[Congressional Record Volume 166, Number 104 (Thursday, June 4, 2020)]
[Senate]
[Pages S2710-S2712]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]



                         Remembering Cody Holte

  Mr. HOEVEN. Madam President, I rise today to honor Grand Forks Police 
Officer Cody Holte, who died in the line of duty last Wednesday. Both 
Senator Cramer and myself are here. We attended the funeral. It was 
truly a moving event. Today, we are here to honor him on the Senate 
floor as well and honor his service and honor his life.
  Officer Holte is a Hendrum, MN, native, a 2010 graduate of Norman 
County West High School, and a 2015 graduate of Minnesota State 
University Moorhead, with a degree in criminal justice and minors in 
Sociology and military science.
  Officer Holte led a life of service, dedicating himself to serving 
his community, State, and nation by always putting the people he served 
first. Not only was Officer Holte an exceptional police officer, he 
also served as a first lieutenant in the North Dakota Army National 
Guard. For 10 years, I was Governor in North Dakota, and I can't tell 
you how much we relied then and, of course, how much we rely now on our 
National Guard. As you can see, Cody was a first lieutenant in the 
National Guard, and he did a fabulous job. Here he is in his guard 
uniform and, of course, his incredible service as a police officer in 
Grand Forks.
  Lieutenant Holte enlisted in the Army Reserve in 2010, and in 2015 he 
was commissioned into the North Dakota Army National Guard. He was last 
assigned to the 815th Engineer Company out of Lisbon, ND, where he 
served as a detachment commander, preparing his unit for upcoming 
missions.
  As an officer in Grand Forks and a first lieutenant in the North 
Dakota National Guard, Officer Holte served our Nation on multiple 
fronts. Through his leadership, courage, and work

[[Page S2711]]

ethic, he displayed the very best the State of North Dakota has to 
offer while also helping to ensure our safety and security.
  You realize how important it is today not only here at home but 
abroad. Here is somebody who served in both capacities. What a life of 
service.
  My wife Mikey and I extend our deepest condolences to the Holte 
family--especially his wife Amanda, his son Gunnar, his parents Bret 
and Tracy, sister Alexis, and twin brother Brady, who is also a police 
officer and also served in the military. He served with the regular 
Army--Cody's brother Brady--and now Brady serves with the Fargo PD. 
Here you have these twin brothers, both serving in the military, both 
serving as police officers, one in Grand Forks and one in Fargo. They 
were very close, as you can imagine.
  Last Wednesday, North Dakota lost one of its finest. Because of this, 
we must always honor his memory, in part, by supporting those who 
continue to serve as he did and never forgetting the burden his loved 
ones bear on our behalf. They sacrifice too.
  With that, I want to yield the floor to Senator Cramer, who had the 
good fortune to know the family personally and had a long relationship 
with the family. I welcome and look forward to his remarks about Cody 
Holte, somebody who is truly an exceptional person and whose life 
epitomized service. And we pray for God's blessing on him and on his 
entire family.
  I yield the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from North Dakota.
  Mr. CRAMER. Madam President, I thank my colleague Senator Hoeven, and 
I associate myself with everything he said about Officer Holte. He is 
right. It was an appropriate celebration of Officer Holte's life on 
Tuesday of this week as we attended the funeral, along with Congressman 
Armstrong, Governor Burgum, Adjutant General Gorman, and a whole bunch 
of other friends, family, members of law enforcement, community 
leaders, and even strangers who came to provide that heroes celebration 
that Cody earned.
  An interesting thing about what Cody went into, he and a fellow 
officer from the Grand Forks Police Department were called to a scene 
where shots had already been fired and the deputy sheriff had already 
been hit by somebody who was simply being served an eviction notice, 
assigned by a judge--somebody who was very well armed with an AK-47. He 
had shot 41 rounds before doing the damage that he had done and before 
he was stopped. When Cody arrived, like all good officers do, he didn't 
run from the fire but ran to it. He saved lives by giving up his own. 
It is what heroes do. It is what all of our men and women in law 
enforcement who wear the badge are prepared to do.
  We live in an interesting time. It was ironic, to say the least, that 
we in North Dakota, along the Red River, Grand Forks, are just up the 
interstate from Minneapolis, paying tribute to a hero, and yet that 
hero doesn't seem to get the same attention that a criminal gets. That 
hero and his brothers and sisters who wear the badge don't seem to be 
as respected by our media as criminals are. In fact, the restrictions 
and the restraint that our heroes exercise in carrying out their 
duties, the vast majority of them, are really rarely, if ever, 
highlighted.
  Yet we celebrate the life of Cody Holte--29 years old, the father of 
a 10-month-old son and a husband to Mandy. It is just really important 
that we stand in this Chamber today and give Cody the respect and the 
honor that he earned here in these hallowed halls and tell his story to 
a nation that is intrigued and fixated, in many respects, on those that 
Cody protects us from.
  It was a great honor to be there with his family and with hundreds--
thousands, perhaps--of other law enforcement officers to pay tribute to 
a real hero. I think it is important to note that this hero is also a 
real person. I thought that his chief of police gave an absolutely 
marvelous speech, and I want to just reiterate a couple of things that 
the Grand Forks chief of police said about Cody at the funeral.
  Chief Mark Nelson said that he and Cody had formed a close bond--by 
what?--in part, by sharing baby photos, the chief's of his grandchild 
and Cody's of Gunnar, his son. He recalled that Cody was a friend to 
all. Now, who doesn't want a cop who is a friend to all and with a grin 
that could brighten anyone's day? More importantly, he said that Cody 
was a cop's cop, whose heart was bigger than his courage and who had 
passion and an unwavering dedication for protecting and serving his 
community. He said, when Holte was on duty, there was never any need to 
worry.
  So we pay tribute today to this hero, but we are reminded that he was 
also a husband to Mandy and a father to Gunnar. He was a son to Bret 
and Tracy. I know Bret and Tracy very well. I have known Bret nearly 
all of my life. He was a brother to Brady and Alexis, as Senator Hoeven 
said. Brady is his twin brother and a police officer in Fargo, which is 
just an hour down the interstate from Grand Forks.
  Bret and Tracy are raising heroes, but, today, they are mourning the 
death of a son. I know something of that, as you know. It has been an 
interesting experience for Kris and me to share our journey, after the 
loss of our son a couple of years ago, with Bret and Tracy. I want them 
to know how very, very much we love them and that, in the valley they 
are in, as deep as it is, they are not in it alone.
  Just as King David walked through the Valley of the Shadow of Death 
with the confidence that God was with him, they, too, can do that but 
that, in addition to God, there are a whole bunch of other people who 
are holding them up in prayer, who have their backs, with love, hugs, 
and whatever is needed and that, likewise, Mandy, as the wife of a 
fallen hero, has all of the brothers and sisters who wear the badge as 
part of her extended family. It is an incredible group. In addition to 
being a hero, Cody was these things, these very personal things.
  I thought the eulogy that was provided by his uncle, Anthony Carter, 
was exceptional. Anthony reminded us, as did other speakers but 
particularly Anthony, that when Cody swore an oath 3 years ago, he 
said, in protecting the city of Grand Forks, he likely knew there would 
be challenging days, which is why he wore a medallion around his neck 
that bore his favorite Bible verse, Philippians 4:13: ``I can do all 
things through Christ, who gives me strength.''
  Cody has left--because somebody left for him--a legacy of faith. I 
know that to be true. I know that to be true because I know the Holtes 
so well. In fact, his Grandpa Pete was in my very first TV ad for 
Congress in 1996. It was a losing cause, but Pete was in the ad. His 
Grandma Sue was my mom's very best friend. They were prayer partners. 
They did Bible study together. They ministered together. They might 
have gossiped a little, but they were forgiven. Sue and Pete left for 
Bret and his sisters a legacy of faith, and Bret and Tracy left for 
Cody and Brady and Alexis a legacy of faith. It is that legacy of faith 
in a risen Lord and in a Father who knows the grief of losing a Son, 
who died for freedom, too, you see. That faith is what sustains them 
today.
  It is really important that we as national leaders, as community 
leaders, as local leaders, and as family members stand in this valley 
with the family, and that is what we are doing today in addition to 
paying honor.
  Finally, to Cody's brothers and sisters who wear the badge, it seems 
like the world is upside down. It feels like the country is on fire. 
Yes, there is the occasional criminal police officer who does something 
really awful, and that person needs to be brought to justice, and, in 
Minnesota, that is happening. Yet the heroes far, far outnumber the 
criminals in our police officers. So I think it is important, as we pay 
tribute to a fallen hero, that those who are still out there protecting 
us, as we stand in this building and express our views, and who are 
standing in the gap throughout our country and throughout our 
communities protecting the rights of people to assemble and express 
themselves peacefully that they know we are in their corner, that we 
have their backs, and that we honor them along with Cody today. We 
respect them, and we hold them up because we love them--because we love 
them for what they do for us. I ask their forgiveness for taking them 
for granted and for not expressing the gratitude often enough.

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  Cody's short 29 years of life, with his last 3 years as a police 
officer and his several years as a member of the North Dakota National 
Guard--his testimony in his life and now in his death--reminds us to 
never take for granted our own safety and security.
  Say thank you to a police officer in honor of Cody, who I know is OK. 
I know that he is OK today. I hope he is with his Grandpa Pete and his 
Grandma Sue somewhere. I hope that my Isaac, my son, bumps into him. We 
had a lake cabin right next door to the Holtes when those kids were 
growing up. So I stand with confidence that he is OK, but I continue to 
pray for those left behind, especially his family--especially his young 
son and beautiful wife and mom and dad and brother and sister--in that 
they, too, are confident that they will be OK but that, while we are in 
this valley, they are not alone.
  I yield the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Maryland