[Congressional Record Volume 168, Number 81 (Thursday, May 12, 2022)]
[Senate]
[Page S2467]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]



                          National Police Week

  Madam President, on a related matter, yesterday, we observed the 
beginning of ceremonies honoring National Police Week. Soon we will 
mark Peace Officers Memorial Day.
  Tens of thousands of law enforcement personnel from across the 
country will gather here in our Nation's Capital to honor the service 
and the sacrifice of their fallen brothers and sisters.
  I would like to extend a warm welcome to the Kentuckians who have 
traveled here for the ceremonies. I am meeting with several of these 
law enforcement leaders this week to express my gratitude for their 
service.
  The Commonwealth is home to every type of law enforcement officer you 
can imagine, from big city beat cops to smalltown sheriffs. They take a 
great risk every day to protect and to serve.
  This week, I am thinking especially about the law enforcement 
officers Kentucky lost in the past year whose names will be added to 
the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial tomorrow--heroes like 
Graves County jailer Robert T. Daniel, who sacrificed his own life to 
save endangered inmates as a tornado bore down on their workplace in 
which he was employed; community pillars like Jefferson County Deputy 
Sheriff Brandon Shirley, who was shot and killed while working a second 
job in his uniform; role models like Louisville Police Officer Zachary 
Cottongim, who was struck and killed by a car while attending to an 
abandoned vehicle on the side of the road.
  Yesterday, I met with Officer Cottongim's widow and former partner 
who are here in Washington for tomorrow's memorial. We are all praying 
for them as they mourn this tragic loss.

  I am proud to cosponsor the resolution that officially designated 
National Police Week this year. America's law enforcement personnel are 
always there when we need them most. The least--the least--Congress can 
do is have their backs.