Jeffries Introduces Legislation To Support Slain Officers Like Liu And Ramos

Following a State of the District address in which he discussed (among other things) the need to support both citizens and police officers, Congressmember Hakeem Jeffries has introduced the Slain Officer Family Support Act of 2015.

The bill is co-sponsored by Republican Congressmember Peter King, making it a bipartisan effort to, as Jeffries said on January 29, help “honor their service and sacrifice, and the sacrifices of their families.”

Specifically, the legislation would:

extend the tax deadline so that individuals making charitable donations for the families of assassinated New York Police Department (NYPD) Detectives Wenjian Liu and Rafael Ramos can apply such tax deductions to their 2014 tax return. The legislation would be effective retroactively from January 1, 2015.

“We have a broken justice system” that claims both police officers and citizens as victims,” Jeffries said during his State of the District address. Until that system is reformed, he said, legislation such as this will hopefully ease the struggle.

Ramos, of Sunset Park and East New York/Ridgewood, and Liu, of Gravesend, “were American heroes who made the ultimate sacrifice in their commitment to keep us safe,” Jeffries stated. “The pain of losing a loved one is more than enough to bear; their families should not have to worry about how they will put food on the table in the aftermath of such an unspeakable tragedy.”