would revise the Public Safety Officers' Benefits

program to provide necessary assistance to more families of

fallen public safety officers during their time of need. The

IAFC looks forward to working with Congress to pass this

important legislation.''

Steven W. Hirsch, Chair of the National Volunteer Fire

Council (NVFC): ``PAFRA makes important improvements to the

process by which public safety officers are able to access

the Public Safety Officers' Benefits (PSOB) Disability

Program. It also makes necessary changes to how PSOB claims

are paid to the survivors of public safety officers who died

of occupational illnesses related to work at Ground Zero

after 9/11. Finally, I am very pleased that the PAFRA

includes language clarifying that members of volunteer fire

departments who perform scene security and traffic management

duties at emergency scenes are public safety officers''

Patrick Yoes, National President of the Fraternal Order of

Police (FOP): ``The PSOB program is currently burdened with

unreasonable definitions of the terms `catastrophic injury'

and `gainful work' that prevent officers who are disabled in

the line of duty from receiving the benefits to which they

are entitled. This legislation addresses this issue by making

the PSOB standards more consistent with similar Federal

benefit for programs which will improve the ability of our

injured and disabled officers to have their claims processed

more fairly and more quickly''

Larry Cosme, National President of the Federal Law

Enforcement Officers Association (FLEOA): ``FLEOA fought for

years to have the Public Safety Officers' Benefits (PSOB)

program created in order to support officers killed or

injured in the line of duty. Congress meant for this

important program to support officers and their families.

Unfortunately far too many officers are unable to qualify for

any type of disability benefit due to how the law was

written, including heroic 9/11 responders who continue to

face lingering health issues metastasizing years later after

the attack. FLEOA appreciates the bipartisan and bicameral

leadership of Representative Pascrell and Senator Grassley to

ensure officers are able to access the PSOB program benefits

they are entitled to and have earned, and look forward to

working with their offices and other champions in Congress to

advance this critical reform''

Bill Johnson, Executive Director of the National

Association of Police Organizations (NAPO): ``The goal of the

Protecting America's First Responders Act is to help protect

the ability of survivors, disabled officers and their

families to get the death and disability benefits they so

rightly deserve. This important legislation will ensure that

officers who are disabled in the line of duty are not left

behind by the Public Safety Officers' Benefits (PSOB) Program

and that all children of our fallen or disabled heroes are

able to benefit from the Public Safety Officers' Education

Assistance Program. NAPO supports the efforts of

Representative Pascrell and Senator Grassley to ensure that

America's public safety officers, who put their lives on the

line every day in service to our nation, get the benefits

promised to them, and we thank him for his leadership on this

issue.''

Mr. Speaker, the past 18 months have been difficult for our communities, difficult for all Americans. It has been especially unbearable for our men and women in uniform.

These brave individuals have protected us at our lowest moment. The least we can do is protect the benefits they have earned and stand with them.

Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of S. 1511, the Protecting America's First Responders Act of 2021. This bill is about taking care of our Federal, State, and local public safety officers who are working on the front lines every day to protect us. Our Nation's law enforcement officers need our support now more than ever.

Over the past year, we have seen violent crime rise in nearly every major urban area. During this spike in violence, we have seen city councils defund their police departments, taking vital resources away from the brave men and women who protect us day in and day out. On top of that, our law enforcement officers are dealing with all of the complications of the COVID-19 pandemic.

According to the Fraternal Order of Police, over 700 public safety officers have tragically lost their lives due to COVID-19. That number will inevitably continue to rise.

The Department of Justice's Public Safety Officers' Benefits Program provides assistance to officers and their families in the event that they lose their lives or are catastrophically injured in the line of duty. The PSOB Program reviews over a thousand claims submitted every year.

The program provides a one-time, lump-sum payment of $370,000 for officers who lose their lives or are catastrophically injured in the line of duty. The payment amount is adjusted annually based on the Consumer Price Index. Each claimant's payment amount is determined by the date of the injury or death, but the claim may take years to adjudicate.

This bill corrects this inequity by requiring that payment amounts be determined by the date of adjudication for any claim that has been pending for over a year. This will help these law enforcement officers and their families account for increased cost of living and other expenses that are subject to inflation during these lengthy adjudication periods.

The PSOB Program also provides interim payments for death claims if the claimant is likely to receive an award under the program, but the interim payment amount has not increased since 1976. This bill will increase those interim payments for death claims from $3,000 to $6,000 and require annual adjustments based on the Consumer Price Index to ensure that Congress will not need to make further adjustments in the future.

The PSOB Program also provides educational benefits of $1,200 a month to children of public safety officers who have been killed or disabled in the line of duty. Here, too, many of these claims for education benefits are not adjudicated in a timely fashion, and many children do not receive these benefits. This bill will provide backpay to the children of fallen and disabled public safety officers who qualify for benefits but failed to receive benefits due to a delay in processing these claims.

Finally, this bill will update the PSOB Program's definition of disability to ensure that law enforcement officers who are permanently unable to secure meaningful, gainful employment following a catastrophic injury in the line of duty remain eligible for benefits.

This is a critical and necessary piece of legislation, and I am proud to support a bill that takes care of the men and women of our law enforcement community.

Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to join me in supporting this bill, and I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I have no further speakers and am prepared to close.

I urge my colleagues to support this bill, and I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. President, I wish to submit to the Senate a budget scorekeeping report. The report, which covers fiscal year 2022, was prepared by the Congressional Budget Office pursuant to section 308(b) and in aid of section 311 of the Congressional Budget Act of 1974, as amended. This information allows the Senate Budget Committee to determine if budgetary

points of order lie against pending legislation.

The report shows the effect on spending and revenues of congressional action through April 25, 2022, as compared to the levels the Senate agreed to in the budget resolution for fiscal year 2022, S. Con. Res 14. I have revised the levels in the budget resolution five times for legislation, as authorized by the resolution. The report shows the effects of the 11 laws signed by the President since the passage of the budget resolution with significant effects on budget authority, outlays, or revenues.

Tables 1 and 2 show that for fiscal year 2022, current law budget authority is $27 billion below the maximum allowed in the revised budget resolution, outlays are $18 billion below the allowed maximum, and revenues are $0.1 billion above the allowed minimum. They also show there has been no net change for Social Security.

The third table shows the Senate pay-as-you-go scorecard tallying enacted legislation with significant effects on mandatory spending and revenues. The scorecard shows a savings of $7.8 billion in 2022, $74.8 billion over the 2022-2026 period, and $139.9 billion over the 2022- 2031 period. When compared to the allowable amounts on the PAYGO scorecard last adjusted on March 2, there is a deficit of $668 million on the scorecard for 2022, a deficit of $687 million over the 2022-2026 period, and a surplus of $1.09 billion over the 2022-2031 period.

I ask unanimous consent that the letter and accompanying tables from CBO be printed in the Record.

Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of the Protecting America's First Responders Act. This is an important bill that includes a provision that I have worked on for the last three Congresses to extend the PSOB program to fire police officers.

A dozen States have officers designated by law as fire police, who provide critical support at the scenes of fires, explosions, and serious accidents. They secure the perimeter so that other first responders can do their work safely.

However, because there is no uniform national designation for fire police, the current PSOB program doesn't cover these officers, even if they are killed or seriously injured on the job, which sadly has occurred.

It is only right that they receive the same protection as other public safety officers. This bill eliminates this exclusion and ensures that fire police and their families get the same benefits others do who provide first responder work.

I want to acknowledge the Gales Ferry Fire Department and Ledyard, Connecticut, Fire Chief Anthony Saccone, who has tirelessly advocated for fire police over the last few years. Thanks to their advocacy and engagement and Mr. Pascrell's great support, we will finally send this fix to the President's desk for signature.

Mr. Speaker, I urge passage of the bill.