[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 149 (2003), Part 13]
[House]
[Page 18030]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                   BULLETPROOF VEST PARTNERSHIP GRANT

  (Mr. BURNS asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 
minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. BURNS. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of our Nation's 
police officers. They champion homeland security every day, and quite 
often they stand in the line of fire.
  Between 1992 and 2001, 594 police officers were shot in the line of 
duty. Of those officers, half were not wearing body armor. Their agency 
could not afford it. They were not wearing the bulletproof vest that 
could have saved their lives.
  Thanks to the Bulletproof Vest Partnership Grant program, 700,000 
more officers are wearing life-saving body armor today than just 4 
years ago. This initiative provides police officers an additional 
degree of safety in their job that they deserve. I ask my colleagues to 
cosponsor H.R. 1708 to help us continue this vital program and keep our 
police officers protected as they protect us.

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