Washington, DC - Patrick Yoes, National President of the Fraternal Order of Police, applauded news that the Senate adopted S. Amdt. 3272, the “Law Enforcement and Crime Victims Support Package,” by voice vote and included it in S. 2296, the “National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) for Fiscal Year 2026.”
“The FOP pushed hard to make sure this amendment, which is a package of eight bills, all of which were favorably reported by the Judiciary Committee on unanimous votes, was included in the final version of the NDAA,” Yoes said.
The amendment, S. Amdt. 3272, contains the text of the following legislation:
• the “Protecting First Responders from Secondary Exposure Act,” which would allow State and local governments to purchase containment devices through the existing Comprehensive Opioid, Stimulant, and Substance Abuse Program (COSSAP);
• the “PROTECT Our Children Reauthorization Act,” which would update and reauthorize the Internet Crimes Against Children (ICAC) Task Force Program that helps State and local law enforcement agencies combat online child exploitation and abuse;
• the “Strong Communities Act,” which would establish a grant program for local law enforcement agencies to assist in recruiting officers from their own community;
• the “Reauthorizing Support and Treatment for Officers in Crisis (STOIC) Act,” which would reauthorize programs for law enforcement family support services, suicide prevention programs, and mental health services for law enforcement officers;
• the “Chief Herbert D. Proffitt Act,” which would amend the Public Officers’ Benefits (PSOB) program to include retired public safety officers who are injured or killed in a targeted attack;
• the “Honoring Our Fallen Heroes Act,” which would categorize duty-related cancer fatalities as a line-of-duty death under the Public Safety Officers’ Benefits (PSOB) program;
• the “Retired Law Enforcement Officers Continuing Service Act,” which would establish a grant program to support State and local agencies in leveraging the expertise of retired officers for tasks like assisting with investigations, forensic analysis, and reviewing camera footage; and
• the “Improving Police Critical Aid for Responding to Emergencies (CARE) Act,” which would expand the existing U.S. Department of Justice’s Edward Byrne Memorial Justice Assistance Grant (Byrne-JAG) program to allow for the purchase of trauma kits.
“This bipartisan amendment was offered by Senators Charles E. Grassley (R-IA) and Richard J. Durbin (D-IL), Chairman and Ranking Member of the Committee on the Judiciary, respectively,” Yoes said. “We are grateful to them for their leadership and are especially grateful to Senator Klobuchar, the sponsor of the ‘Honoring Our Fallen Heroes Act.’”
After adopting the amendment, the Senate considered and passed S. 2296 on a 77-20 vote. The bill will now be referred to a bicameral conference committee which will reconcile the House-passed bill, H.R. 3838, the “Streamlining Procurement for Effective Execution and Delivery (SPEED) and National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2026,” and Senate passed legislation, S. 2296.
The FOP will be closely monitoring the “Honoring Our Fallen Heroes Act” provision when the bills go to conference. The expansion of the PSOB program has some cost associated with it, which may be an issue for members of the House majority.