Mr. SCHIFF. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman for yielding me this time, and I applaud the bipartisan leadership for their tireless work in bringing this bill to the floor today.
In particular, I am very appreciative that one of my bills, the Law Enforcement Tribute Act, has been included in the reauthorization conference report. The Law Enforcement Tribute Act authorizes funding for grants to States and localities to aid in honoring those men and women of the United States who were killed or disabled while serving as law enforcement or public safety officers.
To ensure this funding would allow for the development of many tributes around the country, there is a limit that no award may be greater than $150,000; and the bill further requires a match by the State or locality requesting the funding. The bill authorizes $3 million a year for 5 years to be administered through the Department of Justice and would provide enough funding for 20 projects each year.
Mr. Speaker, I would like to explain briefly why this bill is so important. In one of the communities I represent alone, Glendale, California, four police officers and one sheriff's deputy have been killed in the line of duty. Many others have suffered injuries and illnesses that have contributed to early deaths. The ultimate sacrifice they have made deserves this recognition.
One of those fallen heroes was Charles Lazzaretto, a Glendale police officer killed in the line of duty only 4 years ago. Another involves Janice Starnes of Martinsville, Indiana, whose husband, Dan, was killed in the line of duty in July of 2001, just months after they celebrated their 25th anniversary. Earlier this year, Janice wrote a check for $100 to start a memorial for her husband and two other officers also killed in the line of duty. In a letter that we received from her, she writes: "He was the best friend to our sons. Dan paid the ultimate sacrifice. He has always been my hero, and now others can be honored by this memorial. I want to live long enough to see this memorial completed.''
Well, so do all of us in the Congress of the United States.
I want to thank the original cosponsor, the gentleman from Virginia (Mr. Davis); our subcommittee chairman, the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Smith); and the gentleman from Virginia (Mr. Scott), the ranking member of the subcommittee, for their work; and the gentleman from Wisconsin (Mr. Sensenbrenner), the chairman of the committee; and the gentleman from Michigan (Mr. Conyers), the ranking member of the full committee, for all of their assistance. To the many organizations of law enforcement who have supported it, I thank them; and I urge the support of my colleagues.