Don't Tax our Fallen Public Safety Heroes Act

Floor Speech

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

Ms. AYOTTE. Mr. President, I am very honored to be here today with my colleague from New Hampshire, Senator Shaheen. We worked together on this important bill that has just passed the Senate and had previously passed the House of Representatives.

This week is National Police Week. We were honored to receive law enforcement officers representing more than 20 agencies in New Hampshire, including the Brentwood police chief and many members of his department. They are here joining thousands of officers and families of law enforcement to remember and honor those who have given the ultimate sacrifice in the line of duty to keep the rest of us safe.

Last night during a candlelight vigil, 273 fallen officers from across the Nation whose names were added this week to the national memorial were honored, including Officer Stephen Arkell from New Hampshire, from the Brentwood Police Department, who lost his life in the line of duty a year ago Tuesday. Our thoughts and prayers continue to be with Officer Arkell's family and with the Brentwood Police Department.

Unfortunately, more than a year after his death, his family is still waiting for their survivor benefits. We are here today to discuss the bill that was just passed by the Senate--H.R. 606, the Don't Tax Our Fallen Public Safety Heroes Act--which Senator Shaheen and I worked on together.

Recently, Senator Shaheen and I had the opportunity to sit down and have a roundtable with many law enforcement officers, fire chiefs and firefighters from our State. We heard many of the challenges that the families of those law enforcement officers and firefighters who lost their lives in the line of duty face to get the survivor benefits that they should receive.

One of those challenges is the fact that while survivor benefits for the families of our fallen firefighters and law enforcement officers are tax free, unfortunately, ambiguity in the tax has forced families to apply for private letter rulings from the IRS to have that clarified. Our bill will ensure that they no longer have to go through this bureaucratic step when it comes to their survivors' benefits.

It ensures that the benefits their survivors receive for the sacrifice they have made are not taxed under the Internal Revenue Code. These benefits are intended to help those families and make sure that when they go through this incredibly tragic loss, they are able to continue with their lives.

I thank Congressman Erik Paulsen from Minnesota for working with us to get this bill passed through the House of Representatives.

I also thank Senators TOOMEY and CARDIN for their work in the Senate Finance Committee to pass this legislation and Senate Finance Committee Chairman HATCH and Ranking Member WYDEN for their work to help get this important legislation passed.

I most of all thank my colleague Senator Shaheen because this issue is so important to law enforcement officers and firefighters in New Hampshire. Our public safety officers who go out every single day on our behalf--every hour, every holiday, every weekend--to make sure we are safe. When, unfortunately, we lose one of them in the line of duty, as we experienced in New Hampshire too recently, we want to make sure those families are taken care of. That is what this bill does--it makes sure that those families do not have to wait to receive benefits they should receive and that they do not have to go through a rigamarole with the IRS to make sure these benefits are not taxed.

I also want to mention that, in New Hampshire, not only did we unfortunately lose Patrolman Stephen Arkell a year ago, but in 2012 we also lost Greenland Chief of Police Mike Maloney, who was about to retire. Both of those families have been down here for National Police Week. Our prayers continue to be with their families and the families of every single law enforcement officer and firefighter who makes sure we are safe every single day.

I am so glad this legislation passed during National Police Week. We are going to continue to work together to make sure that the families of public safety officers that lose their lives in the line of duty do not have to go through any bureaucratic red tape to get their survivor benefits.

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

Source