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H.R. 378

U.S. House•In House Committee

Summary

H.R. 378, the Thin Blue Line Act, was introduced in the House on Jan 14, 2025 by Rep. Vern Buchanan (R) with 42 co-sponsors. It was referred to Judiciary, and last saw action on Jan 14, 2025: Referred to the House Committee on the Judiciary.

Record

Text

H.R. 378 has 42 co-sponsors.

hb378/introduced-in-house.txt
119 HR 378 IH: Thin Blue Line Act
 U.S. House of Representatives
 2025-01-14
 text/xml
 EN
 Pursuant to Title 17 Section 105 of the United States Code, this file is not subject to copyright protection and is in the public domain.
 I  119th CONGRESS  1st Session  H. R. 378  IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES   January 14, 2025   Mr. Buchanan  (for himself,  Mr. Higgins of Louisiana ,  Mr. Nehls ,  Mr. Ezell ,  Mr. Fitzpatrick ,  Mr. Bost ,  Mr. Weber of Texas ,  Mr. LaLota ,  Ms. De La Cruz ,  Mrs. Houchin ,  Mrs. Luna ,  Mr. Hudson ,  Mr. Bacon ,  Mr. Valadao , and  Mr. Obernolte ) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the  Committee on the Judiciary    A BILL
To amend title 18, United States Code, to provide additional aggravating factors for the imposition of the death penalty based on the status of the victim.
1.
Short title
This Act may be cited as the   Thin Blue Line Act  .
2.
Aggravating factors for death penalty
Section 3592(c) of title 18, United States Code, is amended by inserting after paragraph (16) the following:
(17)
Killing or targeting of law enforcement officer
(A)
The defendant killed or attempted to kill, in the circumstance described in subparagraph (B), a person who is authorized by law—
(i)
to engage in or supervise the prevention, detention, investigation, or prosecution, or the incarceration of any person for any criminal violation of law;
(ii)
to apprehend, arrest, or prosecute an individual for any criminal violation of law; or
(iii)
to be a firefighter or other first responder.
(B)
The circumstance referred to in subparagraph (A) is that the person was killed or targeted—
(i)
while he or she was engaged in the performance of his or her official duties;
(ii)
because of the performance of his or her official duties; or
(iii)
because of his or her status as a public official or employee.
 .

Tracker

The tracker indicates the progress of this legislation as it moves through the legislative process.

  1. Introduced2025-01-14
  2. Passed House
  3. Passed Senate
  4. Conference
  5. To President
  6. Became Law

CRS Summary

The summaries are the Congressional Research Service’s, one per stage. Read them in full.

Introduced in House Jan 14, 2025

hb378/introduced-in-house.md

Shown Here:
Introduced in House (01/14/2025)

Thin Blue Line Act

This bill expands the list of statutory aggravating factors in death penalty determinations to also include killing or targeting a law enforcement officer, firefighter, or other first responder.

Sponsors

Rep. Vern Buchanan (R) sponsors H.R. 378, and 42 members have co-sponsored it, 14 of them from the day it was introduced.

Committees

H.R. 378 went before 1 committee: Judiciary.

Judiciary
Judiciary
Referred To · Jan 14, 2025 · 2,181 Bills

Actions

H.R. 378 has taken 2 actions since Jan 14, 2025.

ChamberAction
Jan 14, 2025
House
Introduced in House
Jan 14, 2025
House
Referred to the House Committee on the Judiciary.Judiciary Committee

Votes

H.R. 378 has not gone to a roll call.

1 bill is related to H.R. 378.

Titles

H.R. 378 goes by 3 titles, 1 of them short titles.

  • Thin Blue Line Act — Display Title
  • To amend title 18, United States Code, to provide additional aggravating factors for the imposition of the death penalty based on the status of the victim. — Official Title as Introduced
  • Thin Blue Line Act — Short Title(s) as Introduced

Lobbying

7 clients hired 6 firms and 51 registered lobbyists who named H.R. 378 in 36 quarterly filings, 2025 to 2026. Reported under the Lobbying Disclosure Act; a filing’s income covers everything its registrant worked that quarter, so the amounts below are the filings’, not this bill’s.

Filed under Labor Issues/Antitrust/Workplace, Law Enforcement/Crime/Criminal Justice, Budget/Appropriations, Housing, Retirement, Health Issues, Taxation/Internal Revenue Code, Government Issues.

Clients

Who paid to be heard, by how many filings named the bill.

ClientBusinessStateFirmsFilingsReported
NATIONAL FRATERNAL ORDER OF POLICE—District of Columbia110—
AMERICAN FED OF GOVERNMENT EMPLOYEES AFL-CIO—District of Columbia19—
PEACE OFFICERS RESEARCH ASSOCIATION OF CALIFORNIALaw enforcementCalifornia16$300K
NATIONAL TROOPERS COALITION42 Member Associations in 45 states representing over 45,000 State Troopers nationwideDistrict of Columbia16$60K
SERGEANTS BENEVOLENT ASSOCIATION OF NEW YORK CITYLabor organizationNew York13$110K
FEDERAL LAW ENFORCEMENT OFFICERS ASSOCIATIONLaw enforcement membership organizationMaryland11$40K
AMERICAN CIVIL LIBERTIES UNION—District of Columbia11—

Firms

Registrants who filed on the bill, by filings.

RegistrantClientsFilingsReported
NATIONAL FRATERNAL ORDER OF POLICE110—
AMERICAN FED OF GOVERNMENT EMPLOYEES, AFL-CIO19—
STEPTOE LLP16$300K
WINNING STRATEGIES WASHINGTON16$60K
LONGBOW PUBLIC POLICY GROUP, LLC24$150K
AMERICAN CIVIL LIBERTIES UNION11—

Lobbyists

Named on the filings that cite the bill. The 20 named most often, of 51.

LobbyistFirmsClientsFilings
BENJAMIN STOKES1110
DAVID TABOH1110
JAMES PASCO1110
LAURA GORMALLY1110
TIMOTHY RICHARDSON1110
DANIEL HOROWITZ119
ELLIOT FRIEDMAN119
FIONA KOHRMAN119
HERB SMITH119
KEITH ABOUCHAR119
LISA SWIRSKY119
SERGIO ESPINOSA119
ANTHONY LIVINGSTON118
GABRIEL PEDREIRA118
GRANT SCHOTT118
JUSTIN PERPICH118
KEVIN LIDDELL118
RYAN MIMS118
SHANNON FAULK118
STEVEN CAMPISI118

Filings

The documents themselves, on the Senate’s Lobbying Disclosure site, largest reported first.

ClientRegistrantPeriodReportedDocument
AMERICAN FED OF GOVERNMENT EMPLOYEES AFL-CIOAMERICAN FED OF GOVERNMENT EMPLOYEES, AFL-CIO2025 second_quarter$590K2nd Quarter - Report
AMERICAN CIVIL LIBERTIES UNIONAMERICAN CIVIL LIBERTIES UNION2025 first_quarter$560K1st Quarter - Report
AMERICAN FED OF GOVERNMENT EMPLOYEES AFL-CIOAMERICAN FED OF GOVERNMENT EMPLOYEES, AFL-CIO2025 first_quarter$540K1st Quarter - Report
AMERICAN FED OF GOVERNMENT EMPLOYEES AFL-CIOAMERICAN FED OF GOVERNMENT EMPLOYEES, AFL-CIO2025 fourth_quarter$450.4K4th Quarter - Report
AMERICAN FED OF GOVERNMENT EMPLOYEES AFL-CIOAMERICAN FED OF GOVERNMENT EMPLOYEES, AFL-CIO2026 first_quarter$410K1st Quarter - Report
AMERICAN FED OF GOVERNMENT EMPLOYEES AFL-CIOAMERICAN FED OF GOVERNMENT EMPLOYEES, AFL-CIO2026 second_quarter$390K2nd Quarter - Report
AMERICAN FED OF GOVERNMENT EMPLOYEES AFL-CIOAMERICAN FED OF GOVERNMENT EMPLOYEES, AFL-CIO2025 third_quarter$360.2K3rd Quarter - Amendme…
AMERICAN FED OF GOVERNMENT EMPLOYEES AFL-CIOAMERICAN FED OF GOVERNMENT EMPLOYEES, AFL-CIO2025 third_quarter$360.2K3rd Quarter - Amendme…
AMERICAN FED OF GOVERNMENT EMPLOYEES AFL-CIOAMERICAN FED OF GOVERNMENT EMPLOYEES, AFL-CIO2025 third_quarter$360.2K3rd Quarter - Report
NATIONAL FRATERNAL ORDER OF POLICENATIONAL FRATERNAL ORDER OF POLICE2026 second_quarter$100K2nd Quarter - Report
NATIONAL FRATERNAL ORDER OF POLICENATIONAL FRATERNAL ORDER OF POLICE2026 first_quarter$100K1st Quarter - Report
NATIONAL FRATERNAL ORDER OF POLICENATIONAL FRATERNAL ORDER OF POLICE2025 fourth_quarter$100K4th Quarter - Amendme…
NATIONAL FRATERNAL ORDER OF POLICENATIONAL FRATERNAL ORDER OF POLICE2025 third_quarter$100K3rd Quarter - Amendme…
NATIONAL FRATERNAL ORDER OF POLICENATIONAL FRATERNAL ORDER OF POLICE2025 second_quarter$100K2nd Quarter - Amendme…
NATIONAL FRATERNAL ORDER OF POLICENATIONAL FRATERNAL ORDER OF POLICE2025 first_quarter$100K1st Quarter - Amendme…
NATIONAL FRATERNAL ORDER OF POLICENATIONAL FRATERNAL ORDER OF POLICE2025 fourth_quarter$100K4th Quarter - Report
NATIONAL FRATERNAL ORDER OF POLICENATIONAL FRATERNAL ORDER OF POLICE2025 third_quarter$100K3rd Quarter - Report
NATIONAL FRATERNAL ORDER OF POLICENATIONAL FRATERNAL ORDER OF POLICE2025 second_quarter$100K2nd Quarter - Report
NATIONAL FRATERNAL ORDER OF POLICENATIONAL FRATERNAL ORDER OF POLICE2025 first_quarter$100K1st Quarter - Report
PEACE OFFICERS RESEARCH ASSOCIATION OF CALIFORNIASTEPTOE LLP2026 second_quarter$50K2nd Quarter - Report

Classification

The Congressional Research Service files H.R. 378 under Crime and Law Enforcement, one of its 31 policy areas, and gives it 8 legislative subjects.

CRS Subjects

CRS assigns every bill one policy area from its 31; H.R. 378’s is Crime and Law Enforcement.

hr378/policy-areas.txt
Crime and Law EnforcementAgriculture and FoodAnimalsArmed Forces and National SecurityArts, Culture, ReligionCivil Rights and Liberties, Minority IssuesCommerceCongressEconomics and Public FinanceEducationEmergency ManagementEnergyEnvironmental ProtectionFamiliesFinance and Financial SectorForeign Trade and International FinanceGovernment Operations and PoliticsHealthHousing and Community DevelopmentImmigrationInternational AffairsLabor and EmploymentLawNative AmericansPublic Lands and Natural ResourcesScience, Technology, CommunicationsSocial WelfareSports and RecreationTaxationTransportation and Public WorksWater Resources Development

Legislative Subjects

H.R. 378 carries 8 of CRS’s legislative subjects, from Crime victims to Violent crime.

hr378/subjects.txt
Crime victimsCriminal procedure and sentencingEmergency medical services and trauma careFiresFirst responders and emergency personnelHealth personnelLaw enforcement officersViolent crime

Constitutional authority

The clause the sponsor cites as Congress’s power to enact H.R. 378, as entered in the Congressional Record.

[Congressional Record Volume 171, Number 7 (Tuesday, January 14, 2025)][House]From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]By Mr. BUCHANAN:H.R. 378.Congress has the power to enact this legislation pursuantto the following:Article 1, section 8[Page H149]

Source: congress.gov · legiscan.com