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Leahy Bill Assists Prosecutors
...Helps Keep Experienced Crime Fighters On The Job
Leahy has introduced bipartisan legislation to assist the
nation's most experienced federal prosecutors as they work
to combat terrorism, organized crime, and dangerous narcotics
rings. The bill closes a loophole in the law to add federal
prosecutors to the list of "law enforcement officers"
for the purposes of retirement benefits.
"Our federal prosecutors are being placed front and
center in the war against terrorism," said Leahy, chairman
of the Senate Judiciary Committee, which has oversight responsibility
for federal law enforcement agencies. "At a time when
the nation's United States Attorney's Offices have assumed
the leadership in each federal district of the Department
of Justice's Anti-Terrorism Task Forces to coordinate federal
state and local law enforcement investigative efforts in terrorism
cases, we need to correct the law and recognize the law enforcement
role of federal prosecutors."
The bill (S. 1828), cosponsored by Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-Utah),
would give federal prosecutors the same retirement benefits
already enjoyed by other federal law enforcement officers,
ranging from FBI agents to cooks and accountants at the Federal
Bureau of Prisons. Assistant U.S. Attorneys and other federal
prosecutors designated by the Attorney General would be eligible
for immediate, unreduced retirement benefits at age 50 provided
they had 20 years of service as federal prosecutors.
Few federal prosecutors remain on the job for 20 years. The
Leahy bill would encourage the nation's most experienced federal
prosecutors not to leave the government for higher paying
jobs in the private sector. With the increasing complexity
of federal cases, providing federal prosecutors with better
retirement benefits would help preserve a cadre of experienced
veterans to deal with such sensitive matters, said Leahy.
"This bill would allow the most experienced federal
prosecutors to continue to fight crime. Facing the dangers
that our country faces today, we need our best people to heed
the call of public service. By encouraging our best federal
prosecutors to stay in the business of putting the bad guys
in jail, we both reward their courage and protect our safety,"
Leahy said.
Federal prosecutors are often the most conspicuous representatives
of the government in the criminal justice system and are natural
targets for threats of reprisals by vengeful criminals. "They
march into court and battle these criminals face to face,"
Leahy said, "and sometimes pay a high price for their
visibility."
Leahy cited the recent unsolved case of a federal prosecutor
near Seattle who was murdered in what authorities have referred
to as a 'hit.' Two other federal prosecutors from Chicago
were also recently shot during training in South Carolina.
Leahy noted other accounts of threats to federal prosecutors,
who have been forced to relocate due to death threats, physically
assaulted, and forced to install security systems at their
homes and to change travel routes to and from the office to
protect their safety and the safety of their families.
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