H.Con.Res.243, passed by the House;

S.Con.Res.75, introduced by Sen. Harkin (cosponsored by Sen. Schumer, Sen. Clinton and others)

S.Con.Res.66, introduced by Sen. Stevens

Senator Leahy said he expects to support all of them and any consensus resolution. Note earlier statement for details on inaccuracies in the New York Post story today on this subject.

The New York Post story is inaccurate and highly misleading.

The New York Post asked whether the resolution would be voted on by the Judiciary Committee, and the Post's reporter did not return a call to hear the answer.

The non-binding resolution that has passed the House and that is pending in the Senate is likely to be considered in the Senate Judiciary Committee this month.

The issue is not whether awards should be given to fallen firefighters, police and other

public safety officers involved in the September 11 attacks, but how to do it in a way that makes this award one that is as credible and as meaningful as possible.

In setting up the Public Safety Officer Medal of Valor Award nearly a year ago, well before the terrorist attacks, Congress and the President decided that the award would have the most meaning, endurance and credibility if firefighters and police and other public safety officers themselves - the peers of those who will be honored - made the selections of candidates. Congress and the White House decided that this arrangement was better than for Congress itself to make the decisions. The New York Post says only five awards can be given in any year. The Post is wrong, failing to report that the very next line in the law says that the attorney general can increase that number, without limit, at his discretion, in extraordinary cases. No one can argue that September 11 was not an extraordinary case.

In the long term, it will be best for the medal's credibility if the award returns to a peer-selection process so that firefighters, police and other public safety officers themselves select candidates. But because of the extraordinary circumstances of September 11, Congress may itself choose to step into the process this year, and if that is the will of the Senate as well as of the House, Senator Leahy will support that step. In the meantime, Senator Leahy - longtime champion of firefighters and police and public safety officers in Congress -- has been leading every effort underway in Congress to offer tangible help to them after September 11, including increases in public safety officer death and disability benefits, grants for bulletproof vests and creation of the September 11 Victims Compensation Fund.

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