Bill passed to deport illegal immigrants who assault police.

U.S. House of Representatives Approves Bills in Observance of National Police Week

HR 2494 and HR 3091

The U.S. House of Representatives recently approved two bills in observance of National Police Week during its session on May 17. HR 2494 makes it an automatically deportable offense for illegal immigrants who assault police, while HR 3091 allows retired federal law enforcement officers to purchase surplus federal weapons.

Democratic Opposition

However, Democrats opposed the bills largely over Republican refusals to amend HR 3091 to require background checks for officers who wish to purchase firearms. They also claimed that HR 2494 would unfairly target those with valid asylum claims.

Passing of HR 3091

HR 3091 passed on a vote of 232 to 198, with 219 Republicans and 13 Democrats voting yes, and 198 Democrats and no Republicans voting against the measure. Three Republicans and two Democrats didn’t vote.

Republican Expansion of HR 3091

Republicans raised Democratic ire by expanding HR 3091 to allow retired federal law enforcement officers to purchase more than just their service weapons at lower than fair market value.

Democratic Opposition to “Poison Pill” Amendments

Rep. Jerry Nadler (D-N.Y.) called on Democrats to oppose the bills over what he called the Republicans’ “poison pill” amendments. He said that a similar bill had been introduced during the 117th Congress, which required officers to undergo a background check before making their purchase.

Republican Counterarguments

Rep. Russell Fry (R-S.C.) countered that the officers have been trusted with the weapons in their work and that the plan would help the government recoup part of its initial investment in the weapons instead of costing it $8 million to destroy the guns.

Republican Amendments

Republicans amended the bill to allow all retired federal law enforcement officers to purchase any federally-owned weapons that are declared surplus at salvage value rather than fair market value. Those amendments were offered by Rep. Morgan Luttrell (R-Texas), Matthew Rosendale (R-Mont.), and Richard McCormick (R-Ga.), respectively.

Passing of HR 2494

The House also approved HR 2494, which makes the assault of a law enforcement officer by an illegal immigrant an automatically deportable offense. The bill passed on a vote of 255 to 75, with 219 Republicans and 36 Democrats voting yes. Zero Republicans and 175 Democrats voting against the measure. Three Republicans and 2 Democrats didn’t vote.

According to the bill’s backers, making assault of an officer a specifically deportable offense will reduce the k.