1 | 1 | | I |
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2 | 2 | | 119THCONGRESS |
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3 | 3 | | 1 |
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4 | 4 | | STSESSION H. R. 309 |
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5 | 5 | | To authorize the Secretary of the Interior to provide funding for the National |
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6 | 6 | | Law Enforcement Museum, and for other purposes. |
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7 | 7 | | IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES |
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8 | 8 | | JANUARY9, 2025 |
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9 | 9 | | Mr. N |
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10 | 10 | | EHLS(for himself, Mr. PANETTA, Mr. STAUBER, Mr. COSTA, Ms. |
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11 | 11 | | B |
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12 | 12 | | ROWNLEY, Mr. LAMALFA, Mr. HIGGINSof Louisiana, Mr. THANEDAR, |
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13 | 13 | | Ms. M |
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14 | 14 | | ACE, Mr. VALADAO, Mr. BABIN, Mr. CISCOMANI, Mr. LAWLER, Mr. |
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15 | 15 | | A |
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16 | 16 | | MODEIof Nevada, Mr. PAPPAS, Mr. KELLYof Pennsylvania, Mr. RYAN, |
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17 | 17 | | Ms. C |
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18 | 18 | | RAIG, Mr. GARBARINO, Mr. WEBERof Texas, Mr. NEGUSE, Mr. |
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19 | 19 | | M |
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20 | 20 | | OOLENAAR, Mr. FITZPATRICK, Ms. TITUS, Mrs. HINSON, Mr. GRAVES, |
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21 | 21 | | Mr. H |
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22 | 22 | | UDSON, Mr. BACON, Mr. LALOTA, Mrs. FISCHBACH, and Mr. |
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23 | 23 | | G |
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24 | 24 | | OTTHEIMER) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the |
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25 | 25 | | Committee on Natural Resources |
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26 | 26 | | A BILL |
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27 | 27 | | To authorize the Secretary of the Interior to provide funding |
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28 | 28 | | for the National Law Enforcement Museum, and for |
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29 | 29 | | other purposes. |
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30 | 30 | | Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-1 |
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31 | 31 | | tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 |
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32 | 32 | | SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3 |
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33 | 33 | | This Act may be cited as the ‘‘National Law Enforce-4 |
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34 | 34 | | ment Officers Remembrance, Support and Community 5 |
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35 | 35 | | Outreach Act.’’ 6 |
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38 | 38 | | •HR 309 IH |
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39 | 39 | | SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 1 |
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40 | 40 | | The Congress finds the following: 2 |
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41 | 41 | | (1) The National Law Enforcement Officers 3 |
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42 | 42 | | Memorial and the National Law Enforcement Mu-4 |
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43 | 43 | | seum in Washington, DC represent the only law en-5 |
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44 | 44 | | forcement campus in the United States and serves 6 |
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45 | 45 | | a critical national mission of honoring and remem-7 |
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46 | 46 | | bering those law enforcement officers who have died 8 |
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47 | 47 | | in the line of duty, educating the public about the 9 |
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48 | 48 | | important role of law enforcement in a democratic 10 |
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49 | 49 | | society and working to reduce the number of line of 11 |
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50 | 50 | | duty deaths and injuries among law enforcement. 12 |
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51 | 51 | | (2) It is in the national interest to ensure that 13 |
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52 | 52 | | the unique education and outreach programs of the 14 |
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53 | 53 | | National Law Enforcement Museum be maintained 15 |
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54 | 54 | | and enhanced. 16 |
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55 | 55 | | (3) In 1984, Congress passed and President 17 |
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56 | 56 | | Ronald Reagan signed into law a joint resolution to 18 |
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57 | 57 | | authorize the Law Enforcement Officers Memorial 19 |
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58 | 58 | | Fund, Inc., to establish a National Law Enforce-20 |
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59 | 59 | | ment Heroes Memorial (Public Law 98–534) in 21 |
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60 | 60 | | Washington, DC. 22 |
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61 | 61 | | (4) Dedicated on October 15, 1991, the Na-23 |
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62 | 62 | | tional Law Enforcement Officers Memorial honors 24 |
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63 | 63 | | Federal, tribal, State, and local law enforcement of-25 |
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64 | 64 | | ficers who have made the ultimate sacrifice for the 26 |
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67 | 67 | | •HR 309 IH |
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68 | 68 | | safety and protection of our Nation and its people. 1 |
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69 | 69 | | The National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial is 2 |
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70 | 70 | | centered in the 400 block of E Street, NW, Wash-3 |
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71 | 71 | | ington, DC and is the nation’s monument to law en-4 |
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72 | 72 | | forcement officers who have died in the line of duty. 5 |
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73 | 73 | | The Memorial was built entirely with private funds. 6 |
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74 | 74 | | (5) In 2000, Congress passed and President 7 |
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75 | 75 | | William J. Clinton signed into law the National Law 8 |
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76 | 76 | | Enforcement Museum Act (Public Law 106–492), 9 |
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77 | 77 | | which authorized the National Law Enforcement Of-10 |
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78 | 78 | | ficers Memorial Fund, Inc. to build and operate the 11 |
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79 | 79 | | National Law Enforcement Museum on Federal land 12 |
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80 | 80 | | in the District of Columbia to honor and commemo-13 |
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81 | 81 | | rate the service and sacrifice of law enforcement offi-14 |
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82 | 82 | | cers in the United States. 15 |
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83 | 83 | | (6) In April 2016, construction began on the 16 |
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84 | 84 | | National Law Enforcement Museum in the District 17 |
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85 | 85 | | of Columbia across the street from the National Law 18 |
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86 | 86 | | Enforcement Officers Memorial in Judiciary Square. 19 |
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87 | 87 | | In October of 2018 the National Law Enforcement 20 |
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88 | 88 | | Museum was completed and formally opened. No 21 |
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89 | 89 | | Federal funds were used to build the Museum. 22 |
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90 | 90 | | (7) The National Law Enforcement Museum’s 23 |
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91 | 91 | | mission is— 24 |
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94 | 94 | | •HR 309 IH |
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95 | 95 | | (A) to honor and commemorate the ex-1 |
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96 | 96 | | traordinary service and sacrifice of America’s 2 |
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97 | 97 | | law enforcement officers; 3 |
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98 | 98 | | (B) to serve as an important bridge be-4 |
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99 | 99 | | tween law enforcement’s past and present, be-5 |
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100 | 100 | | tween the heroes of yesteryear and those who 6 |
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101 | 101 | | have followed in their footsteps, and between 7 |
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102 | 102 | | America’s peace officers and the public they 8 |
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103 | 103 | | serve; and 9 |
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104 | 104 | | (C) to increase public understanding and 10 |
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105 | 105 | | support for law enforcement and to promote 11 |
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106 | 106 | | law enforcement safety. 12 |
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107 | 107 | | (8) The programs of the National Law Enforce-13 |
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108 | 108 | | ment Museum play a critical role in educating the 14 |
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109 | 109 | | public about the vital importance of law enforcement 15 |
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110 | 110 | | in a democratic society, the critical role law enforce-16 |
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111 | 111 | | ment plays in protecting and serving the public, and 17 |
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112 | 112 | | the sacrifices law enforcement officers have made to 18 |
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113 | 113 | | serve in this role. 19 |
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114 | 114 | | (9) The community education and outreach pro-20 |
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115 | 115 | | grams, activities, and special exhibits within the Na-21 |
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116 | 116 | | tional Law Enforcement Museum help bring local 22 |
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117 | 117 | | law enforcement agencies closer to the communities 23 |
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118 | 118 | | they serve, and help to foster a better understanding 24 |
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119 | 119 | | between law enforcement and communities. 25 |
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122 | 122 | | •HR 309 IH |
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123 | 123 | | (10) The National Law Enforcement Museum’s 1 |
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124 | 124 | | Officer Safety and Wellness education and outreach 2 |
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125 | 125 | | programs and activities help provide local, State and 3 |
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126 | 126 | | Federal law enforcement agencies with critical infor-4 |
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127 | 127 | | mation on best practices to reduce the number of 5 |
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128 | 128 | | line of duty deaths and injuries and provide commu-6 |
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129 | 129 | | nities and the public with education concerning the 7 |
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130 | 130 | | sacrifices made. These programs, activities, and spe-8 |
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131 | 131 | | cial exhibits are vitally important at a time when an-9 |
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132 | 132 | | nual line of duty deaths among law enforcement offi-10 |
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133 | 133 | | cers remain at an historically high level. 11 |
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134 | 134 | | (11) Since the establishment in 1991 of the Na-12 |
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135 | 135 | | tional Law Enforcement Officers Memorial, and the 13 |
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136 | 136 | | dedication of the National Law Enforcement Mu-14 |
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137 | 137 | | seum in 2018, the National Law Enforcement Offi-15 |
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138 | 138 | | cers Memorial Fund and the National Law Enforce-16 |
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139 | 139 | | ment Museum have worked cooperatively with local, 17 |
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140 | 140 | | State and Federal law enforcement agencies to prop-18 |
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141 | 141 | | erly honor the sacrifices made by law enforcement, 19 |
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142 | 142 | | and provide key programming to reduce the number 20 |
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143 | 143 | | of law enforcement fatalities and injuries, and foster 21 |
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144 | 144 | | better understanding between law enforcement and 22 |
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145 | 145 | | the communities they serve. 23 |
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146 | 146 | | (12) Law enforcement agencies around the 24 |
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147 | 147 | | country are dedicated to continuous improvement 25 |
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150 | 150 | | •HR 309 IH |
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151 | 151 | | and innovation in officer and community safety, and 1 |
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152 | 152 | | to building trust through community-based engage-2 |
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153 | 153 | | ment and interventions. 3 |
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154 | 154 | | (13) Since 2020, there has been a significant 4 |
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155 | 155 | | increase in the number of law enforcement officers 5 |
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156 | 156 | | resigning or retiring. According to the Police Execu-6 |
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157 | 157 | | tive Research Forum, over the past three years there 7 |
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158 | 158 | | has been an almost 24-percent increase in the num-8 |
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159 | 159 | | ber of law enforcement officers retiring, and more 9 |
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160 | 160 | | than 47-percent increase in the number of law en-10 |
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161 | 161 | | forcement officers resigning. 11 |
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162 | 162 | | (14) A number of law enforcement agencies 12 |
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163 | 163 | | across the country remain under-staffed, and many 13 |
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164 | 164 | | law enforcement agencies have been forced to declare 14 |
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165 | 165 | | personnel emergencies and require mandatory over-15 |
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166 | 166 | | time. 16 |
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167 | 167 | | (15) The resulting deficit in confidence and 17 |
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168 | 168 | | support jeopardizes public safety. There is a critical 18 |
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169 | 169 | | need to enhance public understanding and apprecia-19 |
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170 | 170 | | tion of law enforcement, and to improve the safety 20 |
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171 | 171 | | and wellness of officers who serve our communities. 21 |
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172 | 172 | | Fostering a more informed and positive relationship 22 |
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173 | 173 | | between law enforcement and the public is essential 23 |
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174 | 174 | | for societal safety and cohesion. A sustained national 24 |
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177 | 177 | | •HR 309 IH |
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178 | 178 | | effort to restore confidence and understanding in 1 |
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179 | 179 | | law enforcement is urgently needed. 2 |
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180 | 180 | | SEC. 3. SUPPORT FOR THE NATIONAL LAW ENFORCEMENT 3 |
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181 | 181 | | MUSEUM. 4 |
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182 | 182 | | During the first seven fiscal years beginning after the 5 |
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183 | 183 | | date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary of the Interior 6 |
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184 | 184 | | shall award a grant to the National Law Enforcement Of-7 |
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185 | 185 | | ficers Memorial Fund for the expenses associated with op-8 |
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186 | 186 | | erating and enhancing the community outreach, public 9 |
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187 | 187 | | education, and officer safety and wellness programs of the 10 |
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188 | 188 | | National Law Enforcement Museum, including programs 11 |
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189 | 189 | | to: 12 |
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190 | 190 | | (1) Memorialize law enforcement heroes who die 13 |
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191 | 191 | | in the line of duty and compile statistics on law en-14 |
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192 | 192 | | forcement fatalities and injuries. 15 |
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193 | 193 | | (2) Honor and commemorate the extraordinary 16 |
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194 | 194 | | service and sacrifice of America’s law enforcement 17 |
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195 | 195 | | officers. 18 |
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196 | 196 | | (3) Develop and make available accurate, rel-19 |
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197 | 197 | | evant, and accessible resources to promote the un-20 |
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198 | 198 | | derstanding of law enforcement history and officer 21 |
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199 | 199 | | safety and wellness training, which include digital 22 |
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200 | 200 | | resources and other types of resources, such as print 23 |
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201 | 201 | | resources and traveling exhibitions. 24 |
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204 | 204 | | •HR 309 IH |
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205 | 205 | | (4) Increase technical resources to better en-1 |
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206 | 206 | | gage the public in person and via online platforms 2 |
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207 | 207 | | to educate and inform the public about community 3 |
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208 | 208 | | policing and officer safety and wellness. 4 |
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209 | 209 | | (5) Create, expand and disseminate scholarly 5 |
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210 | 210 | | work through research, curricula, in-house and trav-6 |
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211 | 211 | | eling exhibitions, publications, and other outreach 7 |
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212 | 212 | | initiatives. 8 |
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213 | 213 | | (6) Expand the collection acquisition and collec-9 |
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214 | 214 | | tion processes, including staffing, conservation, proc-10 |
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215 | 215 | | essing, and digitization. 11 |
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216 | 216 | | (7) Augment law enforcement history and offi-12 |
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217 | 217 | | cer safety and wellness education activities, includ-13 |
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218 | 218 | | ing the development, dissemination, and implementa-14 |
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219 | 219 | | tion of principles of sound pedagogy for teaching 15 |
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220 | 220 | | about law enforcement history and officer safety and 16 |
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221 | 221 | | wellness. 17 |
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222 | 222 | | (8) Promote professional development including 18 |
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223 | 223 | | local, regional, and national workshops; teacher 19 |
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224 | 224 | | trainings; and partnerships with appropriate entities 20 |
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225 | 225 | | to better educate and inform the public about law 21 |
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226 | 226 | | enforcement history and officer safety and wellness 22 |
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227 | 227 | | education. 23 |
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228 | 228 | | (9) Engage with local and independent edu-24 |
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229 | 229 | | cational agencies and expand teacher engagement to 25 |
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232 | 232 | | •HR 309 IH |
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233 | 233 | | cultivate and support the development of leaders in 1 |
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234 | 234 | | the teaching of law enforcement history and officer 2 |
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235 | 235 | | safety and wellness education. 3 |
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236 | 236 | | (10) Engage with State and local education 4 |
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237 | 237 | | leaders to encourage the adoption of resources sup-5 |
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238 | 238 | | ported under this Act into curricula across diverse 6 |
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239 | 239 | | disciplines. 7 |
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240 | 240 | | (11) Create, develop, implement, replicate, or 8 |
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241 | 241 | | take to scale entrepreneurial, evidence-based, field- 9 |
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242 | 242 | | initiated innovations for museum and officer safety 10 |
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243 | 243 | | and wellness improvement, and rigorously evaluate 11 |
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244 | 244 | | such innovations. 12 |
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245 | 245 | | (12) Provide for the free admission to National 13 |
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246 | 246 | | Law Enforcement Museum for active and retired law 14 |
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247 | 247 | | enforcement officers and family members of fallen 15 |
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248 | 248 | | officers; and dedicated free admission hours for the 16 |
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249 | 249 | | general public at least once a week. 17 |
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250 | 250 | | (13) Develop online Law Enforcement History 18 |
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251 | 251 | | and Officer Safety and Wellness Education Re-19 |
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252 | 252 | | sources for the general public and scholarly research. 20 |
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253 | 253 | | SEC. 4. PROGRESS REPORTS; CERTIFICATIONS. 21 |
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254 | 254 | | (a) P |
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255 | 255 | | ROGRESSREPORT.—For each of the first seven 22 |
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256 | 256 | | fiscal years the National Law Enforcement Officers Me-23 |
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257 | 257 | | morial Fund shall submit a report to the Secretary of the 24 |
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258 | 258 | | Interior that— 25 |
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261 | 261 | | •HR 309 IH |
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262 | 262 | | (1) documents, consistent with the funding pro-1 |
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263 | 263 | | vided from the Department, the progress in deliv-2 |
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264 | 264 | | ering public education, community outreach and offi-3 |
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265 | 265 | | cer safety and wellness programming; and 4 |
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266 | 266 | | (2) provides a formal accounting of total 5 |
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267 | 267 | | amounts of Federal funds expended during the fiscal 6 |
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268 | 268 | | year. 7 |
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269 | 269 | | (b) S |
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270 | 270 | | UBMISSION TOCONGRESS.—The Secretary of 8 |
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271 | 271 | | the Interior shall share this report with Congress every 9 |
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272 | 272 | | fiscal year and make the report available on the U.S. De-10 |
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273 | 273 | | partment of Interior website. 11 |
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274 | 274 | | SEC. 5. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS. 12 |
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275 | 275 | | (1) I |
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276 | 276 | | N GENERAL.—There are authorized to be 13 |
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277 | 277 | | appropriated to the Secretary of the Interior to 14 |
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278 | 278 | | carry out this section $6,000,000 for each of the 15 |
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279 | 279 | | first 7 fiscal years beginning after the date of the 16 |
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280 | 280 | | enactment of this Act. 17 |
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281 | 281 | | (2) E |
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282 | 282 | | XCEPTION.—If in any fiscal year the 18 |
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283 | 283 | | amount appropriated pursuant to the authorization 19 |
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284 | 284 | | under paragraph (1) is not the full amount provided 20 |
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285 | 285 | | by such paragraph, the Secretary may transfer such 21 |
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286 | 286 | | sums as may be necessary from the National Park 22 |
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287 | 287 | | Service, up to the amount specified in paragraph 23 |
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288 | 288 | | (1), to carry out this section. 24 |
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291 | 291 | | •HR 309 IH |
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292 | 292 | | SEC. 6. CONTINUATION OF ACTIVITIES. 1 |
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293 | 293 | | To the extent that the National Law Enforcement 2 |
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294 | 294 | | Museum is engaged in an activity described on the date 3 |
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295 | 295 | | of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary may use the 4 |
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296 | 296 | | funds appropriated under section 5 to continue that activ-5 |
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297 | 297 | | ity. 6 |
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298 | 298 | | Æ |
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