Senate Consideration of H.R. 82 Drags On, Time is Running Out
The Senate continues to consider H.R. 82, the Social Security Fairness Act, with another motion to proceed with debate on the bill on December 19, in which we gained the support of three Senators in addition to those who voted for cloture on December 18. We now have 76 Senators who have voted to proceed with consideration of H.R. 82. While this does not ensure their vote for final passage, it is a positive step forward as we continue to press the importance of passing the Social Security Fairness Act to Senators.
Republicans, however, continue to refuse to agree to limit time on debate, which means there are 30 hours between each vote to proceed with the bill. Majority Leader Schumer will need to file cloture again on the final bill, after which we must wait another 30 hours for consideration. That would leave the votes on final passage to happen on Sunday or even as late as Monday, depending on the procedural hurdles Republicans throw up, unless both parties unanimously agree to waive the 30-hour time requirement after each procedural vote. Senators Mike Crapo (R-ID) and Ted Cruz (R-TX) are leading the opposition to a time agreement as they do not support H.R. 82 and are dragging out the process in an attempt to kill the bill.
While we are confident that we have the support to pass H.R. 82, we are coming up against a time crunch with the holidays next week, making it unlikely Senators will stick around into next week to vote on this bill. It is imperative that Senators remain in town until consideration of H.R. 82 is complete to ensure we have the votes for final passage. NAPO sent a letter to Senate Leadership urging Majority Leader Charles Schumer (D-NY) and Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) to expedite consideration of the bill and vote on it before the Senate adjourns for the year. We are also urging all Senators to stay until the job is done and requesting that they VOTE NO on all amendments and VOTE YES on final passage.
You can see how your Senators voted on the motion to proceed here: https://www.senate.gov/legislative/LIS/roll_call_votes/vote1182/vote_118_2_00326.htm.
Please join NAPO’s efforts TODAY and reach out to your Senators. Urge them to stay in Washington, D.C. to vote on H.R. 82 and pass this important bill, as is, without amendments, now. The contact information for Senate staff can be found here, with those who voted to proceed with consideration of the bill highlighted in yellow. Without your advocacy and support, we would not be this close to finally getting the Social Security Fairness Act across the finish line.
We will continue to keep our members updated on the status of H.R. 82. Please don’t hesitate to reach out to NAPO’s Director of Governmental Affairs, Andy Edmiston, at (703) 549-0775 or aedmiston@napo.org if you have any questions or need more information.
NAPO-Backed Project Safe Childhood Act Included in Final FY25 NDAA
In a victory for NAPO, the Project Safe Childhood Act was included in the final, compromise Fiscal 2025 National Defense Authorization Act that was passed by Congress on December 18. Project Safe Childhood is a national initiative to combat child sexual exploitation and abuse. Originally launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice and led by the U.S. Attorneys’ Offices and the Criminal Division’s Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section (CEOS), Project Safe Childhood pulls together federal, state, and local resources to better locate, apprehend, and prosecute individuals who exploit children through the internet, as well as to identify and rescue victims.
The Project Safe Childhood Act reauthorizes and updates this important program to modernize how online child exploitation crimes are investigated and prosecuted and it would make improvements to how federal prosecutors and federal, state, and local law enforcement work together and use new technology to go after predators. The Program will be reauthorized for five years at $62 million per year to fund:
- Case coordination of child sexual exploitation crimes to quickly identify and rescue child victims and arrest offenders;
- Training and technical assistance for law enforcement;
- Public awareness campaigns regarding threats posed to children online; and
- The hiring of additional federal prosecutors to work on online child exploitation cases.
NAPO thanks Senators John Cornyn (R-TX), Chuck Grassley (R-IA), Amy Klobuchar (D-MN), Richard Blumenthal (D-CN), and Marsha Blackburn (R-TN) for their steadfast leadership on this issue.
Project Safe Childhood was the only priority we were able to secure in the final NDAA as we ran up against the same objections that we experienced all year from House Judiciary Committee Republicans to the rest of the amendment package we supported.
NAPO successfully secured the addition of a package of amendments called the Law Enforcement and Victim Support Act in the Senate version of the NDAA. However, during negotiations, the House Judiciary Committee picked apart that package as it determined what Judiciary-related issues it will permit in the final NDAA, leaving the rest of the package on the cutting room floor. This is unfortunate as the bills that comprised the Law Enforcement and Victim Support Act included several NAPO priority bills: Fighting PTSD Act, American Law Enforcement SAVER Act, Project Safe Neighborhoods Reauthorization Act, and Strong Communities Act.
House Republicans have rejected these bills for the entirety of this Congress – bills that would help protect the mental health and physical wellbeing of law enforcement officers, provide resources to address the recruitment crisis the profession is facing, and provide departments tools to fight violent crime. While these important pieces of legislation are unfortunately dead for this Congress, we will renew our fight to pass these priorities in the 119th Congress starting in January.
NAPO Squashes 3rd Circuit Court Judge Confirmation
In a victory for NAPO and our nation’s law enforcement community, the Senate pulled the consideration of the nomination of Adeel Mangi to be a judge on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit from its year-end agenda. Mr. Mangi subsequently withdrew his name from the nomination. This leaves the vacant judgeship to President Trump to fill.
NAPO opposed the nomination of Adeel Mangi to be a judge on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit since it was announced by President Biden and successfully worked to ensure he would not be confirmed by the Senate. Our opposition is largely due to Mr. Mangi’s role as an Advisory Board Member of the Alliance of Families for Justice, which was founded by Kathy Boudin, who was convicted for her role in the 1981 Brink’s robbery by the Weather Underground that left two police officers executed in cold blood.
The Alliance of Families for Justice has advocated for the release of at least six other cop-killers – Sundiata Acoli, Mumia Abu Jamal, Mutulu Shakur, Russell Maroon Shoatz, Jamil Al Amin, Kamau Sadiki – referring to them all as “elder freedom fighters.” The fact that the Alliance raises these cop-killers as leaders to follow and is calling for their release is an affront to the men and women who have dedicated their lives to protecting our communities as law enforcement officers. NAPO has worked to ensure these murders are denied parole and remain in prison for their heinous acts.
NAPO looks forward to working with President Trump on filling this important position on the Third Circuit Court of Appeals with an individual who will promote the rule of law and support both victims of crime and law enforcement.
NAPO Endorses Governor Noem for DHS Secretary
NAPO announced its endorsement of South Dakota Governor Kristi Noem to be Secretary of Homeland Security on December 4. The men and women represented by NAPO on are the front lines of law enforcement and put their lives at risk every day. There are many reasons why NAPO endorsed President Trump in the last election but foremost is the state of law and order in our great nation. America faces a criminal justice crisis, criminal aliens, and gangs like Tren de Aragua have entered our country illegally and have committed terrible crimes against our citizens.
NAPO supports President Trump’s nomination of Governor Noem for Secretary of Homeland Security as she has a proven record of supporting the men and women of law enforcement and making the rule of law a priority.
NAPO sent a letter to the incoming chair of the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs for the 119th Congress, Senator Rand Paul, encouraging him and his colleagues in the Senate to confirm Governor Kristi Noem as quickly as possible. Confirming Governor Noem will allow her to begin work immediately to restore justice in our nation.
Congress Passes DETECT Fentanyl & Xylazine Act
In a victory for NAPO, Congress passed the Detection Equipment and Technology Evaluation to Counter the Threat of (DETECT) Fentanyl and Xylazine Act on December 18. This bill, sponsored Senator John Cornyn (R-TX) and Congressman Nick LaLota (R-NY), will authorize the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to conduct research and development, testing, and evaluation on equipment that would help law enforcement better detect fentanyl and other drugs.
The DETECT Fentanyl and Xylazine Act creates a new statutory responsibility for DHS’s Science and Technology Directorate (S&T) to carry out research and development (R&D) to improve the safety, effectiveness, and efficiency of drug detection equipment and reference libraries used by federal, state, local, and tribal law enforcement agencies to identify unknown substances.
Fentanyl, particularly illicitly manufactured fentanyl, xylazine and other synthetic drugs are having deadly consequences on communities across the country, both big and small. Because illicit fentanyl is so powerful — just a few salt-sized grains can kill an adult — small amounts go a long way for drug traffickers. These relatively small and potent amounts mean fentanyl is difficult and hazardous to detect, making it easy to traffic and a danger to those trying to interdict it. The DETECT Fentanyl and Xylazine Act gives law enforcement the tools necessary to safely detect and crack down on the trafficking of fentanyl and related opioids.
NAPO thanks Senator Cornyn and Congressman LaLota for their support in our fight against fentanyl in our communities and we look forward to working to seeing the DETECT Fentanyl and Xylazine Act signed into law.
Senate Passes Two NAPO-Backed Bills
In the waning days of the 118th Congress, the Senate passed two NAPO-backed bills, the Invest to Protect Act and the TAKE IT DOWN Act. While we were not able to move these bills through the House, Senate passage will allow us to move more decisively on these bills at the beginning of next Congress.
The Invest to Protect Act, sponsored by Senators Catherine Cortez Masto (D-NV) and Charles Grassley (R-IA), would create a broad grant program through the Department of Justice (DOJ) specifically for small state, local or tribal law enforcement agencies that will give them resources to help them train their officers, implement or expand body-worn camera programs, provide mental health resources for their officers, and retain and hire officers. A small agency is defined as one that employs fewer than 200 law enforcement officers.
The law enforcement assistance grant programs through the DOJ provide invaluable resources, training, and technical assistance to state and local law enforcement agencies, keeping our communities safe. However, small agencies across the country find themselves getting left behind due to their size and lack of resources for participating in the onerous Federal grant solicitation process.
The TAKE IT DOWN Act, sponsored by Senators Ted Cruz (R-TX) and Amy Klobuchar (D-MN), would establish federal liability for those who generate and distribute deepfake intimate and explicit images, giving law enforcement needed tools to bring justice to the victims of these crimes. In a world where generative AI is increasingly being used to create deepfakes, it is vital that federal laws be updated to protect individuals against the creation and nonconsensual sharing of these images. These deepfake images, which disproportionately target women and minors, must be recognized as the severe privacy violations that they are.
We look forward to working with Senators Cortez Masto, Grassley, Cruz, and Klobuchar to pass these important bills next Congress.
Please monitor NAPO’s website, www.napo.org, and Facebook page: National Association of Police Organizations, and follow us on X at NAPOpolice for breaking news and updates.