Following the shooting last week of six on-duty Philadelphia police officers, U.S. Rep. Vern Buchanan (R-FL) urged Congress to pass his bill bolstering penalties against the perpetrators.
“Police officers and first responders put their lives on the line every single day to help those in harm’s way,” Rep. Buchanan said on Aug. 16. “They need to know that we have their backs. And those who target police and first responders need to know that there will be severe consequences.”
Last week, six police officers were shot and three more injured while attempting to serve a narcotics warrant in Philadelphia, according to a statement released by Rep. Buchanan’s office. None of the injuries sustained in the Philadelphia attack were fatal.
Rep. Buchanan’s statement further cited data from the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial Fund showing there have been 73 officers killed in the line of duty so far this year, following a 16 percent increase in shooting deaths of police officers in 2018.
Rep. Buchanan on Jan. 3 sponsored the Thin Blue Line Act, H.R. 99, which would make the murder or attempted murder of a police officer an “aggravating” factor in death penalty determinations.
Among the nine GOP members cosponsoring the bill are U.S. Reps. Andy Barr (R-KY), Earl “Buddy” Carter (R-GA), Larry Bucshon (R-IN), John Shimkus (R-IL), and Rodney Davis (R-IL).
Rep. Buchanan called on the U.S. House of Representatives and the U.S. Senate to immediately take action on H.R. 99 and get it to the president’s desk to make it a federal law.
If enacted, H.R. 99 would apply to federal, state and local police officers, firefighters, and first responders whether the person is murdered on duty, because of the performance of his or her duty, or because of the person’s status as a public official, according to the congressman’s statement.
The only requirement is that the homicide involve federal jurisdiction, such as the interstate homicide of an officer, or an officer killed on federal land, or while serving as part of a joint task force, the statement says.
The bill is currently under consideration by the U.S. House Judiciary Committee.