[Congressional Record Volume 162, Number 5 (Friday, January 8, 2016)]
[House]
[Page H215]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                    LAW ENFORCEMENT APPRECIATION DAY

  (Mr. REICHERT asked and was given permission to address the House for 
1 minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. REICHERT. Mr. Speaker, tomorrow is National Law Enforcement 
Appreciation Day. I would like to take this time to thank all of the 
men and women who put their lives on the line each and every day to 
keep our communities safe.
  As a former cop of 33 years, I know firsthand what it means to leave 
your home and not know if you are coming back. My family knows that 
feeling of: Is Deputy Dave going to come home tonight to his family?
  Well, early in my career, that was a big question mark. I found 
myself in a fight for my life at 23 years old, being attacked by a man 
with a butcher knife. I came home that night with 45 stitches in my 
neck.
  Years later, I lost a good friend and a partner who was ambushed, 
shot, and killed in 1982. Two years later, I lost a good friend--an 
academy colleague--who was stabbed to death in 1984. Sadly, deaths of 
police officers are occurring across this country each and every day.
  I want to take this time to especially mention the last two in 
Washington State who have sacrificed their lives for the protection of 
our community: Officer Rick Silva of Chehalis Police Department and 
Detective Brent Hanger of the Washington State Patrol.
  Mr. Speaker, we should take this time, especially tomorrow and in the 
coming weeks, to stop and say thank you to our law enforcement 
officials across this country for putting their lives on the line each 
and every day to keep our families safe.

                          ____________________