U.S. Sen. Cory Gardner (R-CO) is cosponsoring bipartisan legislation that would provide $30 million annually in federal funding for the Bulletproof Vest Partnership Grant Program beginning next year.
“This bipartisan legislation will provide lifesaving vests for officers,” Sen. Gardner said on May 2. “I’ll continue to fight for measures like these to support our men and women in uniform.”
Sen. Gardner on April 30 introduced S. 1231 with bill sponsor U.S. Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-VT) to permanently reauthorize the federal grant program, which funds purchases by state and local law enforcement agencies of bulletproof vests.
For more than 20 years, the partnership grant program has awarded over 13,000 jurisdictions a total of $467 million in matching federal funds for the purchase of roughly 1.3 million vests, the senator said, adding that Congress has reauthorized the program five times, most recently in 2016. The current authorization is set to expire in 2020.
“Law enforcement officers in Colorado and across our nation are the foundation of safe communities and it’s our responsibility to ensure they have the best possible equipment to protect themselves while serving in the line of duty,” said Sen. Gardner.
Among the 16 other members who joined Sen. Gardner in cosponsoring S. 1231 are U.S. Sens. Thom Tillis (R-NC) and Susan Collins (R-ME).
S. 1231 already has garnered the support of numerous organizations, including the Fraternal Order of Police, the International Association of Chiefs of Police, the National Association of Police Organizations, the National Sheriffs’ Association, the Federal Law Enforcement Officers Association, and the Sergeants Benevolent Association, among others.
S. 1231 is under consideration by the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee.