Legislative Supported by the FOP in the 109th Congress

• H.R. 13 (Kennedy, R-MN), the "Clean, Learn, Educate, Abolish, Neutralize, and Undermine Production (CLEANUP) of Methamphetamines Act," authorizes additional funding to increase training for State and local law enforcement in, and to cover the costs of complying with Federal regulations governing, the cleanup and disposal of meth labs; improve services for drug-endangered children; and expand the Methamphetamine/Drug Hot Spots program to include personnel and equipment for enforcement, prosecution, and lab cleanup;
• H.R. 94 (Gillmor, R-OH), the "Fallen Law Enforcement Officers and Firefighters Flag Memorial Act," would provide the families of law enforcement officers and firefighters killed in the line of duty with a flag that has been flown over the U.S. Capitol;
• H.R. 104 (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;
• H.R. 147 (McKeon, R-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. 314 (Blunt, R-MO), the "Combat Meth Act," would provide additional funds to train State and local law enforcement in the investigation of methamphetamine offenses, expand the Methamphetamine/Drug Hot Spots program to include personnel and equipment for enforcement, prosecution, and lab clean up, establish grant programs for services to drug endangered children, and limit access to pseudoephedrine, the primary ingredient in meth production;
• H.R. 354 (Ramstad, R-MN), the "State and Local Law Enforcement Officers' Discipline, Accountability, and Due Process Act," would protect the due process rights of officers during internal investigations;
• PASSED!!! H.R. 418/PL 109-013 (Sensenbrenner, R-WI), the "REAL ID Act," which establishes standards that States must meet in order for their driver's licenses and identification cards to be accepted as valid by Federal agencies;
• H.R. 556 (King, R-NY), would amend the Federal Law Enforcement Pay Reform Act of 1990 to increase local pay adjustments for Federal law enforcement officers, include the U.S. Capitol Police within the definition of "law enforcement officer" for locality pay purposes, and eliminate the limitation on the "premium pay" Federal law enforcement officers can receive;
• H.R. 798 (Gordon, D-TN), the "Methamphetamine Remediation Research Act of 2005," legislation to establish a research program to develop voluntary guidelines for the remediation of former methamphetamine labs, enhance the research on the residual effects of meth labs on first responders and others, and support research into new methamphetamine detection technologies and the development of field test kits;
• H.R. 960 (Platts, R-PA), the "Federal Law Enforcement Pension Adjustment Equity Act," would permit annuitants of the U.S. Park Police and U.S. Secret Service Uniformed Division to receive adjustments in pension benefits to which they would otherwise be entitled as a result of the transfer of active officers to a new pay scale under the Law Enforcement Pay Equity Act of 2000;
• H.R. 970 (Schiff, D-CA), the "Gang Prevention and Effective Deterrence Act," is a comprehensive, national approach to the problem of gang violence which would provide Federal funding to support joint Federal, State and local law enforcement efforts to combat violent gangs and amend the Federal criminal code to define new offenses which will enable law enforcement to fight gangs and gang-related activity more effectively;
• PASSED!!! H.R. 972/PL 109-164 (Smith, R-NJ), the "Trafficking Victims Protection Reauthorization Act," which extends the sexually violent offender registration program to foreign offenses, enhances efforts to combat human trafficking and authorizes the U.S. Attorney General to make grants to States and local law enforcement agencies for programs to investigate and prosecute domestic trafficking in persons;
• H.R. 1002 (Filner, D-CA), the "Law Enforcement Officers' Equity Act," would amend the definition of law enforcement officer under Title 5, USC, to include Federal police officers and others under the "6(c)" retirement provisions of Chapters 83 and 84;
• H.R. 1122 (Rogers, R-MI), the "Safe Intersections Act of 2005," would criminalize the unauthorized sale or use of traffic signal preemption devices;
• H.R. 1249 (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. 1279 (Forbes, R-VA), the "Gang Deterrence and Community Protection Act," aims to reduce criminal gang activity by providing for increased assistance in certain designated "high intensity interstate gang activity areas" to build multijurisdictional efforts targeting criminal street gangs using Federal funds;
• H.R. 1528 (Sensenbrenner, R-WI), the "Defending America's Most Vulnerable: Safe Access to Drug Treatment and Child Protection Act," would increase the mandatory minimum sentences for drug distribution to persons under 21 years of age and for persons who maintain drug involved premises affecting children, and also provide for life imprisonment for drug felons and violent criminals convicted a third time for such an offense;
• H.R. 1544 (Cox, R-CA), the "Faster and Smarter Funding for First Responders Act," would reform the current formula and require the Department of Homeland Security to allocate all grant funds based on risk;
• H.R. 1710 (Weiner, D-NY), the "Internet Police Protection Act," would create a new Federal criminal offense prohibiting persons from making available on the Internet restricted personal information concerning judges, law enforcement and other public safety officers, jurors, witnesses or other officers in any United States Court;
• H.R. 1714, (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;
• H.R. 1751, (Gohmert, R-TX), the "Secure Access to Justice and Court Protection Act," which would increase the penalties for threats and violence against law enforcement officers, judges, and courtroom personnel, including the application of the death penalty, and also impose time limits and substantive limits on Federal courts' review of habeas corpus petitions challenging a State court conviction for killing a law enforcement officer, judge, or other public safety officer;
• H.R. 1758 (Andrews, D-NJ), the "Open Air Drug Market Penalty Act," would amend the Controlled Substances Act to provide an additional five years imprisonment for knowingly committing a Federal drug offense within 500 feet of the place where any similar offense was committed in the preceding 48 hours;
• H.R. 2177, (Chocola, R-IN), the "Healthcare Enhancement for Local Public Safety (HELPS) Retirees Act," would provide a modest tax benefit to help retired public safety officers afford health insurance by allowing the use, on a pretax basis, of up to $5,000 annually from their pension funds (including defined benefit plans and defined contribution plans) to pay for premiums on health care and longterm care insurance;
• H.R. 2363 (Dreier, R-CA), the "Peace Officer Justice Act," would make the murder of a law enforcement officer and subsequent flight to a foreign nation a Federal crime punishable by death or life imprisonment;
• H.R. 2830 (Boehner, R-OH), the "Pension Protection Act," is a comprehensive pension reform bill which includes the text of H.R. 2177, the "Healthcare Enhancement for Local Public Safety (HELPS) Retirees Act";
• PASSED!!! H.R. 2862/PL 109-108 (Wolf, R-VA), the "Science, State, Justice, Commerce, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act," provides funding for the U.S. Department of Justice and its programs assisting State and local law enforcement;
• H.R. 2942 (Graves, R-MO), the "Sexual Predator Sentencing Act," would raise the mandatory minimum sentences for first-time sex offenders and increase the penalty for criminals convicted of a second sexual offense to life;
• PASSED!!! H.R. 3057/PL 109-102 (Kolbe, R-AZ), the "Foreign Operations, Export Financing, and Related Programs Appropriations Act," provides funding for the U.S. Department of State and for foreign operations, and a provision that would withhold foreign aid from any nation which refuses to honor its extradition treaty with the United States;
• H.R. 3199 (Sensenbrenner, R-WI), the "USA PATRIOT and Terrorism Prevention Reauthorization Act," would reauthorize the expiring provisions of the USA PATRIOT Act;
• H.R. 3889 (Sounder, R-IN), the "Methamphetamine Epidemic Elimination Act," which would increase the criminal penalties for the trafficking, possession, and production of methamphetamines, enable the U.S. Attorney General to establish domestic production and import quotas for precursor chemicals, reduce the per-transaction sales limit on methamphetamine precursors, and provide resources to law enforcement to help prevent the smuggling of methamphetamines into the U.S. through Mexico;
• H.R. 4411 (Leach, R-IA), the "Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act," which would require financial transaction providers to block and refuse transactions associated with illegal gambling and direct the Secretary of the Treasury to issue guidelines for financial transaction providers that would identify and prevent these restricted transactions and prevent them;
• H.R. 4424 (Stupak, D-MI), which would make family members of public safety officers killed in the line of duty eligible for coverage under the Federal employees health benefits program (the F.O.P. is seeking to amend this legislation to include this eligibility to any retired officer who is no longer covered by his former agency);
• H.R. 4709 (Smith, R-TX), the "Law Enforcement and Phone Privacy Protection Act," would prohibit the sale or transfer of phone records without consumer authorization and impose an additional penalty if the sale or transfer is used in a crime of domestic violence or against a law enforcement officer or his family;
• H.R. 5013 (Jindal, R-LA), the "Disaster Recovery Personal Protection Act," would prohibit the use of any Federal funds from being used to seize firearms during a major disaster or emergency, except under circumstances currently applicable under Federal or State law;
• H. Con. Res. 85 (Filner, D-CA), a resolution expressing the sense of Congress that a postage stamp should be issued to honor law enforcement officers killed in the line of duty;
• H. Con. Res. 407 (Fitzpatrick, R-PA), a resolution formally condemning the action of St.-Denis, France, which named a street in honor of the murderer of Philadelphia Police Officer Danny Faulkner;
• H.J.Res. 10 (Cunningham, R-CA), would amend the Constitution to give Congress the power to prohibit the physical desecration of the flag of the United States;
• S. 21 (Collins, R-ME), the "Homeland Security Grant Enhancement Act," which would reauthorize the Law Enforcement Terrorism Prevention Program (LETPP) at a greater level of funding;
• S. 103 (Talent, R-MO), the "Combat Meth Act," would provide additional funds to train State and local law enforcement in the investigation of methamphetamine offenses, expand the Methamphetamine/Drug Hot Spots program to include personnel and equipment for enforcement, prosecution, and lab clean up, establish grant programs for services to drug endangered children, and limit access to pseudoephedrine, the primary ingredient in meth production;
• S. 155 (Feinstein, D-CA), the "Gang Prevention and Effective Deterrence Act," is a comprehensive, national approach to the problem of gang violence which would provide Federal funding to support joint Federal, State and local law enforcement efforts to combat violent gangs and amend the Federal criminal code to define new offenses which will enable law enforcement to fight gangs and gang-related activity more effectively;
• S. 344 (DeWine, R-OH), legislation to link together the offenses and sentencing enhancements under Federal law for criminals who sell drugs to individuals under the age of 21, who sell or manufacture drugs in or near schools and colleges, or who employ children under 18 years of age in drug operations;
• S. 513 (Gregg, R-NH), 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;
• S. 564 (DeWine, R-OH), the "Safe Intersections Act of 2005," would criminalize the unauthorized sale or use of traffic signal preemption devices;
• S. 619 (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. 718 (Biden, D-DE), the "State and Local Law Enforcement Officers' Discipline, Accountability, and Due Process Act," would protect the due process rights of officers during internal investigations;
• S. 866, (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. 945 (Biden, D-DE), the "PROTECTION Act," would reauthorize the successful COPS program through 2011 to hire and retain police officers, pay overtime and reimburse officers pursuing college and advance degrees to enhance their job skills as well as providing Federal money for new technology;
• S. 1605 (Kyl, R-AZ), the "Law Enforcement Officers' Protection Act," would increase the penalties, including death, for threats and violence against law enforcement officers, judges, and courtroom personnel, impose time and other substantive limits on Federal courts' review of habeas corpus petitions challenging a State court conviction for killing a law enforcement officer, judge, or other public safety officer, limit the amount of damages that a criminal defendant could recover as a result of injuries that the criminal incurred in the course of committing or being apprehended for a felony or a crime of violence, and address implementation difficulties of the Law Enforcement Officers' Safety Act, by slightly modifying the documentary requirements for "qualified retired law enforcement officers";
• S. 1783 (Grassley, R-IA), the "Pension Security and Transparency Act," is a comprehensive pension reform bill which includes a provision to eliminate the ten percent (10%) early withdrawal penalty from a governmental defined benefit plan for public safety officers;
• S. 3652 (Mikulski, D-MD), the "Law Enforcement Officers' Equity Act," would amend the definition of law enforcement officer under Title 5, USC, to include Federal police officers and others under the "6(c)" retirement provisions of Chapters 83 and 84;
• S. 3653 (Mikulski, D-MD), the "Federal Law Enforcement Pension Adjustment Equity Act," would permit annuitants of the U.S. Park Police and U.S. Secret Service Uniformed Division to receive adjustments in pension benefits to which they would otherwise be entitled as a result of the transfer of active officers to a new pay scale under the Law Enforcement Pay Equity Act of 2000;
• S. Con. Res. 102 (Santorum, R-PA), a resolution formally condemning the action of St.-Denis, France, which named a street in honor of the murderer of Philadelphia Police Officer Danny Faulkner;
• Legislation which will provide a Federal death penalty for criminals convicted of murdering a local or State police officer;
• Legislation entitled the "Veterans' Affairs Police Reform Act," to include VA Police as law enforcement officers eligible under CSRS, to grant VA officers the authority to carry firearms on duty, to create an Undersecretary for VA Police, and to make eligible VA Police for survivor's death benefit/annuity options;
• Legislation which will provide continued funding for Regional Information Sharing Systems (RISS) projects;
• 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;
• Legislation to exempt retired law enforcement officers from all Federal, State, and local taxes on their retirement income, regardless of their place of residence; and
• Legislation entitled the "Federal Law Enforcement Protection Act" to address the concerns of the more than 70,000 Federal uniformed law enforcement officers.