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.

February 26, 2003

Mr. ETHERIDGE (for himself, Mr. WELDON of Pennsylvania, Mr. HOYER, Mr. OXLEY, Mr. MCHUGH, Mr. SPRATT, Mr. DEUTSCH, Mrs. MCCARTHY of New York, Mr. SMITH of Michigan, Mr. EMANUEL, Mr. WALSH, Ms. WATSON, Mr. MCINTYRE, Mr. QUINN, Ms. CARSON of Indiana, Mr. WILSON of South Carolina, Mr. KIND, Mr. ACEVEDO-VILA, Mr. SERRANO, Ms. KILPATRICK, Mr. HINCHEY, Mr. MARKEY, Ms. NORTON, Ms. KAPTUR, Mr. SANDLIN, Mr. SHIMKUS, Mr. FRANK of Massachusetts, Mr. WATT, Mrs. MALONEY, Mr. LOBIONDO, Mr. JEFFERSON, Mr. GREEN of Texas, Mr. FROST, Mr. PRICE of North Carolina, Mr. DEFAZIO, Mr. LUCAS of Kentucky, Mr. BOSWELL, Mr. CRANE, Mr. ALLEN, Mr. WEXLER, Mr. TURNER of Texas, Mr. BELL, Mr. UDALL of Colorado, Mr. MCNULTY, Mr. ACKERMAN, Mr. LAMPSON, Ms. HOOLEY of Oregon, Ms. BALDWIN, Mr. WU, Mr. PALLONE, Mr. BALLANCE, and Mr. MILLER of North Carolina) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary

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'.

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 new subsection:

`(k) For purposes of this section, if a public safety officer dies as the direct and proximate result of a heart attack or stroke suffered while on duty or within 24 hours after participating in a training exercise or responding to an emergency situation, that officer shall be presumed to have died as the direct and proximate result of a personal injury sustained in the line of duty.'.

SEC. 3. APPLICABILITY.

Subsection (k) of section 1201 of such Act (as added by section 2) shall apply to deaths occurring on or after January 1, 2002.

END