Statements on Introduced Bills and Joint Resolutions

Floor Speech

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

Mr. REED. Mr. President, today I am reintroducing the Equity in Law Enforcement Act to extend Federal benefits to law enforcement officers who serve private institutions of higher education and rail carriers. This legislation would make these individuals eligible for the same benefits provided to public law enforcement officers, including line-of-duty death benefits under the Public Safety Officers' Benefits Program and bulletproof vest partnership grants through the Department of Justice.

The Public Safety Officers Benefits, PSOB, Act of 1976 was enacted to aid in the recruitment and retention of law enforcement officers and firefighters by providing a one-time financial benefit to the eligible survivors of public safety officers whose deaths are the direct result of traumatic injury sustained in the line of duty.

The same risks also apply to officers protecting our private universities and railways. However, the PSOB Act does not include these officers, even though they enforce the law. These brave individuals, who protect our college and university campuses and railways every day and receive similar training to their government counterparts, are thus excluded from receiving the line-of-duty federal death benefits available to law enforcement officers serving units of State and local governments.

Over the last 50 years, 35 college or university law enforcement officers have lost their lives in the line of duty, according to the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial Fund. The names of these officers, including Patrol Officer Joseph Francis Doyle who was killed in the line of duty at Brown University in 1988, as well as the railway officers who have been killed in the line of duty are inscribed on the memorial.

A recent name on the memorial is Patrol Officer Sean Collier. We recently marked the first anniversary of the bombing at the Boston Marathon, an act of terror that tragically killed three and injured over 260 others. Three days later, during the manhunt for the attackers, the perpetrators shot and killed Officer Collier of the MIT Police Department on the university's campus. Officer Collier was not only bravely serving the students and faculty of MIT last April. He was also serving the city of Boston, working with others in the law enforcement community to keep the city and our Nation safe during an exceptionally tense and difficult time. However, since he was employed by a private university, Officer Collier was not eligible for line-of-duty death benefits. To honor Officer Collier's service and sacrifice, this bill would be retroactive to April 15, 2013, the day of the Boston bombings.

I am pleased that Senators Ayotte, Leahy, Markey, and Whitehouse have joined me in introducing this legislation, which would ensure that officers who give their full measure and their families are eligible for the benefits associated with law enforcement work, and that they have access to the protective equipment they need.

The bill would only apply to officers who are sworn, licensed or certified to enforce the law within their jurisdiction, and is supported by the National Association of Police Organizations and the International Association of Campus Law Enforcement Administrators.

I urge our colleagues to join us in cosponsoring and passing the Equity in Law Enforcement Act.

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