[Congressional Record Volume 163, Number 198 (Tuesday, December 5, 2017)]
[House]
[Page H9631]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




     TEXAS OFFICER DOWN: SAN MARCOS POLICE OFFICER KENNETH COPELAND

  (Mr. POE of Texas asked and was given permission to address the House 
for 1 minute.)
  Mr. POE of Texas. Mr. Speaker, yesterday afternoon, 58-year-old San 
Marcos, Texas, Police Officer Kenneth Copeland was shot in an ambush-
style attack while he was serving an arrest warrant for a violent 
crime.
  The 19-year veteran of the force was working on his day off doing 
what he loved: protecting and serving the community. This wasn't 
unusual for Officer Copeland. A father of four, he worked just about 
every day simply to provide for his family and help the shorthanded 
department out.
  As guns blazed around them, fellow officers sprang into action 
loading Copeland into a patrol car and rushed him to the hospital with 
their sirens blazing. But it was too late. Another member of the thin 
blue line murdered simply because he wore the badge.
  Mr. Speaker, this is the sixth peace officer in Texas murdered this 
year, the first in San Marcos history. We must do everything in our 
power to stand by our men and women in uniform who wear the badge. 
Peace officers like Copeland are the last strand of wire in the fence 
between the law and the outlaws.
  We mourn his sacrifice, but we thank the good Lord that such a man as 
Officer Copeland ever lived.
  And that is just the way it is.

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