Senate Passes Two Law Enforcement Bills, Others Stopped Amid Fight Among Democrats
Legislation to protect law enforcement advanced in the Senate but five other bills were tanked amid a political squabble between Democrats.
The Senate passed two pieces of legislation with unanimous consent, the Chief Herbert D. Proffitt Act (S.911) and the Improving Police CARE Act (S.1595).
The Proffitt Act would ensure that families of retired law enforcement officers who are murdered because of their work are not unjustly denied benefits. It is named after Tompkinsville, Kentucky Police Chief Herbert Proffitt, who was murdered after he retired by a suspect he arrested a decade earlier.
“Even though his murder was a direct retaliation for his service in uniform, Chief Proffitt’s family was denied the benefits they deserved simply because he had already retired,” said Senator Catherine Cortez Masto (D-NV), one of the sponsors. “To me, that is unacceptable. And I know my colleagues on both sides of the aisle agree.”
The Improving Police CARE Act would equip officers with quality trauma kits so they can respond immediately if a civilian or fellow officer experiences a traumatic injury during a call. Specifically, it allows law enforcement to purchase Stop the Bleed kits and other supplies from the Edward J. Byrne Memorial Justice Assistance Grant Program.
Senator Booker Stops Five Other Bills
While these two bills passed with unanimous consent, Senator Cory Booker (D-NJ) blocked five other bills from passage.
Senator Booker called his fellow Democrats Senators Cotez Masto and Senator Amy Klobuchar (MN) “complicit” in advancing President Trump’s agenda by passing police-related legislation at a time when the White House is “politicizing funding.”
"That is complicity with an authoritarian leader who is trashing our Constitution. It's time for Democrats to have a backbone. It's time for us to fight. It's time for us to draw a line,” said Senator Booker.
But Senators Cotez Masto and Klobuchar fired back, noting that Senator Booker didn’t show up to Judiciary Committee markups on the bills and voted to pass them out of committee.
“One of the things I don't understand here, is that we have committees for a reason and we have hearings for a reason, and you can't do one thing on Police Week and not show up and not object and let these bills go through and then say another a few weeks later in a big speech on the floor," said Senator Klobuchar.
The bills that failed to advance include legislation to provide law enforcement with training and tools to handle dangerous substances, legislation to help law enforcement officers with mental health issues, legislation to incentivize police recruits to work in areas they live, legislation to help retired officers return to duty, and legislation to reauthorize and modernize the Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force Program.