Washington Watch: Legislative Update
For the Week of June 2, 2008

In This Week's Edition

I. This Week in Congress
II. Update on FOP Top Legislative Priorities
III. Update on LEOSA
IV. FOP NEWS: Congressional Questionnaire Posted
V. Other Legislative News


I. THIS WEEK IN CONGRESS

The House and Senate returned to session this week.

House and Senate negotiators continued to work behind the scenes on H.R. 2642, the "Supplemental Appropriations Act." The Senate-amended version of the bill contains $490 million of Federal funding for law enforcement. The FOP strongly supports the Senate language.

Action in the House

The House considered and passed, H.R. 5972, the "United States Capitol Police Administrative Technical Corrections Act," by voice vote. The bill makes technical amendments to the Legislative Branch Appropriations Act, 2001 with respect to the Chief Administrative Officer of the Capitol Police and establishes a General Counsel to the Chief of Police and the U.S. Capitol Police. The bill would also prohibit lump sum payments to terminated U.S Capitol Police officers or employees for unused compensatory time and authorize the Chief of Police to suspend Capitol Police employees with or without pay.

The House considered and adopted the conference report on S. Con. Res. 70, the 2009 Congressional Budget, on a 214-210 vote.

Action in the Senate

The Senate considered and passed H.R. 6124, the "Food, Conservation, and Energy Act," also known as the "farm bill" on a 77-15 vote. The House passed the bill before the Memorial Day recess, so the measure is now cleared for the President, who is expected to veto it.

The Senate spent much of the week debating S. 3036, the "Lieberman-Warner Climate Security Act," which aims to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. The Senate has a vote on a motion to invoke cloture on a substitute amendment to the bill, which is not expected to pass.

The Senate considered and adopted the conference report on S. Con. Res. 70, the 2009 Congressional Budget, on a 48-45 vote.

II. UPDATE ON FOP TOP LEGISLATIVE PRIORITIES

For 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 http://thomas.loc.gov .

A. SOCIAL SECURITY ISSUES:

(1) Support H.R. 82/S. 206, the "Social Security Fairness Act"

We added three (3) new cosponsors to H.R. 82, bringing our current total to three hundred thirty-seven (337) cosponsors--more than seventy-five percent (75%) of the House--on H.R. 82. Please note that this total differs slightly from THOMAS, as we are not including in our count Delegates Madeleine Z. Bordallo (D-Guam), Donna M. Christensen (D-VI), Luis Fortuno (R-PR), and Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC), who have limited voting rights on the floor. We are also not including Representatives Julia Carson (D-IN), Paul Gillmor (R-OH), Tom Lantos (D-CA), Juanita Millender-McDonald (D-CA), or Charlie Norwood (R-GA), all of whom have died this year. Similarly, Representatives Bobby Jindal (R-LA) and Martin Meehan (D-MA), who resigned their seats, are also not included in our count.

In January, National President Chuck Canterbury sent a letter to the Chairman of the Social Security Subcommittee, Representative Michael R. McNulty (D-NY), urging him to take action on the bill. Chairman McNulty has not yet replied.

That letter can be found here: http://www.fop.net/publications/archives/letters/2008_0108.pdf

We currently have thirty-six (36) cosponsors on the Senate companion bill, S. 206.

The National Legislative Office has identified thirteen (13) Members from ten (10) States which had previously cosponsored this bill in the 109th Congress. A list of these Members has been forwarded to the National Legislative Committee, who will in turn distribute it to the State Legislative Contacts and leaders in the appropriate States.

(2) Opposing any legislation that would require the participation of public employees in Social Security This issue was discussed in both hearings mentioned above. While no legislation has been introduced with a provision that would mandate the inclusion in Social Security of public employees currently not in the system, the FOP included in its testimony to the Subcommittee our strong opposition to such a scheme.

B. Support H.R. 980/S. 2123, the "Public Safety Employer-Employee Cooperation Act"
Senator Harry M. Reid (D-NV), the Majority Leader in the Senate, continues to keep our legislation as a pending item for the Senate floor. At this writing, the staff of Senators Judd Gregg (R-NH), the bill sponsor, and Edward M. Kennedy (D-MA), the Chairman of the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) and lead cosponsor of H.R. 980, are working with the staff of Senators Mitch McConnell (R-KY), the Minority Leader, and Mike Enzi (R-WY), the Ranking Member on the HELP Committee to get an agreement to resume debate on the measure.

Senator Enzi is a staunch opponent of the bill, and, in the absence of Senator Kennedy, negotiations have gone slowly. It is important that our members stay in contact with their Senators on the issue--especially the cosponsors and those who voted for cloture on 13 May! All Senate Democrats, as well as independent Senators Lieberman (ID-CT) and Sanders (I-VT) voted in favor of the cloture motion, as did the following Republicans (cosponsors of the Senate companion bill, S. 2123, are marked with an asterisk):

Chambliss (GA) McConnell (KY)
Coleman (MN)* Murkowski (AK)*
Collins (ME)* Smith (OR)*
Domenici (NM)* Snowe (ME)*
Grassley (IA) Specter (PA)*
Gregg (NH)* Stevens (AK)*
Hagel (NE) Sununu (NH)*
Hatch (UT) Thune (SD)
Martinez (FL)* Voinovich (OH)

All F.O.P. members should call their Senators (ESPECIALLY those listed above) at their Washington offices, or through the U.S. Capitol Switchboard at 202-224-3121, and thank them for their vote in favor of cloture and ask that they continue to work to get this bill passed on the Senate floor."

When con tacting your Senators, we encourage you to refer to the FOP's Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) document:

http://www.fop.net/legislative/issues/bargain/hr980faq.pdf

Our members should know that the International Association of Chiefs of Police (IACP) and the National Sheriffs' Association (NSA), remain very active in working to build and maintain opposition to this bill. Administration officials have now issued two separate veto threats. National President Canterbury sent a letter to Senate leadership in which he addressed some of the arguments being made by these and other opponents to the bill, which can be found here: http://www.fop.net/publications/archives/letters/2008_0509.pdf

The U.S. House of Representatives has already considered and passed H.R. 980 under a suspension of the rules on a 314-97 vote in July of last year. The result of that vote, Roll Call #633, can be viewed here: http://clerk.house.gov/evs/2007/roll633.xml

In addition, we added one (1) cosponsor, Senator Whitehouse (D-RI), to the Senate companion bill, S. 2123. This brings our total to thirty-six (36) cosponsors.

C. Support H.R. 688/S. 449, the "State and Local Law Enforcement Officers' Discipline, Accountability, and Due Process Act"

We added four (4) new cosponsors to H.R. 688, bringing our current total to fifty-six (56). Please note that this total differs slightly from THOMAS, as we are not including Representative Jo Ann Davis (R-VA), who recently died.

We currently have six (6) cosponsors on S. 449.

III. UPDATE ON LEGISLATION AMENDING LEOSA

We currently have fourteen (14) cosponsors on H.R. 2726. The bill was the subject of a hearing before the House Subcommittee on Crime, Terrorism, and Homeland Security in early September. The testimony offered at that hearing by National Treasurer Tom Penoza can be found on the FOP website.

The Senate bill, S. 376, which was favorably reported by the Committee on the Judiciary in May, has nine (9) cosponsors.

The language in S. 376 and H.R. 2726 would improve certain provisions of the Law Enforcement Officers' Safety Act (LEOSA), especially with respect to retired law enforcement officers. The legislation would also make clear that law enforcement officers employed by the Amtrak Police Department and the executive branch of the Federal Government who are classified as a GS-0083 meet the definition of "qualified law enforcement officer" in the LEOSA. The Senate 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.

IV. FOP NEWS:
Model Congressional Questionnaire Posted on Website A model questionnaire for use by State and local Lodges to aid them in evaluating candidates for Congress has been posted on the main page of the Grand Lodge website. The questions are drawn from issues being lobbied by the Grand Lodge on Capitol Hill.

You can find it here: http://www.fop.net/legislative/congquest08.pdf

It is particularly important for the State and local Lodges to endorse candidates who support our top priority items and oppose those candidates who do not. The success of the National Legislative Program depends on having an active grassroots base and on electing lawmakers who support our pro-law enforcement agenda.

V. OTHER LEGISLATIVE ACTIVITY
Executive Director Jim Pasco met with Dr. David W. Hagy, Director of the National Institute of Justice (NIJ), to discuss the FOP's concerns with the draft standard for law enforcement personal protective equipment (LE-PPE) recently released by the NIJ's Special Technical Committee.

Executive Director Pasco also had conversations with representatives of both the Obama and McCain campaigns to brief them on the FOP endorsement procedure and to schedule a follow-up meeting with the presidential candidates.

Senior Legislative Liaison Tim Richardson participated in a conference call with staff from the offices of Senators Gregg and Kennedy, as well as other stakeholder groups, regarding the floor activity on H.R. 980.

Senior Legislative Liaison Richardson met with staff from the House Committee on Armed Services to discuss legislation that would clarify the arrest authority of civilian law enforcement officers employed by the U.S. Department of Defense.

Senior Legislative Liaison Richardson hosted a conference call with the FOP's Working Group on LE-PPE.

Senior Legislative Liaison Richardson and Legislative Liaison Tom Curtin met with Bobby Vas ser, chief counsel to Representative Robert C. Scott (D-VA), chairman of the House Subcommittee on Crime, Terrorism and Homeland Security, to discuss H.R. 5674, legislation that would require the Federal Bureau of Prisons to provide secure storage areas for employees authorized to carry a firearm.