National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2022
Floor Speech
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Mr. NEHLS. Mr. Speaker, I rise in opposition to this amendment. If passed, this amendment would greatly restrict law enforcement officer agencies throughout the country from obtaining lifesaving surplus military equipment like the OH-58 helicopter, and utility trucks, like the Humvee.
When I was sheriff of Fort Bend County, Texas, if I had to comply with this amendment, it would have limited my ability to save lives.
The 1033 program allowed me to obtain two surplus Army OH-58 helicopters saving county taxpayers thousands of dollars. They were free. Additionally, the program provided replacement parts to keep them flying at no cost.
After taking possession, we equipped them with lifesaving equipment and painted them with our department colors so everyone could see who was flying the helicopter.
The idea of saying we are militarizing our police departments, this is what the OH-58 looked like. This is me in Kentucky picking it up. Six weeks later, this is what they looked like. Does that look like a military helicopter? Absolutely not. So that argument holds no water.
In addition, county, city councils, and commissioners court must approve that equipment. It is not a rogue police chief; you must approve the equipment.
On several occasions, my department responded to silver alerts where senior adults were missing and couldn't be found. We deployed our helicopters to help search for them, and we were successful in many cases. And sadly, sir, some we were too late.
During Hurricane Harvey and other events, we used Humvees received out of Fort Hood to rescue hundreds of families stranded in high water. The typical law enforcement vehicle doesn't have the ability to forge through this high water where Humvees can, even up to 5 feet, and I have the pictures to prove it.
If the amendment passes, folks, you will be restricting law enforcement agencies from receiving this lifesaving equipment. I know the benefits of the program, because I participated in it. It works, and I respectfully ask Members to reject this amendment.
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