Legislation Supported by the National Fraternal Order of Police

• PASSED!!! H.R. 1/PL 111-5 (Obey, D-WI), the "American Recovery and Reinvestment Act," specifically the funding for State and local law enforcement programs;
• H.R. 18 (Bartlett, R-MD), the "Powder Crack Cocaine Penalty Equalization Act," would eliminate the disparity in sentencing between crack and powder cocaine offenses by changing the applicable amounts for powder cocaine to those currently applicable to crack cocaine;
• TOP PRIORITY H.R. 235 (Berman, D-CA), the "Social Security Fairness Act," would repeal both the "Windfall Elimination Provision" and the "Government Pension Offset" in current Social Security law;
• H.R. 248 (Green, D-TX), the "Law Enforcement Officers Flag Memorial Act," would provide the families of deceased law enforcement officers with a flag that has been flown over the U.S. Capitol;
• TOP PRIORITY H.R. 413 (Kildee, D-MI), the "Public Safety Employer-Employee Cooperation Act," would recognize the right of law enforcement and other public safety officers to bargain collectively with their employers;
• H.R. 560 (Brady, R-TX), the "Safe Prisons Communications Act," would authorize the director of the Federal Bureau of Prisons or the chief executive officer of a state to petition the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to permit the installation of devices to prevent, jam, or interfere with wireless communications within the geographic boundaries of a specific prison, penitentiary, or correctional facility under his or her jurisdiction;
• H.R. 583 (Lee, D-CA), the "Community Partners Next Door Act," would establish a housing program that would provide a fifty percent (50%) discount for teachers, teacher assistants, administrators, and public safety officers purchasing certain eligible asset properties for use as their primary residence, including a $100 downpayment on any related insured mortgage, and a higher Federal Housing Administration (FHA) loan limit for such purchases in high cost areas;
• H.R. 673 (Filner, D CA), the "Law Enforcement Officers Equity Act," would provide 6 (c) benefits to approximately 30,000 Federal law enforcement officers who currently do not have them;
• H.R. 675 (Filner, D-CA), legislation which would grant statutory arrest authority to law enforcement officers employed by the U.S. Department of Defense;
• H.R. 958 (Moran, D-VA), the "Federal Employee Retirement System Sick Leave Equity Act," would allow Federal employees under FERS to be credited for unused sick time;
• H.R. 959 (Murphy, D-PA), the "Officer Danny Faulkner Children of Fallen Heroes Scholarship Act" would provide increased Federal Pell Grants for children whose parent or guardian died as a result of performing duties of a law enforcement or other public safety officer;
• H.R. 1006 (Stupak, D-MI), the "Secondary Metal Theft Prevention Act," would require secondary metal recycling agents to keep records of their transactions in order to deter individuals and enterprises engaged in the theft and interstate sale of stolen secondary metal;
• PASSED!!! H.R. 1105 (Obey, D-WI), the "Omnibus Appropriations Act, 2009," specifically, the appropriations for the U.S. Department of Justice and its State and local law enforcement assistance programs;
• H.R. 1139 (Weiner, D-NY), the "COPS Improvement Act," would provide full funding for the Office of Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS) and the programs it administers;
• H.R. 1221 (Brady, R-TX), the "Public Servant Retirement Protection Act," would repeal the Windfall Elimination Provision (WEP) and replace it with a more equitable, individualized calculation of Social Security benefits;
• TOP PRIORITY H.R. 1972 (Stupak, D-MI), the "Law Enforcement Officers' Procedural Bill of Rights Act," would protect the due process rights of officers during internal investigations;
• H.R. 2064 (King, R-NY), the "See Something, Say Something Act," would expand the current immunity from liability to cover all persons who report suspicious activity to authorities, not just suspicious activity which occurs on Federal property or transportation systems;
• PASSED!!! H.R. 2647 (Skelton, D-MO), the "National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2010," which contained a provision that prohibits the expansion of and eventually repeals the National Security Personnel System (NSPS);
• H.R. 2923 (Gordon, D-TN), the "Combat Methamphetamine Enhancement Act," will strengthen Federal law by improving the self-certification process for retail sales of ephedrine and pseudoephedrine;
• H.R. 3695 (Murphy, D-CT), the "Help Find the Missing Act," would authorize the National Missing Persons and Unidentified Persons System (NamUs) at the U.S. Department fo Justice and connect it wth the Crime Information Center maintained by the Federal; Bureau of Investigation;
• PASSED!!! H.R. 3288 (Olver, D-MA), the "Consolidated FY2010 Appropriations Act," specifically, the appropriations for the U.S. Department of Justice and its State and local law enforcement assistance programs;
• H.R. 4466 (Latta, R-OH), legislation amending the Hatch Act to allow local and State law enforcement officers to be candidates for the office of Sheriff and permit Sheriffs to engage in political activity;
• H.J.Res. 8 (Emerson, R-MO), would amend the Constitution to give Congress the power to prohibit the physical desecration of the flag of the United States;
• S. 132 (Feinstein, D-CA), the "Gang Abatement and Prevention Act," is a comprehensive, national approach to the problem of gang violence which would establish a High Intensity Interstate Gang Activity Area (HIIGAA) program to facilitate greater cooperation between local, State and Federal law enforcement in identifying, targeting, and eliminating violent gangs in areas where gang activity is particularly prevalent and define new offenses which will enable law enforcement to fight gangs and gang-related activity more effectively;
• S. 167 (Kohl, D-WI), the "COPS Improvement Act," would establish the Office of Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS) as a distinct entity within the U.S. Department of Justice and reauthorize the law enforcement officer hiring program, as well as reauthorizes funds for technology grants and community prosecutors;
• S. 251 (Hutchison, R-TX), the "Safe Prisons Communications Act," would authorize the director of the Federal Bureau of Prisons or the chief executive officer of a state to petition the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to permit the installation of devices to prevent, jam, or interfere with wireless communications within the geographic boundaries of a specific prison, penitentiary, or correctional facility under his or her jurisdiction;
• S. 252 (Akaka, D-HI), the "Veterans Health Care Authorization Act," specifically, Title VII, which would expand the arrest authority of the VA Police Service and increase the uniform allowance for these officers;
• S. 256 (Feinstein, D-CA), the "Combat Methamphetamine Enhancement Act," will strengthen Federal law by improving the self-certification process for retail sales of ephedrine and pseudoephedrine;
• S. 258 (Feinstein, D-CA), the "Saving Kids from Dangerous Drugs Act," would increase penalties on those who tailor market illegal drugs to entice children to purchase them;
• S. 386 (Leahy, D-VT), the "Fraud Enforcement and Recovery Act," which would strengthen the ability of law enforcement to investigate and prosecute fraudulent activity in connection with bailout and recovery legislation;
• TOP PRIORITY S. 484 (Feinstein, D-CA), the "Social Security Fairness Act," would repeal both the "Windfall Elimination Provision" and the "Government Pension Offset" in current Social Security law;
• S. 490 (Hutchison, R-TX), the "Public Servant Retirement Protection Act," would repeal the Windfall Elimination Provision (WEP) and replace it with a more equitable, individualized calculation of Social Security benefits;
• S. 569 (Levin, D-WI), the "Incorporation Transparency and Law Enforcement Assistance Act," would help law enforcement combat the misuse of U.S. corporations by requiring States to obtain beneficial ownership information for corporations and limited liability companies formed under State law;
• S. 879 (Collins, R-ME), the "See Something, Say Something Act," would expand the current immunity from liability to cover all persons who report suspicious activity to authorities, not just suspicious activity which occurs on Federal property or transportation systems;
• S. 1039 (Kerry, D-MA), the "Protect Those Who Serve Act," which would authorize up to $500 million in grants to States to provide up to eighty percent (80%) of the costs of the renovation, modernization, and construction of law enforcement facilities;
• S. 1132 (Leahy, D-VT), the "Law Enforcement Officers' Safety Act Improvements Act," would improve the provisions related to carriage of concealed firearms by qualified active and retired law enforcement officers;
• S. 1147 (Kohl, D-WI), the "Prevent All Cigarette Trafficking Act," would improve the provisions related to carriage of concealed firearms by qualified active and retired law enforcement officers;
• S. 2885 (Landrieu, D-LA), the "First Responders Support Act," which would amend the Public Safety Officers' Benefits (PSOB) program by increasing the disability benefit, the Public Safety Officers' Educational Assistance benefit, prioritize the handling of all PSOB claims and provide free or reduce cost mental health services and counseling to family members of public safety officers who are severely injured or killed in the line of duty;
• S.J.Res. 2 (Vitter, R-LA), would amend the Constitution to give Congress the power to prohibit the physical desecration of the flag of the United States;
• Legislation to provide Federal law enforcement officers with a rebuttable presumption that a causal connection exists between their occupation and heart, lung, and hypertension disorders;
• Legislation which would protect the personal information of law enforcement officers and their families from public access;

For more information, please feel free to contact the National Legislative Office at (202) 547-8189 or via e-mail.