Jim Sensenbrenner: “Let me say that this is a work in progress, as was the DOJ reauthorization bill that the Congress passed and the…”

“Let me say that this is a work in progress, as was the DOJ reauthorization bill that the Congress passed and the President signed last Congress, which was the first Department of Justice reauthorization that had been done since 1979. The gentleman from New York has a legitimate concern about the sale of fake law enforcement badges. Let me say that we had hoped to include some language relative to that issue in this bill, but the devil was in the details and we could not agree upon the details before the bill came to the floor. That does not put the issue to bed forever. When we deal with this issue in conference, I am hopeful that we will be able to get some language inserted into the final bill that goes down to the White House that deals with fake badges, because this is a very legitimate issue and there ought to be additional penalties for those who use fake badges over and above the penalties for impersonating a police officer. So I am hopeful that the other body will deal with this issue promptly.”