Legislative Update |
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NAPO President Tom Nee
to the left of Vice President Joe Biden, Official White House
Photo by David Lienemann. NAPO’s President Tom Nee and Vice President
Mick McHale attended a meeting on the passage of spectrum legislation
with Vice President Biden in the Roosevelt Room of the White House
on Tuesday, February 21, 2012. NAPO was the only rank-and-file
organization of the eleven members of the law enforcement community
in attendance. NAPO’s inclusion in the meeting signified the recognition
of our dedication to law enforcement as evidenced in our hard
work for the passage of a nationwide interoperable public safety
network. The Vice President and meeting attendees joined
hundreds of first responders via telephone. They were thanked
for their service and included in the discussion in the implementation
of the nationwide public safety broadband network. During
the call Tom Nee voiced thanks to President Obama and Vice President
Biden for their commitment to this issue, “People want to come
to this country for personal liberties and safety. The communication
standards we see on television are becoming a reality. You enable
police, firefighters and EMTs to reach a higher level of service
and we can’t thank you enough.” President Obama signed H.R. 3630, The Middle
Class Tax Relief and Job Creation Act of 2012, into law on February
22, 2012. In addition to allocating Spectrum (known as the D Block)
to public safety, it extends a reduction in employment tax rates,
extends unemployment benefits and provides for a Medicare physician
payment update delaying a reduction in reimbursements for physician
services. NAPO’s work on this issue is not complete. We
will continue to join the Administration, Congress and the FCC
to ensure that the public safety network reflects the needs of
rank-and-file officers.
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