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Mr President, Central Florida Mr. President, I would like to make sense for us to be advised when a quorum. Mr President, I request unanimous consent. Further proceeding out of the quorum call be dispensed with without objection. Mr. President, I would like to begin my statement today by congratulating to heroes, heroes for the State of Florida and for our nation Heroes Officers Joseph Flu and James O Hara, former members of the City of Plantation, Florida Police Department.

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On October 3rd of this year, these two men will be honored by the National Association of Police Organizations when they receive the top cops award and honor given to a select group of officers who display exceptional courage and bravery in the face of danger. Mr. President, we in Florida are quite proud to have citizens like officers Lu and O hara living and serving among us not just for the courage they display while in the line of duty, but also for the courage and perseverance displayed after the tragic incident which occurred on July 24th, 1995.

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Mr. President, let me briefly recount the events of that day July 24 1995 while on duty with the plantation. Police Department officer Joseph Flu and Detective James O'Hara were called to what turned out to be an emergency hostage taking situation. When the officers arrived on the scene, they found that an assailant had cordoned himself off in a bedroom of the house and had taken two teenage girls as hostages.

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The officers broke down the bedroom door, only to discover that the assailant had doused himself, the hostages and the entire room in gasoline. At that moment, the assailant dropped a lighter on the floor, setting the room ablaze, killing himself and the two hostages. Officers Lu and O Hara were critically wounded, receiving severe burns over most of their bodies.

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Both officers remained in the hospital for the better part of a year. Fighting for their survival. Officer O'Hara was so badly burned that while he struggled for his life in the intensive care unit for over six months, his wife was told to expect and prepare for his imminent death.

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Miraculously, Officer Liu and Officer O'Hara survive. But while still in the hospital, still in the hospital, recovering from these horrendous wounds afflicted in the course of duty, the officers were notified that since they would not be physically able to return to work, they and their families would lose their health insurance benefits.

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Imagine fighting for your life in the hospital in excruciating pain now to be told that your family was going to be left unprotected when these heroes return home. That's exactly what they found. They had no job disability payments of approximately $1200 a month. Prohibitively expensive Cobra insurance, which were it available affordable, would run out of 18 months and no private health insurance for them or their families for over five months.

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Officers. Liu's wife, Sheila, stayed home to care for her husband during his rehabilitation herself, unable to work to bring in badly needed extra income. Further complicating their situation was their five year old daughter, Christina. Christina is battling chronic asthma and now doing so without health insurance.

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Detective Oh Harris family was in a similar situation. In fact, his family, his wife, particularly still must care for his everyday needs almost 14 months after the incident. But instead of giving up hope, officers Lu and O Hara fought hard. They brought their case to the Florida Legislature.

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Mr President, they want the Legislature, a Republican Senate and a Democratic House unanimously passed legislation at the state level legislation requiring that localities continue whatever health insurance benefits the officer had prior to the injury after the injury, when they are no longer able to return to work.

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Mr President, although they have one personal victories, Officers Lu and O Hara have continued their fight now, taking their case to Congress and asking us to make certain that other officers not go through the same pain, the same uncertainty, the same feelings of shame when they were unable to provide for their family across the nation.

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Unlike military veterans who have risked their lives to protect our national security, those who protect our domestic security, our homes in our streets have their insurance canceled when they can no longer return to work. Mr. President, the House of Representatives has already passed the Alu Ohara amendment unanimously, I might add to the Commerce state justice appropriations bill an amendment which would prevent this injustice from happening to any other officer.

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Again, I have introduced identical legislation in the Senate. It is my hope that the Senate Appropriations Committee will simply maintain the House passed Alu Ohara provisions in the Senate bill. President, I would like to ask unanimous consent that at the conclusion of my remarks, the amendment that it is my hope will be maintained.

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The amendment, which has been adopted by the House of Representatives, be printed in the record, not objections ordered. Thank you, Mr President. But if this amendment should not be adopted by the Senate Appropriations Committee, I announced that it is my intention to offer this as an amendment when we consider the Commerce State Justice bill.

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Hopefully next week. The Alu O'Hara bill, endorsed by all major police and firefighter organizations would create a safety net for injured officers by requiring municipalities that receive federal crime dollars to continue to maintain the same level of benefits that an officer had prior to being injured in the line of duty.

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If a locality chooses not to offer health insurance to these public safety officers, it would only be able to receive 90% of its full complement of community oriented policing services funding. Mr President, the scope of this bill is extremely narrow. It would apply only to a handful of public safety officers estimated at approximately 100 nationwide per year.

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It is not costly. The Congressional Budget Office has already scored that this bill is not an unfunded mandate. Fact. The city of Lauderhill, Florida, where officers Lu and O Hara reside, added expanded insurance coverage to cover all of their municipal employees, not just public safety officers at no extra cost to the city.

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Even though the Allure Hair amendment is inexpensive, its message is unmistakably clear. We need laws which protect our valiant men and women on the front lines. When they go down in the line of duty protecting us, we have a corresponding duty to protect them. Mr. President, this amendment would provide only the most basic package of benefits.

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It does not grant any enhance or increase benefits over that which the officer had at the time of injury. The bill requires state and local governments to offer only the minimum level of health insurance necessary to maintain the health coverage the officer had prior to the disabling injury.

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For example, if an officer or firefighter did not have family coverage prior to the injury, he would not be entitled to family coverage after the injury. Mr. President, I am proud of my state. But it should not take a terrible incident like this to make certain that our public safety officers are protected.

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We can prevent the situation from ever happening to officers like Lu and O Hara by making certain that we maintain the Alu Ohara provisions in the Commerce State Justice appropriations bill. And we can do this in a proud bipartisan fashion. Mr. President, allow me to conclude my commending both officers Liu and Detective O'Hara and their families for their bravery, their sacrifice and their dedication to public service Without their perseverance, we would not be here today discussing this important issue.

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I know that police officers and firefighters across the nation share my gratitude to them for their courage and for their selflessness. Mr. President, in passing this amendment, we will honor our commitment to all of our public safety officers to protect and care for them after they have done so much to protect us.

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Thank you, Mr President. Is there further business to come before the Senate? If not the Senate standing