[Congressional Record Volume 169, Number 81 (Monday, May 15, 2023)]
[Senate]
[Pages S1635-S1636]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]



                          National Police Week

  Mr. McCONNELL. Mr. President, this week, thousands of law enforcement 
officers have gathered in Washington to honor their fallen brothers and 
sisters in blue.
  Every year since 1962, Peace Officers Memorial Day has called our 
Nation to pay special tribute to heroic men and women in our 
communities who have made the ultimate sacrifice to keep us safe. 
Throughout Police Week, peace officers and families from around the 
country mourn loved ones and find shared strength. Today, we remind the 
families and comrades of these fallen heroes that a grateful Nation has 
their backs.
  As always, I am honored to welcome the Kentuckians who traveled to 
Washington for this week's events. My staff continue to work closely 
with Kentucky law enforcement and to listen to their concerns. Like 
many in my home State, I am thinking especially of the Kentuckians we 
lost in the line of duty this past year: Officer Logan Medlock of the 
London Police Department, who was fatally struck by a drunk driver 
while patrolling on duty; Sheriff's Chief Deputy Jody Cash of the 
Calloway County Sheriff's Department, who was shot and killed while 
interviewing a suspect; Captain Ralph Frasure and Officer Jacob 
Chaffins of the Prestonsburg Police Department and Deputy William Petry 
of the Floyd County Sheriff's Department, who were shot and killed in 
an ambush while attempting to serve a warrant; and the seven other 
Kentuckians whose names are being enshrined today on the National Law 
Enforcement Memorial: James Critchelow, Travis Hurley, Oliver Little, 
Gregory Means, Mark Pike, David Ragle, and Dixon Allen Sasser.
  I also want to pay special tribute to Officer Nickolas Wilt who was 
shot in the head while responding to last month's bank shooting in 
downtown Louisville. Officer Wilt was just 11 days out of the Academy, 
but he never shied away from his duty, even in the face of imminent 
danger.
  Today, Officer Wilt has continued to show signs of improvement and 
the city of Louisville stands behind him on his road to recovery.
  As we honor officers in Kentucky and across the country who have been 
injured or killed in the line of duty, I know my colleagues join me in 
thanking the peace officers who continue to run toward danger to keep 
us safe.

[[Page S1636]]

  Mr. President, Police Week is an important and solemn occasion every 
year. America's peace officers deserve our respect and recognition 
every single day. But in recent years, Peace Officers Memorial Day has 
taken on an especially urgent situation. In 2021, President Biden's 
first year in office, the number of law enforcement officials 
feloniously killed in the line of duty reached its highest level in 20 
years.
  Just last year, 331 officers were shot on the job; 62 of them were 
killed. That is a 32-percent increase from just 2 years earlier. Brave 
men and women in blue swear to uphold law and order, to run toward 
danger, even to give their lives to protect their communities. But as a 
radical, soft-on-crime movement has taken hold of elected Democrats at 
every level of government, peace officers have been forced to bear an 
even heavier burden.
  Brave police officers have faced down a historic wave of violent 
crime from the frontlines, even as defund-the-police radicalism forced 
them to do it with fewer resources and thinner ranks.
  They have continued to risk their lives to enforce our laws, even as 
soft-on-crime liberal prosecutors do everything they can to avoid 
holding criminals accountable.
  So this week--this week--we honor men and women whose tough job is 
only getting tougher on Washington Democrats' watch. But thanks to the 
leadership of Senator Cornyn and Senator Cassidy, Senate Republicans 
are ready to take action to protect law enforcement officers in the 
line of duty.
  Our colleagues from Texas and Louisiana have introduced legislation 
to raise the stakes for criminals who resort to violence against 
police. Their bill would deliver new Federal mandatory sentencing for 
killing a police officer, higher consequences for assault, and new 
separate penalties for fleeing such crimes across State lines.
  So as our Nation observes Police Week, I am proud to cosponsor our 
colleagues' work and to continue to back the blue.
  I suggest the absence of a quorum.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will call the roll.
  The senior assistant legislative clerk proceeded to call the roll.
  Mr. SCHUMER. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order 
for the quorum call be rescinded.
  The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. Without objection, it is so 
ordered.