[Congressional Record Volume 158, Number 69 (Tuesday, May 15, 2012)]
[Senate]
[Pages S3161-S3162]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                 HONORING FALLEN KANSAS POLICE OFFICERS

  Mr. MORAN. Mr. President, earlier today I attended a memorial service 
to honor our Nation's law enforcement officers who laid down their 
lives to protect their fellow citizens. Since 1962, May 15 has stood as 
a day of remembrance for the many fallen police officers who faithfully 
served our communities and our Nation. They must never be forgotten.
  This year 362 names were added to the National Law Enforcement 
Officers Memorial, and among those names were three brave officers from 
Kansas. Two of these men died in the line of duty many years ago, but 
we paused today to remember their sacrifice.
  In 1892 Andrew Balfour of Kiowa County was filling his duties as a 
local sheriff and pursuing a man who was wanted for theft when he was 
mortally wounded. Andrew passed away at the young age of 41, leaving 
behind a wife and six children.
  In 1992, William Bloomfield, a deputy sheriff, was serving in Bourbon 
County and arresting a well-known killer when he was killed during a 
fierce gun battle.
  These two men were killed while carrying out their duties. Rather 
than shirk from danger, police officers face danger with courage, and 
that is exactly what these two men did.
  Just 5 months ago, Kansans were grieved by the loss of another 
officer, SGT David Enzbrenner of Atchison, KS. On December 9, 2001, 
David joined a fellow officer on a routine call to see a local 
resident. As they were turning to leave the front steps of the home, a 
person suddenly appeared and opened fire on David without warning. This 
act of violence was unprovoked and forever robbed the Enzbrenner family 
of their father, husband, and the Atchison community of a loyal public 
servant.
  When we lose someone in a community in Kansas, it is not just a name 
to us. It is somebody we go to church with, it is somebody we see at 
our kids' activities at school, it is somebody we know and care for. 
That is how Atchison felt about David.
  In remembering David, Atchison Mayor Allen Reavis said:

       He was No. 1 father, No. 1 husband, No. 1 partner to his 
     fellow officers, No. 1 son.

  Inscribed on the National Law Enforcement Memorial in Washington are 
these words:

       It is not how these officers died that made them heroes, it 
     is how they lived.

  Police Chief Mike Wilson served alongside David for 24 years and 
referred to the words inscribed on the National Law Enforcement 
Memorial when he said this about his former colleague and friend:

       Those words speak directly to David. How true about our 
     brother.

  David was dedicated to his family, his fellow law enforcement 
officers, and his community. He was well known in Atchison and well 
loved. David attended high school there and served in the Atchison 
Police Department for 24 years. David was also on the board of trustees 
at his local church and found great joy in teaching and coaching his 
daughters on their softball teams.
  Last December I witnessed the impact that David had on the local 
community when I attended his memorial service and more than 2,000 
people gathered to pay their respects to him. During the service, many 
moving tributes were read about David and how he lived his life. One 
that stood out from among the others was a statement from David's wife 
Kerri. She said this about her husband:

       David was a man of few words. He always tried to keep a 
     simple life. And when I questioned things, he would remind me 
     that it's okay sometimes not to understand.


[[Page S3162]]


  We don't fully understand. We don't understand at all why David's 
life was taken or why the lives of more than 19,000 officers we 
remembered today ended so soon. But we express our gratitude for their 
service and dedication to their communities and to our country.
  During National Police Week, we also remember their families and the 
loved ones they left behind. May God comfort them in their time of 
grief and be a source of strength for them. May he also protect all 
those who continue to serve today.
  I want to especially mention David Enzbrenner's wife Kerri and his 
three teenage daughters Avery, Abbi, and Celia. I want them to know we 
honor the way David lived his life and tell them we love and care for 
them today and always.
  I yield the floor.
  I suggest the absence of a quorum.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will call the roll.
  The assistant legislative clerk proceeded to call the roll.
  Mrs. SHAHEEN. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order 
for the quorum call be rescinded.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.


                       VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN ACT

  Mrs. SHAHEEN. Mr. President, I come to the floor today to join my 
colleague, Senator Menendez, and I think some of our other colleagues 
who will be here soon, to reaffirm our commitment to the 
reauthorization of the Violence Against Women Act. That act recently 
passed out of the Senate with a strong bipartisan vote that recognizes 
our bipartisan commitment to end domestic and sexual abuse, stalking, 
and dating violence. The House of Representatives will soon be taking a 
vote on their proposed counterpart to the Violence Against Women Act, 
and I want to address some of the concerns I have with the bill that is 
on the floor in the House.
  What we have seen in this country is that domestic violence has a 
significant impact on families, on victims. It comprises the very 
stability of our towns and communities. The Violence Against Women Act 
provides essential resources for victims and for law enforcement. I was 
pleased to see so many of us in the Senate put politics aside and 
support this important reauthorization.
  Unfortunately, the House version of the reauthorization of the 
Violence Against Women Act does not provide the same level of 
protection for victims, and it does not include some resources that 
have specifically been requested by law enforcement.
  In the House bill protections are diminished for college students, 
for lesbian, gay, and transgender victims, for immigrants, and for 
Native Americans.
  The Senate bill strengthens the Violence Against Women Act to provide 
more protections to more women and their families. The House bill 
weakens the law by failing to state that same-sex couples will have 
equal access to services, by decreasing protections for immigrant 
victims, and by declining to expand the jurisdiction of tribal courts.
  One example of some of the changes in the House bill, where I think 
it fails, is around protections the Senate bill provides to women 
students on college campuses.
  The Senate bill provides strong protections that have been omitted in 
the House bill. The Senate bill includes a provision requiring a 
university to implement prevention programs, teaching all students, 
male and female, how to help prevent sexual violence and dating 
violence, including bystander education.
  The Senate bill also requires a university to make reasonable 
accommodations for students who need to change their living, working, 
or academic situation as a result of being victimized. For example, if 
a young woman is the victim of an assault and her attacker lives in her 
dorm, what the Senate bill would do is require the university to help 
that young woman find another place to live. Unfortunately, these kinds 
of protections are not included in the House bill.
  The Department of Justice recently estimated that 25 percent of 
college women will be victims of rape or attempted rape before they 
graduate within a 4-year college period, and women between the ages of 
16 to 24 will experience rape at a rate that is four times higher than 
the assault rate for all women.
  There is no doubt this is a serious problem. The safeguards we 
implemented in the Senate bill must be preserved if we are to provide 
the protections that young women and men in college deserve.
  When we were working on our reauthorization in the Senate, I had a 
chance to meet with case workers at crisis centers and with some of the 
victims of domestic violence in New Hampshire.
  I heard from one woman who said if it had not been for that 24-hour 
hotline and her caseworker at the Bridges Crisis Center in Nashua, she 
would never have been able to leave her abuser. She was finally able to 
stand up for herself and end the terrible cycle of abuse because of the 
Violence Against Women Act.
  All victims should have equal access to these important resources, 
and it is imperative this bill provide that.
  So I urge my colleagues in the House to insist on these essential 
components so we can move forward on this reauthorization and we can 
protect all of the victims of domestic violence.
  Mr. President, I yield the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Indiana.

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