[Congressional Record Volume 169, Number 82 (Tuesday, May 16, 2023)]
[Senate]
[Page S1664]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]



                          National Police Week

  Mr. MORAN. Mr. President, this week our Nation observes National 
Police Week. That observation began in 1962, when President Kennedy 
claimed the first Police Week as a time dedicated to pay tribute to our 
law enforcement officers who died in the line of duty.
  President Kennedy's proclamation stated that, during this week, ``all 
of our people may join in commemorating police officers, past and 
present, who by their faithful and loyal devotion to their 
responsibilities have rendered a dedicated service to their communities 
and, in so doing, have established for themselves an enviable and 
enduring reputation for preserving the rights and security of all 
citizens.''
  This afternoon I rise with my colleagues to honor the dedication and 
sacrifice of our law enforcement officers.
  Over the course of this week, we pay tribute to 443 officers who gave 
their lives in the line of duty in 2022.
  Saturday night, just a few days ago, hundreds of police officers, 
family members, and others, gathered for the annual candlelight vigil 
honoring our fallen officers. Among those memorialized this week are 
four brave Kansas officers.
  Deputy Sheriff Sidnee Carter, with the Sedgwick County Sheriff's 
Office, was tragically killed in an automobile crash while responding 
to a night disturbance call.
  We also lost Sheriff Robert Craft from Marion County, Officer David 
Ingle from the Iola Police Department, and Sergeant Stacy Murrow from 
the Linn County Sheriff's Department--all Kansans.
  In fact, all Americans are grateful to those officers for their 
service and honor them in making the ultimate sacrifice for the benefit 
of others, for the benefit of the people they knew in their community, 
but also for the benefit of people they never met.
  While the purpose of Police Week is to honor the men and women who 
made the ultimate sacrifice in the line of duty, we also should 
remember how those police officers' lives as husbands and wives and 
mothers and fathers--as members of their communities--they were people 
who happened to wear a uniform, who happened to take up a career to 
serve others, to protect and defend.
  From educating kids in school about the dangers of substance abuse or 
providing driver safety education, coordinating neighborhood watch 
associations, and speaking at business luncheons, schools and community 
townhall meetings, law enforcement strive to make our community a safe 
place to live and raise a family and to work to foster a more safe and 
secure environment; in a sense, to provide justice.
  During this National Police Week and throughout the year, we should 
remember that law enforcement needs our support. We should provide them 
the resources they need to do their jobs. We must also give them the 
tools they need to build and strengthen the bonds of trust with those 
they serve and our best efforts to address the underlying challenges 
that face our communities and individuals in their lives.
  I serve as the lead Republican on the Senate Appropriations 
Subcommittee with appropriations jurisdiction over the Department of 
Justice. I am committed to making certain our law enforcement officers 
have the resources and support they need to do their job effectively 
and safely.
  We honor the service and sacrifice of our Nation's fallen law 
enforcement officers, remember those who departed, and acknowledge and 
express our gratitude for the sacrifices all law enforcement officers 
make every day they wear the badge.
  During this week--and, really, every other week of the year--we 
should, and we do, honor those we have lost and remember the families 
they left behind. We ask God to comfort them in their time of grief and 
be a source of strength for them in their lives. May God bless our 
police and our local law enforcement officers. May God bless them as 
they do their duties, and may God hold in His arms those we have lost 
this past year.

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