[Congressional Record Volume 149, Number 84 (Tuesday, June 10, 2003)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1187]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                  HONORING PEACE OFFICERS MEMORIAL DAY

                                 ______
                                 

                           HON. RAHM EMANUEL

                              of illinois

                    in the house of representatives

                         Tuesday, June 10, 2003

  Mr. EMANUEL. Mr. Speaker, every city block and every country road 
across this country is protected by potential heroes. But police 
officers like my Uncle Les of the Chicago Police Department, 
firefighters, and other officers of peace don the mantle of heroism 
every day, and are prepared to respond not only to forces of nature or 
forces of man, but also to forces of evil, like that which brought down 
the World Trade Towers and tore into the Pentagon.
  Peace officers are very real heroes, and must be honored as such. At 
risk to their own personal safety, peace officers put themselves 
between danger and the people they protect. Last year, more than 147 
peace officers were killed in the line of duty during 2002, and the 
previous year 230 officers were killed, including 72 officers in the 
September 11th terrorist attacks. We will never know the number of 
lives that were spared because they gave their own.
  Too often round-the-clock news shows, television talk programs and 
supermarket tabloids elevate the frivolous to the famous, and blur the 
difference between the noble and the notorious. We must honor real 
heroes in a meaningful manner.
  Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to join me in supporting the 
President's proclamation designating May 15 as Peace Officers Memorial 
Day.




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