[Congressional Record Volume 167, Number 83 (Thursday, May 13, 2021)]
[Senate]
[Page S2500]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                          NATIONAL POLICE WEEK

  Mr. McCONNELL. Mr. President, I will begin this morning where I began 
on Monday, talking about National Police Week. Yesterday, I got to 
welcome members of Kentucky's Fraternal Order of Police here to my 
office. I was glad for the chance to share my gratitude for their 
service and hear what was on their minds.
  Tragically, the past year's fallen officers, whom we will be 
memorializing this week, includes one of Kentucky's own. In early 2020, 
Detective James Kirk of the Stanton Police Department suddenly passed 
away from a heart attack in the wake of struggling with an armed 
subject. He was only 40 years old.

  By all accounts, during James's nearly 20 years of service, he became 
a model officer. He even served as police chief of a nearby department. 
His colleagues remembered his easygoing, friendly nature and his total 
professionalism.
  As our Nation honors this brave Kentuckian, we continue to hold his 
wife Brandy, their family, and the entire Stanton Police Department in 
our prayers. Later today, Detective Kirk will join the ranks of heroes 
enshrined on the National Law Enforcement Memorial.
  We are also honoring our colleagues here in the Capitol this week, 
the U.S. Capitol Police. On Peace Officers Memorial Day this Saturday, 
we will especially remember Officers Evans, Sicknick, and Liebengood, 
all taken too soon.
  Their sacrifices are a sharp reminder: Standing with law enforcement 
isn't something we can do only 1 week every year; we need to back the 
blue all year round.

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