FOP President Canterbury

STATEMENT OF NATIONAL PRESIDENT CHUCK CANTERBURY ON THE IMPACT OF THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT SHUTDOWN ON LAW ENFORCEMENT

October 4, 2013 at 4:25pm

Since the failure of Congress to adopt legislation to fund the operations of the Federal government before the end of the Fiscal Year, the Executive Board and the National Legislative Office have been working nonstop with Members of Congress and the Administration to restore funding to the Federal government and its numerous law enforcement agencies as soon as possible. Our goal is very clear: to ensure that all Federal law enforcement officers remain on the job and are paid for their service to the nation.

To achieve this end, the FOP has been working with other representative organizations representing Federal employees as well as public safety labor and management groups.

Our members, especially those employed by the Federal government, must understand: we're all in this mess together. We have received emails and other communications asking that we target certain agencies or activities for restoration of funds, but the Fraternal Order of Police cannot take the narrow point of view; we cannot pick and choose among our brother and sister officers. These efforts to divide us, to compromise our solidarity play into the hands of those who want to reduce us to line items on a ledger sheet because then it will be easier to break us up and pick us off—one at a time.

All law enforcement organizations are vital and all officers should be put back to work with the confidence that they will be paid for their service.

I have directed the National Legislative Office to post a daily assessment of the ongoing efforts to fund the operations of the Federal government on our website. You can check here to read our most recent analysis.

DAILY ANALYSIS

Friday, 4 October: The House continues its piecemeal approach and will consider two more targeted continuing resolutions on the floor today, despite the Senate leadership making it clear that their "divide and conquer" strategy will not work because the Senate will only consider a "clean" continuing resolution funding all U.S. government operations. In an email communication to his caucus members, Representative Eric I. Cantor (R-VA), the House Majority Leader, made clear that the House will continue to produce targeted resolutions until the Senate agrees to concessions or broad negotiations. The shutdown is expected to persist through the weekend.

Thursday, 3 October: The House rejected a chance to end the Federal shutdown by defeating a motion to consider the Senate-amended version of H.J. Res. 59, a "clean" continuing resolution that would restore funding for the entire Federal government at FY13 levels on a 230-194 vote, In an effort to dampen public criticism and create division among various Federal constituencies, the House instead shifted to a piecemeal approach, passing four resolutions and a bill that would restore funds for certain Federal operations. This approach will continue to fail, as the Senate and the White House have made clear, as has the FOP, that the entire Federal government must be funded, not programs or operations with public relations value or well-connected lobbyists.

________________________________________