I 
119TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION 
H. R. 309 
To authorize the Secretary of the Interior to provide funding for the National 
Law Enforcement Museum, and for other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
JANUARY 9, 2025 
Mr. NEHLS (for himself, Mr. PANETTA, Mr. STAUBER, Mr. COSTA, Ms. 
BROWNLEY, Mr. LAMALFA, Mr. HIGGINS of Louisiana, Mr. THANEDAR, 
Ms. MACE, Mr. VALADAO, Mr. BABIN, Mr. CISCOMANI, Mr. LAWLER, Mr. 
AMODEI of Nevada, Mr. PAPPAS, Mr. KELLY of Pennsylvania, Mr. RYAN, 
Ms. CRAIG, Mr. GARBARINO, Mr. WEBER of Texas, Mr. NEGUSE, Mr. 
MOOLENAAR, Mr. FITZPATRICK, Ms. TITUS, Mrs. HINSON, Mr. GRAVES, 
Mr. HUDSON, Mr. BACON, Mr. LALOTA, Mrs. FISCHBACH, and Mr. 
GOTTHEIMER) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
Committee on 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 Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘National Law Enforce-
ment Officers Remembrance, Support and Community 
Outreach Act.’’ 
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SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 
The Congress finds the following: 
(1) The National Law Enforcement Officers 
Memorial and the National Law Enforcement Mu-
seum in Washington, DC represent the only law en-
forcement campus in the United States and serves 
a critical national mission of honoring and remem-
bering 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. 
(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 a joint resolution to 
authorize the Law Enforcement Officers Memorial 
Fund, Inc., to establish a National Law Enforce-
ment Heroes Memorial (Public Law 98–534) in 
Washington, DC. 
(4) Dedicated on October 15, 1991, the Na-
tional Law Enforcement Officers Memorial honors 
Federal, tribal, State, and local law enforcement of-
ficers who have made the ultimate sacrifice for the 
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safety and protection of our Nation and its people. 
The National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial is 
centered in the 400 block of E Street, NW, Wash-
ington, DC and is the nation’s monument to law en-
forcement officers who have died in the line of duty. 
The Memorial was built entirely with private funds. 
(5) In 2000, Congress passed and President 
William J. Clinton signed into law the National Law 
Enforcement Museum Act (Public Law 106–492), 
which authorized the National Law Enforcement Of-
ficers Memorial Fund, Inc. to build and operate the 
National Law Enforcement Museum on Federal land 
in the District of Columbia to honor and commemo-
rate the service and sacrifice of law enforcement offi-
cers in the United States. 
(6) 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. 
In October of 2018 the National Law Enforcement 
Museum was completed and formally opened. No 
Federal funds were used to build the Museum. 
(7) The National Law Enforcement Museum’s 
mission is— 
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(A) to honor and commemorate the ex-
traordinary service and sacrifice of America’s 
law enforcement officers; 
(B) to serve as an important bridge be-
tween law enforcement’s past and present, be-
tween the heroes of yesteryear and those who 
have followed in their footsteps, and between 
America’s peace officers and the public they 
serve; and 
(C) to increase public understanding and 
support for law enforcement and to promote 
law enforcement safety. 
(8) The programs of the National Law Enforce-
ment Museum play a critical role in educating the 
public about the vital importance of law enforcement 
in a democratic society, the critical role law enforce-
ment plays in protecting and serving the public, and 
the sacrifices law enforcement officers have made to 
serve in this role. 
(9) The community education and outreach pro-
grams, activities, and special exhibits within the Na-
tional Law Enforcement Museum help bring local 
law enforcement agencies closer to the communities 
they serve, and help to foster a better understanding 
between law enforcement and communities. 
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(10) The National Law Enforcement Museum’s 
Officer Safety and Wellness education and outreach 
programs and activities help provide local, State and 
Federal law enforcement agencies with critical infor-
mation on best practices to reduce the number of 
line of duty deaths and injuries and provide commu-
nities and the public with education concerning the 
sacrifices made. These programs, activities, and spe-
cial exhibits are vitally important at a time when an-
nual line of duty deaths among law enforcement offi-
cers remain at an historically high level. 
(11) Since the establishment in 1991 of the Na-
tional Law Enforcement Officers Memorial, and the 
dedication of the National Law Enforcement Mu-
seum in 2018, the National Law Enforcement Offi-
cers Memorial Fund and the National Law Enforce-
ment Museum have worked cooperatively with local, 
State and Federal law enforcement agencies to prop-
erly honor the sacrifices made by law enforcement, 
and provide key programming to reduce the number 
of law enforcement fatalities and injuries, and foster 
better understanding between law enforcement and 
the communities they serve. 
(12) Law enforcement agencies around the 
country are dedicated to continuous improvement 
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and innovation in officer and community safety, and 
to building trust through community-based engage-
ment and interventions. 
(13) Since 2020, there has been a significant 
increase in the number of law enforcement officers 
resigning or retiring. According to the Police Execu-
tive Research Forum, over the past three years there 
has been an almost 24-percent increase in the num-
ber of law enforcement officers retiring, and more 
than 47-percent increase in the number of law en-
forcement officers resigning. 
(14) A number of law enforcement agencies 
across the country remain under-staffed, and many 
law enforcement agencies have been forced to declare 
personnel emergencies and require mandatory over-
time. 
(15) The resulting deficit in confidence and 
support jeopardizes public safety. There is a critical 
need to enhance public understanding and apprecia-
tion of law enforcement, and to improve the safety 
and wellness of officers who serve our communities. 
Fostering a more informed and positive relationship 
between law enforcement and the public is essential 
for societal safety and cohesion. A sustained national 
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effort to restore confidence and understanding in 
law enforcement is urgently needed. 
SEC. 3. SUPPORT FOR THE NATIONAL LAW ENFORCEMENT 
MUSEUM. 
During the first seven 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 Of-
ficers Memorial Fund for the expenses associated with op-
erating and enhancing the community outreach, public 
education, and officer safety and wellness programs of the 
National Law Enforcement Museum, including programs 
to: 
(1) Memorialize law enforcement heroes who die 
in the line of duty and compile statistics on law en-
forcement fatalities and injuries. 
(2) Honor and commemorate the extraordinary 
service and sacrifice of America’s law enforcement 
officers. 
(3) Develop and make available accurate, rel-
evant, and accessible resources to promote the un-
derstanding 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. 
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(4) Increase technical resources to better en-
gage the public in person and via online platforms 
to educate and inform the public about community 
policing and officer safety and wellness. 
(5) Create, expand and disseminate scholarly 
work through research, curricula, in-house and trav-
eling exhibitions, publications, and other outreach 
initiatives. 
(6) Expand the collection acquisition and collec-
tion processes, including staffing, conservation, proc-
essing, and digitization. 
(7) Augment law enforcement history and offi-
cer safety and wellness education activities, includ-
ing the development, dissemination, and implementa-
tion of principles of sound pedagogy for teaching 
about law enforcement history and officer safety and 
wellness. 
(8) Promote professional development including 
local, regional, and national workshops; teacher 
trainings; and partnerships with appropriate entities 
to better educate and inform the public about law 
enforcement history and officer safety and wellness 
education. 
(9) Engage with local and independent edu-
cational agencies and expand teacher engagement to 
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cultivate and support the development of leaders in 
the teaching of law enforcement history and officer 
safety and wellness education. 
(10) Engage with State and local education 
leaders to encourage the adoption of resources sup-
ported under this Act into curricula across diverse 
disciplines. 
(11) Create, develop, implement, replicate, or 
take to scale entrepreneurial, evidence-based, field- 
initiated innovations for museum and officer safety 
and wellness improvement, and rigorously evaluate 
such innovations. 
(12) Provide for the free admission to National 
Law Enforcement Museum for active and retired law 
enforcement officers and family members of fallen 
officers; and dedicated free admission hours for the 
general public at least once a week. 
(13) Develop online Law Enforcement History 
and Officer Safety and Wellness Education Re-
sources for the general public and scholarly research. 
SEC. 4. PROGRESS REPORTS; CERTIFICATIONS. 
(a) PROGRESS REPORT.—For each of the first seven 
fiscal years the National Law Enforcement Officers Me-
morial Fund shall submit a report to the Secretary of the 
Interior that— 
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(1) documents, consistent with the funding pro-
vided from the Department, the progress in deliv-
ering public education, community outreach and offi-
cer safety and wellness programming; and 
(2) provides a formal accounting of total 
amounts of Federal funds expended during the fiscal 
year. 
(b) SUBMISSION TO CONGRESS.—The Secretary of 
the Interior shall share this report with Congress every 
fiscal year and make the report available on the U.S. De-
partment of Interior website. 
SEC. 5. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS. 
(1) IN GENERAL.—There are authorized to be 
appropriated to the Secretary of the Interior to 
carry out this section $6,000,000 for each of the 
first 7 fiscal years beginning after the date of the 
enactment of this Act. 
(2) EXCEPTION.—If in any fiscal year the 
amount appropriated pursuant to the authorization 
under paragraph (1) is not the full amount provided 
by such paragraph, the Secretary may transfer such 
sums as may be necessary from the National Park 
Service, up to the amount specified in paragraph 
(1), to carry out this section. 
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SEC. 6. CONTINUATION OF ACTIVITIES. 
To the extent that the National Law Enforcement 
Museum is engaged in an activity described on the date 
of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary may use the 
funds appropriated under section 5 to continue that activ-
ity. 
Æ 
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