[Congressional Record Volume 169, Number 81 (Monday, May 15, 2023)]
[Senate]
[Pages S1641-S1642]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]



                          National Police Week

  Mr. BROWN. Mr. President, each year during Police Week, we honor the 
law enforcement officials who make the ultimate sacrifice in service to 
their communities, to our State, and to our country.
  This year, we will add the names of five Ohioans to the National Law 
Enforcement Memorial, all who laid their lives down last year: Deputy 
Sheriff Daniel Kin, Deputy Sheriff Matthew Eugene Yates, Police Officer 
Dominic Francis, Agent John Dale Stayrook, Deputy Sheriff Terrence 
Nicholas Bate.
  Sadly, we already know of one more name that will be added to the 
memorial next year: Officer Timothy James Unwin III of the Springfield 
Township Police Department.
  Each one of these losses is a tragedy for a family, for a community, 
for their fellow officers. These Ohioans' lives are a reminder of the 
ideals we should strive for. We need officers who are true public 
servants in the best sense of the word, people who give themselves to 
their communities. And these Ohioans gave so much.
  In their memory, I want to reminisce for a moment about each of them 
and tell my colleagues why this is so important and who these public 
servants were.
  Deputy Sheriff Daniel J. Kin was a devoted husband and father to two 
young children. He was known for his easygoing personality and being a 
colleague and friend whom everyone could count on.

  Deputy Kin was a Sandusky native--a community on Lake Erie--and 
helped his father run their family farm in his free time. He gave his 
life while serving as deputy sheriff at the Wyandot County Sheriff's 
Office.
  Deputy Matthew Eugene Yates served his community for 15 years at the 
Clark County Sheriff's Office as a member of their special operations 
team. His colleagues remember Deputy Yates for his joy but also his 
strength and his bravery. He mentored younger deputies and children in 
their community.
  Our thoughts are with his wife, his daughter, his stepsons, and his 
father, who also served in the Clark County Sheriff's Office--a long 
history of public service in that family.
  Police Officer Dominic M. Francis grew up in Bluffton, OH, and 
returned home to join the Bluffton Police Department after playing 
football at the University of Findlay and serving at the Findlay Police 
Department and the Hancock County Sheriff's Office. Officer Francis 
received the Officer of the Year award twice, multiple letters of 
commendation, the Chief's Leadership Award, and the Bluffton Police 
Department Lifesaving Award. He was honored by Mothers Against Drunk 
Drivers as Top Cop and earned the Ohio EMS Star of Life multiple times. 
He loved spending time with his wife and two children at Indian Lake 
and served in law enforcement for 19 years.
  In honor of his memory, a portion of I-95 that runs near Bluffton has 
been renamed the ``Officer Dominic Francis Memorial Highway.''
  Agent John Dale Stayrook was a dedicated husband, father, and 
grandfather and devoted to the communities he served. He worked with 
the Medina County Drug Task Force, Northeast Ohio, and the Medway Drug 
Enforcement Agency, serving for 19 years. He enjoyed woodworking and 
spending time in nature with his family and his friends.
  In February 2022, Agent Stayrook passed away after contracting COVID-
19 in the line of duty.
  Deputy Terrance Nicholas Bateman was a Cleveland native and--it is 
difficult--often a Cleveland sports fan who served with Franklin County 
Sheriff's Office for 25 years. Deputy Sheriff Bateman was well-
respected and adored in his community. He supported his colleagues and 
always had a kind word to offer. He loved cooking for family and 
friends--his wife, his five daughters, and two sons and two brothers.
  We can't begin to repay the debt we owe these officers and all these 
families, but we can work to protect more

[[Page S1642]]

officers in the communities they swear an oath to serve. That is why I 
am working with colleagues of both parties on legislation to support 
law enforcement as they do their jobs. I am joined by Arkansas 
Republican Senator Cotton to reintroduce our Protecting First 
Responders from Secondary Exposure Act to protect first responders when 
they encounter dangerous substances like fentanyl on the job. We 
introduced the Providing Officers With Electronic Resources Act to help 
State and local law enforcement organizations secure high-tech, 
portable screening devices to detect fentanyl--similar equipment and 
detection devices that our men and women serving us at the border have.
  Our law enforcement officers are on the frontlines of the addiction 
crisis. They are dealing with evermore dangerous forms of fentanyl on 
the job. It is why I work with Members of both parties on a plan to 
target the illicit fentanyl supply chain, from the chemical suppliers 
in China to the cartels that transport the drugs in Mexico.
  I am pleased the Presiding Officer today is someone who has great 
expertise in that, representing his State of New Mexico in that part of 
the world.
  I will keep fighting to make sure police officers can retire with 
dignity. My bipartisan Social Security Fairness Act will ensure that 
Social Security benefits will be there when officers retire from a life 
of dedicated service--officers who pay into the State retirement system 
but also paid into Social Security.
  I will work to ensure first responders have the support they need to 
cope with stresses of responding to crisis situations.
  This Police Week, let's offer law enforcement officials and public 
servants more than empty words. Let's honor the memory of these women 
and men who laid down their lives and served their communities by 
getting their fellow officers the tools and training they need to do 
their jobs and to build trust with communities they are sworn to 
protect.
  I yield the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Oregon.