[Congressional Record Volume 140, Number 127 (Tuesday, September 13, 1994)]
[House]
[Page H]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]


[Congressional Record: September 13, 1994]
From the Congressional Record Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]

 
  VICIOUS MURDERS OF ST. PAUL POLICEMEN EMPHASIZE WHY WE NEEDED CRIME 
                                  BILL

  (Mr. VENTO asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 
minute, and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. VENTO. Mr. Speaker, August 26, 1994, was a tragic day for 
Minnesota; in the community of St. Paul, on my own eastside, two of our 
finest St. Paul police officers were shot dead.
  This inexplicable crime is mourned by the families, their fellow 
officers, and the whole community and State. The death of Officers Ron 
Ryan Jr. and Tim Jones remind us in poignant terms of the risk and 
violence that pervades our Nation's city streets and rural byways.
  The assailant was from out of State. He was sleeping in his car in 
the parking lot of the Sacred Heart Parish, awoke and unstable when 
pressed, he lashed out with a hail of gunfire that cost Ron Ryan, Jr., 
his life. As a 2d year patrolman who had already distinguished himself, 
Ron Ryan was a young man following in his father's career, Ron Ryan Sr. 
Sadly, Ron Ryan gave his life in performance of his role as a St. Paul 
law enforcement officer.
  Officer Tim Jones, with his canine partner ``Laser'', found the 
suspect shortly thereafter in a stored ice fishing house. Before they 
could act both Officer Tim Jones and the police dog ``Laser'' were shot 
and died together. Officer Jones, a national award winning canine 
officer, again gave his life in the name of doing his job.
  Today President Clinton signed the crime bill with provisions for 
prevention, police, punishment and prisons into law. The President 
rightly asserted that the task is to convert the 1,000-plus page 
document now a law into action. To do so we must rely upon the law 
enforcement and police authorities at the local level; the laws on the 
books have to be administered and implemented, and that is the role, 
the responsibility and the duty that Ron Ryan, Jr. and Tim Jones 
accepted and gave their lives to achieve. This law promises 100,000 
additional law enforcement officers to take up that challenge.
  Every day on the streets of our Nation, men and women put on a 
uniform or a badge to carry out the role of maintaining order in our 
society; they deserve the best tools, resources, and backup available, 
so they can successfully complete their assignments.
  In the final analysis, the burden falls upon these dedicated few, the 
thin blue line, to maintain law and order.
  Mr. Speaker, our community mourns the loss of its dedicated sons and 
extends our heartfelt sympathy to the very special families and fellow 
law enforcement officers my hope is that the new Crime Act that 
President Clinton signed today will be a clarion call across this 
Nation to reduce the incidents of violence and mark from this point in 
time a new day and renewal of the ideas of freedom and values of our 
Nation and a commitment to work together with the law enforcement 
personnel who we trust with our personal safety. It is important to 
remember that the price of law and order is not only measured in 
dollars, but in lives lost.

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