[Congressional Record Volume 161, Number 137 (Tuesday, September 22, 2015)]
[Senate]
[Page S6889]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




               REMEMBERING TROOPER JOSEPH CAMERON PONDER

  Mr. McCONNELL. Mr. President, I rise to pay tribute to a Kentucky 
State Police trooper who was tragically lost in the line of duty. 
Trooper Joseph Cameron Ponder, of Rineyville, was shot and killed while 
pursuing a suspect on September 13. He was 31 years old.
  Cameron Ponder was proud to be a Kentucky State trooper. ``He was 
eager and he absolutely loved his job,'' is how a State police 
spokesman described him. He was also new to the job, having just 
graduated in January of this year from the Kentucky State Police 
Training Academy. He was stationed at the State police post in 
Mayfield.
  Before becoming a Kentucky State trooper, Cameron served in the U.S. 
Navy. He enlisted in September 2007, when he was 23 years old, and 
became a Navy diver. Over the next 6 years he was stationed in places 
as varied as Great Lakes, IL; Coronado, CA; Panama City, FL; and San 
Diego, CA.
  During his Navy service he received several awards, medals and 
decorations, including the Combat Action Ribbon, the Good Conduct 
Medal, the Navy Expeditionary Medal, the National Defense Service 
Medal, the Global War on Terrorism Service Medal, the Expert Rifle 
Marksmanship Ribbon and the Expert Pistol Marksmanship Ribbon.
  Cameron was discharged from the Navy in July 2013. He was a member of 
the Church of Christ in Elizabethtown, KY. He was also a dedicated 
hunter and fisherman who enjoyed the outdoors.
  Sadly, Trooper Ponder is the second trooper from the Mayfield post to 
be killed in the line of duty this year. In June, Trooper Eric K. 
Chrisman was killed in a vehicle crash. He also had served with the 
Kentucky State Police for under a year.
  Members of Trooper Ponder's family who are suffering from this loss 
include his father, Joseph Ponder; his mother, Brenda Tiffany, and her 
husband Allan; his fiancee, Chrystal Coleman; his sister, Kelly Ponder; 
his brothers, Damon Tiffany and Travis Tiffany; his grandmother, Erika 
Shook; his niece, Mahlea Starks; and many other family members and 
friends.
  I am proud to share Trooper Ponder's story with my colleagues here in 
the United States Senate. We're thinking of his family today as well as 
his fellow officers of the Kentucky State Police. We are praying for 
the loved ones he has left behind who are feeling this devastating 
loss.
  We are honored by Trooper Ponder's service and his extraordinary 
sacrifice on behalf of his fellow Kentuckians. I hold the deepest 
admiration and respect for Trooper Ponder and for every brave police 
officer across the Bluegrass State. Law enforcement is both an 
honorable profession and a dangerous one, and Kentucky is grateful they 
have made a sacred pledge to protect and defend our communities and our 
lives.

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