***RELOJ: Senator Murray speaks at hearing***
Washington DC - Today—at a Senate Appropriations Legislative Branch subcommittee hearing on the fiscal year 2025 budget requests for the Sergeant at Arms (SAA) and Doorkeeper of the Senate and the United States Capitol Police (USCP)—U.S. Senator Patty Murray (D-WA), Chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee, noted the importance of the agencies in keeping lawmakers, staff, and visitors to our nation’s capitol safe. In opening comments, Senator Murray thanked the witnesses and their colleagues for their work, stating:
“This hearing is really important—because the Office of the Senate Sergeant at Arms and the Capitol police do work that is absolutely critical to every single one of us on this Committee. Sergeant Gibson, Chief Manger, I want to thank both of you and all of your teams for all that you do.
“Every member, every staffer, every visitor here in our nation’s capitol owes you a huge debt of gratitude for keeping this place running and keeping it safe.
“So it’s important to me, the work you do and the sacrifices your team make, never go unacknowledged or get taken for granted.
“At every hour, whether it’s weekends, holidays—every single day—members of the Capitol police are here, making sure that we have security of the nation’s capitol. And we all probably walked by several of them as we came here.
“So I want both of you to know, that I think I speak for all of our colleagues, when I say we are incredibly grateful for the work you do. And I want to make sure we get you the resources that you need in the year ahead.
Senator Murray asked USCP Chief J. Thomas Manger: “Do you have sufficient personnel to support the Dignitary Protection Division and meet your operational mission without burning out your current protective agents?”
Chief Manger responded: “In a word? No. That was one of the priorities in the last couple of years—to ensure that we increase the staffing in our Dignitary Protection Division. The demand has increased, and, in fact, the model in which we provide protection needed to be enhanced as well for a number of reasons. I know that we have officers that work double shifts routinely. We have to stop that. It’s not healthy for the officers, and it’s not really a healthy way for us to schedule people, you know, knowing that people have to work the amount of overtime that some of these agents have to work. So you’ll see in the FY25 year budget requests for additional personnel, as you saw in FY 24. And I think that’s one of the priorities for us.”
Senator Murray asked Sergeant at Arms and Doorkeeper of the Senate Karen H. Gibson about SAA’s request for additional support for the Senate Intern Resource Office—and asked about how implementation of the new Residential Security System Program to keep lawmakers safe is going thus far and whether it is sufficiently funded. Ms. Gibson replied it is going “well,” memorandums of understanding have been signed with 19 Senators, and funding has thus far been adequate but more could be needed if additional members participate.
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