Congressional Daily Record
This section captures a floor statement or debate entry. It mentions legislation such as National Law Enforcement Officers Remembrance, Support, and Community Outreach Act, committees such as Committee on Natural Resources, members such as Bruce Westerman.
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September 14, 2026
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Download official House Record PDFReturn to issue contextNATIONAL LAW ENFORCEMENT OFFICERS REMEMBRANCE, SUPPORT, AND COMMUNITY
OUTREACH ACT
Mr. WESTERMAN. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 309) to authorize the Secretary of the Interior to provide funding for the National Law Enforcement Museum, and for other purposes, as amended.
The Clerk read the title of the bill.
The text of the bill is as follows:
H.R. 309
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of
the United States of America in Congress assembled,
SEC. 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the “National Law Enforcement
Officers Remembrance, Support, and Community Outreach Act”.
SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS.
In this Act:
(1) Fund.—The term “Fund” means the National Law
Enforcement Officers Memorial Fund.
(2) Secretary.—The term “Secretary” means the Secretary
of the Interior.
SEC. 3. SUPPORT FOR NATIONAL LAW ENFORCEMENT MUSEUM.
(a) In General.—Subject to the availability of
appropriations made in advance for such purpose, beginning on
the first fiscal year the begins after the date of the
enactment of this Act, and for each of the following 6 fiscal
years, the Secretary shall award a grant in the amount
specified in subsection (c) to the Fund to be used solely for
the purposes described in subsection (b), if upon review of
the application submitted pursuant to subsection (d), the
Secretary makes a determination to award such grant pursuant
to subsection (e).
(b) Purpose.—The purpose of the grants authorized under
subsection (a) shall be 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 to—
(1) memorialize law enforcement heroes who die in the line
of duty and compile statistics on law enforcement fatalities
and injuries;
(2) honor and commemorate the extraordinary service and
sacrifice of America's law enforcement officers;
(3) 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) increase technical resources to better engage the
public in person and via online platforms to educate and
inform the public about community policing and officer safety
and wellness;
(5) create, expand, and disseminate scholarly work through
research, curricula, in-house and traveling exhibitions,
publications, and other outreach initiatives;
(6) expand the collection acquisition and collection
processes, including staffing, conservation, processing, and
digitization;
(7) 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) promote professional development, including local,
regional, and national workshops, teacher trainings, and
partnerships, with appropriate entities to better educate and
inform the public about law enforcement history and officer
safety and wellness education;
(9) 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) engage with State and local education leaders to
encourage the adoption of resources supported under this Act
into curricula across diverse disciplines;
(11) create, develop, implement, replicate, or take to
scale entrepreneurial, evidence-based, field-initiated
innovations for museum and officer safety and wellness
improvement, and rigorously evaluate such innovations;
(12) provide for the free admission to National Law
Enforcement Museum for active and retired law enforcement
officers and family members of fallen officers, and dedicated
free admission hours for the general public at least once a
week; and
(13) develop online Law Enforcement History and Officer
Safety and Wellness Education Resources for the general
public and scholarly research.
(c) Grant Amount.—Each grant authorized under subsection
(a) shall be for $6,000,000.
(d) Application.—To be considered for an award of a grant
under this section, the Fund shall submit to the Secretary an
application at such time, in such manner, and containing such
information as the Secretary may require.
(e) Review; Deadline for Award.—If the Secretary, after
review of the application from the Fund, determines that the
Fund satisfies any requirements established by the Secretary
under subsection (d), the Secretary shall award the grant to
the Fund, not later than 90 days after the date of receipt by
the Secretary of the completed application submitted by the
Fund.
(f) Condition on Receipt of Grant.—As a condition on
receipt of a grant under this section, the Fund shall—
(1) provide for—
(A) free admission to National Law Enforcement Museum for
active and retired law enforcement officers and family
members of fallen officers; and
(B) dedicated free admission hours for the general public
at least once a week; and
(2) allow for annual Federal audits of the financial
statements of the Fund, including revenues associated with
ticket sales, charitable donations, grants, and all
expenditures on salaries and operations, which shall be
subject to review by the Secretary and made available to the
public.
(g) Reports.—Not later than 90 days after the end of each
fiscal year for which the Fund obligates or expends funds
made available to the Fund pursuant to this section, the Fund
shall submit to the Committee on Natural Resources of the
House of Representatives and the Committee on Energy and
Natural Resources of the Senate a report that includes, for
the fiscal year covered by the report, each of the following:
(1) Information relating to the amount of grant funds
obligated or expended for the preceding fiscal year.
(2) Information relating to any purposes for which such
funds were obligated or expended.
(3) Information relating to the progress in delivering
public education, community outreach, and officer safety and
wellness programming using funds provided under this section.
(3) Any other information the Secretary may require to
effectively administer the program under this section, as
determined by the Secretary, if not later than the last day
of the fiscal year the Secretary notified the Fund of such
requested information.
(h) No Additional Funds Authorized.—No additional funds
are authorized to carry out the requirements of this section,
and the activities authorized by this section are subject to
the availability of appropriations made in advance for such
purposes.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from Arkansas (Mr. Westerman) and the gentlewoman from Maryland (Ms. Elfreth) each will control 20 minutes.
The Chair recognizes the gentleman from Arkansas.
General Leave
Mr. WESTERMAN. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may have 5 legislative days to revise and extend their remarks and to include extraneous material on H.R. 309, the bill now under consideration.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the gentleman from Arkansas?
There was no objection.
Mr. WESTERMAN. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of H.R. 309, the National Law Enforcement Officers Remembrance, Support, and Community Outreach Act, which provides temporary grants from the Department of the Interior to enhance the community outreach, public education, and officer safety and wellness programs of the National Law Enforcement Museum here in Washington, D.C.
partisan issue, and the overwhelming support behind this bill is a true testament to that scenario.
This bill is led by Representative Nehls of Texas. The bill has 124 bipartisan cosponsors. This legislation has also been endorsed by numerous law enforcement organizations across the Nation, including the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial Fund, the Federal Law Enforcement Officers Association, the Fraternal Order of Police, the National Association of Police Organizations, and the National Sheriffs' Association.
from the Arkansas Association of Chiefs of Police; the city of Sheridan, Arkansas, Police Department; and the Arkansas Game Warden Association.
Association of Chiefs of Police, said: A sustained national effort to restore confidence and understanding in law enforcement is urgently needed, now more than ever. That is precisely what this bill would do. I could not agree more.
in harm's way to protect their fellow Americans. They make tremendous sacrifices to keep our communities safe, uphold the rule of law, and answer the call when their neighbors need them most. They deserve our respect, our gratitude, and our support.
{time} 1740
Enforcement Officers Memorial honors Federal, Tribal, State, and local law enforcement officers who have made the ultimate sacrifice in the line of duty.
of American law enforcement through exhibits, educational programming, historical collections, and outreach.
H.R. 309 builds on that mission by authorizing the Department of the Interior to provide grants to the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial Fund to expand its education and community outreach initiatives. These grants will support free museum access for officers, expansion of digitized collections, and broader distribution of officer safety and wellness resources to law enforcement agencies across the country.
officers across the country, and honor the service and sacrifices of America's law enforcement officers.
Mr. Speaker, I thank Representative Nehls for his leadership on this legislation. I urge my colleagues to support H.R. 309, and I reserve the balance of my time.
Ms. ELFRETH. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
Mr. Speaker, H.R. 309, the National Law Enforcement Officers Remembrance, Support, and Community Outreach Act, was introduced by my colleagues, Representative Nehls and Representative Panetta, so this is a bipartisan effort.
the Department of the Interior and supports community outreach, public education, and officer safety and wellness programs at the National Law Enforcement Museum.
Enforcement Officers Memorial Fund to establish the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial in Washington, D.C. The memorial fund built and continues to maintain the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial, the Nation's monument dedicated to officers killed in the line of duty. The fund also maintains the largest, most comprehensive database of line-of-duty officer deaths, conducts research into officer fatality trends and issues, and serves as an information clearinghouse.
Act, which authorized the fund to build and operate the National Law Enforcement Museum. Opened in 2018, the museum tells the story of American law enforcement through exhibits, collections, research, and education.
H.R. 309 would take additional steps toward authorizing the Secretary of the Interior to establish and award a grant to the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial Fund for 7 fiscal years to take that work outside of the museum. Such grants would have an annual $6 million limit during that period. As a condition of receiving the grant funding, the fund would be required to submit annual reports to the Secretary, documenting and accounting progress and expenditures.
and their museum to continue supporting officers and educating the public on the important work our law enforcement officers do every day to keep our communities safe.
longstanding support of this important memorial and museum and the men and women who keep our communities safe.
Mr. Speaker, I urge support for H.R. 309, and I reserve the balance of my time.
Mr. WESTERMAN. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Nehls), the lead sponsor of this bill and someone who personally knows about law enforcement, having served as a sheriff.
Mr. NEHLS. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of my bill, H.R. 309, the National Law Enforcement Officers Remembrance, Support, and Community Outreach Act. I thank Chairman Westerman for his support and his work on this.
together in this bipartisan effort to support our law enforcement officers. I urge my colleagues to support H.R. 309.
Ms. ELFRETH. Mr. Speaker, I urge support for this bipartisan legislation, and I yield back the balance of my time.
Mr. WESTERMAN. Mr. Speaker, I thank Representative Nehls for his leadership on this bipartisan legislation. I urge my colleagues to vote
“yes” on H.R. 309, and I yield back the balance of my time.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. The question is on the motion offered by the gentleman from Arkansas (Mr. Westerman) that the House suspend the rules and pass the bill, H.R. 309, as amended.
The question was taken; and (two-thirds being in the affirmative) the rules were suspended and the bill, as amended, was passed.
A motion to reconsider was laid on the table.