Washington Watch: Legislative Update

For the Week of 19 February 2018

I.     Legislative News and Activity  

II.   This Week in Congress

III.  Update on Top Legislative Priorities 

IV.  FOP News and Press Release: Continued Attacks on Law Enforcement

V.    Support the National FOP PAC

VI.  Follow the FOP on Twitter! 

 

I.    LEGISLATIVE NEWS AND ACTIVITYSenior Advisor to the National President, Jim Pasco:

  • Spoke with Thomas E. Brandon, Acting Director of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF), regarding bump stocks, assault weapons and gang issues;
  • Spoke with Steve H. Cook, Associate Deputy Attorney General regarding machine guns, assault weapons, and school safety;
  • Spoke with Danielle Cutrona, Counsel to U.S. Attorney General Jefferson B. Sessions III, regarding Florida shooting and law enforcement vacancies;
  • Spoke with Jennifer L. Korn, Special Assistant to the President, regarding Florida school shooting, school safety and upcoming Police Week.

Senior Legislative Liaison Tim Richardson and Legislative Liaison Michael Martin:

  • Met with staff in the office of Representative John R. Carter (R-TX) to discuss FOP legislative priorities;
  • Met with staff in the office of Majority Leader Kevin O. McCarthy (R-CA) to discuss FOP legislative priorities;
  • Met with staff in the office of Senator Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) to discuss legislation to make it a Federal offense to target law enforcement officers for violence;
  • Met with staff in the office of Representative Harold W. Gowdy III (R-SC) to discuss FOP legislative priorities;
  • Met with staff in the office of Senator Patrick J. Leahy (D-VT) to discuss legislation to make it a Federal offense to target law enforcement officers for violence.

Senior Legislative Liaison Richardson met with Jim Bugel, Vice President AT&T Public Safety Solutions, and other members of the AT&T FirstNet team to discuss outreach strategy to FOP members.

Legislative Liaison Martin met with staff in the office of Rep. Douglas A. Collins (R-GA) to discuss FOP legislative priorities.

 

II.  THIS WEEK IN CONGRESS

Congress was not in session this week in observance of Presidents’ day.

 

III.    UPDATE ON TOP LEGISLATIVE PRIORITIESFor the complete list of cosponsors for all of our top legislative priorities, or to find out if your Representative and Senators are cosponsors of specific bills, check out https://www.congress.gov/

A.  Support H.R. 1205/S. 915, the “Social Security Fairness Act”We have 174 co-sponsors on H.R. 1205.We have 20 co-sponsors on S. 915.

B.  Support the H.R. 964/S. 424, the “Law Enforcement Officers’ Equity Act”We have 34 co-sponsors on H.R. 964.We have 6 co-sponsors on H.R. S 424.

C. Support H.R. 4846, the “Public Safety Employer-Employee Cooperation Act”We have 10 co-sponsors on H.R. 4846.

 

IV. FOP News and Press Release: Continued Attacks on Law Enforcement

 

 Statement from National President Canterbury on the Continued Attacks on Law Enforcement Officers

 Chuck Canterbury, National President of the Fraternal Order of Police, expressed outrage at the continued epidemic of attacks on law enforcement officers–including the murders of officers in Alabama and Maryland within the last 24 hours.

 “We are 52 days into 2018 and already 44 law enforcement officers have been shot in the line of duty, of whom 14 were fatally wounded. This is an astronomical increase from this time last year when 28 officers were shot in the line of duty and 6 were killed,” said Canterbury. “That is over a 117% increase in officers killed from gunfire last year. Enough is enough! Our brothers and sisters in law enforcement took an oath to protect and serve, but this should not make them targets of violence.”

In 2016, 253 law enforcement officers were shot in the line of duty, but that number increased to 271 law enforcement officers in 2017. The law enforcement profession is on pace to surpass those catastrophic numbers this year.

“The number of officers being shot in the line of duty remains on the rise and yet some politicians sit idly by and do nothing for our law enforcement officers except pose for pictures when it is politically expedient to do so,” continued Canterbury. “It is time we stand up and do something to protect those who risk it all to protect us every single day.”

The Fraternal Order of Police is the largest law enforcement labor organization in the United States with more than 335,000 members.

V. Support the National FOP PAC

It is crucial to our political agenda we keep our PAC competitive with other organizations.

If you want more information on the PAC or want to sign up for a $5.00 monthly recurring contribution, please email  or call (202)547-8189.

 

VI.  Follow the FOP on Twitter!Sign up today for the latest news from Capitol Hill:  https://twitter.com/GLFOP