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S. 83

U.S. Senate•In Senate Committee

Summary

S. 83, the Thin Blue Line Act, was introduced in the Senate on Jan 14, 2025 by Sen. Ted Cruz (R) with 16 co-sponsors. It was referred to Judiciary, and last saw action on Jan 14, 2025: Read twice and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary.

Record

Text

S. 83 has 16 co-sponsors.

sb83/introduced-in-senate.txt
119 S83 IS: Thin Blue Line Act
 U.S. Senate
 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.
 II  119th CONGRESS  1st Session  S. 83  IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES   January 14, 2025   Mr. Cruz  (for himself,  Mr. Kennedy ,  Mr. Hagerty ,  Mr. Scott of Florida ,  Mr. Boozman ,  Mr. Hoeven ,  Mrs. Blackburn ,  Mr. Budd ,  Mr. Johnson , and  Mr. Lankford ) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the  Committee on the Judiciary    A BILL
To amend title 18, United States Code, to provide enhanced penalties for convicted murderers who kill or target America’s public safety officers.
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 officers
(A)
The defendant killed or attempted to kill, in a circumstance described in subparagraph (B), a person who is authorized by law—
(i)
to engage in or supervise the prevention, detention, investigation, or prosecution of, 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)
A 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 Senate
  3. Passed House
  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 Senate Jan 14, 2025

sb83/introduced-in-senate.md

Shown Here:
Introduced in Senate (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

Sen. Ted Cruz (R) sponsors S. 83, and 16 members have co-sponsored it, 9 of them from the day it was introduced.

Committees

S. 83 went before 1 committee: Judiciary.

Judiciary
Judiciary
Referred To · Jan 14, 2025

Actions

S. 83 has taken 2 actions since Jan 14, 2025.

ChamberAction
Jan 14, 2025
Senate
Read twice and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary.Judiciary Committee
Jan 14, 2025
—
Introduced in Senate

Votes

S. 83 has not gone to a roll call.

1 bill is related to S. 83.

Titles

S. 83 goes by 3 titles, 1 of them short titles.

  • Thin Blue Line Act — Display Title
  • Thin Blue Line Act — Short Title(s) as Introduced
  • A bill to amend title 18, United States Code, to provide enhanced penalties for convicted murderers who kill or target America's public safety officers. — Official Title as Introduced

Lobbying

4 clients hired 4 firms and 40 registered lobbyists who named S. 83 in 26 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, Budget/Appropriations, Law Enforcement/Crime/Criminal Justice, Taxation/Internal Revenue Code, Firearms/Guns/Ammunition, Health Issues, Housing, Foreign Relations.

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
SERGEANTS BENEVOLENT ASSOCIATION OF NEW YORK CITYLabor organizationNew York11$30K

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
LONGBOW PUBLIC POLICY GROUP, LLC11$30K

Lobbyists

Named on the filings that cite the bill. The 20 named most often, of 40.

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 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
PEACE OFFICERS RESEARCH ASSOCIATION OF CALIFORNIASTEPTOE LLP2026 first_quarter$50K1st Quarter - Report

Classification

The Congressional Research Service files S. 83 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; S. 83’s is Crime and Law Enforcement.

s83/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

S. 83 carries 8 of CRS’s legislative subjects, from Crime victims to Violent crime.

s83/subjects.txt
Crime victimsCriminal procedure and sentencingEmergency medical services and trauma careFiresFirst responders and emergency personnelHealth personnelLaw enforcement officersViolent crime

Source: congress.gov · legiscan.com