Today, U.S. Rep. Bill Pascrell, Jr. (D-NJ-09), co-chair of the Congressional Law Enforcement Caucus, celebrated the signing into law of H.R. 2379, which will permanently authorize the lifesaving Bulletproof Vest Partnership (BVP) Grant Program, a federal program that helps state and local law enforcement agencies purchase bulletproof vests for officers working in the field. Sponsored by Reps. Pascrell and Peter King (R-NY-02), H.R. 2379 passed the House of Representatives by a vote of 400 – 9 earlier this month. The Senate version of the bill was sponsored by Sens. Patrick Leahy (D-VT) and Lindsey Graham (R-SC).

“After our bulletproof vest legislation swiftly passed in both the House and the Senate, permanent reauthorization of this lifesaving program has now become the law of the land,” said Rep. Pascrell. “We worked vigorously to pass our legislation through Congress during National Police Week so that our brave law enforcement officers could access these lifesaving resources. As co-chair of the Congressional Law Enforcement Caucus, I could not be more proud to have helped shepherd this bill through the Congress and I will continue to push for similar legislation that keeps our first responders safe. God bless them.”

In 2018, the grant program allotted $29,876,699 for 4470 jurisdictions to purchase body armor for police officers across the country. Of that, there were 257 New Jersey jurisdictions that received $1,327,919 in BVP grants. Since 1999, the BVP program has awarded more than 13,000 jurisdictions a total of $467 million in federal funds for the purchase of over one million vests (1,349,813).

Before the President signing the Pascrell bill yesterday, there had only been 17 bills signed into law this Congress. The House has passed 249 measures this term.

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