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| Senate Passes LEOSA Amendments Bill!!! | 05/14/2010 |
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Chuck Canterbury, National President of the Fraternal Order of Police, cheered today's news that the United States Senate passed S. 1132, the "Law Enforcement Officers' Safety Act Improvements Act," by unanimous consent.
"I want to first express my deep appreciation to Chairman Leahy for his commitment to this issue," Canterbury said. "I know he's been trying to move the bill for us since late last year, and his persistence paid off today."
Senator Patrick J. Leahy (D-VT), the Chairman of the Judiciary Committee, is also the sponsor of S. 1132. With the active support of the Judiciary Committee's Ranking Member, Senator Jefferson B. Sessions III, the legislation was favorably reported by that committee in March of this year.
"We're very fortunate to have a champion like Chairman Leahy and strong supporters like Senator Sessions," Canterbury said. "Many of our retired officers are facing significant hurdles because some States have failed to implement the law as intended by Congress; this bill will help them overcome those obstacles."
The bill would improve certain provisions of the Law Enforcement Officers' Safety Act (LEOSA), especially with respect to retired law enforcement officers, and would make clear that law enforcement officers employed by the Amtrak and Federal Reserve Police Departments, as well as those employed by the executive branch of the Federal Government who are classified as a GS-0083 meet the definition of "qualified law enforcement officer" in current law. The bill would also lower the aggregate years of service needed to meet the definition of "qualified retired law enforcement officer" from fifteen (15) to ten (10) and removes confusing language related to that same definition. The bill will now move to the House for further consideration.
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