[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.
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