WASHINGTON, DC – A House bill introduced back in January of 2025 aims to allocate additional funding to the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial Fund (NLEOMF), thereby helping fund programs and endeavors like increased officer safety and community outreach through the NLEOMF’s National Law Enforcement Museum.
Republican Rep. Troy Nehls introduced H.R. 309, dubbed the National Law Enforcement Officers Remembrance, Support and Community Outreach Act, on January 9th, 2025, which would allocate $6 million annually to the NLEOMF via the Department of the Interior for a period of seven years in an effort to expand upon programs supporting law enforcement through the National Law Enforcement Museum.
According to the legislation as written, thirteen specific objectives are outlined regarding what the proposed allocation of funds would help accomplish, which are as follows:
(1) Memorialize law enforcement heroes who die in the line of duty and compile statistics on law enforcement fatalities and injuries.
(2) Honor and commemorate the extraordinary service and sacrifice of America’s law enforcement officers.
(3) Develop and make available accurate, relevant, and accessible resources to promote the understanding of law enforcement history and officer safety and wellness training, which include digital resources and other types of resources, such as print resources and traveling exhibitions.
(4) Increase technical resources to better engage the public in person and via online platforms to educate and inform the public about community policing and officer safety and wellness.
(5) Create, expand, and disseminate scholarly work through research, curricula, in-house and traveling exhibitions, publications, and other outreach initiatives.
(6) Expand the collection acquisition and collection processes, including staffing, conservation, processing, and digitization.
(7) Augment law enforcement history and officer safety and wellness education activities, including the development, dissemination, and implementation of principles of sound pedagogy for teaching about law enforcement history and officer safety and wellness.
(8) Promote professional development, including local, regional, and national workshops; teacher trainings; and partnerships with appropriate entities to better educate and inform the public about law enforcement history and officer safety and wellness education.
(9) Engage with local and independent educational agencies and expand teacher engagement to cultivate and support the development of leaders in the teaching of law enforcement history and officer safety and wellness education.
(10) Engage with State and local education leaders to encourage the adoption of resources supported under this Act into curricula across diverse disciplines.
(11) Create, develop, implement, replicate, or take to scale entrepreneurial, evidence-based, field-initiated innovations for museum and officer safety and wellness improvement, and rigorously evaluate such innovations.
(12) Provide for the free admission to the National Law Enforcement Museum for active and retired law enforcement officers and family members of fallen officers; and dedicate free admission hours for the general public at least once a week.
(13) Develop online Law Enforcement History and Officer Safety and Wellness Education Resources for the general public and scholarly research.
The proposed endeavors are both noble and practical, and established precedent exists as it relates to federal funds in the millions being allocated to various museums and forums for the arts, as detailed in the Interior Appropriations Bill for fiscal year 2024. For instance, the Smithsonian Institution was granted $1.90 billion, the National Gallery of Art was afforded $209 million, and even the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum was granted $65 million. In contrast, H.R. 309 seeks to set aside approximately $49 million over a seven-year period for the NLEOMF.
Another area of consideration pertaining to the proposed legislation is that the NLEOMF, as well as the National Law Enforcement Museum, were both established by acts of Congress, with the NLEOMF being established back in 1984 as elected officials understood decades ago the importance of the original mission.
In the era following the concept of “defund the police” becoming a part of legislative discourse and a mainstream sentiment held by those intent on undermining law enforcement, the timing of H.R. 309 could not be more relevant. Numerous law enforcement agencies across the country remain understaffed, the once-optional opportunity of overtime for officers has largely become mandatory for several agencies, and public perception of policing hasn’t been stellar in recent years.
If this bill were to make it through the proverbial finish line in Congress, then the funded efforts outlined within the bill text could very well rectify the pivotal issues impacting law enforcement today.
Republican Rep. Troy Nehls introduced H.R. 309, dubbed the National Law Enforcement Officers Remembrance, Support and Community Outreach Act, on January 9th, 2025, which would allocate $6 million annually to the NLEOMF via the Department of the Interior for a period of seven years in an effort to expand upon programs supporting law enforcement through the National Law Enforcement Museum.
According to the legislation as written, thirteen specific objectives are outlined regarding what the proposed allocation of funds would help accomplish, which are as follows:
(1) Memorialize law enforcement heroes who die in the line of duty and compile statistics on law enforcement fatalities and injuries.
(2) Honor and commemorate the extraordinary service and sacrifice of America’s law enforcement officers.
(3) Develop and make available accurate, relevant, and accessible resources to promote the understanding of law enforcement history and officer safety and wellness training, which include digital resources and other types of resources, such as print resources and traveling exhibitions.
(4) Increase technical resources to better engage the public in person and via online platforms to educate and inform the public about community policing and officer safety and wellness.
(5) Create, expand, and disseminate scholarly work through research, curricula, in-house and traveling exhibitions, publications, and other outreach initiatives.
(6) Expand the collection acquisition and collection processes, including staffing, conservation, processing, and digitization.
(7) Augment law enforcement history and officer safety and wellness education activities, including the development, dissemination, and implementation of principles of sound pedagogy for teaching about law enforcement history and officer safety and wellness.
(8) Promote professional development, including local, regional, and national workshops; teacher trainings; and partnerships with appropriate entities to better educate and inform the public about law enforcement history and officer safety and wellness education.
(9) Engage with local and independent educational agencies and expand teacher engagement to cultivate and support the development of leaders in the teaching of law enforcement history and officer safety and wellness education.
(10) Engage with State and local education leaders to encourage the adoption of resources supported under this Act into curricula across diverse disciplines.
(11) Create, develop, implement, replicate, or take to scale entrepreneurial, evidence-based, field-initiated innovations for museum and officer safety and wellness improvement, and rigorously evaluate such innovations.
(12) Provide for the free admission to the National Law Enforcement Museum for active and retired law enforcement officers and family members of fallen officers; and dedicate free admission hours for the general public at least once a week.
(13) Develop online Law Enforcement History and Officer Safety and Wellness Education Resources for the general public and scholarly research.
The proposed endeavors are both noble and practical, and established precedent exists as it relates to federal funds in the millions being allocated to various museums and forums for the arts, as detailed in the Interior Appropriations Bill for fiscal year 2024. For instance, the Smithsonian Institution was granted $1.90 billion, the National Gallery of Art was afforded $209 million, and even the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum was granted $65 million. In contrast, H.R. 309 seeks to set aside approximately $49 million over a seven-year period for the NLEOMF.
Another area of consideration pertaining to the proposed legislation is that the NLEOMF, as well as the National Law Enforcement Museum, were both established by acts of Congress, with the NLEOMF being established back in 1984 as elected officials understood decades ago the importance of the original mission.
In the era following the concept of “defund the police” becoming a part of legislative discourse and a mainstream sentiment held by those intent on undermining law enforcement, the timing of H.R. 309 could not be more relevant. Numerous law enforcement agencies across the country remain understaffed, the once-optional opportunity of overtime for officers has largely become mandatory for several agencies, and public perception of policing hasn’t been stellar in recent years.
If this bill were to make it through the proverbial finish line in Congress, then the funded efforts outlined within the bill text could very well rectify the pivotal issues impacting law enforcement today.
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