Improving Law Enforcement Officer Safety and Wellness Through Data Act

Floor Speech

Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of the Improving Law Enforcement Officer Safety and Wellness Through Data Act.

Law enforcement officers serve as our lifeline of defense against danger. With this bill, we have an opportunity to equip the Department of Justice and Congress with very crucial information to better understand and enhance officer safety.

Law enforcement officers deserve to return home safely to their families, knowing their well-being is truly a priority. Federal, State, local, and Tribal officers face very long hours, immense pressure, and unpredictable dangers every day. Over time, the constant strain of the job can take a significant toll on their bodies and minds.

While there are some mental health resources currently available to our officers, there is still so much more that we can and should be doing to ensure their wellness and, most definitely, their safety.

By prioritizing data-driven approaches to officer safety and wellness, we can address systemic risks, reduce preventable tragedies, and build a stronger, more resilient law enforcement system.

The goal is that the required report will provide us with insight into the challenges our officers face and help us to understand the additional support that they need to remain physically and mentally safe.

Federal law enforcement officers dedicate themselves to protecting our Nation, to protecting our communities, and it is our responsibility in this body to ensure that they receive the protection that they deserve.

Law enforcement officers face unparalleled risks every day, from physical violence to psychological traumas. According to the FBI, assaults against officers remain very, very high, with tens of thousands of them who are injured annually.

Beyond the line of duty, officers experience higher rates of PTSD, depression, and suicide compared to the general population. Yet, for too long, this body, Congress, has not done as much as we should to tackle these issues that they face.

This bill requires the collection and analysis of critical data on attacks on officers, injuries that they suffer, their mental health challenges, and wellness program effectiveness. Without accurate data, we are fighting blind.

By identifying trends, such as the frequency of attacks on officers or gaps in mental health support, we can implement targeted solutions to keep our officers safe and to keep them healthy.

Many officer fatalities and injuries are preventable with better training, better equipment, and better policies. For example, if data reveals that a significant number of injuries occurred during traffic stops, agencies can adopt safer tactics or deploy new technologies. If certain regions report higher rates of firearm-related fatalities, we can prioritize resources there.

Officer suicide rates outpace line-of-duty deaths. I will say this again: Officer suicide rates outpace line-of-duty deaths. Yet, stigma and inadequate resources prevent many of them from seeking help. This bill will help us track mental health trends, evaluate the effectiveness of peer support programs, and expand access to counseling. Healthy officers are better officers. They are more effective officers, both for their own well-being and for the communities that they serve.

When officers are safer, healthier, and better supported, they are better equipped to serve with professionalism and with empathy. Our communities benefit when law enforcement agencies are operating using data to improve practices rather than reacting to crises.

Yet, the Improving Law Enforcement Officer Safety and Wellness Through Data Act isn't just about gathering data and reporting statistics. It is about lives, and it is about public safety. It is about the officer who returns home safely to their family at night. It is about the rookie who gets lifesaving training, or the veteran who receives mental health care instead of suffering in silence.

Mr. Speaker, if we are to realize any of these benefits, this bill must be the first step that we take and definitely not the last. We must be prepared to act on the information that we get from these reports that come from this bill, much of which is already collected by the DOJ and other agencies. We must be prepared to provide tangible resources to our law enforcement, which I am sure the reports will suggest that they need.

As we observe National Police Week and talk about officer safety and wellness, I would be remiss if I did not call for the immediate restoration of hundreds of millions of dollars that are affecting nearly 40 States in public safety grant funding that the Department of Justice chose to abruptly terminate. Some of that canceled funding went to law enforcement training; support and other critical resources; and, more specifically, to addressing the health, safety, and wellness of law enforcement.

As I have here, President Trump's 2026 budget would have devastating impacts on public policy by cutting $1 billion across 40 Department of Justice grant programs which support police departments and reduce violent crime, hate crime, and crime against women.

Mr. Speaker, $646 million from the Federal Emergency Management Agency, FEMA, for violence and terrorism has been terminated. I can go on and on, but I won't.

These terminations include a grant totaled at over $8 million to the National Policing Institute, which assisted rural police departments and district attorneys' offices to pay for violent crime investigators and programs to combat child sex abuse.

I also feel that it is necessary to mention once again, as the ranking member has, the plaque that we voted to hang in the Capitol more than 3 years ago to honor the countless officers who fought--and they died--to protect the lives of Members of Congress, all of us in this body. They not only fought to protect Members of Congress but staffers and other personnel and to save our democracy on January 6, 2021.

Mr. Speaker, hanging this plaque is the least that we could do to honor those who have fought and died and given their lives for us, this body. Hanging this plaque is required by law, a law that was passed. We passed the law over 3 years ago.

Why is this plaque not up? That is a simple question. Why is this law being defied? That is a simple question.

Many of those officers have been left feeling ignored and betrayed by the very same Members of Congress. They stand outside every single day to protect and watch over us. They feel betrayed.

Many times, they can't even look at us as we walk out the door because they feel betrayed. They fought to protect us on that day, January 6, and, yes, we still betray them.

Former U.S. Capitol Police Sergeant Aquilino Gonell recently told our staff: Trump is treating the rioters like they were the ones defending the Capitol.

He went on to say of Trump: Calling January 6 ``a day of love,'' if that was a day of love, ``They almost `loved' me to death.''

If we really intend to support our officers, they should not be feeling this level of betrayal and disappointment in the government that they swore to defend and protect. Officers who put their lives on the line for us deserve better.

Mr. Speaker, I will take a point of privilege to say that when I lost my son, Jordan, in Jacksonville, Florida, on November 23, 2012, at a convenience store gas station by a man who never should have had a gun, that convenience store family, the owners, at least had the decency to put a plaque up in remembrance of my slain son, who was simply stopping to get some chewing gum as he was going from one mall to the next with his friends. They at least had the decency, and my son wasn't doing anything to protect the Nation or protect Members of Congress. Yet and still, out of dignity and respect for someone who was slain unnecessarily, they at least had the decency to put up a plaque in remembrance of my son.

We should no less do that for these folks who stand here every single day. They would take bullets for us. Let's do the right thing. Why would we not honor them? We can't say one thing and do another, that we want to serve and protect them. We want to make their lives better. The American people are watching us. They are depending on us.

Mr. Speaker, let's do the right thing. Simply just put this plaque out for all of us, for their service to us and to this Nation.

Mr. Speaker, while I urge my colleagues to support this legislation, I also urge them to do more than just collect data and request reports from other officials.

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Mrs. McBATH.

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Mrs. McBATH. Elfreth).

Mr. Speaker, I will just spend a little bit more time speaking. Not only are my colleagues apparently letting DOGE get away with terminating the Department of Justice grant programs, but they are also attempting to rob Federal law enforcement officers of their hard-earned retirement benefits.

I will put on the Record that, unlike other Federal employees, Federal law enforcement officers are eligible to retire voluntarily after serving our country for at least 20 years and reaching the age of 50 or after 25 years of service at any age.

Now, the Special Retirement Supplement for Federal officers provides roughly one-third of a Federal officer's retirement benefits, bridging the financial gap between when an officer chooses to retire and when they become eligible for Social Security at age 62.

This Special Retirement Supplement ensures financial stability for those who have dedicated their lives and their careers to protecting this country, but our Republican colleagues, their reconciliation bill, would limit the supplement only to those who reach the mandatory retirement age of 57 no matter how many years they have served.

It would also apply not just to new hires but to all officers, to those who clearly earned the ability to claim this benefit and didn't sign up for this new rule. The moment Trump signs the reconciliation bill into law, any officer that retires before reaching the age of 57 would lose one-third of their retirement benefits, making voluntary retirement untenable for every Federal law enforcement officer who is at or near retirement.

Cutting the supplement would have an immediate effect on the retention of overburdened, increasingly demoralized officers across the Federal Government, creating an overwhelming incentive for tens of thousands of eligible officers to retire before they plan to, before this change becomes law.

In closing, it is National Police Week, and we are honoring the brave men and women in law enforcement who put their lives on the line every single day to protect our communities and this Nation.

I was proud to vote ``yes'' on this resolution on the House floor yesterday to express our Nation's gratitude to our law enforcement. I would also like to thank all the families for their courage and strength because families of law enforcement are part of this, too.

As ranking member of the Crime Subcommittee, I hear directly from families and officers from all across the country about the reforms that they desperately need. I will continue to champion bills that provide tools that help our law enforcement officers and keep them all safe because they deserve that.

We stand with all of our officers around the country, whether they be Federal, State, or local, and we thank them for their service.

Though I really wish that we were doing so much more this week to make our officers safe or to invest in resources for their well-being, I will support this legislation and encourage my colleagues to do the very same.

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Mrs. McBATH. Mr. Speaker, I have no additional speakers, and I yield myself the balance of my time to close.

Mr. Speaker, as I have said earlier, while I do really support this legislation, I also call on my colleagues to stand with law enforcement by restoring these critical grants commemorating the bravery of our officers on January 6 and every day, protecting their pay, protecting their benefits, and all that the Federal officers have earned over the course of the time that they have served their communities and this country and ensuring that every Federal agency can continue to provide critical assistance to our State and local law enforcement.

We can do a lot better. They deserve so much better from us. Let's please work to do better.

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Mrs. McBATH. Mr. Speaker, on that I demand the yeas and nays.

The yeas and nays were ordered.

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