ICYMI: Costa, 36 Democrats Call on House Leadership for Votes on Law Enforcement Bills
WASHINGTON - Today, Congressman Jim Costa (CA-16) joined a group of 36 Democrat colleagues in urging House Leadership to bring bipartisan law enforcement bills to the House Floor for a vote. These bills would invest in our small, local police departments by training more officers, investing in mental health, and training to keep our communities safer.
The bipartisan bills requested to be brought to the House floor immediately after the July 4 recess include the Invest to Protect Act, Mental Health Justice Act, Pathways to Policing Act, and COPS on the Beat Program Reauthorization and Parity Act.
“There are a number of bipartisan bills supporting increased resources for police departments and officers that we believe should be considered as standalone legislation by the House no later than when Congress returns from the July 4 district work period,” the Members of Congress wrote in a letter to House leadership today. “The House Judiciary Committee has made clear to several members that it has no intention of bringing any law enforcement bills through the markup process. Therefore, we implore you to please use your power to bring these bills to the Floor for up or down votes, as you did recently with the Protecting Our Kids Act bill so that every member can be on the record and their constituents can know where they stand.”
The Members continued, “We continue to hear from our constituents who are extremely concerned about the rising level of crime in the country, and about the importance of enforcing laws already on the books. That is why we have consistently advocated for commonsense, bipartisan legislation to increase investment in local police departments to boost the numbers, retention, training, and accountability of law enforcement officers on the beat.”
The letter was signed by Reps. Josh Gottheimer (NJ-5), Katie Porter (CA-45), Dean Phillips (MN-3), Abigail Spanberger (VA-7), Susie Lee (NV-3), Tom O’Halleran (AZ-1), Daniel T. Kildee (MI-5), Tom Suozzi (NY-3), Jared Golden (ME-2), Jimmy Panetta (CA-20), Angie Craig (MN-2), Ed Case (HI-1), Mikie Sherrill (NJ-11), Jim Costa (CA-16), Tom Malinowski (NJ-7), Kurt Schrader (OR-5), Mike Levin (CA-49), Susan Wild (PA-7), Chris Pappas (NH-1), Cindy Axne (IA-3), Elissa Slotkin (MI-8), Salud Carbajal (CA-24), Ann McLane Kuster (NH-2), Steven Horsford (NV-4), Sanford Bishop (GA-2), Vicente Gonzalez (TX-15), Kim Schrier (WA-8), Lizzie Fletcher (TX-7), Carolyn Bourdeaux (GA-7), Chrissy Houlahan (PA-6), Scott Peters (CA-52), and Debbie Dingell (MI-12).
The full text of the letter can be found here.