Recruit and Retain Act
Floor Speech
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Mr. HUNT. Madam Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (S. 546) to amend the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968 to authorize law enforcement agencies to use COPS grants for recruitment activities, and for other purposes.
The Clerk read the title of the bill.
The text of the bill is as follows: S. 546
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 ``Recruit and Retain Act''. SEC. 2. IMPROVING COPS GRANTS FOR POLICE HIRING PURPOSES.
(a) Grant Use Expansion.--Section 1701(b) of title I of the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968 (34 U.S.C. 10381(b)) is amended--
(1) by redesignating paragraphs (5) through (23) as paragraphs (6) through (24), respectively; and
(2) by inserting after paragraph (4) the following:
``(5) to support hiring activities by law enforcement agencies experiencing declines in officer recruitment applications by reducing application-related fees, such as fees for background checks, psychological evaluations, and testing;''.
(b) Technical Amendment.--Section 1701(b)(23) of title I of the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968 (34 U.S.C. 10381(b)(23)) is amended by striking ``(21)'' and inserting ``(22)''. SEC. 3. ADMINISTRATIVE COSTS.
Section 1701 of title I of the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968 (34 U.S.C. 10381) is amended--
(1) by redesignating subsections (i) through (n) as subsections (j) through (o), respectively; and
(2) by inserting after subsection (h) the following:
``(i) Administrative Costs.--Not more than 2 percent of a grant made for the hiring or rehiring of additional career law enforcement officers may be used for costs incurred to administer such grant.''. SEC. 4. PIPELINE PARTNERSHIP PROGRAM.
Section 1701 of title I of the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968 (34 U.S.C. 10381) is amended by inserting after subsection (o) the following:
``(p) COPS Pipeline Partnership Program.--
``(1) Eligible entity defined.--In this subsection, the term `eligible entity' means a law enforcement agency in partnership with not less than 1 educational institution, which may include 1 or any combination of the following:
``(A) An elementary school.
``(B) A secondary school.
``(C) An institution of higher education.
``(D) A Hispanic-serving institution.
``(E) A historically Black college or university.
``(F) A Tribal college.
``(2) Grants.--The Attorney General shall award competitive grants to eligible entities for recruiting activities that--
``(A) support substantial student engagement for the exploration of potential future career opportunities in law enforcement;
``(B) strengthen recruitment by law enforcement agencies experiencing a decline in recruits, or high rates of resignations or retirements;
``(C) enhance community interactions between local youth and law enforcement agencies that are designed to increase recruiting; and
``(D) otherwise improve the outcomes of local law enforcement recruitment through activities such as dedicated programming for students, work-based learning opportunities, project-based learning, mentoring, community liaisons, career or job fairs, work site visits, job shadowing, apprenticeships, or skills-based internships.
``(3) Funding.--Of the amounts made available to carry out this part for a fiscal year, the Attorney General may use not more than $3,000,000 to carry out this subsection.''. SEC. 5. COPS GRANT GUIDANCE FOR AGENCIES OPERATING BELOW BUDGETED STRENGTH.
Section 1704 of title I of the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968 (34 U.S.C. 10384) is amended by adding at the end the following:
``(d) Guidance for Understaffed Law Enforcement Agencies.--
``(1) Definitions.--In this subsection:
``(A) Covered applicant.--The term `covered applicant' means an applicant for a hiring grant under this part seeking funding for a law enforcement agency operating below the budgeted strength of the law enforcement agency.
``(B) Budgeted strength.--The term `budgeted strength' means the employment of the maximum number of sworn law enforcement officers the budget of a law enforcement agency allows the agency to employ.
``(2) Procedures.--Not later than 180 days after the date of enactment of this Act, the Attorney General shall establish consistent procedures for covered applicants, including guidance that--
``(A) clarifies that covered applicants remain eligible for funding under this part; and
``(B) enables covered applicants to attest that the funding from a grant awarded under this part is not being used by the law enforcement agency to supplant State or local funds, as described in subsection (a).
``(3) Paperwork reduction.--In developing the procedures and guidance under paragraph (2), the Attorney General shall take measures to reduce paperwork requirements for grants to covered applicants.''. SEC. 6. STUDY ON POLICE RECRUITMENT.
(a) Study.--
(1) In general.--The Comptroller General of the United States shall conduct a study to consider the comprehensive effects of recruitment and attrition rates on Federal, State, Tribal, and local law enforcement agencies in the United States, to identify--
(A) the primary reasons that law enforcement officers--
(i) join law enforcement agencies; and
(ii) resign or retire from law enforcement agencies;
(B) how the reasons described in subparagraph (A) may have changed over time;
(C) the effects of recruitment and attrition on public safety;
(D) the effects of electronic media on recruitment efforts;
(E) barriers to the recruitment and retention of Federal, State, and local law enforcement officers; and
(F) recommendations for potential ways to address barriers to the recruitment and retention of law enforcement officers, including the barriers identified in subparagraph (E).
(2) Representative cross-section.--
(A) In general.--The Comptroller General of the United States shall endeavor to ensure accurate representation of law enforcement agencies in the study conducted pursuant to paragraph (1) by surveying a broad cross-section of law enforcement agencies--
(i) from various regions of the United States;
(ii) of different sizes; and
(iii) from rural, suburban, and urban jurisdictions.
(B) Methods description.--The study conducted pursuant to paragraph (1) shall include in the report under subsection (b) a description of the methods used to identify a representative sample of law enforcement agencies.
(b) Report.--Not later than 540 days after the date of enactment of this Act, the Comptroller General of the United States shall--
(1) submit to the Committee on the Judiciary of the Senate and the Committee on the Judiciary of the House of Representatives a report containing the study conducted under subsection (a); and
(2) make the report submitted under paragraph (1) publicly available online.
(c) Confidentiality.--The Comptroller General of the United States shall ensure that the study conducted under subsection (a) protects the privacy of participating law enforcement agencies.
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Mr. HUNT. 546.
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Mr. HUNT. Madam Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
Madam Speaker, I am pleased to have the Recruit and Retain Act before the House today. The Recruit and Retain Act is about helping our men and women in blue. This legislation passed the Senate by unanimous consent, and I am proud to sponsor and lead this bill in the House along with my fellow committee member across the aisle, Representative Glenn Ivey.
Our police departments are struggling with crisis-level recruiting shortages.
Here in Washington, for example, the Metropolitan Police Department has the lowest number of officers it has had in the past 50 years.
Another example, since 2019, the Chicago police force has lost 3,300 officers as of October 2022, and it has only replaced about half of those departures.
Some small towns that don't have as many resources are even having to shutter their police departments entirely.
We cannot stand by and let this continue to happen across our country, and this is why we need the Recruit and Retain Act.
Currently, the DOJ provides grants to State, local, and Tribal governments to hire law enforcement officers under the COPS Hiring program. The Recruit and Retain Act would leverage the COPS Hiring program to ensure the program is responsive to the latest hiring challenges that law enforcement agencies are experiencing nationwide.
This bill would reduce the cost of onboarding new officers, specifically fees associated with background checks, psychological evaluations, and other testing. It will also alleviate administrative burdens and clarify application guidance to ensure grants are accessible to all law enforcement agencies. It will create new opportunities for law enforcement to build trust and interest in law enforcement careers with local youth.
Lastly, the bill will require research into the latest data and uncover new insights into law enforcement recruitment and retention trends across the country.
This bill does not authorize new funds or create new grant programs, and it only allows existing COPS grants to be used for recruiting and retaining police officers.
I am proud to say this bill has been endorsed by the Federal Law Enforcement Officers Association, Fraternal Order of Police, Major Cities Chiefs Association, Major County Sheriffs of America, National Association of Police Organizations, National Sheriffs' Association, and others.
When our police departments are well funded and maintained, our communities are safer. Americans are safer. Let's support our cops. Let's help attract the best and the brightest to the law enforcement profession. That is so important in the environment our police officers live and work in every single day in this country.
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Mr. HUNT. Madam Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.
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Mr. HUNT. Madam Speaker, on that I demand the yeas and nays.
The yeas and nays were ordered.
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