[Congressional Record Volume 167, Number 81 (Tuesday, May 11, 2021)]
[Senate]
[Pages S2441-S2442]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                          MOTION TO DISCHARGE

  Mr. SCHUMER. Mr. President, pursuant to S. Res. 27, the Finance 
Committee being tied on the question of reporting, I move to discharge 
the Senate Finance Committee from further consideration of the 
nomination of Chiquita Brooks-LaSure, of Virginia, to be Administrator 
of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Under the provisions of S. Res. 27, there will 
now be up to 4 hours of debate on the motion, equally divided between 
the two leaders or their designees, with no point of order, motions, or 
amendments in order.

[[Page S2442]]

  

  Mr. SCHUMER. Mr. President, for the information of all Senators, we 
expect a vote on the motion to discharge to occur around noon tomorrow, 
Wednesday, May 12.
  I yield the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Ohio.


                              S.J. Res. 15

  Mr. BROWN. I thank my colleagues for their vote on this resolution, 
which was so important to protect people from being abused by payday 
lenders. S.J. Res. 15 will be a big deal, saving a lot of money for a 
lot of low-income people who have been fleeced far too many times.
  I thank the leader. I thank, in my office, Laura Swanson and Jan 
Singelmann for their terrific work in making sure that everybody was 
here and everybody was learned on this issue so well and how important 
that was for our State and for our country. I thank them.


                          National Police Week

  Mr. President, each year during Police Week, we honor the law 
enforcement officers who made the ultimate sacrifice in service to 
their communities.
  This year, we add the names of four Ohioans to the National Law 
Enforcement Memorial who laid down their lives last year: Corporal Adam 
McMillan of Hamilton County Sheriff's Office, Detective James Michael 
Skernivitz of Cleveland, Patrolman Anthony Hussein Dia of Toledo, and 
Officer Kaia Grant of Springdale.
  Sadly, we already know of two names who will be added to the memorial 
next year: Officer Brandon Stalker of the Toledo Police Department and 
Jason Lagore, who worked for the Ohio Department of Natural Resources. 
Each one of these losses is a tragedy for a family, for a community, 
and for their fellow officers.
  Ms. Grant's mother, I know, and I talked to her about how tragic this 
is for her, for her family, and for the families of all of these 
officers who gave their lives in service to others.
  Over the past year, we have had many reminders of the work that must 
be done to reform and reimagine public safety and to rebuild trust 
between law enforcement and communities. These Ohioans' lives are a 
reminder of the ideals we should strive for--officers who are true 
public servants in the best sense of the word, people who gave 
themselves to their communities. And these Ohioans gave so much.
  Officer Anthony Dia was the father of two young sons. He married his 
high school sweetheart. In a letter he wrote to his family during 
Ramadan, the devout Muslim wrote:

       Every day I put on the uniform, it is with the intention to 
     protect the innocent and the weak in my community.

  The imam who spoke at his memorial service said:

       When you think of Islam, think of this man who gave his 
     life on the Fourth of July to defend the values of the United 
     States.

  Detective James Skernivitz served my city of Cleveland. He served in 
neighborhood policing districts, and in 2013, he joined the Gang Impact 
Unit, working to reduce violence in Cleveland. He was a devoted father 
and played softball for many years, traveling to tournaments with the 
Steel City Enforcers.
  Corporal Adam McMillan spent 19 years serving the public at the 
sheriff's office in Hamilton County, Cincinnati. So many in his 
community spoke about his kindness. His pastor said at the memorial 
service that ``he was the kind of guy who asked the person in the 
drive-thru window how their day was going.'' His generous spirit will 
live on. Corporal McMillan was an organ donor, and his loss is giving 
new life to someone else.
  Kaia Grant was in the Reserve Officer Training Corps in college. 
After graduating and working with at-risk kids in Cincinnati, she 
joined the Springdale Police Department. Her coworker said:

       Instead of going into the military and then going into 
     politics, like many do, she wanted to serve the community.

  Another colleague related a story about how she saved a woman's life. 
The department got a call about a person considering taking her own 
life, and they searched and searched but found no one. They were close 
to giving up, but Officer Grant didn't. She found the woman in a 
parking garage in time to save her life.
  As part of her dedication to our country, Officer Grant interned for 
a U.S. Senator while she was in college. That Senator's name was Joe 
Biden. Earlier this year, on his first trip to Ohio as President, Joe 
Biden met with Officer Grant's mother, Gina Mobley, to thank her for 
her daughter's service to him, to our country, and to her community.
  We can't begin to repay the debt we owe Ms. Mobley and all these 
families. We can work to reform our systems to protect more officers 
and the communities they swear an oath to protect.
  This week, I am introducing legislation, the Law Enforcement Training 
for Mental Health Crisis Response Act, with Senator Inhofe of Oklahoma. 
We have seen too many Americans, both officers and those they serve, 
hurt or killed when law enforcement responds to people in their 
communities suffering a mental health crisis. This bill would invest in 
training to help families resolve those situations safely for 
themselves and for their communities. They help officers resolve these 
situations safely for themselves and for the communities they serve.
  Law enforcement officers, reformers, and advocates all agree we 
pushed too many problems onto the criminal justice system, expecting 
officers to be social workers and crisis responders and family 
mediators without the proper training to fill those roles.
  We need to actually invest in mental health and education and other 
social support. We need to give officers the training and resources 
they need to help when they are called on to respond to these 
situations.
  This Police Week, let's offer--many of us come to the floor to do 
this--more than empty words. Let's honor the memory of these women and 
men who have laid down their lives in service of their community by 
getting their fellow officers the tools and the training they need to 
do their jobs and to build trust with the communities they have sworn 
to protect.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER (Mr. Casey). The Senator from Ohio.

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