On the recordMay 12, 2015
And Members, I rise in support of this very commonsense bill, as Mr. Pascrell just laid out, to correct an inequity that exists within the retirement system for Federal law enforcement officers. Public safety employees are often subject to mandatory retirement upon reaching a certain age. Unfortunately, for many Federal law enforcement officers, this forced retirement occurs a couple of years before they are able to legally access their retirement accounts without a penalty. It makes no sense to force these officers who protect us and who serve our communities to then retire without being able to access their own money that they have earned and diligently saved. The Defending Public Safety Employees' Retirement Act corrects this inequity and gives these public safety officers the certainty they deserve after years of service. I want to thank Sheriff Reichert for his leadership on this issue and look forward to its passage.
