May 16, 2019 - Issue: Vol. 165, No. 82 — Daily Edition116th Congress (2019 - 2020) - 1st Session
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REAUTHORIZING THE BULLETPROOF VEST PARTNERSHIP GRANT PROGRAM; Congressional Record Vol. 165, No. 82
(Senate - May 16, 2019)
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[Pages S2901-S2903] From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov] REAUTHORIZING THE BULLETPROOF VEST PARTNERSHIP GRANT PROGRAM Mr. LEAHY. Mr. President, as in legislative session, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate proceed to the immediate consideration of H.R. 2379. The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will report the bill by title. The legislative clerk read as follows: A bill (H.R. 2379) to reauthorize the Bulletproof Vest Partnership Grant Program. There being no objection, the Senate proceeded to consider the bill. Mr. LEAHY. I ask unanimous consent that the bill be considered read a third time. The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered. The bill was ordered to a third reading and was read the third time. Mr. LEAHY. I know of no further debate on the bill. The PRESIDING OFFICER. Is there further debate? Hearing none, the bill having been read the third time, the question is, Shall the bill pass? The bill (H.R. 2379) was passed. Mr. LEAHY. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the motion to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table with no intervening action or debate. The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered. H.R. 2379 Mr. LEAHY. Mr. President, this may seem like just a perfunctory thing, but I want to speak about what we just did. The Senate passed legislation to permanently reauthorize the Bulletproof Vest Partnership Grant Program. This is the sixth time I have worked to reauthorize this lifesaving program since I and my Republican partner, Senator Ben Nighthorse Campbell, of Colorado, authored the legislation to establish it more than 20 years ago. My role in authoring this program--and my commitment to it ever since as we have reauthorized it and reauthorized it--was, in part, motivated by a horrific incident the year before Senator Nighthorse Campbell and I created it. On August 19, 1997, a man named Carl Drega went on a killing spree along the Vermont and New Hampshire border. After hours of pursuit, Federal, State, and local law enforcement authorities in Vermont and New Hampshire cornered Drega, and in an ensuing exchange of gunfire, he was killed. During the shoot-out, all of the Federal law enforcement officers involved were wearing bulletproof vests. This includes John Pfeifer, a Vermonter and a [[Page S2902]] longtime friend. His father was one of my favorite professors in college, and I remember John as a child. He was seriously wounded. In fact, at that time, then-FBI Director Louis Freeh and his family were staying with us at our home in Vermont. We visited Officer Pfeifer, who was a U.S. Border Patrol agent, in the hospital. He was grievously wounded, but he survived and later became the Chief Patrol Agent of the sector. I have always feared--and I believe he agrees--that had it not been for his bulletproof vest, the outcome for John and his family may have been much worse. Some of the state and local officers involved were not that fortunate. Two New Hampshire state troopers were killed. They were not wearing bulletproof vests. I don't know whether vests would have saved their lives. Let us hope they would have. One thing I do know is that no officer should have to serve without having the benefit of wearing a bulletproof vest. That is what this is all about. I am immensely proud of this program. It is the most tangible support that all of us in Congress--both parties--can provide to our Nation's law enforcement officers. To this day, for far too many jurisdictions, especially rural and smaller agencies, vests cost too much, and they wear out too soon. This program fills in the gap. It has provided more than 13,000 law enforcement agencies with 1.35 million vests. It has saved the lives of countless officers, several of whom have shared their stories with the Judiciary Committee, here in the Senate, during previous years. In fact, according to the Government Accountability Office, more than 3,000 officers' lives have been saved by vests since 1987. It makes me very proud to know these officers can still be with their families and their departments. Just yesterday, my office received a call from the Union City Police Department in Georgia. Last month, one of its officers, Jerome Turner, Jr.--shown in this photograph--was shot multiple times when he responded to a call. One round hit him directly in the chest, but it did not get through his bulletproof vest. When backup arrived, Officer Turner was lying on the ground from his other injuries. He went through 6 hours of surgery, but he lived. His department called yesterday to tell me that the vest that saved his life was purchased through this program. Everybody in my office and I just applauded at that news. My staff also had a chance to talk with Officer Turner. He is still recovering, but he said he is happy to be home with his family--his family he might never have seen again. He also said what we all know to be true--the Bulletproof Vest Partnership Grant Program is critical to ensuring officers around the country can return home to their families after their shifts. Officer Turner knows a lot about this program. It turns out that he previously served as the chief of police in a small town in Florida, which is the Presiding Officer's State. He used this program to outfit his officers with protective vests in order to keep his officers safe while they were protecting us. This week is National Police Week. It is a time for the Nation to honor the many brave men and women in law enforcement who have lost their lives while having served their communities. That includes the 163 officers who were lost last year--52 of them killed by gunfire. The fact that Congress has now passed legislation to permanently reauthorize this program places real meaning behind our words of tribute. The legislation also increases the funding for vests as, year after year, only a fraction of the need is met. This program is not now, and never has been, partisan. When we started, I said that I and Ben Nighthorse Campbell, of Colorado--a Republican--started it. I am especially grateful to Senator Lindsey Graham for being the lead cosponsor of both this and the last reauthorization. Last week, our bill was being considered by the Judiciary Committee. I have to admit I was a bit surprised and very humbled when Chairman Graham called up an amendment to name the program after me and when it then got a unanimous vote from Republicans and Democrats. I am always going to be thankful, for the program is personal to me, and it is personal, certainly, to the officers who wear these vests. I thank my many staff who have worked on this program for 22 years, including Dave Pendle, Erica Chabot, Ed Pagano, Bruce Cohen, Matt Virkstis, Kristine Lucius, Chan Park, David Carle, Jessica Berry, and many others. I am also thankful to the entire law enforcement community, which has spoken with a single voice on this issue--a single voice. In particular I would like to thank Chuck Canterbury, Jim Pasco, and Tim Richardson with the Fraternal Order of Police--all friends of mine. The FOP has strongly supported this program from the beginning, and has been there for each of the six reauthorizations. I would also like to thank for their support the International Association of Chiefs of Police, the National Association of Police Organizations, the National Sheriffs' Association, the Major County Sheriffs' Association, the Major Cities Chiefs Association, the Federal Law Enforcement Officers Association, the National Tactical Officers Association, and the Sergeants Benevolent Association, Last, I would like to thank the sponsors of the House companion which the Senate just passed, Congressmen Bill Pascrell and Peter King. Without this legislation, the Bulletproof Vest Partnership Grant Program would expire next year. Once this legislation is signed into law, it will never expire. It has already saved the lives of so many, and placed vests on the backs of well over one million officers. Now we know that millions more officers will be protected, and millions of officers like Officer Turner will be able to go home to their families. I wonder if the Senate would allow me to tell a story. When we were doing the reauthorization, I had asked a police officer from Pennsylvania to come and testify. He came. His parents, his wife, and his children sat behind him. He gave very moving testimony. He said the two most important things to him in life were his family and law enforcement. He told us about how, a short while before, he stopped a car at a routine traffic stop. He got out of his police car, and the person in the other car stepped out and fired four shots at him--point blank. He fell over. Others caught the person. He said: As I was falling, I thought I would never see my family again. I had a couple of cracked ribs. They came to visit me in the hospital. I went back home with them to their love and care. Then I went back to work. This is what saved me. He reached under the table and held up a bulletproof vest, and you could still see three large caliber slugs embedded in it. He said: Those would have been in my heart. I never would have seen my family, and I never would have gone back to law enforcement. At that time, I was the chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee. After his testimony, I asked if we could have a unanimous vote to reauthorize. It was the fastest unanimous vote I can remember in that committee. As I said then and as I say now, this is the least Congress can do on behalf of our Nation's law enforcement officers. Obviously, I am proud to have had the legislation named after me, but I am proud of all of the Senators over the last 20-plus years--Republicans and Democrats-- who have supported it. I am glad we have done it. Now it will head to the President for his signature, and I am sure the President will sign it without delay. I see nobody else who seeks recognition. I suggest the absence of a quorum. The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will call the roll. The legislative clerk proceeded to call the roll. Ms. WARREN. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order for the quorum call be rescinded. The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered. Vote on Vitter Nomination The PRESIDING OFFICER. The question is, Will the Senate advise and consent to the Vitter nomination? Ms. WARREN. Mr. President, I ask for the yeas and nays. The PRESIDING OFFICER. Is there a sufficient second? There appears to be a sufficient second. [[Page S2903]] The clerk will call the roll. The bill clerk called the roll. Mr. DURBIN. I announce that the Senator from New Jersey (Mr. Booker), the Senator from New York (Mrs. Gillibrand), and the Senator from California (Ms. Harris) are necessarily absent. The PRESIDING OFFICER (Mrs. Fischer). Are there any other Senators in the Chamber desiring to vote? The result was announced--yeas 52, nays 45, as follows: [Rollcall Vote No. 114 Ex.] YEAS--52 Alexander Barrasso Blackburn Blunt Boozman Braun Burr Capito Cassidy Cornyn Cotton Cramer Crapo Cruz Daines Enzi Ernst Fischer Gardner Graham Grassley Hawley Hoeven Hyde-Smith Inhofe Isakson Johnson Kennedy Lankford Lee McConnell McSally Moran Murkowski Paul Perdue Portman Risch Roberts Romney Rounds Rubio Sasse Scott (FL) Scott (SC) Shelby Sullivan Thune Tillis Toomey Wicker Young NAYS--45 Baldwin Bennet Blumenthal Brown Cantwell Cardin Carper Casey Collins Coons Cortez Masto Duckworth Durbin Feinstein Hassan Heinrich Hirono Jones Kaine King Klobuchar Leahy Manchin Markey Menendez Merkley Murphy Murray Peters Reed Rosen Sanders Schatz Schumer Shaheen Sinema Smith Stabenow Tester Udall Van Hollen Warner Warren Whitehouse Wyden NOT VOTING--3 Booker Gillibrand Harris The nomination was confirmed. The PRESIDING OFFICER. Under the previous order, the motion to reconsider is considered made and laid upon the table, and the President will be immediately notified of the Senate's action. Vote on Bulatao Nomination The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will report the next nomination. The senior assistant legislative clerk read the nomination of Brian J. Bulatao, of Texas, to be an Under Secretary of State (Management). The PRESIDING OFFICER. The question is, Will the Senate advise and consent to the Bulatao nomination? Mr. BARRASSO. I ask for the yeas and nays. The PRESIDING OFFICER. Is there a sufficient second? There appears to be a sufficient second. The clerk will call the roll. The senior assistant legislative clerk called the roll. Mr. DURBIN. I announce that the Senator from New Jersey (Mr. Booker), the Senator from New York (Mrs. Gillibrand), and the Senator from California (Ms. Harris) are necessarily absent. The PRESIDING OFFICER (Mr. Young). Are there any other Senators in the Chamber desiring to vote? The result was announced--yeas 92, nays 5, as follows: [Rollcall Vote No. 115 Ex.] YEAS--92 Alexander Baldwin Barrasso Bennet Blackburn Blunt Boozman Braun Brown Burr Cantwell Capito Cardin Carper Casey Cassidy Collins Coons Cornyn Cortez Masto Cotton Cramer Crapo Cruz Daines Duckworth Durbin Enzi Ernst Feinstein Fischer Gardner Graham Grassley Hassan Hawley Heinrich Hoeven Hyde-Smith Inhofe Isakson Johnson Jones Kaine Kennedy King Klobuchar Lankford Leahy Lee Manchin McConnell McSally Menendez Merkley Moran Murkowski Murphy Murray Paul Perdue Peters Portman Reed Risch Roberts Romney Rosen Rounds Rubio Sasse Schatz Schumer Scott (FL) Scott (SC) Shaheen Shelby Sinema Smith Stabenow Sullivan Tester Thune Tillis Toomey Udall Van Hollen Warner Whitehouse Wicker Wyden Young NAYS--5 Blumenthal Hirono Markey Sanders Warren NOT VOTING--3 Booker Gillibrand Harris The nomination was confirmed. The PRESIDING OFFICER. Under the previous order, the motion to reconsider is considered made and laid upon the table, and the President will be immediately notified of the Senate's actions. ____________________
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