Public Safety

Senator Toomey has been working hard to ensure the safety of all Americans, including the public servants who dedicate their lives to law and order.

Keeping Guns Out of the Hands of Criminals and Dangerously Mentally Ill

Sadly, our nation has seen a number of mass shootings in recent years. Like many Americans, Senator Toomey believes that Congress can and should take steps to address this issue. In response to the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting, he introduced a bipartisan proposal - along with Senator Joe Manchin (D-W. Va.) - that would help prevent gun violence committed by criminals and the seriously mentally ill.

As a champion of the Second Amendment, Senator Toomey has long believed that Americans have an individual right to bear arms for self-protection, hunting and recreation. However, requiring a brief background check for commercial gun sales, to help keep firearms out of the hands of criminals and the seriously mentally ill, is a common sense way to help reduce gun violence.

Although the Senate failed to pass Senator Toomey's background check legislation, he remains committed to this bipartisan effort.

Protecting Our Children from Abuse and Exploitation

Senator Toomey has worked to keep our children safe from abuse and sexual exploitation.

Every year, hundreds of teachers and school workers across America are arrested for sexual misconduct with children, including many in Pennsylvania. To keep these predators out of America's classrooms, Senator Toomey introduced the Protecting Students from Sexual and Violent Predators Act. The bipartisan bill requires any state education agency receiving federal funds to perform background checks on all employees and contractors-both new hires and existing workers-who have access to children. Under the bill, a school may not hire a person if he or she has committed certain crimes, including any violent or sexual crime against a child. The legislation, which the House of Representatives passed unanimously and which currently awaits action in the Senate, also bans the horrifying practice of a school letting a child predator quietly resign and move along to a new school.

Senator Toomey understands that when a child is victimized, it is imperative to get the predator off the streets and to ensure the child receives the best medical and emotional care possible.

That is why Senator Toomey introduced a proposal to increase funding for the Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force, which tracks down child pornographers and human traffickers on the Internet and brings them to justice.  Senator Toomey's measure would also increase funding for the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, which works with law enforcement to find missing and exploited kids and provides them with the help they need. 

Also, Senator Toomey is a co-sponsor of the Justice for Victims of Trafficking Act, which increases prison terms and penalties for those who exploit and traffic children, and increases funding for groups that provide services to child victims.

Senator Toomey also has introduced a proposal to reform the Crime Victims Fund, which uses the fines the federal government collects from criminals and gives the money to organizations for crime victims. Every year, Congress takes hundreds of millions of dollars that rightfully belong to abused children, domestic-violence survivors, and other crime victims, and uses it as an accounting gimmick to spend more money elsewhere. Senator Toomey believes Congress must stop this practice and return the money to where it belongs - with victims.

Additionally, Senator Toomey has worked to ensure that victims of child pornography are able to obtain full restitution from all wrongdoers by introducing the Justice for Amy Act.

Protecting Law Enforcement and Honoring their Sacrifices

Senator Toomey is working hard to protect the law enforcement community. He has introduced two important bills that seek to better protect our nation's federal correctional officers.

The first bill Senator Toomey introduced, along with Senator Robert Casey (D-Pa.), is named for the late Eric Williams, a correctional officer who was murdered by an inmate while on duty at the U.S. Penitentiary, Canaan (Wayne County) in 2013.

The Eric Williams Correctional Officer Protection Act of 2014 authorizes all correctional officers in federal medium-security prisons and higher to carry pepper spray. Also, the bipartisan measure instructs the Government Accountability Office to evaluate issuing pepper spray to correctional officers in minimum or low-security penal facilities.

The second bill Senator Toomey introduced, along with Senator Manchin, permits correctional officers to carry their personal firearm while they commute to-and-from work.  The impetus for this bill stems from the murder of Lt. Osvaldo Albarati, a correctional officer in Puerto Rico who was gunned down while driving home from work.  It is believed Albarati was murdered due to his work to end a cellphone smuggling ring at the Metropolitan Detention Center in Guaynabo, Puerto Rico.

Senator Toomey believes we must never forget our fallen law enforcement heroes. This includes 25 year-old Philadelphia Police Officer Danny Faulkner, who was viciously murdered in the line of duty in December 1981. That is why Senator Toomey led the opposition when the Obama Administration nominated an attorney who volunteered-27 years after the murder-to defend Danny Faulkner's killer, and helped spread false information concerning the tragedy. Senator Toomey convinced seven Democrat Senators to join their Republican colleagues in defeating the nominee.

Confirming Judges

Senator Toomey has worked across the aisle with Senator Casey and the Obama Administration to confirm 11 federal judges - 10 district court judges and one judge to the Third Circuit Court of Appeals - to serve Pennsylvania.

These confirmations include a judge who will sit in the Reading courthouse, which had been vacant for 3 years, and judges in the Williamsport and Easton courthouses, which were also vacant. This ensures that the people of Pennsylvania are able to obtain justice from a federal judge, without having to travel many hours across the state.