[Congressional Record Volume 163, Number 84 (Tuesday, May 16, 2017)]
[Senate]
[Pages S2945-S2948]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]



                          National Police Week

  Mr. BLUNT. Mr. President, during this week, all across the country, 
people are honoring the men and women who serve as law enforcement 
officials. Clearly, they deserve and receive recognition every day for 
what they do, but this is an incredibly difficult job.
  Last night, I was with some of our officers from Missouri and with 
family members, and I said: A lot of times, it is easier for you to 
walk out the door than it is for your family to see you walk out the 
door, not knowing what you are going to face every day.
  When Senator Coons and I came to the Senate 7 years ago, we created 
and cochaired the Senate Law Enforcement Caucus. It is a privilege to 
be part of that and also to speak today on behalf of those who serve 
us.
  This is a week in which we take a moment to recognize the law 
enforcement officers who have lost their lives in the line of duty. 
Today, I want to pay tribute to three Missouri law enforcement officers 
who were killed in the line of duty this past year. Master Sergeant 
Carl T. Cosper of the Barry County Sheriff's Office was one of those, 
as were Officer Blake Curtis Snyder of the St. Louis County Police 
Department and Deputy Sheriff Paul Allen Clark of the St. Francois 
County Sheriff's Office.
  Just last month, Master Sergeant Cosper was killed in a vehicle 
collision while responding to a domestic disturbance call. He had 
served the Barry County Sheriff's Office for 10 years before that fatal 
accident.
  In October of 2016, Officer Blake Snyder was shot and killed while 
responding to a disturbance. He had served the St. Louis County Police 
Department for 4 years. He is survived by his wife and their 2-year-old 
son. I had a chance last night to visit with his wife again. Elizabeth 
and her brother Justin, also a police officer in St. Louis County, were 
here earlier this year to talk about police and families and what we 
need to do to really express our understanding of what those families 
go through, their strength and their reliance, both humbling and 
inspiring, and I am sure they are passing along those very values to 
Blake's 2-year-old son.
  In July of 2016, Deputy Sheriff Paul Clark died from complications 
related to injuries he sustained in October of 2015 when he was 
intentionally struck by a stolen vehicle near Desloge, MO. Deputy Clark 
had served the St. Francois County Sheriff's Department for 13 years 
and had previously served with the Park Hills Police Department for 5 
years. He is survived by his wife, two children, and by their 
grandchildren.
  All of these individuals are heroes, and our prayers remain with 
their families.
  Let me now turn to Senator Coons. As I said earlier, he and I founded 
the Law Enforcement Caucus when we came to the Senate. We try on a 
regular basis to have opportunities to talk about policing practices, 
family challenges, and mental health issues that police deal with every 
day. I turn to Senator Coons for some comments.
  Mr. COONS. Mr. President, I thank my colleague from the State of 
Missouri. Working with Senator Blunt, my cochair of the Law Enforcement 
Caucus, has been a terrific experience. We have had the opportunity 
over several years and several Congresses now for more than a dozen 
conversations, where we invite law enforcement leaders from around the 
country to talk about partnership between Federal, State, and local law 
enforcement, intelligence sharing, equipment issues, policy and 
operational issues to allow us to provide needed support for the men 
and women of law enforcement.
  It is my honor to join with several of my colleagues today to 
recognize the men and women of law enforcement as part of National 
Police Week. Together, we offer our gratitude and our support to the 
men and women of law enforcement and their families, who together 
support our communities.
  It is only May, and yet my home State of Delaware has already been 
reminded of the tremendous risks and great sacrifices made by law 
enforcement officers and their families.
  In February of this year, Lieutenant Steven Floyd of the Delaware 
Department of Correction was killed on the job in a prison riot in 
Smyrna, the Delaware correctional center. He was a 16-year veteran of 
the department and left behind his wife of 28 years, Saundra; his 
children, Candyss, Steven, Jr., and Chyvante; and two grandsons.
  Just last month, Corporal Stephen Ballard of the Delaware State 
Police was senselessly gunned down while investigating a suspicious 
vehicle. Corporal Ballard had served with the Delaware State Police for 
8\1/2\ years and left behind his wife Louise and his daughter Abigail.
  Delawareans are still grieving for the loss of both of these brave 
men in the line of duty.
  As we recognize the entire law enforcement community from across our 
country during National Police Week, we should honor their sacrifice by 
serving them as well as they serve us. This week and every week, we 
must do everything we can to honor our obligations to fallen heroes and 
their families.
  In the wake of these losses in Delaware, I am committed to continuing 
to

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work with my colleagues across the aisle and across the country, like 
Senators Klobuchar, Cornyn, and Senator Blunt, to make sure our 
officers have the resources they deserve to do their jobs and to come 
home safely at the end of every shift. That means continuing to 
champion programs like the Bulletproof Vest Partnership, which 
literally saves officers' lives. Delaware knows the importance of this 
long-running program all too well. Two of our Delaware Capitol Police 
officers who were shot in the line of duty survived due to bulletproof 
vests provided through this vital and ongoing Federal-State 
partnership.
  I will also continue to work here in the Senate with colleagues to 
reform the Public Safety Officers' Benefits Program to make sure the 
families of officers who lose their lives or are permanently disabled 
in the line of duty receive the benefits they deserve.
  Chairman Grassley, who has joined us here on the floor, is one of the 
lead cosponsors of this bill, along with Senators Hatch, Gillibrand, 
and Klobuchar--is one of many cosponsors. This is a bill that will take 
important steps in these reforms, and it is just one step away from 
passing the Senate, and my understanding is it could head to the House 
of Representatives as early as later today.
  Of course, our commitment to serving the men and women of law 
enforcement has to extend beyond the patrol car and the police station. 
Building and maintaining trust between law enforcement and the 
communities they serve is essential to preventing and reducing crime 
and keeping officers safe. That is why Senator Blunt and I have both 
taken steps to encourage the strategy of community policing, which 
helps officers do their job more effectively in partnership with local 
communities. We have also continued to support local officials who are 
working to bring Federal resources, expertise, and convening power to 
help strengthen the bonds between the police and the communities they 
serve.
  In light of all these important efforts, we can't let ideology or 
partisan politics in this Chamber prevent us from doing our job in 
support of law enforcement. We will fail those who serve us if we do 
so. We have to move forward in a bipartisan way to improve and invest 
in officer safety. That is why I am proud to stand with my colleague 
and partner from Missouri as cochairs of the Law Enforcement Caucus. 
The mission of this bipartisan group of Senators is simple: to bring 
law enforcement, community leaders, issue experts, and Republicans and 
Democrats together to share ideas and generate solutions to challenges 
facing State and local law enforcement. We have hosted more than a 
dozen briefings and events.
  Now more than ever, Senator Blunt and I are committed to this 
mission. We are on the floor today to honor women and men, like 
Corporal Ballard and Lieutenant Floyd from Delaware, who put on the 
uniform and the badge every day, not knowing whether they will come 
home at the end of their shift. We are here today for their families, 
whose sacrifice and burden are heavy.
  When I attended Corporal Ballard's moving memorial service earlier 
this month, the most powerful speaker among many was his widow, Louise. 
She stood up, stood tall, and with a smile on her face thanked the 
3,000 officers from 36 States across the country who had come to stand 
in solemn procession and honor Corporal Ballard's sacrifice and pay 
their respects.
  Louise Ballard said:

       This is my Stephen's victory, when I get to see men and 
     women from all over the country who every single day get up 
     and do a job. A job that's hard, a job that requires heart.

  Few jobs are as hard or require as much heart as patrolling the 
streets and protecting our communities.
  This week, together we honor the service and sacrifice of those law 
enforcement officers whose names have been added to the National Law 
Enforcement Officers Memorial this year and the hundreds of thousands, 
even millions, who even today, even tonight, will be on patrol keeping 
our communities and our families safe.
  Mr. President, I yield to the chairman of the Senate Judiciary 
Committee, my colleague from Iowa and partner in legislating in the 
interest of law enforcement.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Iowa.
  Mr. GRASSLEY. Mr. President, I thank my colleagues from Missouri and 
Delaware for leading this effort to honor our law enforcement officers 
and particularly those who have been killed in the line of duty.
  In 1962, Congress passed a joint resolution proclaiming the week of 
May 15 as ``National Police Week.''
  The National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial, located here in 
Washington, DC, is our country's monument to these fallen officers. 
Carved into the marble walls of the memorial are the names of the more 
than 20,000 officers killed in the line of duty throughout our Nation's 
history. Every year, tens of thousands of fellow officers from around 
the world come to Washington, DC, as part of Police Week to pay tribute 
to the men and women whose names are inscribed on this wall.
  The planned events surrounding Police Week began with the 36th Annual 
National Peace Officers' Memorial Service, held on the west front of 
the U.S. Capitol. The President of the United States was the keynote 
speaker, and his presence was a testament to the fraternity of this 
noble profession. Immediately following the service, there was a 
wreath-laying at the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial. The 
annual memorial service is an opportunity for all Americans to reflect 
on the dedication of these public servants and the ultimate sacrifice 
they have paid for this great Nation.
  We should also acknowledge the families of the fallen, whose lives 
have been forever changed by the loss of their loved ones.
  During the memorial service, there was a Roll Call of Heroes for the 
143 law enforcement officers killed in the line of duty last year. 
Their names will adorn the memorial walls in perpetuity. The list of 
the fallen include five of my fellow Iowans: Sergeant Anthony Davis 
Beminio of the Des Moines Police Department; Officer Susan Louise 
Farrell of the Des Moines Police Department; Patrolman Justin Scott 
Martin of the Urbandale Police Department; Sergeant Shawn Glenn Miller 
of the West Des Moines Police Department; and Officer Carlos Bernabe 
Puente-Morales of the Des Moines Police Department.
  We honor these great heroes for laying down their lives to protect 
their communities in Iowa. There is no year in recent memory in which 
so many Iowans have lost their lives in the line of duty.
  I would like to specifically address the ambush-style killing of 
Sergeant Beminio and Officer Martin. These officers were heinously 
murdered by the same perpetrator on the same night while they sat in 
their patrol cars. While the exact motive of the killer is unknown, he 
nevertheless sought out these brave men and gunned them down in cold 
blood.
  These ambush-style attacks have become more prevalent since the 
incidents in Dallas, TX, and Baton Rouge, LA, spanning 10 days last 
July. According to a report by the National Law Enforcement Officers 
Memorial Fund, there were a total of 21 officers killed in ambush-style 
attacks just last year--the highest total in two decades.
  There has been much vitriol written and directed toward law 
enforcement over the last few years. The notion that the actions of a 
few bad individuals implicate the entire profession may still, 
unfortunately, endanger public servants in the area of law enforcement.
  This sort of rush to judgment against all law enforcement officers 
ought to end and end right now. The men and women of law enforcement 
make great sacrifices every day to protect our families and, of course, 
all of our fellow citizens. They do so freely, not out of a sense of 
obligation but because they are dedicated to the cause of justice.
  Their devotion merits our attention, admiration, and we are deeply 
indebted to them. This is why today I am submitting a bipartisan 
resolution to commemorate Police Week and honor those who have given 
their lives in this pursuit. I thank my colleagues in the Senate who 
have cosponsored this resolution with me.
  I call on all Americans to remember the fallen and pay tribute to the 
sacrifices they have made. To quote the motto of the Fraternal Order of 
Police Auxiliary: ``Never Let Them Walk Alone.''

[[Page S2947]]

  I hope that during Police Week, the Senate will pass my legislation 
to reform the operations of the Public Safety Officers' Benefit 
Program. Delays in the award of benefits to the families of fallen 
officers have become intolerable, and those families deserve to know 
the status of their applications during the process.
  In addition, the Judiciary Committee has reported two other bills 
that I hope the Senate will take up during Police Week. One bill sets 
standards for the use of a new form of DNA evidence. The second makes 
an allowable use of COPS grants for recruiting and promoting of 
military veterans as police officers.
  Finally, during Police Week, my Judiciary Committee will report a 
bill that is designed to provide mental health services to police 
officers who live through and with enormous stress as they work to 
protect us.
  I am pleased to join with my colleagues in saluting the service of 
our law enforcement officers during Police Week.
  I yield the floor.
  Mr. BLUNT. Mr. President, before we turn to Senator Cornyn, I want to 
mention his leadership in the National Criminal Justice Commission Act 
and also thank Senator Grassley for moving the Law Enforcement Mental 
Health and Wellness Act out of his committee this week. Those are two 
of the things we clearly can do that will make a difference to people 
in law enforcement and their families, and there has been no more 
strident advocate of families or those who serve in law enforcement 
than the Senator from Texas, Mr. Cornyn.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The majority whip.
  Mr. CORNYN. Mr. President, I am delighted to be here during Police 
Week, along with our colleagues from Missouri, Delaware, Minnesota, and 
Iowa to celebrate the men and women in blue who put their lives at risk 
so that our communities can be safer, more stable, more prosperous 
places.
  I am reflecting this week on the terrible experience in Dallas, TX, 
about a year ago when Chief David Brown inspired the Nation with his 
response to the terrible tragedy there that took the lives of five 
Dallas police officers and injured seven more.
  Following the attack, Chief Brown made clear that if you want to see 
change or if you want to protest law enforcement, why not instead join 
their ranks and be a part of the solution. I am grateful to him for his 
encouragement of the young men and women who have many opportunities to 
serve their communities--many in uniform.
  The truth is, we can do a lot of good by inspiring confidence in law 
enforcement and showing our support for them. We saw what was referred 
to by the former Director of the FBI as the ``Ferguson effect,'' where, 
in fact, he said it was his view that many police officers were afraid 
of being criticized unjustly, so they withheld or were reticent in 
acting in the face of a criminal activity.
  We need to make sure that our law enforcement personnel know we are 
firmly behind them and we will always support them. As Chief Brown 
liked to point out, if somebody has crossed a line they should not 
cross, that is an appropriate subject for disciplinary action on a 
police force.
  There is never any excuse for assaulting a police officer. That is 
the thin blue line between us and anarchy in our society.
  I thank the Senator from Minnesota for working with me on the 
American Law Enforcement Heroes Act that the chairman of the Judiciary 
Committee just mentioned. This bill will help State and local law 
enforcement hire more veterans into their ranks. Obviously, that is 
relevant experience and training that can help our law enforcement 
departments across the country be better and take advantage of these 
great patriots who have now taken off one uniform to put on another.
  We know there are places in the country where, despite the best 
efforts of law enforcement, danger is spiking violent crime rates in 
some parts of the country due to dangerous criminals like the MS-13 
gang, a vicious gang from Central America that is wreaking havoc in 
parts of the country. We can't let our officers face these dangers 
without knowing we have their backs.
  I am delighted to be here with our colleagues celebrating National 
Police Week and making it clear to the men and women in blue that we 
unequivocally support them and stand by them and need to let all of our 
country men and women know that these are true American heroes who 
deserve our respect and support every day, not just during Police Week.
  I yield to our friend and our colleague from Minnesota.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Minnesota.
  Ms. KLOBUCHAR. Mr. President, I rise with my colleagues today in 
recognition of Police Week. I thank Senator Blunt and Senator Coons for 
bringing us together, as well as Senator Grassley and Senator Cornyn.
  Law enforcement officers play a critical role in keeping our 
communities safe, and Police Week is all about honoring their 
dedication and sacrifice and, sadly for so many families, those 
officers who made the ultimate sacrifice. Our officers are on the 
frontlines of public safety, and while most people run away from crime 
scenes or run away from disaster, they run bravely toward it.
  In my State, we were reminded all too well of the courageous 
dedication of law enforcement just this last year when Jason Falconer, 
an off-duty police officer at a shopping mall spending his free time on 
his own, encountered a horrific scene of a man unhinged who was 
stabbing people in the St. Cloud shopping mall. Falconer didn't even 
pause. He made sure that he saved the people who were wounded; 10 were 
wounded that day. So many would have been killed if he had not 
intervened--an off-duty officer.
  I think about Officer Shawn Schneider, who is no longer with us, in 
Lake City, MN. I met with his family several times. This was a brave 
officer, a popular officer in a small community. One night he was 
called to the scene of a domestic abuse case. A young woman, scared, 
had called. He showed up at the door, and a man unhinged opened the 
door and shot and killed that officer.
  The story behind that officer and the people behind that officer are 
the ones who carry on his memory--his fellow officers, as we see this 
week during Police Week, his family, his widow, and their three 
children. I will never forget sitting in the pews of that church and 
hearing the story as those three little kids walked down the aisle. 
There were two young boys and a girl in a blue dress covered in stars. 
The story was that the last time the family had been in that church and 
the last time those children had been in that church was for the church 
nativity play, and their dad, Officer Schneider, was sitting there 
watching them with such pride. A few weeks later, there they were at 
his funeral.
  Those are the people we remember during this important week. Our job 
as U.S. Senators is to treat them in the way that they treat their 
jobs. They go to work every day without fear or favor. That is what we 
have to do when we think about police officers.
  There are issues, as Senator Coons mentioned, we need to work on--
policies and the relationship between officers and our communities. We 
have to promote more community policing, more training, more 
recruiting. That is why I am very positive about these bills--the COPS 
bill I have with Senator Murkowski, where we finally have bipartisan 
sponsorship for grants that have now helped to place approximately 
129,000 police officers on the beat in more than 13,000 State, local, 
and Tribal law enforcement agencies.
  In that community I mentioned, St. Cloud, are the recipients of some 
of the grants we are talking about. That is why Senator Murkowski and I 
are taking on this issue, to make sure that this program continues to 
be funded and that, in fact, we reinforce the program.
  The bill Senator Cornyn just mentioned that we are leading together 
to promote the hiring of veterans as law enforcement officers would 
encourage local police departments to hire and train veterans as cops 
while providing our veterans with the opportunity to continue to serve 
their communities.
  Yes, we can do all we can to have the backs of our officers and to 
work with them and our communities, but what we are doing this week is 
something a little different. We honor them. We recognize their 
sacrifices, whether it is taking dangerous criminals off the

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street, whether it is preventing extremist groups from recruiting 
people in our neighborhoods, whether it is fighting the opioid abuse 
epidemic, whether it is simply giving a kid a second chance--and they 
do those kinds of things all the time.
  Law enforcement officers are doing some of the hardest and most 
important work out there. We owe our safety to them, and we thank them 
for their remarkable service.
  Mr. COONS. Mr. President, in conclusion, I thank my colleagues, 
Senators Klobuchar, Grassley, Cornyn, and Blunt, for joining us today 
in a colloquy on the floor. It is a small but important gesture of 
bipartisan support, sustained and long-lasting bipartisan support for 
the community of law enforcement that serves each of us and our 
communities every day.
  I wish to yield to my friend Senator Blunt for his closing remarks.
  Mr. BLUNT. Mr. President, I thank Senator Coons.
  The pieces of legislation to support officers and their families are 
wide ranging, even legislation to be voted out of the Judiciary 
Committee today. It was exactly 1 year ago today that President Obama 
signed the Fallen Heroes Flag Act into law. This is a bill that I 
introduced along with my colleague that provides that American flags be 
flown over the U.S. Capitol and given to the families of firefighters, 
law enforcement officers, and other first responders who lose their 
lives in the line of duty.
  As Senator Klobuchar so well pointed out, these are the people who 
run to danger when the rest of us are able to head the other way. We 
are grateful to them and grateful for them.
  Mr. President, I think we will yield the floor with great 
appreciation for the law enforcement officers who are being recognized 
this week. There are still too many names that Senator Grassley 
mentioned who will be added to the over 20,000 officers who have lost 
their lives in the line of duty since the country was founded.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The majority leader.