[Congressional Record Volume 158, Number 21 (Wednesday, February 8, 2012)]
[House]
[Page H580]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




           OFFICER KEVIN BRENNAN, NEW YORK POLICE DEPARTMENT

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair recognizes the gentleman from 
Texas (Mr. Poe) for 5 minutes.
  Mr. POE of Texas. Mr. Speaker, recently, in one of New York's 
neighborhoods, gunshots rang out. One of NYPD's finest, Police Officer 
Kevin Brennan, quickly responded to the call. When he arrived at the 
scene with his partners, they recognized a familiar face. It was outlaw 
Latin Kings gang member Luis ``Baby'' Ortiz. Brennan gave the suspect a 
chance to turn himself over to the police by yelling, ``Stop. Police,'' 
but Ortiz took off running in the darkness of the night. The officers 
gave chase. Officer Brennan cornered Ortiz in a hallway, and rather 
than give up, Ortiz shot Officer Brennan, point blank, in the head. 
Ortiz was trying to flee the scene of the shooting so fast that he ran 
out of one of his shoes and left it at the crime scene.
  Police Commissioner Ray Kelly said Ortiz may have tried to fire off a 
second shot into Officer Brennan's head. Obviously, Ortiz has a total 
disrespect for human life.
  When Police Officers Michael Burbridge and Christopher Mastoros 
arrived and found Officer Brennan, he was lying in a pool of his own 
blood, left to die. But Officer Brennan miraculously survived this 
attack.
  The outlaw was captured. When ``Baby'' was brought to court, he made 
a mockery of the judicial system, waving at the cameras, asking them to 
take his photograph, while blowing kisses to his family. His family, 
too, showed disdain for the justice system and the police by yelling 
obscenities to the police and banging their hands and fists on a police 
cruiser that led Ortiz back to the jailhouse.
  On Ortiz's second appearance in the court, the courtroom was packed 
with a sea of blue. NYPD had come to support their wounded fellow 
officer.
  Disturbing, but not surprising, this would-be assassin has been 
arrested 14 times in his just 21 years of a lifetime of crime and 
lawless, worthless existence. His crimes have included drugs, assault, 
and armed robbery; yet he has walked free every time, beating the 
system.
  One more detail worth noting. The weapon used to shoot Officer 
Brennan was the same one used in a New Year's Day murder in New York. 
Coincidence? Probably not.
  Officer Brennan, a 6-year veteran of NYPD, is married and has a young 
baby daughter.
  Mr. Speaker, in my other life, I was a prosecutor and a criminal 
court judge in Texas. I have been privileged to meet a lot of Texas 
peace officers and other officers in the United States. I've had the 
opportunity to meet many New York police officers when I go to New York 
to do presentations and training. After we get through the language 
barriers, I've found them to be a remarkable bunch of dedicated crime 
fighters.
  Officer Brennan and thousands of his comrades throughout America wear 
the blue uniform of the law every day. They pin the shield and badge 
over their chest, over their heart, as a symbol of their duty to defend 
the people against outlaws like Ortiz. They are the last strand of wire 
in the fence between the fox and the chickens. They are all that 
separate the lawful citizens from the lawless bandits.
  They go into dangerous areas of our city looking for drug dealers, 
child molesters, wife beaters, robbers, bandits and other street 
terrorists that would do the rest of us harm. They deserve our respect, 
our admiration, and our appreciation. We thank the Good Lord for people 
like Officer Brennan and the others of NYPD blue.
  As for ``Baby,'' it's past time that ``Baby'' met the long arm of 
justice.

                              {time}  1030

  He's looking at doing 40 years behind bars in the ``Do-Right'' Hotel.
  Our society cannot allow street trash like Ortiz to get away with 
their desire to wreak havoc in their neighborhoods and shoot peace 
officers. After all, Mr. Speaker, ``We've got too many gangsters doing 
dirty deeds, too much corruption and crime in the streets. A man has to 
answer for the wicked things he's done because justice is the one thing 
you should always find.'' May it be swift and harsh, because justice is 
what we do in this country.
  And that's just the way it is.

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