Dear Mr. Chairman and Senator Reed,
I am writing on behalf of the members of the Fraternal Order of Police to ask that the Senate Committee on Armed Services accept S. Amdt. 3272, the “Law Enforcement and Crime Victims Support Package,” and include it in S. 2296, the “National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2026.” This bipartisan amendment has been 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. The amendment includes eight bills, all of which were favorably reported by the Judiciary Committee on unanimous votes, and two of which cleared the Senate by unanimous consent.
The FOP strongly supports S. Amdt. 3272, which 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,” 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,” 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.
On behalf of the more than 382,000 members of the Fraternal Order of Police, we urge the Committee to incorporate S. Amdt. 3272 into S. 2296 to ensure that this bill package, which has broad bipartisan support in the Judiciary Committee and the Senate, can be considered by the Senate. If I can be of any further assistance or provide additional information about the measures included in this amendment, please do not hesitate to contact me or Executive Director Jim Pasco in our Washington, D.C. office.
Sincerely,
Patrick Yoes
National President