S. 459 Text
12-1-03
Became Public Law No: 108-182
One Hundred Eighth Congress
of the
United States of America
AT THE FIRST SESSION
Begun and held at the City of Washington on Tuesday,
the seventh day of January, two thousand and three
An Act
To ensure that a public safety officer who suffers a fatal heart
attack or stroke while on duty shall be presumed to have died in the line
of duty for purposes of public safety officer survivor benefits.
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 `Hometown Heroes Survivors Benefits Act of 2003'.
SEC. 2. FATAL HEART ATTACK OR STROKE ON DUTY PRESUMED TO BE DEATH IN LINE
OF DUTY FOR PURPOSES OF PUBLIC SAFETY OFFICER SURVIVOR BENEFITS.
Section 1201 of the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968 (42
U.S.C. 3796) is amended by adding at the end the following:
`(k) For purposes of this section, if a public safety officer dies as the
direct and proximate result of a heart attack or stroke, that officer shall
be presumed to have died as the direct and proximate result of a personal
injury sustained in the line of duty, if--
`(1) that officer, while on duty--
`(A) engaged in a situation, and such engagement involved nonroutine stressful
or strenuous physical law enforcement, fire suppression, rescue, hazardous
material response, emergency medical services, prison security, disaster
relief, or other emergency response activity; or
`(B) participated in a training exercise, and such participation involved
nonroutine stressful or strenuous physical activity;
`(2) that officer died as a result of a heart attack or stroke suffered--
`(A) while engaging or participating as described under paragraph (1);
`(B) while still on that duty after so engaging or participating; or
`(C) not later than 24 hours after so engaging or participating; and
`(3) such presumption is not overcome by competent medical evidence to the
contrary.
`(l) For purposes of subsection (k), `nonroutine stressful or strenuous physical'
excludes actions of a clerical, administrative, or nonmanual nature.'.
Speaker of the House of Representatives.
Vice President of the United States and
President of the Senate.
END
