Dear John,
This week I introduced the Back the Blue Act of 2021 with Reps. Bill Johnson and Steve Stivers. This legislation ensures that those who risk their lives to protect others are afforded greater protection. I introduced the Back the Blue Act of 2021 this week, during Police Week, because this bill is needed now more than ever. Senator John Cornyn is also introducing it in the Senate.
More officers were shot and killed in the last four-and-a-half months of 2021 than all of 2020 and 2019! We need to enforce greater protections for those who protect us, and that is why my colleagues, and I introduced the Back the Blue Act.
The numbers are alarming! In 2018, 83 police officers were shot, and 26 were killed. In 2019, 86 were shot, 18 were killed. In 2020, 89 were shot, 18 were killed. This year, in 2021, as of April 30, there have been 91 officers shot so far, and 19 of them were killed by gunfire. We need to defend our law enforcement and public safety officers, and our bill does just that.
Specifically, the Back the Blue Act creates new criminal provisions to protect federal law enforcement officers, US judges, and federally funded public safety officers—such as firefighters, chaplains, and members of a rescue squad or ambulance crew.
The Back the Blue Act creates a new federal crime for killing, attempting to kill, or conspiring to kill a federal judge, federal law enforcement officer, or federally funded public safety officer. The offender would be subject to the death penalty and a mandatory minimum sentence of 30 years if it results in a death. The offender would otherwise face a minimum sentence of 10 years.
The bill creates a new federal crime for assaulting a federally funded law enforcement officer, with escalating penalties, including mandatory minimums, based on the extent of any injury and the use of a dangerous weapon.
Our bill also creates a new federal crime for interstate flight from justice to avoid prosecution for killing, attempting to kill, or conspiring to kill a federal judge, federal law enforcement officer, or federally funded public safety officer. The offender would be subject to a mandatory minimum sentence of 10 years for this offense.
Lastly, the Back the Blue Act creates a specific aggravating factor for Federal death penalty prosecutions; expands self-defense and second amendment rights for law enforcement officers; and opens grant funding to strengthen relationships between police and their communities.
I was a victim of a crime twice, and both times when I was deployed. My house was robbed once when I was a captain in ME, and the other time, someone falsified my identity when I was a LtCol during the invasion of Iraq. Both times the police were there for me and my family. Every day our police walk out their doors and leave their own families to protect ours, and they wonder if they’ll encounter a violent criminal and make it home.
Finally, this is National Police Week and I wanted to thank our servants in blue. Watch my video here.
