Congress came back from their Memorial Day recess with important work needing to be done on issues of importance to Special Agents. Specifically, this week Congress enacted legislation renewing expiring provisions of the Patriot Act, and passed legislation reducing tax penalties for law enforcement officers withdrawing money from their retirement accounts. The FBIAA was an active voice for Special Agents on both of these important issues.
Leading into the Memorial Day recess, the future of the “lone wolf,” roving wiretap, and business records provisions of the Patriot Act was very uncertain. Prior to the recess the Senate was unable to pass any short term extensions of the provisions, and an effort to break a filibuster preventing a vote on the House-passed USA Freedom Act, which reauthorizes the expiring Patriot Act provisions until the end of 2019 but also includes a range of new restrictions on bulk data collection, fell three votes short.
The Senate came back into session for a last-ditch to extend the provisions on May 31st, but was unable to take any action before the Patriot Act provisions expired at 12:00 a.m. on June 1st. Fortunately, the expiration of the Patriot Act provisions only lasted for less than two days, as the Senate passed the USA Freedom Act on June 2nd by a 67-32 vote, and it was signed into law by president Obama later that day.
The FBIAA is also pleased to report that on June 4th the Senate passed H.R. 2146, the Defending Public Safety Employees' Retirement Act, clearing the legislation for expected signature by President Obama. This legislation, introduced in the House by Rep. David Reicher (R-WA), amends tax laws to allow federal law enforcement officers, firefighters, customs and border protection officers, and air traffic controllers between the ages of 50 and 59 ½ to withdraw money from their TSP accounts without facing a 10% tax penalty. It was passed by a 407-5 in the House on May 12th. Law enforcement groups, including the FBIAA, have been pushing for the legislation for several years.
The FBIAA was in frequent communication with policymakers on both sides of the aisle, and in both the House and Senate, regarding both of these issues. As Congress turns to other issues of importance to Agents, we will update FBIAA members about our continuing efforts to advance the interests of Special Agents.