Wenatchee Times

WASHINGTON, D.C. – In honor of Police Week, Representative Kim Schrier, M.D. is bringing forward new bipartisan legislation to provide benefits for exposure related cancers, improve governmental retirement plans for public safety officers, and provide access to treatment for job-related Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder.

“It is important to support our law enforcement community, not just during this week where we commemorate fallen officers, but year-round to make sure they have the resources they need to keep themselves and our community safe,” said Rep. Schrier. “I am proud to bring the concerns I have heard first hand from local officers to Congress and provide police with the support they deserve.”

Here are some ways that Congresswoman Kim Schrier, M.D. has worked to support law enforcement across the country and in Washington’s Eighth District:

• Securing $2 million in federal funding to bring body cameras and crisis response teams to the King County Sheriff’s Office, to protect officers and the community.
• Participating in 8 ride-alongs and several other roundtables with local law enforcement across the district to hear firsthand from officers about their experiences, challenges, and needs.  
• Cosponsoring "Fighting Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder Act"– H.R 472 which would require the Office of Community Oriented Policing Services within the DOJ to report on one or more proposed programs to make treatment or preventative care available to public safety officers for job-related PTSD.
• Cosponsoring “Honoring Our Fallen Heroes Act” – H.R. 1719 which would provide public safety officers with benefits for exposure related cancer, and would categorize duty-related cancer fatalities as line of duty deaths.
• Cosponsoring the “Public Safety Health Care Retirees Act,” - H.R. 957 this bill amends the Internal Revenue Code to increase from $3,000 to $6,000 the amount excludible from the gross income of public safety officers for distributions from governmental retirement plans for health and long-term care insurance.
• Pushing for Congress to pass the Invest to Protect Act, a bipartisan bill that would bring resources and training to departments with fewer than 200 officers.
• Cosponsoring the COPS on the Beat Grant Program Reauthorization and Parity Act that would triple funding for COPS grants, and the PART Act to address catalytic converter thefts.
• Voted this week in support of a resolution expressing support for local law enforcement officers and condemning efforts to defund or dismantle local law enforcement agencies.

"I have been meeting with police chiefs, police officers, business leaders, and constituents across the 8th District who are concerned about increasing crime trends,” said Rep. Schrier. “In law enforcement meetings, I’ve heard about what resources they need to keep themselves and our communities safe. I’m proud to be a co-sponsor on a variety of bills to ensure the best of the best for our officers and to ensure our police have the resources they need to keep themselves and our communities safe."

Original source can be found here.