[Congressional Record Volume 157, Number 42 (Monday, March 28, 2011)]
[Senate]
[Pages S1898-S1899]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

      By Mr. CARDIN (for himself, Mr. Graham, Mr. Leahy, Ms. Klobuchar, 
        Mr. Coons, and Mr. Whitehouse):
  S. 657. A bill to encourage, enhance, and integrate Blue Alert plans 
throughout the United States in order

[[Page S1899]]

to disseminate information when a law enforcement officer is seriously 
injured or killed in the line of duty; to the Committee on the 
Judiciary.
  Mr. CARDIN. Mr. President, I take this time to inform my colleagues 
of legislation I have introduced today to establish a national Blue 
Alert Act. This would establish a nationwide program for blue alert. It 
would be similar to what we do for AMBER alert today. With AMBER alert, 
when children are abducted, we use that communication system nationwide 
to get information out about the abductor so we can get the public 
assisting law enforcement in apprehending the individuals responsible 
for the abduction of a child. My legislation would establish a similar 
system of disseminating information when a police officer has been 
murdered or severely injured as a result of a violent attack. This bill 
would help in keeping law enforcement safer by removing these 
individuals who have committed these horrible crimes from the streets 
sooner and holding them accountable for their acts.
  Every day 900,000 law enforcement officers go out in our communities 
to keep us safe. They are the frontline for public safety. They put 
their lives on the line. Our communities are much safer as a result of 
their actions, so we want to do everything we can to help our law 
enforcement officers. In recent years, too many have lost their lives 
in the line of duty. We need to do something about that.
  In Prince George's County, MD, today I joined with law enforcement 
officers at the FOP Lodge 89 to talk about this legislation. There is a 
fallen heroes memorial located at that FOP lodge to honor law 
enforcement officers in Prince George's County who gave their lives in 
the line of duty. Unfortunately, there are 26 individuals honored at 
that memorial. They have lost their lives since 1937. The 
Superintendent of State Police was also there, and we recalled State 
trooper Wesley Brown who died in June of last year in Forestville at 
the age of 24 serving his community. I mention Trooper Brown 
specifically because as a result of Trooper Brown's death, Governor 
O'Malley took executive action to establish a blue alert system in the 
State. We now have nine other States that have joined Maryland--10 
States altogether--in establishing their own blue alert programs so we 
can assist in the capture of those who murder or seriously injure law 
enforcement officers.
  We need to use technology the best we can to help those who are 
serving our communities. My legislation would make that program 
nationwide. I am proud we have bipartisan cosponsors in Senators 
Graham, Leahy, Klobuchar, and Coons. It complements the work being done 
by Attorney General Holder in his Law Enforcement Officer Safety 
Initiative. The purpose here is try to keep our law enforcement 
officers safer and keep the community safer. We think both will be 
achieved by using a blue alert system nationwide.
  I am also pleased to say it has the endorsement of the Fraternal 
Order of Police and the Concern of Police Survivors, COPS. I urge all 
colleagues to join me in supporting this legislation. I hope we can get 
it enacted shortly. This can help in living up to our commitment to 
those who serve us.

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