Protecting America's First Responders Act of 2021

Floor Speech

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.

Ms. JACKSON LEE. 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.

Ms. JACKSON LEE.

Ms. JACKSON LEE.

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Mr. BENTZ. 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.

Ms. JACKSON LEE. 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.

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