[Congressional Record Volume 143, Number 6 (Thursday, January 23, 1997)]
[Senate]
[Page S687]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                  AN ISSUE OF LIFE-OR-DEATH IMPORTANCE

 Mr. MOYNIHAN. Mr. President, on Tuesday, January 22, 1997, I 
introduced S. 112, the Law Enforcement Officers Protection Act of 1997. 
One day after its introduction, the Law Enforcement Steering 
Committee--a committee of 10 police associations, representing 500,000 
law enforcement officers nationwide--wrote me to endorse this bill in 
the strongest terms.
  This legislation will require the Treasury Department to work with 
the Justice Department in order to develop uniform ballistics standards 
for testing the capability of ammunition to pierce police body armor. 
This bill will, I hope, mark my final step in a 15-year journey to ban 
all cop-killer bullets in America. In 1986 and 1994, Congress 
recognized the importance of this issue, and we passed bills that 
established a content-based ban on this type of ammunition. But, until 
we ban these bullets based on performance, rather than on their 
physical characteristics, policemen everywhere will remain in extreme 
peril.
  As the Law Enforcement Steering Committee wrote in their letter to 
me, ``This is an issue of life-or-death importance to every law 
enforcement officer in America.'' I have faith that my colleagues will 
once again recognize the crucial nature of this issue and enact S. 112 
early in the 105th Congress.
  I ask that the full text of the Law Enforcement Steering Committee's 
letter be printed in the Record.
  The letter follows:


                           Law Enforcement Steering Committee,

                                 Washington, DC, January 22, 1997.
     Hon. Daniel Patrick Moynihan,
     U.S. Senate,
     Washington, DC.
       Dear Senator Moynihan: On behalf of the Law Enforcement 
     Steering Committee, an organization representing 
     approximately 500,000 law enforcement officers nationwide, we 
     write in strong support of the Law Enforcement Officers 
     Protection Act of 1997, your legislation to require uniform 
     ballistics standards for testing the capability of ammunition 
     to pierce police body armor. This is an issue of life-or-
     death importance to every law enforcement officer in America.
       The existing statutory ban on armor-piercing bullets, which 
     you wrote and successfully shepherded through Congress in 
     1986, and updated in 1993, has worked flawlessly for more 
     than a decade. As you have pointed out, however, new styles 
     of armor-piercing bullets continue to appear, making it 
     impossible for the current content-based ban on ``cop-
     killer'' bullets to remain effective indefinitely. This is 
     why we applaud your efforts to revise the law to ban any new 
     bullets that are determined by a standardized ballistics test 
     to have armor-piercing capability.
       These ``cop-killer'' rounds have no legitimate sporting 
     use, and it is imperative to ensure that criminals do not 
     gain access to them. Now that the Commerce Department's 
     National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) has 
     demonstrated that it is possible to develop a ban based on 
     performance standards, we agree with you that immediate 
     action should be taken to enact such a ban.
       Our members appreciate your continued attention to this 
     issue since 1982, when you first introduced legislation to 
     ban armor-piercing ammunition, and we hope that the Law 
     Enforcement Officers Protection Act of 1997 will be enacted 
     early in the 105th Congress.
           Sincerely,

                                         James A. Rhinebarger,

                            Chairman, National Troopers Coalition,
                                                   Chairman, LESC.


           Members of the Law Enforcement Steering Committee

       Federal Law Enforcement Officers Association, Fraternal 
     Order of Police, International Brotherhood of Police 
     Officers, Major Cities Chiefs, National Association of Police 
     Organizations, National Organization of Black Law Enforcement 
     Executives, National Sheriffs' Association, National Troopers 
     Coalition, Police Executive Research Forum, Police 
     Foundation.

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