House Passes Torres/Carter Law Enforcement Training Bill

WASHINGTON, DC – Today the House of Representatives passed by a vote of 420 to 2 H.R. 3842, a bill introduced by Reps. Norma J. Torres (D-CA) and Buddy Carter (R-GA) making improvements to and permanently establishing the Federal Law Enforcement Training Center (FLETC). FLETC provides quality, cost-effective training to more than 70,000 law enforcement officers across a variety of agencies each year at seven locations around the country.

"The urgency to pass this bill has only grown in the last week," said Torres. "Last Wednesday's shooting just outside of my district in San Bernardino affirmed that local law enforcement is the first line of defense in the fight against terror, and it showed us just how important coordination between all levels of law enforcement is when responding to a crisis. If our nation is to address the threat of future attacks, we must ensure that law enforcement personnel throughout the nation not only have the tools they need but also the training to effectively address the diverse terrorism landscape."

FLETC was first established in 1975, and training is carried out by a group of experienced instructors who use modern facilities and standardized course content at locations in Georgia, Maryland, New Mexico, and South Carolina. FLETC also has a unique partnership with the Maritime Law Enforcement Training Center at the Port of Los Angeles where they help ensure local law enforcement get the training they need to protect America's critical ports and waterways. This is particularly significant at a port that accounts for more than 40 percent of the goods that enter the United States.

"With many of the goods that arrive at the ports of Long Beach and Los Angeles coming through my district before being distributed throughout the rest of the country, securing our area ports is one of my top priorities," continued Torres. "Earlier this year I had the opportunity to tour the Port of Long Beach's Joint Command and Control Center and learn about some of the unique security challenges facing our nation's ports. It became clear to me then that maritime security is a critical piece of our national homeland security mission. I commend my colleagues in Congress for bringing this important legislation to the floor and hope the Senate will take it up swiftly."

H.R. 3842 was passed unanimously out of the Committee on Homeland Security on November 19^th.