[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. ____________________