The discharge petition for H.R. 82, the Social Security Fairness Act, will be available for signatures on Tuesday, Sept. 10. The discharge petition needs 218 signatures to successfully move the bill to the House floor for a vote and we are working to secure as many signatures on Sept. 10 as possible. Please continue to reach out to your Congressional Representative(s) and request that they sign the discharge petition.

Register now for NAPO’s 2024 Fall Seminar Oct. 20 – 22, 2024 at the Omni Hotel in Corpus Christi, Texas, which will focus on media relations and officer mental health and wellness. 

The House and Senate come back next week after a 6-week August recess with just three weeks to go before the federal government runs out of funding Sept. 30. Congress adjourns again Oct. 1 for another 6-week recess to campaign. It is widely anticipated that Congress will take up and pass a continuing resolution (a short-term spending bill) to fund the government either through December or March of next year. House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) is purportedly considering including the SAVE Act, which requires proof of citizenship to register to vote in a federal election, to a continuing resolution that would fund the government into March 2025. With Democrats and the White House strongly opposing the SAVE Act, the bill will be dead if it passes the House. 

During September, NAPO will be focused on getting our priority amendments included in the Senate NDAA package and working to garner the 218 signatures necessary for the H.R. 82 discharge petition to be successful. There are also several Senate-passed bills that we are pushing House leadership to take up under suspension of the rules so we can finally get them across the finish line: 

• Fighting PTSD Act: Would require the Attorney General to propose a program, based on best practices, for treatment of post-traumatic stress disorder and acute stress disorder available to public safety officers.
• Project Safe Neighborhoods Reauthorization Act: Would reauthorize the Project Safe Neighborhood (PSN) Program for five years and expand the allowable uses of the grant funding to include overtime costs for officers and the hiring of crime analysts and law enforcement assistants to aid agencies participating in the program.
• Strong Communities Act: Would allow for COPS Hiring Program funds to be used to pay for local law enforcement recruits to attend schools or academies if the recruits agree to live in the communities in which they serve.
• American Law Enforcement SAVER Act: Would establish baseline standards for trauma kits purchased through the DOJ’s Byrne JAG Program, helping to ensure all officers have access to effective trauma kits that can save lives.
• Project Safe Childhood Act: Would reauthorize for five years and update the Project Safe Childhood initiative to modernize how online child exploitation crimes are investigated and prosecuted and improve how federal prosecutors and federal, state, and local law enforcement work together and use new technology to go after predators.
• SHIELD Act: Would establish federal criminal liability for individuals who share private, explicit images without consent.

NAPO supports the First Responders Wellness Act (S. 4892), introduced by Senators Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY) and Josh Hawley (R-MO). NAPO worked closely with Senator Gillibrand’s staff in developing this bill, which will help ensure state and local law enforcement have the culturally competent and accessible mental health and wellness services necessary for their well-being and that of their families.

NAPO pledged its support for the bipartisan FIGHTING for America Act, which would help Customs and Border Protection (CBP) stop the flow of illicit goods, including fentanyl, counterfeits, and products made with forced labor, into the country by tightening import requirements for low-value packages within the de minimis environment. 

NAPO is backing two bills to stop the flow of this deadly drug across our borders: the Stop Fentanyl at the Border Act and the Destruction Initiative for Stored Precursors Overseas and Safe Enforcement Act (DISPOSE) Act. The Stop Fentanyl at the Border Act (S. 3591 / H.R. 8992) provides much needed support, resources, and funding to the Southwest border to help federal, state, and local law enforcement fight the trafficking of fentanyl and other illicit drugs into the country. The DISPOSE Act (S. 4152) establishes the Precursor Chemical Destruction Initiative to promote joint counter-drug interdiction efforts with the governments of Columbia, Mexico, and Peru. 

Please click here for the complete Sept. 6, 2024 Washington Report.