Don Bacon: “I thank Mr. Rutherford, a great friend and colleague, for yielding. Madam Speaker, I rise to recognize a bipartisan…”

“I thank Mr. Rutherford, a great friend and colleague, for yielding. Madam Speaker, I rise to recognize a bipartisan issue that threatens the safety of our law enforcement officers and our communities in which they serve, and we have a solution for it. Enacted in 2004, the Law Enforcement Officers Safety Act, known as LEOSA, established clear guidelines allowing experienced retired or off-duty officers who maintain proper training to obtain certification allowing him or her to carry concealed firearms. The desired purpose was to create a shared national policy between States allowing off-duty and retired officers to carry their firearms wherever they are, granted they are qualified and received appropriate credentials. As many of my colleagues know, LEOSA has enjoyed a long history of support from both sides of the aisle. When it was first proposed by a Republican, LEOSA was cosponsored by more than half of the House. Subsequent amendments signed into law in 2010 and 2013 under Democratic President Barack Obama expanded LEOSA's coverage to include law enforcement officers in most Federal agencies as well as military police. In both instances, reforms were sponsored by Democratic Senators. {time} 2015 LEOSA has always been a bipartisan priority because it is a law enforcement and public safety issue. It is not a Second Amendment or gun rights issue. The same is true about improvements in H.R. 1156, the LEOSA Reform Act, which I am sponsoring.…”