Military equipment for police can save lives
This year has brought immense challenges to America. First, we are fighting a global pandemic that has changed how we operate as a global community. Secondly, we are in the midst of a genuine uprising to protest a history of racial injustice that was brought to a head by the senseless killing of a fellow Texan, George Floyd. As people across America and indeed the world rise in protest to this injustice on the backdrop of COVID-19, we enter a potentially volatile hurricane season. As Tropical Depression Cristobal heads to the U.S. Gulf Coast, we face a unique challenge to help our communities should another hurricane or devastating flood hit our shores. One unfortunate and unnecessary demand that has emerged is a call on Congress to put an end to the 1033 Program, a federal initiative that allows unneeded and wholly demilitarized equipment to be repurposed for use by local law enforcement and first responders in crises. Cancelling the 1033 Program would actually do more harm than good — especially here in Texas.
Regrettably, critics of the 1033 Program allow appearances to replace facts. In a recent Houston Chronicle column published on June 2, Tom Nolan of Emmanuel College stated that “militarization has fostered a policing culture that sets up protesters as ‘the enemy’.” Last weekend, United States Sens. Rand Paul and Brian Schatz renewed their calls for legislation to end the 1033 Program. “Big government in Washington has created an incentivized system in which local law enforcement is provided mass amounts of equipment to build up forces that resemble small armies,” Senator Paul stated when their bill was first introduced in 2015. Last weekend, Sen. Schatz took to Twitter to declare he “will be introducing an amendment to the National Defense Authorization Act to discontinue the program that transfers military weaponry to local police departments,” to which Sen. Paul adviser Doug Stafford replied he was “happy to help.”
For 1033 opponents, it all boils down to a single question: “Why do local police and first responders need any military equipment anyway?” Well, the short answer is: to save lives.
The greater Houston area that I represent in Congress is only now emerging from the historic devastation created by Hurricane Harvey nearly three years ago. When the storm hit, unprecedented catastrophic flooding prevented the use of traditional rescue vehicles. First responders were put on their heels and left unable to do their jobs as people sat stranded on their rooftops amid rising waters. For a time, the civilian rescue squad known as the Cajun Navy became de facto first responders as their skiffs and airboats crisscrossed neighborhoods submerged in up to 40 feet of water.
As much as I value the brave volunteers of the Cajun Navy and the many lives they saved, relying on them to literally “bail us out” when the next hurricane hits is not ideal.
Military trucks known as high-water vehicles are made for flood rescue. Their large tires, solid frames and elevated chassis are perfectly suited for use by local first responders when hurricanes hit, waters rise and families need help.
This is why last year I introduced the Lifting Up Our First Responders Act, a bill that would restructure the 1033 Program to prioritize the distribution of repurposed military vehicles to areas more likely to be hit by excessive floods. Far from “militarizing” our police force, the legislation allows vehicles not needed by our armed forces to stop sucking up taxpayer dollars in order to be maintained.
Instead, we allow these vehicles to be sent to local communities where they would be used to save lives. The Lifting Up Our First Responders Act has bipartisan support and the backing of local fire departments in my district. They know all-toowell that you can never be too prepared when it comes to hurricanes and flooding.
Hurricane season officially began this week, and already it looks as though a whopper of a storm is headed to Houston this weekend. “This is not a drill,” Fort Bend County EMS warned of the forecast that predicts landfall on Monday — the same day the public viewing is scheduled in Houston in conjunction with George Floyd’s funeral. His family and fellow mourners deserve to be able to grieve knowing that whatever Mother Nature’s plans, they’ll be safe. Thanks to the 1033 Program and HWVs currently being used by area first responders, they will be.