[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 154 (2008), Part 16]
[House]
[Pages 21792-21794]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




             BULLETPROOF VEST PARTNERSHIP GRANT ACT OF 2008

  Mr. CONYERS. Madam Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the 
bill (H.R. 6045) to amend title I of the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe 
Streets Act of 1968 to extend the authorization of the Bulletproof Vest 
Partnership Grant Program through fiscal year 2012.
  The Clerk read the title of the bill.
  The text of the bill is as follows:

                               H.R. 6045

       Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of 
     the United States of America in Congress assembled,

     SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

       This Act may be cited as the ``Bulletproof Vest Partnership 
     Grant Act of 2008''.

     SEC. 2. EXTENSION OF AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS FOR 
                   BULLETPROOF VEST PARTNERSHIP GRANT PROGRAM.

       Section 1001(a)(23) of title I of the Omnibus Crime Control 
     and Safe Streets Act of 1968 (42 U.S.C. 3793(a)(23)) is 
     amended by striking ``2009'' and inserting ``2012''.

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from 
Michigan (Mr. Conyers) and the gentleman from Utah (Mr. Cannon) each 
will control 20 minutes.
  The Chair recognizes the gentleman from Michigan.


                             General Leave

  Mr. CONYERS. Madam Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members 
have 5 days to revise and extend their remarks and include extraneous 
material.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the 
gentleman from Michigan?
  There was no objection.
  Mr. CONYERS. Madam Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may 
consume.
  Members of the House, I rise to commend the gentleman from Indiana, 
Peter Visclosky, for helping us provide more bulletproof vests to 
policemen. It's kind of amazing that we need to pass a law to get more 
bulletproof vests for policemen.
  More than 800,000 police officers put their lives at risk daily to 
protect our

[[Page 21793]]

community. Many of them are protected by bullet-resistant armor, but an 
alarming number of officers are not afforded this protection because of 
local budget constraints. So this bill created by the gentleman from 
Indiana tries to take care of this problem.
  The Bulletproof Vest Partnership Grant Program was established back 
in 1998 to assist State and local law enforcement agencies in securing 
protective equipment necessary to safeguard the lives of officers. And 
the program administered by the Department of Justice provides up to 
half of the matching grants--50 percent of the matching grants for the 
purchase of protective vests. Since then, the program has enabled 
thousands of jurisdictions across our Nation to purchase more than 1.5 
million such vests.
  It's estimated 3,000 law enforcement officers have survived shootings 
in part due to their bulletproof vest. In recognition of its vital role 
in the protection of these officers, the Bulletproof Vest Program has 
been extended, and it's set to expire at the end of fiscal year 2009 
unless we extend it again.
  Here we reauthorize the program for an additional 3 years so that to 
help more of our law enforcement officers, and I doubt if there's a 
Member in this House that isn't in full support of this measure.
  I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. CANNON. Madam Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
  On Tuesday, the life of an Alexandria, Virginia, police officer was 
spared because he was wearing a bulletproof vest when he was shot in 
the chest. The officer was shot during a traffic stop on Interstate 395 
just outside of Washington, DC, by a man who later took his own life. 
Fortunately, the officer is expected to make a full recovery.
  There are more than 900,000 State and local law enforcement officers 
who risk their lives every day to keep our community safe, yet we often 
lose sight of how quickly something as routine as a traffic stop can 
turn deadly for a police officer. Each year approximately 16,000 State 
and local officers are injured in the line of duty. In 2007, for 
instance, 55 police officers were killed by firearms in the line of 
duty.
  Thankfully, many police officers and sheriff's deputies are saved 
each year by bulletproof vests. The Bulletproof Vest Partnership was 
created by the Bulletproof Vest Partnership Grant Act of 1998 as a 
Department of Justice program to provide funding for bulletproof vests 
and other body armor to State and local law enforcement.

                              {time}  1115

  Since 1999, 40,000 State and local governments have participated in 
the Bulletproof Vest Program. The program, administered by the Office 
of Justice Programs, has awarded Federal grants to support the purchase 
of an estimated 1.5 million vests, including over 800 vests to law 
enforcement agencies in my home State of Utah, making my police and 
many police around the country safer.
  H.R. 6045 reauthorizes the Bulletproof Vest Partnership Grant Program 
through fiscal year 2012. This legislation enjoys broad bipartisan 
support and endorsements from a number of law enforcement 
organizations, including the Fraternal Order of Police.
  It is important that we reauthorize this simple and effective program 
to protect our men and women in law enforcement. I urge my colleagues 
to support this bill.
  I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. CONYERS. Madam Speaker, I yield to the gentleman from Indiana 
(Mr. Visclosky) as much time as he may consume.
  Mr. VISCLOSKY. I appreciate the chairman yielding very much.
  Madam Speaker, I rise today in strong support of H.R. 6045, the 
Bulletproof Vest Partnership Grant Act of 2008. I am a very proud 
sponsor of this legislation.
  At the outset, I want to express my heartfelt gratification and 
thanks to my friend, the gentleman from New Jersey (Mr. LoBiondo) for 
his lead in cosponsorship of H.R. 6045. Mr. LoBiondo and I have been 
partners in this endeavor since 1997.
  I would also like to thank the Committee on the Judiciary chairman, 
Mr. Conyers, as well as Mr. Cannon, Ranking Member Lamar Smith, 
chairman of the subcommittee Bobby Scott, and subcommittee Ranking 
Member Louie Gohmert for their strong support and efforts on behalf of 
this important legislation.
  Finally, I would like to thank the 170 bipartisan cosponsors of this 
measure and the law enforcement organizations that have expressed their 
strong support.
  If I could take a step back, the Bulletproof Vest Partnership Grant 
Act was introduced in November 1997 after meeting with Northwest 
Indiana chiefs of police and hearing that many gang members and drug 
dealers had the protection of bulletproof vests, while many police 
officers did not. I was even more troubled to learn the reason why so 
many officers do not have access to bulletproof vests. It was because 
they are prohibitively expensive. A good vest can cost in excess of 
$500. Many small departments, as well as larger ones, simply cannot 
afford to purchase vests for all of their officers, a fact that 
sometimes forces officers to purchase their own.
  Our original legislation was signed into law by President Clinton in 
June of 1998, and as you know, the purpose of the act is to protect the 
lives of law enforcement officers by helping State and local government 
equip them with bulletproof vests. Bulletproof vests and body armor 
have saved thousands of lives since the introduction of the modern 
material; however, they cannot protect the lives of those who do not 
have access to them.
  The Fraternal Order of Police have stated that ``body armor is one of 
the most important pieces of equipment an officer can have and often 
mean the difference between life and death.''
  The grant program has directly benefited every State and territory of 
the United States, and this critical program provides State and local 
and tribal law enforcement officers with needed protection by aiding 
the purchase of protective equipment.
  In closing, I again want to thank my good friend Mr. LoBiondo for his 
strong leadership and work on this measure over the years and the 
police officers who risk their lives for us every day, all of us. They 
are the mothers and fathers, and they are the sons and daughters. It is 
our obligation to the officers and their families to give them access 
to the equipment that will safeguard their life.
  Madam Speaker, I ask my colleagues for their strong support of this 
measure.
  Mr. CANNON. Madam Speaker, I yield for so much time as he may consume 
to the gentleman from New Jersey (Mr. LoBiondo).
  Mr. LoBIONDO. Madam Speaker, to my colleague Mr. Cannon, thank you 
very much.
  I would also like to particularly thank Mr. Visclosky. In 1997 when 
we first started talking about this, there was a dramatic and very sad 
incident that took place in my district, the Second Congressional 
District of New Jersey, and I believe that Mr. Visclosky had a similar 
situation in his district.
  Through the 1990s, a variety of groups had been sort of cobbling 
together the ability to buy vests for officers by selling doughnuts and 
for cake sales and a number of different ways because they understood 
the need, but there wasn't a resource to be able to do this. 
Unfortunately, in 1996, at a State prison in my district, Officer Fred 
Baker, a corrections officer who was on duty, who was not wearing a 
vest, was stabbed in the back by an inmate and that stab was fatal.
  We can only speculate what the fate would have been of Officer Baker 
if he had a vest on. I happen to believe that he would be alive today. 
And when I got back from that break at home, I got together with Mr. 
Visclosky, and we embarked upon this road to convince our colleagues of 
the importance of this program.
  You've heard the statistics, 40,000 jurisdictions, 1.5 million vests, 
and people ask, Well, why is it important to keep doing this? Once 
you've done a vest, why isn't that enough? Well, they have a shelf 
life. When you put a vest

[[Page 21794]]

to an officer, it doesn't last forever. The technology increases and 
they wear out.
  This is a critically important program. At a time when all of America 
wonders whether what's happening in Washington really works on Main 
Street and in the real world, this is a program that we can point to 
with absolute certainty that has conclusive, positive benefit. It saves 
the lives of our police officers.
  This is something that works. This is something that Main Street 
understands. This is something that law enforcement understands, and 
this is one of those programs where we can do the right thing and 
continue it.
  When an officer is sworn in and receives their badge and their gun, 
they should be receiving a vest. All across America people get up every 
morning and don't expect to have a problem, but if that problem occurs 
and they need that thin blue line, they expect our law enforcement to 
respond as quickly as they can, and part of that response for law 
enforcement ought to be the protection that a vest provides. It's the 
least that we can do.
  I strongly support this bill. I thank Mr. Visclosky, I thank Mr. 
Conyers, I thank Mr. Smith of Texas, and all those who are responsible 
for having this move to the floor today.
  Mr. CONYERS. We yield back our time.
  Mr. CANNON of Utah. Madam Speaker, I wanted to just thank Mr. 
Visclosky and also Mr. LoBiondo who suffered tragic losses and resulted 
in very important protection for my police and police around the 
country.
  Ms. LORETTA T. SANCHEZ of California. Madam Speaker, I rise in 
support of H.R. 6045, the Bulletproof Vest Partnership Grant Act of 
2008.
  Bulletproof vests and body armor have saved thousands of law 
enforcement officers since the introduction and improvement of 
bulletproof material.
  The Bulletproof Vest Partnership Grant Program provides our brave law 
enforcement officers with the vital equipment they need to save lives 
in the line of fire.
  This grant program was created in 1999 by the Department of Justice 
to provide protection to state, local and tribal law enforcement 
officers by assisting officers in purchasing the protective equipment 
they need.
  Since its inception, the grant program has purchased more than 1.5 
million bulletproof vests for over 40,000 jurisdictions in the United 
States. In 2007 alone, the program provided $28.6 million to state and 
local law enforcement agencies across America and purchased over 
180,000 new bulletproof vests.
  In my district, this grant program has awarded more than $45,000 to 
law enforcement officials in the cities of Anaheim and Santa Ana. As a 
result, these cities were able to purchase more than 400 vests for 
their officers.
  I am pleased that the House of Representatives is acting to 
reauthorize the Bulletproof Vest Partnership Grant Program for another 
three years.
  Brave law enforcement officers risk their lives on a daily basis to 
protect our communities, and this grant program ensures that their 
communities can help protect them.
  Mr. UDALL of Colorado. Madam Speaker, as a proud cosponsor of this 
bill I urge its approval by the House.
  The bill will extend through fiscal year 2012 the highly successful 
grant program for armor vests for law enforcement officers.
  The program was originally established in 1998 through enactment of 
legislation sponsored by Colorado's Senator Ben Nighthorse Campbell. 
Since then, over 11,900 jurisdictions have participated in the program, 
with $173 million in Federal funds committed to support the purchase of 
an estimated 450,000 vests.
  For example, in fiscal year 2007, 60 separate jurisdictions in 
Colorado received more than $352,000 to assist with the purchase of 
1,883 vests.
  And while of course the most vests were purchased by the largest law 
enforcement agencies--570 by the city and county of Denver, 344 by the 
State of Colorado, 131 by Adams County and 45 by EI Paso County--the 
program also assisted many smaller agencies as well, including those in 
Hinsdale County, Moffat County, Federal Heights, Glenwood Springs, and 
Durango.
  Police officers from across our State have told me the program has 
been a great success, improving the safety and security of American law 
enforcement officers and better enabling them to do their job. And 
while President Bush's budgets have repeatedly neglected to request the 
full funding authorized for the program, Congress has stepped up and 
recognized its importance and appropriated the funds needed to keep it 
strong.
  Bulletproof vests are expensive but essential. No officer should be 
without one and they should be basic equipment made available to 
officers when we ask them to perform dangerous jobs. If we can afford 
to pay for training and equipment for Iraqi police--and we indeed are 
paying for that--I think we can afford to help pay for bulletproof 
vests for the officers who protect Americans here at home.
  So, Madam Speaker, I urge approval of this bill, to renew and extend 
the authorization for this very important program.
  Mr. CANNON. I yield back the balance of my time.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The question is on the motion offered by the 
gentleman from Michigan (Mr. Conyers) that the House suspend the rules 
and pass the bill, H.R. 6045.
  The question was taken.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. In the opinion of the Chair, two-thirds 
being in the affirmative, the ayes have it.
  Mr. CANNON. Madam Speaker, I object to the vote on the ground that a 
quorum is not present and make the point of order that a quorum is not 
present.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to clause 8 of rule XX and the 
Chair's prior announcement, further proceedings on this motion will be 
postponed.
  The point of no quorum is considered withdrawn.

                          ____________________