Congressional Record, Volume 165 Issue 82 (Thursday, May 16, 2019)

[Congressional Record Volume 165, Number 82 (Thursday, May 16, 2019)]
[Senate]
[Pages S2901-S2903]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

REAUTHORIZING THE BULLETPROOF VEST PARTNERSHIP GRANT PROGRAM

Mr. LEAHY. Mr. President, as in legislative session, I ask unanimous
consent that the Senate proceed to the immediate consideration of H.R.
2379.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will report the bill by title.
The legislative clerk read as follows:

A bill (H.R. 2379) to reauthorize the Bulletproof Vest
Partnership Grant Program.

There being no objection, the Senate proceeded to consider the bill.
Mr. LEAHY. I ask unanimous consent that the bill be considered read a
third time.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
The bill was ordered to a third reading and was read the third time.
Mr. LEAHY. I know of no further debate on the bill.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Is there further debate?
Hearing none, the bill having been read the third time, the question
is, Shall the bill pass?
The bill (H.R. 2379) was passed.
Mr. LEAHY. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the motion to
reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table with no
intervening action or debate.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.

H.R. 2379

Mr. LEAHY. Mr. President, this may seem like just a perfunctory
thing, but I want to speak about what we just did.
The Senate passed legislation to permanently reauthorize the
Bulletproof Vest Partnership Grant Program. This is the sixth time I
have worked to reauthorize this lifesaving program since I and my
Republican partner, Senator Ben Nighthorse Campbell, of Colorado,
authored the legislation to establish it more than 20 years ago.
My role in authoring this program--and my commitment to it ever since
as we have reauthorized it and reauthorized it--was, in part, motivated
by a horrific incident the year before Senator Nighthorse Campbell and
I created it.
On August 19, 1997, a man named Carl Drega went on a killing spree
along the Vermont and New Hampshire border. After hours of pursuit,
Federal, State, and local law enforcement authorities in Vermont and
New Hampshire cornered Drega, and in an ensuing exchange of gunfire, he
was killed.
During the shoot-out, all of the Federal law enforcement officers
involved were wearing bulletproof vests. This includes John Pfeifer, a
Vermonter and a

[[Page S2902]]

longtime friend. His father was one of my favorite professors in
college, and I remember John as a child. He was seriously wounded. In
fact, at that time, then-FBI Director Louis Freeh and his family were
staying with us at our home in Vermont.
We visited Officer Pfeifer, who was a U.S. Border Patrol agent, in
the hospital. He was grievously wounded, but he survived and later
became the Chief Patrol Agent of the sector. I have always feared--and
I believe he agrees--that had it not been for his bulletproof vest, the
outcome for John and his family may have been much worse.
Some of the state and local officers involved were not that
fortunate. Two New Hampshire state troopers were killed. They were not
wearing bulletproof vests. I don't know whether vests would have saved
their lives. Let us hope they would have.
One thing I do know is that no officer should have to serve without
having the benefit of wearing a bulletproof vest. That is what this is
all about. I am immensely proud of this program. It is the most
tangible support that all of us in Congress--both parties--can provide
to our Nation's law enforcement officers.
To this day, for far too many jurisdictions, especially rural and
smaller agencies, vests cost too much, and they wear out too soon. This
program fills in the gap. It has provided more than 13,000 law
enforcement agencies with 1.35 million vests. It has saved the lives of
countless officers, several of whom have shared their stories with the
Judiciary Committee, here in the Senate, during previous years. In
fact, according to the Government Accountability Office, more than
3,000 officers' lives have been saved by vests since 1987. It makes me
very proud to know these officers can still be with their families and
their departments.
Just yesterday, my office received a call from the Union City Police
Department in Georgia. Last month, one of its officers, Jerome Turner,
Jr.--shown in this photograph--was shot multiple times when he
responded to a call. One round hit him directly in the chest, but it
did not get through his bulletproof vest. When backup arrived, Officer
Turner was lying on the ground from his other injuries. He went through
6 hours of surgery, but he lived. His department called yesterday to
tell me that the vest that saved his life was purchased through this
program. Everybody in my office and I just applauded at that news.
My staff also had a chance to talk with Officer Turner. He is still
recovering, but he said he is happy to be home with his family--his
family he might never have seen again. He also said what we all know to
be true--the Bulletproof Vest Partnership Grant Program is critical to
ensuring officers around the country can return home to their families
after their shifts.
Officer Turner knows a lot about this program. It turns out that he
previously served as the chief of police in a small town in Florida,
which is the Presiding Officer's State. He used this program to outfit
his officers with protective vests in order to keep his officers safe
while they were protecting us.
This week is National Police Week. It is a time for the Nation to
honor the many brave men and women in law enforcement who have lost
their lives while having served their communities. That includes the
163 officers who were lost last year--52 of them killed by gunfire. The
fact that Congress has now passed legislation to permanently
reauthorize this program places real meaning behind our words of
tribute. The legislation also increases the funding for vests as, year
after year, only a fraction of the need is met.
This program is not now, and never has been, partisan. When we
started, I said that I and Ben Nighthorse Campbell, of Colorado--a
Republican--started it. I am especially grateful to Senator Lindsey
Graham for being the lead cosponsor of both this and the last
reauthorization.
Last week, our bill was being considered by the Judiciary Committee.
I have to admit I was a bit surprised and very humbled when Chairman
Graham called up an amendment to name the program after me and when it
then got a unanimous vote from Republicans and Democrats. I am always
going to be thankful, for the program is personal to me, and it is
personal, certainly, to the officers who wear these vests.
I thank my many staff who have worked on this program for 22 years,
including Dave Pendle, Erica Chabot, Ed Pagano, Bruce Cohen, Matt
Virkstis, Kristine Lucius, Chan Park, David Carle, Jessica Berry, and
many others.
I am also thankful to the entire law enforcement community, which has
spoken with a single voice on this issue--a single voice. In particular
I would like to thank Chuck Canterbury, Jim Pasco, and Tim Richardson
with the Fraternal Order of Police--all friends of mine. The FOP has
strongly supported this program from the beginning, and has been there
for each of the six reauthorizations.
I would also like to thank for their support the International
Association of Chiefs of Police, the National Association of Police
Organizations, the National Sheriffs' Association, the Major County
Sheriffs' Association, the Major Cities Chiefs Association, the Federal
Law Enforcement Officers Association, the National Tactical Officers
Association, and the Sergeants Benevolent Association, Last, I would
like to thank the sponsors of the House companion which the Senate just
passed, Congressmen Bill Pascrell and Peter King.
Without this legislation, the Bulletproof Vest Partnership Grant
Program would expire next year. Once this legislation is signed into
law, it will never expire. It has already saved the lives of so many,
and placed vests on the backs of well over one million officers. Now we
know that millions more officers will be protected, and millions of
officers like Officer Turner will be able to go home to their families.
I wonder if the Senate would allow me to tell a story.
When we were doing the reauthorization, I had asked a police officer
from Pennsylvania to come and testify. He came. His parents, his wife,
and his children sat behind him. He gave very moving testimony. He said
the two most important things to him in life were his family and law
enforcement. He told us about how, a short while before, he stopped a
car at a routine traffic stop. He got out of his police car, and the
person in the other car stepped out and fired four shots at him--point
blank. He fell over. Others caught the person.
He said: As I was falling, I thought I would never see my family
again. I had a couple of cracked ribs. They came to visit me in the
hospital. I went back home with them to their love and care. Then I
went back to work. This is what saved me.
He reached under the table and held up a bulletproof vest, and you
could still see three large caliber slugs embedded in it.
He said: Those would have been in my heart. I never would have seen
my family, and I never would have gone back to law enforcement.
At that time, I was the chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee.
After his testimony, I asked if we could have a unanimous vote to
reauthorize. It was the fastest unanimous vote I can remember in that
committee.
As I said then and as I say now, this is the least Congress can do on
behalf of our Nation's law enforcement officers. Obviously, I am proud
to have had the legislation named after me, but I am proud of all of
the Senators over the last 20-plus years--Republicans and Democrats--
who have supported it. I am glad we have done it. Now it will head to
the President for his signature, and I am sure the President will sign
it without delay.
I see nobody else who seeks recognition.
I suggest the absence of a quorum.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will call the roll.
The legislative clerk proceeded to call the roll.
Ms. WARREN. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order for
the quorum call be rescinded.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.

Vote on Vitter Nomination

The PRESIDING OFFICER. The question is, Will the Senate advise and
consent to the Vitter nomination?
Ms. WARREN. Mr. President, I ask for the yeas and nays.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Is there a sufficient second?
There appears to be a sufficient second.

[[Page S2903]]

The clerk will call the roll.
The bill clerk called the roll.
Mr. DURBIN. I announce that the Senator from New Jersey (Mr. Booker),
the Senator from New York (Mrs. Gillibrand), and the Senator from
California (Ms. Harris) are necessarily absent.
The PRESIDING OFFICER (Mrs. Fischer). Are there any other Senators in
the Chamber desiring to vote?
The result was announced--yeas 52, nays 45, as follows:

[Rollcall Vote No. 114 Ex.]

YEAS--52

Alexander
Barrasso
Blackburn
Blunt
Boozman
Braun
Burr
Capito
Cassidy
Cornyn
Cotton
Cramer
Crapo
Cruz
Daines
Enzi
Ernst
Fischer
Gardner
Graham
Grassley
Hawley
Hoeven
Hyde-Smith
Inhofe
Isakson
Johnson
Kennedy
Lankford
Lee
McConnell
McSally
Moran
Murkowski
Paul
Perdue
Portman
Risch
Roberts
Romney
Rounds
Rubio
Sasse
Scott (FL)
Scott (SC)
Shelby
Sullivan
Thune
Tillis
Toomey
Wicker
Young

NAYS--45

Baldwin
Bennet
Blumenthal
Brown
Cantwell
Cardin
Carper
Casey
Collins
Coons
Cortez Masto
Duckworth
Durbin
Feinstein
Hassan
Heinrich
Hirono
Jones
Kaine
King
Klobuchar
Leahy
Manchin
Markey
Menendez
Merkley
Murphy
Murray
Peters
Reed
Rosen
Sanders
Schatz
Schumer
Shaheen
Sinema
Smith
Stabenow
Tester
Udall
Van Hollen
Warner
Warren
Whitehouse
Wyden

NOT VOTING--3

Booker
Gillibrand
Harris
The nomination was confirmed.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Under the previous order, the motion to
reconsider is considered made and laid upon the table, and the
President will be immediately notified of the Senate's action.

Vote on Bulatao Nomination

The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will report the next nomination.
The senior assistant legislative clerk read the nomination of Brian
J. Bulatao, of Texas, to be an Under Secretary of State (Management).
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The question is, Will the Senate advise and
consent to the Bulatao nomination?
Mr. BARRASSO. I ask for the yeas and nays.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Is there a sufficient second?
There appears to be a sufficient second.
The clerk will call the roll.
The senior assistant legislative clerk called the roll.
Mr. DURBIN. I announce that the Senator from New Jersey (Mr. Booker),
the Senator from New York (Mrs. Gillibrand), and the Senator from
California (Ms. Harris) are necessarily absent.
The PRESIDING OFFICER (Mr. Young). Are there any other Senators in
the Chamber desiring to vote?
The result was announced--yeas 92, nays 5, as follows:

[Rollcall Vote No. 115 Ex.]

YEAS--92

Alexander
Baldwin
Barrasso
Bennet
Blackburn
Blunt
Boozman
Braun
Brown
Burr
Cantwell
Capito
Cardin
Carper
Casey
Cassidy
Collins
Coons
Cornyn
Cortez Masto
Cotton
Cramer
Crapo
Cruz
Daines
Duckworth
Durbin
Enzi
Ernst
Feinstein
Fischer
Gardner
Graham
Grassley
Hassan
Hawley
Heinrich
Hoeven
Hyde-Smith
Inhofe
Isakson
Johnson
Jones
Kaine
Kennedy
King
Klobuchar
Lankford
Leahy
Lee
Manchin
McConnell
McSally
Menendez
Merkley
Moran
Murkowski
Murphy
Murray
Paul
Perdue
Peters
Portman
Reed
Risch
Roberts
Romney
Rosen
Rounds
Rubio
Sasse
Schatz
Schumer
Scott (FL)
Scott (SC)
Shaheen
Shelby
Sinema
Smith
Stabenow
Sullivan
Tester
Thune
Tillis
Toomey
Udall
Van Hollen
Warner
Whitehouse
Wicker
Wyden
Young

NAYS--5

Blumenthal
Hirono
Markey
Sanders
Warren

NOT VOTING--3

____________________