Grassley Bills to Support Crime Survivors, Assist Law Enforcement, Improve Government Accountability Included in Defense Spending Package

WASHINGTON – Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) secured the inclusion of a broad array of bipartisan policies in defense authorization legislation, which passed the Senate tonight. The bills, authored or backed by Grassley will provide new rights for survivors of sexual violence, support law enforcement’s efforts in the fight against cybercrime and deadly drugs, help to locate vulnerable missing persons and improve government accountability.

 

This bill builds on Grassley’s prior work to secure rights for survivors of sexual assault by encouraging states to adopt the same protections for survivors of state sex crimes that Grassley helped to establish at the federal level. Read more HERE.

 

Named in honor of Kevin Curtis Wills of Jefferson, Iowa, this bipartisan bill assists communities in locating individuals with autism, Alzheimer’s and related conditions that cause them to wander from safety. Read more HERE.

 

This bipartisan bill with Sen. Feinstein (D-Calif.) reauthorizes the national Computer Forensics Institute, which provides training to state and local law enforcement agencies to better respond a rise in computer-based crimes. Read more HERE.

 

This bipartisan bill with Sen. Gary Peters (D-Mich.) requires any administration to provide a “substantive rationale, including detailed and case-specific reasons” prior to removing an inspector general, and limits the use of administrative leave for IGs. Read more HERE.

 

This bipartisan bill with Sen. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) further protects whistleblowers at the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) from retaliation. By allowing FBI employees to appeal retaliation claims to the Merit Systems Protection Board (MSPB) – a board already utilized by several other federal law enforcement agencies to ensure whistleblowers have the right to a fair, third-party hearing. Read more HERE.

 

Since 2013, Grassley and Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.) have led the effort to improve justice for survivors of sexual assault and other serious crimes in the military. While a portion of this bipartisan bill was adopted last year, key provisions to fully remove prosecutions from the chain of command and expand the list of crimes covered under the new system were omitted.  This year’s bill codifies the remaining provisions.  Read more about the full bill HERE.  

 

This bill, led by Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio) and cosponsored by Grassley, provides training and equipment to protect law enforcement from secondary exposure to dangerous drugs like fentanyl that are flooding across the southern border. Read more HERE.

 

This bill contains a number of Iowa priorities championed by Grassley and Sen. Joni Ernst (R-Iowa), including projects in the Cedar Rapids and Des Moines areas.  Read more HERE.