Washington Watch: Legislative Update

For the Week of 5 March 2018

I.     Legislative News and Activity  

II.   This Week in Congress

III.  Update on Top Legislative Priorities 

IV.   Support the National FOP PAC

V.    Follow the FOP on Twitter! 

 

I.    LEGISLATIVE NEWS AND ACTIVITY

National President Chuck Canterbury and Senior Advisor to the National President Jim Pasco met with U.S. Attorney General Jefferson B. Sessions III regarding school safety.

Senior Advisor Pasco:

  • Spoke with Jennifer L. Korn, Special Assistant to the President, regarding school safety;
  • Spoke with Steve H. Cook, Associate Deputy Attorney General, regarding sanctuary cities and FOP priorities.

Senior Legislative Liaison Tim Richardson represented the FOP at the quarterly stakeholder’s meeting at the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) hosted by Steve H. Cook, Associate Deputy Attorney General. Other DOJ participants included Alan Hanson, Acting Assistant Attorney General and Principle Deputy Assistant Attorney General for the Office of Justice Program; Jon Adler, Director of the Bureau of Justice Assistance (BJA) within OJP; Corey Ellis, Director of the Asset Forfeiture Accountability in the Office of the Deputy Attorney General; and Russell Washington, Acting Director of the Office of Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS).

Senior Legislative Liaison Richardson and Legislative Liaison Michael Martin:

  • Met with staff in the office of Senator Patrick J. Toomey (R-PA) to discuss FOP priorities;
  • Met with staff in the office of Minority Leader Charles E. Schumer (D-NY) to discuss FOP priorities;
  • Met with staff in the offices of Representatives David G. Reichert (R-WA) and William J. Pascrell, Jr. (D-NJ), co-chairmen of the House Law Enforcement Caucus, to discuss FOP priorities. Representative Pascrell briefly joined the meeting to discuss funding for the Office of Community Oriented Policing (COPS);
  • Met with staff in the offices of Senators Roy D. Blunt (R-MO) and Christopher A. Coons (D-DE), co-chairmen of the Senate Law Enforcement Caucus, to discuss FOP priorities;
  • Met with staff in the office of Speaker Paul D. Ryan (R-WI) to discuss FOP priorities;
  • Met with staff in the office of Majority Leader A. Mitch McConnell (R-KY) to discuss FOP priorities;
  • Participated in a conference call with staff in the offices of Senators Amy J. Klobuchar (D-MN) and Lisa A. Murkowski (R-AK) to discuss proposed legislation on a clean Office of Community Oriented Policing (COPS) office reauthorization.

II.  THIS WEEK IN CONGRESSAction in the HouseThe House considered and passed H.R. 4768, the “National Strategy for Combating the Financing of Transnational Criminal Organizations Act,” by voice vote. The FOP supported this legislation, which now goes to the Senate for further consideration.

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 176 cosponsors on H.R. 1205.One additional lawmaker has cosponsored S. 915, bringing the total to 21.

B.  Support the H.R. 964/S. 424, the “Law Enforcement Officers’ Equity Act”We have 37 cosponsors on H.R. 964.We have 6 cosponsors on S. 424.

C. Support H.R. 4846, the “Public Safety Employer-Employee Cooperation Act”Seven additional lawmakers have cosponsored H.R. 4846, bringing the total to 23.

IV. Support the National FOP PACIt 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.

 

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