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[Congressional Bills 119th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 3719 Introduced in Senate (IS)]
<DOC>
119th CONGRESS
2d Session
S. 3719
To authorize the Secretary of the Interior to provide funding for the
National Law Enforcement Museum, and for other purposes.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
January 28, 2026
Mr. Tillis (for himself and Mr. Blumenthal) introduced the following
bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Energy and
Natural Resources
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To authorize the Secretary of the Interior to provide funding for the
National Law Enforcement Museum, and for other purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ``National Law Enforcement Officers
Remembrance, Support, and Community Outreach Act.''
SEC. 2. FINDINGS.
Congress finds that--
(1) the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial and the
National Law Enforcement Museum in Washington, DC, represent
the only law enforcement campus in the United States and serve
a critical national mission of honoring and remembering those
law enforcement officers who have died in the line of duty,
educating the public about the important role of law
enforcement in a democratic society and working to reduce the
number of line-of-duty deaths and injuries among law
enforcement officers;
(2) it is in the national interest to ensure that the
unique education and outreach programs of the National Law
Enforcement Museum be maintained and enhanced;
(3) in 1984, Congress passed and President Ronald Reagan
signed into law Public Law 98-534 (98 Stat. 2712), a joint
resolution to authorize the Law Enforcement Officers Memorial
Fund, Inc., to establish a National Law Enforcement Heroes
Memorial in Washington, DC;
(4) dedicated on October 15, 1991, the National Law
Enforcement Officers Memorial honors Federal, Tribal, State,
and local law enforcement officers who have made the ultimate
sacrifice for the safety and protection of the United States
and the people of the United States;
(5) the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial is
centered in the 400 block of E Street NW, in Washington, DC,
and is the national monument to law enforcement officers who
have died in the line of duty;
(6) the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial was
built entirely with private funds;
(7) in 2000, Congress passed and President William J.
Clinton signed into law the National Law Enforcement Museum Act
(Public Law 106-492; 114 Stat. 2210), which authorized the
National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial Fund, Inc., to build
and operate the National Law Enforcement Museum on Federal land
in the District of Columbia to honor and commemorate the
service and sacrifice of law enforcement officers in the United
States;
(8) in April 2016, construction began on the National Law
Enforcement Museum in the District of Columbia across the
street from the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial in
Judiciary Square;
(9) in October 2018, the National Law Enforcement Museum
was completed and formally opened;
(10) no Federal funds were used to build the National Law
Enforcement Museum;
(11) the mission of the National Law Enforcement Museum
is--
(A) to honor and commemorate the extraordinary
service and sacrifice of law enforcement officers in
the United States;
(B) to serve as an important bridge between past
and present with respect to law enforcement, between
the heroes of yesteryear and those who have followed in
their footsteps, and between the peace officers of the
United States and the public they serve;
(C) to increase public understanding and support
for law enforcement; and
(D) to promote safety in law enforcement;
(12) the programs of the National Law Enforcement Museum
play a critical role in educating the public about--
(A) the vital importance of law enforcement in a
democratic society;
(B) the critical role law enforcement officers play
in protecting and serving the public; and
(C) the sacrifices law enforcement officers have
made to serve in that role;
(13) the community education and outreach programs,
activities, and special exhibits within the National Law
Enforcement Museum--
(A) help bring local law enforcement agencies
closer to the communities they serve; and
(B) help to foster a better understanding between
law enforcement officers and communities;
(14) the officer safety and wellness education and outreach
programs, activities, and special exhibits of the National Law
Enforcement Museum--
(A) help provide local, State, and Federal law
enforcement agencies with critical information on best
practices to reduce the number of line-of-duty deaths
and injuries;
(B) provide communities and the public with
education concerning the sacrifices made; and
(C) are vitally important at a time when annual
line-of-duty deaths among law enforcement officers
remain at a historically high level;
(15) since the establishment of the National Law
Enforcement Officers Memorial in 1991 and the dedication of the
National Law Enforcement Museum in 2018, the National Law
Enforcement Officers Memorial Fund and the National Law
Enforcement Museum have worked cooperatively with local, State,
and Federal law enforcement agencies--
(A) to properly honor the sacrifices made by law
enforcement officers; and
(B) to provide key programming--
(i) to reduce the number of fatalities and
injuries in law enforcement; and
(ii) to foster better understanding between
law enforcement officers and the communities
they serve;
(16) law enforcement agencies around the United States are
dedicated to--
(A) continuous improvement and innovation in
officer and community safety; and
(B) building trust through community-based
engagement and interventions;
(17) since 2020, there has been a significant increase in
the number of law enforcement officers resigning or retiring;
(18) across the United States--
(A) a number of law enforcement agencies remain
understaffed and many law enforcement agencies--
(i) have been forced to declare personnel
emergencies; and
(ii) require mandatory overtime; and
(B) the resulting deficit in confidence and support
jeopardizes public safety;
(19) there is a critical need--
(A) to enhance public understanding of law
enforcement, which will enhance public appreciation of
law enforcement; and
(B) to improve the safety and wellness of officers
who serve communities across the United States;
(20) fostering a more informed and positive relationship
between law enforcement officers and the public is essential
for community safety; and
(21) a sustained national effort to restore confidence and
understanding in law enforcement is urgently needed.
SEC. 3. SUPPORT FOR THE NATIONAL LAW ENFORCEMENT MUSEUM.
During the first 7 fiscal years beginning after the date of
enactment of this Act, the Secretary of the Interior shall award a
grant to the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial Fund for the
expenses associated with operating and enhancing the community
outreach, public education, and officer safety and wellness programs of
the National Law Enforcement Museum, including programs--
(1)(A) to memorialize law enforcement heroes who die in the
line of duty; and
(B) to compile statistics on law enforcement fatalities and
injuries;
(2) to honor and commemorate the extraordinary service and
sacrifice of law enforcement officers in the United States;
(3) to develop and make available accurate, relevant, and
accessible resources to promote the understanding of law
enforcement history and officer safety and wellness training,
which include digital resources and other types of resources,
such as print resources and traveling exhibitions;
(4) to increase technical resources to better engage the
public in person and via online platforms to provide education
and information to the public about community policing and
officer safety and wellness;
(5) to create, expand, and disseminate scholarly work
through research, curricula, in-house and traveling
exhibitions, publications, and other outreach initiatives;
(6) to expand the collection acquisition and collection
processes, including staffing, conservation, processing, and
digitization;
(7) to augment law enforcement history and officer safety
and wellness education activities, including the development,
dissemination, and implementation of principles of sound
pedagogy for teaching about law enforcement history and officer
safety and wellness;
(8) to promote professional development, including
through--
(A) local, regional, and national workshops;
(B) teacher trainings; and
(C) partnerships with appropriate entities to
better educate and inform the public about law
enforcement history and officer safety and wellness
education;
(9) to engage with local and independent educational
agencies and expand teacher engagement to cultivate and support
the development of leaders in the teaching of law enforcement
history and officer safety and wellness education;
(10) to engage with State and local education leaders to
encourage the adoption of resources supported under this Act
into curricula across diverse disciplines;
(11)(A) to create, develop, implement, replicate, or take
to scale entrepreneurial, evidence-based, field-initiated
innovations for improving--
(i) the National Law Enforcement Museum; and
(ii) officer safety and wellness; and
(B) to rigorously evaluate those innovations;
(12) to provide--
(A) free admission to the National Law Enforcement
Museum for--
(i) active and retired law enforcement
officers; and
(ii) family members of fallen law
enforcement officers; and
(B) dedicated free admission hours for the general
public at least once a week; and
(13) to develop online law enforcement history and officer
safety and wellness education resources for the general public
and scholarly research.
SEC. 4. PROGRESS REPORTS; ACCOUNTING.
(a) Progress Reports.--For each of the first 7 fiscal years
beginning after the date of enactment of this Act, the National Law
Enforcement Officers Memorial Fund shall submit to the Secretary of the
Interior a report that--
(1) documents, consistent with the funding provided by the
Secretary of the Interior under section 3, the progress in
delivering public education, community outreach, and officer
safety and wellness programming; and
(2) provides a formal accounting of the total amount of
Federal funds expended during the fiscal year by the National
Law Enforcement Officers Memorial Fund.
(b) Submission to Congress.--The Secretary of the Interior shall
submit to Congress and make publicly available on the website of the
Department of the Interior each report submitted under subsection (a).
SEC. 5. CONTINUATION OF ACTIVITIES.
To the extent that the National Law Enforcement Museum is engaged
in an activity described in section 3 on the date of enactment of this
Act, the Secretary of the Interior may use the funds appropriated under
section 6 to continue that activity.
SEC. 6. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.
There is authorized to be appropriated to the Secretary of the
Interior to carry out this Act $6,000,000 for each of the first 7
fiscal years beginning after the date of enactment of this Act.
<all>
Introduced in Senate
Read twice and referred to the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources.
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