A bill to amend chapters 83 and 84 of title 5, United States Code, to authorize an increase of the retirement age for members of the Capitol Police.

Mr. President, colleagues, as you know, every year we recognize--let the Record reflect even the U.S. Senate can experience some technical difficulties. We are going to try this again.

Colleagues, as you know, every year we are honored to recognize Police Week with thousands of officers from across the United States descending here on the Nation's Capital to honor those who have fallen in the line of duty.

There are a number of events and ceremonies throughout the week, and the Judiciary Committee in the Senate, among others, is proud to utilize this opportunity to advance policies, legislation, and initiatives in support of women and men in uniform across the country.

And I personally am honored to work closely with State and local law enforcement agencies in my home State of California to advance their efforts by strengthening partnerships with Federal support.

Earlier today, we considered a slate of bills in the Senate Judiciary Committee that would do just that by improving law enforcement and supporting safer communities.

I am proud to say a series of bills came out with overwhelming, mostly unanimous, bipartisan support. That is the Judiciary Committee.

In the Senate Rules Committee, Chairman McConnell and I have the particular special responsibility of overseeing the U.S. Capitol Police and ensuring that they don't just have the right policies in place to do their jobs but advocating for the proper resources for Capitol Police to do their very important and unique job, in not just protecting the Capitol Complex and the campus and not just us as Members of Congress and not just our staff but visitors to the Capitol and the Capitol as an icon of our democracy for current and future generations.

It is a big job, and the women and men of the Capitol Police department do their jobs well. After all, Congress is the first branch noted in the Constitution.

I am grateful for what they have achieved over the course of years, certainly in recent years in the wake of January 6. But as big as their job is, they find themselves in need of reinforcement, and they are working hard to address some staffing shortages. It is not just by the numbers. Let me quote Chief Sullivan, Chief of Police for the Capitol Police, who has shared in testimony recently:

[W]e simply must continue increasing staffing levels.

And he made the reasons for this quote very clear:

[T]he implementation of additional security measures on the

Capitol Complex combined with the need to surge resources to

address the recent rise in [the] threats has overextended the

Department's traditional staffing model.

So the bigger picture, in the longer term, we need to do more to improve recruitment and retention of Capitol Police officers.

But today, colleagues, I offer a modest step that we can take. Currently, the Federal law enforcement retirement age is 57, but the Capitol Police Board can increase that up to 60 for officers who may wish to continue their service, to extend their service.

We are talking about officers who have served for a long, long time and have a tremendous amount of institutional memory, experience, and expertise. They offer immense value to the department.

Senator McConnell and I have a bill to increase that retirement age of the Capitol Police Board to be able to extend the retirement age to 62 instead of the current 60. It allows us to all benefit for a few more years for those veteran officers, with their experience and expertise, who desire to continue to serve. This is voluntary but an important element to what the Capitol Police does and needs.

The House unanimously passed a bill just recently--a very similar bill--and after some bicameral and bipartisan discussion, I hope to see this measure signed into law. The Capitol Police union, as well as the department, support these steps, and I believe it deserves unanimous support from the Senate.

Mr. President, that being said, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate proceed to the immediate consideration of S. 4530, which is at the desk.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the bill be considered a third time and passed and that the motion to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table.

I yield the floor.

Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (S. 4530) to amend chapters 83 and 84 of title 5, United States Code, to authorize an increase of the retirement age for members of the Capitol Police.

Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may have 5 legislative days in which to revise and extend their remarks and include extraneous material on this bill.

Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

Mr. Speaker, the bill before us today was drafted to address staffing shortages with the United States Capitol Police.

Currently, officers are forced to retire at age 57, unless they receive a waiver from the Capitol Police Board. With a waiver, an officer may continue working until they are age 60. S. 4530 extends the waiver timeline.

Under this bill, the Capitol Police Board will have the authority to grant waivers to sworn officers until they turn 62. Right now, nearly 60 sworn officers are working with a waiver.

Unless we pass this statutory change, each of these officers will be forced to retire within the next few years. These forced retirements will only compound the staffing shortage issue that we are facing within the Capitol Police force.

Notably, there is past precedent for this policy change. On two occasions, Congress has temporarily raised the mandatory Federal law enforcement retirement age to 65 to address staffing issues at the FBI. I will also note that this bill gives the Capitol Police Board discretion when deciding who is still fit for the job.

Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to support this legislation, and I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I yield such time as he may consume to the gentleman from Louisiana (Mr. Scalise), the leader of the Republican Conference.

Mr. Speaker, I yield myself the balance of my time.

I just thank my colleague, Mr. Morelle, for his work in moving this bill through quickly as well as the leadership of the Senate Committee on Rules and Administration for also engaging this, as well as Leader Scalise. I think we all recognize the hard work that the men and women of the United States Capitol Police force do day in and day out to make sure that this institution is open and accessible to the people and those who visit here, as well as staff and Members are kept safe.

This bill is a real opportunity to make sure that those individuals who have crossed the age of 60 but still are ready, prepared, and able to serve in the United States Capitol Police are able to do that.

I appreciate the work of all of my colleagues in moving this through. I encourage all of our colleagues to vote in favor of this legislation.

Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of S. 4530, a bill that would increase the age to which Capitol Police officers may continue to serve from 60 to 62 when granted a retirement age waiver by the Capitol Police Board.

Importantly, this bill does not change the statutory retirement age. Rather, it gives the Capitol Police Board flexibility to allow willing and able officers to remain with the force.

I said it when the House recently passed its version of the legislation,

and I want to reiterate that the officers of the United States Capitol Police have one of the most critical and demanding jobs in the legislative branch.

Last week, we celebrated Police Week here in Washington. At a time when payouts and pardons are being handed to the people who savagely attacked the Capitol Police in this very building just 5 years ago, they need to know we have their backs; not just with words, but with actions.

The force has come a long way since then, and I commend Chief Sullivan and former Chief Manger for working to rebuild the force and grow its ranks. We cannot stand in the way of that progress.

Threats against Members, our families, staff, people who visit here, and threats against our democratic institutions are growing by the day, and they show no signs of relenting, so we must confront this scourge head-on.

We can do that by helping to advance the interests that Capitol Police continue to deal with the challenges they have in terms of recruitment, and we can do it by passing this bill.

I thank Chairman Steil, my colleague and friend, and all those members of the Committee on House Administration for making sure that we are able to get this passed. I also thank our colleagues in the Senate for giving us the chance to do this a second time, but I very much appreciate it.

Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I yield myself the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I thank the majority leader for sharing his tragic experience. I am grateful to him for his leadership on these important issues. Again, this is, in my mind, a commonsense way to make sure that we continue to have the backs of the members of the Capitol Police who do such an extraordinary job protecting this entire Capitol complex, the men and women who serve here, our staffs, our families, and all the American citizens who get to come and participate in this great democracy.

I urge the passage of the bill, and I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman from Wisconsin (Mr. Steil), the chairman of the committee and my friend, for yielding. I thank him for the hard work he has put in to first passing an important bill over to the Senate, and now seeing this bill come back to address an important issue, and that is to make sure that we give the Capitol Police Board the flexibility so that we don't have to lose more good officers on the Capitol Police force.

I know personally the heroism and bravery of the great men and women in the United States Capitol Police. I would not be here without their heroism and bravery. We have some of them who are in the prime of their career who would be forced to retire if we don't pass this legislation.

At a time, as was brought up, where we have shortages, we need to make sure that we not only can keep attracting new officers to the force, but when you have officers in the prime of their career that everybody agrees are worthy of keeping on, that they have that flexibility. That is what this bill does, gives the Capitol Police Board that flexibility.

Mr. Speaker, I strongly urge the adoption of the legislation and urge all my colleagues to do the same.