[Congressional Record Volume 169, Number 83 (Wednesday, May 17, 2023)]
[House]
[Pages H2412-H2416]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                           ISSUES OF THE DAY

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under the Speaker's announced policy of 
January 9, 2023, the gentleman from Louisiana (Mr. Johnson) is 
recognized for 60 minutes as the designee of the majority leader.


                             General Leave

  Mr. JOHNSON of Louisiana. Madam Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that 
all Members have 5 legislative days to revise and extend their remarks 
and include extraneous material on the subject of my special order.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the 
gentleman from Louisiana?
  There was no objection.
  Mr. JOHNSON of Louisiana. Madam Speaker, House Republicans are here, 
yet again, to urge President Biden to avoid the impending default 
crisis and strike a deal with House Republicans. We have to do this.
  For over 100 days now, Joe Biden and Democrats have wasted valuable 
time refusing to offer a reasonable solution to raise the debt ceiling 
and prevent our Nation from default.
  House Republicans did our job. We did it here. We passed the Limit, 
Save, Grow Act almost 3 weeks ago. Our bill is a really important 
measure because it will do a number of things. It will save taxpayers 
nearly $5 trillion. It will set commonsense caps on future spending 
levels. It will grow the economy, it will increase American energy 
production, it will lower prices on working families, it will defund 
this administration's aggressive expansion of the IRS, and it lifts the 
debt ceiling.
  This is responsible legislation. We got together, and we did our job. 
The bill has not changed, and neither has our position. We will not, 
under any circumstances, accept a clean debt ceiling increase. We can't 
do that. We have stewardship responsibility.
  Our fiscal house is not in order here, and this negotiation may be 
the only real opportunity that Congress has to address Washington's 
spending obsession and begin to get our debt under control until the 
next election cycle.
  We are $31.7 trillion in Federal debt. Inflation is sky high, 
interest rates are only continuing to rise, and, yet, what does this 
President do?
  Joe Biden can barely be bothered to address the threat of collapse of 
our financial system.

                              {time}  1915

  The entire debate is symptomatic of the unmitigated rot that has 
afflicted Washington. Our constituents know the parties have to 
negotiate; the markets know we need to negotiate; and until a decade 
ago, Joe Biden did himself.
  We have all these quotes on record. I mean, as recently as 2011, when 
he was in charge on the Senate side, he was over here negotiating with 
the House. He said over and over how important this was, how important 
it is to the process, and how anyone who says it is only my way or the 
highway was being irresponsible.
  Do you know what? He was right. We are just asking him to live by his 
own mantra. Look, I am confident that the White House will come to its 
senses soon. It has to. If not, Americans know there is only one person 
to blame. It is President Biden.


                    Celebrating National Police Week

  Mr. JOHNSON of Louisiana. Madam Speaker, while we are dealing with 
that, we also recognize and are delighted to celebrate National Police 
Week.
  It is my honor to lead this group of speeches tonight honoring the 
men and women who risk their lives daily to keep our communities safe.
  I am the son of a first responder who was critically injured and 
permanently disabled in the line of duty.
  My dad was the assistant fire chief in Shreveport, Louisiana, in 
1984. September 17 of that year, he was burned over 80 percent of his 
body, third-degree burns.
  He had about a 5 percent chance to live. He miraculously survived, 
and he struggled with those injuries for decades longer.
  I lost him just 3 days before I got elected to Congress. I know 
personally the risk that first responder families face every single 
day.
  Madam Speaker, we aren't just on the floor speaking tonight. We have 
work product to back up what we are saying. House Republicans have made 
support for law enforcement a central part of our agenda in this 
Congress.
  This week, we passed multiple pieces of legislation to support these 
brave men and women. Today, we passed the POLICE Act, which makes 
assaulting a law enforcement officer a deportable offense for those in 
the country illegally.
  This bill's passage could not come soon enough because, as we know, 
both illegal immigration and assaults on police officers continue to 
rise. Increased penalties like these will help deter future attacks 
against officers.
  We also passed the Federal Law Enforcement Officer Service Weapon 
Purchase Act, which gives officers the option to purchase their service 
weapon at fair market value once they retire. It is just commonsense 
legislation.
  Tomorrow, we are going to pass H. Con. Res. 40. This resolution 
condemns efforts to defund or dismantle local law enforcement agencies, 
and it also condemns attacks against police officers.
  Just today, we watched sadly as Chicago laid to rest Officer Areanah 
Preston, who was tragically shot and killed outside of her home this 
month in a targeted attack.
  Officer Preston was just 24 years old, fresh-faced and idealistic, 
eager to serve the people of Chicago, but her life was cut short due, 
in part, to dangerous antipolice rhetoric, rhetoric often used in these 
Halls, and it is a shame.
  Madam Speaker, one would think that a resolution condemning attacks 
on police officers would pass through this House, of course, 
unanimously. Do you know what? That wasn't the case last night. Two 
Democrats in this body, one of which has paid astonishing sums of money 
for armed personal security, voted against this measure.
  This problem goes far beyond just those two Members in question. As I 
have recounted multiple times in our House Judiciary Committee, dozens 
of members of the House Democratic Caucus have publicly called to 
either defund or dismantle police departments when America lost its 
collective mind during the summer of 2020.
  This is exactly why it is so important that House Republicans lead 
the charge in support of law enforcement, and we will.
  After 4 years of inaction and demonization of these heroic officers, 
the people's House now decisively backs the blue.
  Madam Speaker, I am delighted to be joined by a number of my 
colleagues, some of the stars of the House, and I yield to the 
gentleman from New York (Mr. Lawler).
  Mr. LAWLER. Madam Speaker, this week, we commemorate National Police 
Week. It is a time for us to honor

[[Page H2413]]

our brave men and women in blue who steadfastly dedicate their lives to 
serving and protecting our communities.
  This week is a solemn reminder that our peace and security are often 
maintained at great personal risk to these brave individuals.
  I thank our officers and first responders throughout the 17th 
Congressional District of New York. Many of them I have had the good 
fortune to know personally and to understand the sacrifice that they 
and their families make day in and day out to keep our community safe.
  My district has roughly 50 percent of households that have a cop, a 
firefighter, a first responder, or a veteran living in it. These brave 
men and women go to work every day knowing that they are risking their 
own lives to protect, defend, and save the lives of others.
  Just last week, I joined my colleagues in placing wreaths at the 
names of fallen police officers all along the National Law Enforcement 
Officers Memorial.
  I placed a wreath by the names of Sergeant Edward O'Grady and Police 
Officer Waverly Brown, who, along with security guard Peter Paige, lost 
their lives protecting Rockland County during the Brinks robbery in 
1981.
  We will never forget their sacrifice or their families--nine children 
who are fatherless because of the actions of depraved criminals and 
domestic terrorists.
  Placing that wreath served as a solemn reminder to me that our police 
officers stand on the front lines of our society, never knowing if they 
will make it home while working to keep our communities safe, which is 
why our support must transcend beyond mere words. It must reflect in 
our actions as a Conference and as a House, which is why House 
Republicans just passed H.R. 2494, the POLICE Act.

  This legislation will help maintain the dignity and safety of our 
officers by providing serious consequences for those who harm them. 
Under this bill, noncitizens found guilty of assaulting a police 
officer would face deportation.
  In the face of increasing challenges, the POLICE Act is a crucial 
step toward ensuring that our police officers are afforded the respect 
and protection they deserve.
  Another important bill we are voting on tomorrow is H. Con. Res. 40, 
which expresses support for law enforcement officers all across the 
country and condemns calls to disband or defund the police.
  There are colleagues on the other side of the aisle who spend days 
assailing the brave men and women in law enforcement, and this 
resolution will very quickly weed out those who back the blue and those 
who don't.
  Living just north of New York City, I am reminded of the days of 9/11 
and the aftermath, and the brave men and women who went running toward 
danger, going to Ground Zero to try to recover and save lives.
  Many of these individuals today suffer from 9/11-related illnesses. 
It is a travesty, and we must always stand by them and show our support 
for them.
  Today, when I think of New York City, I see a city that is hurting, a 
city with a massive increase in violent crime, disastrous policies at 
the State and city level, and a failed cashless bail law, which 
releases violent criminals back onto the streets.
  Over 40 percent of those who have been released on nonmonetary bail 
for felony offenses have been rearrested while those charges are 
pending.
  It is such a disaster that the Governor and the State legislature 
have tried to amend it three times. It needs to be scrapped, and they 
need to start over.
  You have the anticrime unit being disbanded. Its primary function is 
to get illegal guns off the street--parole for unrepentant cop killers 
and child rapists; non-enforcement of petty crimes; raising the age 
where 16- and 17-year-olds are being treated in family court while 
using a gun in the commission of a crime rather than criminal court.
  It is not just New York City. It is happening in Chicago, Washington, 
D.C., and Portland. It is shameful what is going on across America, and 
it must be stopped.
  As we honor police officers and law enforcement everywhere during 
National Police Week, let's make a commitment to act at a Federal 
level, at a State level, at a local level. Let's stand up and support 
the men and women in law enforcement. Let's hold violent criminals and 
repeat offenders accountable for their conduct.
  This is a choice. They choose to commit crimes. Nobody is making them 
commit a crime. They must be held accountable, especially in cases of 
violent offenses, period.
  I thank the chairman for hosting this Special Order hour tonight, and 
I encourage all of my colleagues to stand in support of the men and 
women in law enforcement.
  Mr. JOHNSON of Louisiana. Madam Speaker, I thank my friend for his 
compelling testimony. We took the House Judiciary Committee to lower 
Manhattan just a few weeks back, right in Alvin Bragg's backyard, the 
Soros-funded D.A. We let victims of crime tell their tragic stories. It 
was really something to hear. There is a lot to be said about this 
issue.
  Madam Speaker, I yield to another great gentleman from New York (Mr. 
Williams).
  Mr. WILLIAMS of New York. Madam Speaker, Americans demand that their 
elected leaders step up and do the work of the people.
  Madam Speaker, 3 weeks ago, this body did exactly that. It passed the 
Limit, Save, Grow Act to avoid a debt default and to put in place 
commonsense controls on our out-of-control Federal spending.
  The Limit, Save, Grow Act will reduce our Federal deficit by $4.8 
trillion over the next decade and lifts the debt ceiling to avoid this 
looming crisis, all while protecting seniors and veterans.
  We have demonstrated to the American people that we are committed to 
doing the work of the American people on critical issues, providing 
real solutions and working to retake our place on the world stage.
  Yet, our bill was met by even more silence from the White House and 
childish derision from leadership in the Senate--no negotiation, no 
counterproposal. In short, not an ounce of work from the executive 
branch nor the other half of the legislative branch.
  Maybe they were too busy. Maybe they were on vacation. Maybe they 
hadn't thought through the disastrous consequences of doing nothing.
  No work, no solutions, no negotiations, no plan--the Biden-Schumer 
default is coming for your Social Security check because they refuse to 
show up for work.
  Just remember, the Limit, Save, Grow Act restores funding to fiscal 
year 2022 levels. If you liked veterans' benefits in 2022, you will 
like them in our bill. In fact, the House GOP, through the 
Appropriations Committee, has announced our proposal to increase the 
budget for the Department of Veterans Affairs by nearly $18 billion.
  For the record, I am a proud veteran, and I am insulted by our 
opponents' false accusations.
  Now is the time to show Americans what true leadership looks like. I 
implore our President and our Senate colleagues to come to the table 
and do the work that the people have sent us here to do. Their inaction 
and inability to work to find common ground have not gone unnoticed by 
our citizens. I am here to do the work of the people. My Republican 
colleagues are here to do the same.
  Mr. JOHNSON of Louisiana. Madam Speaker, I thank the gentleman for 
his good work and for his service, as well, and we will take care of 
the veterans. That is what Republicans do.
  That bill passed out of the Appropriations Committee sends a strong 
message that that was, let's say, misinformation by the other side 
about the veterans' funding.
  Madam Speaker, I am delighted to yield to the gentleman from the 
State of Utah (Mr. Owens), my dear friend and a Super Bowl champion.
  Mr. OWENS. Madam Speaker, today, I rise to celebrate and honor our 
brave men and women in law enforcement who paid the ultimate price to 
protect and serve our communities and preserve our American way of 
life.
  In our Nation's Capital, there is a 304-foot-long wall, the National 
Law Enforcement Officers Memorial, that features the names of more than 
22,000 officers who sacrificed themselves in the line of duty. Beyond 
this magnificent architecture, the legacy of service, dedication, and 
hard work remains etched in every American heart and

[[Page H2414]]

continues to inspire generations of police officers.
  Throughout our Nation, our men and women in blue risk their lives to 
fight crime, respond to emergencies, and keep our communities safe.
  During National Police Week, I highlight courageous officers who have 
gone above and beyond to serve others.
  The Riverton Police Department recently recognized the Violent 
Fugitive Apprehension and Suppression Team, VFAST, as Partner of the 
Year. It deploys innovative investigative methods to apprehend violent 
fugitives.

                              {time}  1930

  Officer Kevin Salmon, a combat veteran and a Purple Heart recipient, 
received the inaugural Fraternal Order of Police officer wellness award 
due to his pioneering work to promote the wellness, the mental and 
physical health of his fellow officers.
  The team at the Unified Police Department of Greater Salt Lake has 
built a relationship of trust and confidence between law enforcement 
officers and the Salt Lake community to help at-risk youth pursue life-
changing academic and professional opportunities.
  Detective Marisha Manzano is a beloved member of the Herriman police 
force dedicated to quality education, welfare, and safety of students 
in her role as a school resource officer at Copper Mountain Middle 
School in Herriman, Utah.
  The Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force established by 
Saratoga Springs is at the forefront of the battle against human 
traffickers and online predators.
  It has been the honor of a lifetime to represent and champion the 
extraordinary police forces in my district and throughout the country. 
We began our Nation with certain promises--the promise of life, 
liberty, and pursuit of happiness--and that can only happen in an 
environment of safety. The fact that we have the most robust middle 
class, the biggest dreamers, the most innovative States in the world 
today is because we have a nation of safety.
  I thank all those who have given their lives, given their efforts to 
get up every single morning to go out and protect this Nation and come 
back home to their family knowing they have done their job to make sure 
we stay safe.
  To all my friends in law enforcement, thank you for all you do and 
happy National Police Week.
  Mr. JOHNSON of Louisiana. Madam Speaker, I thank my friend. That was 
so well said. I thank him for highlighting those specific examples of 
brave men and women in the State of Utah who put on the badge every day 
to do that really important job.
  Madam Speaker, I yield next to the gentleman from Alabama (Mr. 
Strong), a great Member.
  Mr. STRONG. Madam Speaker, I rise in recognition of those in law 
enforcement who gave their all from the Fifth District of Alabama: 
William Street, Tim Anderson, James Foster, William Russell, W. L. 
Steele, William Baber, Lem Jones, Frank McKissack, Frank Bass, James 
Eubank, Carl Anderson, Ed Kirby, Burns Almon, James Drake, Hugh Craft, 
Thomas Wright, William Barr, Matthew Wann, William McMinn, Bedford 
Brackeen, Ewell Starr, Alan Logel, Kelly Vaught, Charles Drake, Wayne 
Boggus, Billy Daly, Preston Butler, William Gaskin, Benton McLemore, 
Leo Glover, Kenneth McDonald, Billy Clardy, Jr., Michael Twitty, David 
Temple, Simmie Jeffries, Charles Biles, Steven Ticer, Dewey Dorsey, 
Thomas Lewis, Billy Thrower, Willis Von Moore, Haskel McLane, Anthony 
Mims, Larry Russell, Daniel Golden, William Freeman, David Young, Keith 
Earle, Billy Clardy, III--and yes, you heard that right, Billy Clardy, 
Jr. and Billy Clardy, III, a father and son both lost in the line of 
duty some 50 years apart--Walter Johnson, Steve Finley, Garrett Crumby, 
who was ambushed just 52 days ago.
  I stand before you today to honor these fallen officers of Alabama's 
Fifth Congressional District. We will not forget the sacrifice they 
have made. I will not stop fighting for the brave men and women of our 
law enforcement until the day that I do not have a single name to read.
  Furthermore, I take this moment to recognize retired Sheriff Joe W. 
Patterson, who served as Madison County, Alabama, sheriff for four 
terms. Sheriff Patterson inspired many at a young age to serve our 
community. To this day, he is a mentor to law enforcement officers 
across north Alabama.
  In 1990, Sheriff Patterson offered me the opportunity to attend the 
police academy. While I did not take him up on that offer, he later 
swore me in anyway as a deputy sheriff, and later in life I served with 
the sheriff's department in the narcotics division. I am grateful for 
his continued leadership and years of service to our community and to 
the greater Madison County, Alabama, region.
  Mr. JOHNSON of Louisiana. Madam Speaker, I thank the gentleman, and I 
thank him for his service. I didn't know that about his bio. That is 
impressive. I am really, really grateful, as we all are, for those who 
gave their lives in the line of duty, and we do pray blessings over 
their families and all those left behind.
  Madam Speaker, I yield to the gentleman from Indiana (Mr. Baird), 
somebody who knows a little bit about sacrifice, one of my favorite 
people in the world.
  Mr. BAIRD. Madam Speaker, this National Police Week, we pause to 
recognize the brave men and women in blue who are committed to keeping 
our communities safe, and we remember those who lost their lives in the 
line of duty.
  Our Nation is blessed to have the bravest and most professional 
police officers in the world. This week gives us the ability not only 
to recognize their commitment to preserving peace and saving lives, but 
it gives us the chance to assess what we can do in Congress to help 
support them and to make their lives a bit easier as they protect our 
communities.
  I may be biased, but I believe west central Indiana has some of the 
finest law enforcement officers in the country, and I am fortunate to 
have an open line of communication with them to identify issues that 
require Federal solutions.
  Sheriff Myers in Morgan County has been instrumental in helping craft 
my bill, the PART Act, which gives law enforcement officials the tools 
they need to hold thieves accountable for catalytic converter theft. 
This may seem like a relatively small problem, but you ask any law 
enforcement official in your district, and they will tell you that 
skyrocketing catalytic converter thefts are taking up a lot of their 
time and resources that could be used for a better purpose.
  This is an easy and bipartisan way for us to support our law 
enforcement officials, and I would encourage my colleagues to consider 
helping me get this bill across the finish line so we can unburden some 
of our law enforcement.

  To close, I just want to say this to the men and women in blue who 
have dedicated their lives to protecting others: Thank you for your 
service and thank you for keeping us safe.
  Mr. JOHNSON of Louisiana. Madam Speaker, I thank my friend for his 
service in keeping us safe.
  Madam Speaker, I yield to the gentleman from California (Mr. Kiley).
  Mr. KILEY. Madam Speaker, I rise to encourage President Biden to 
withdraw the nomination of Julie Su for Secretary of Labor. At this 
pivotal moment for the American workforce, we need a Secretary of Labor 
who is on the side of workers.
  With Ms. Su's nomination stalled, the Biden administration is 
currently going to extraordinary lengths to try to save it.
  In a story headlined, ``Pressure Mounts to Confirm Julie Su to be 
Labor Secretary,'' The Washington Post reports that the White House is 
engaged in a full-court press to confirm Su and has launched a daily 
war room call to strategize on how to get her confirmed.
  The Bloomberg headline reads, ``White House Prods Senate Holdouts to 
End Stalemate Over DOL's Su,'' reporting that White House officials are 
launching a final lobbying push to convince undecided Senators to vote 
for President Biden's embattled Labor Secretary nominee.
  Politico's headline reads, ``Biden World Goes to the Mat to Get Julie 
Su Confirmed,'' reporting that the Biden White House is ramping up its 
pressure on Senate Democrats and deploying some big guns to get her 
nomination over the line, saying a full-court press

[[Page H2415]]

is on for the Labor nominee as confirmation remains in doubt.
  Madam Speaker, if this were a qualified nominee, there would be no 
need for a full-court press, a war room, or a lobbying push. There 
would be no need for prodding, ramping up pressure, or going to the 
mat.
  Even at this late hour, we are receiving additional information that 
further disqualifies Ms. Su from being confirmed. In addition to her 
track record of gross mismanagement and attacking workers, she has also 
demonstrated a disrespect for the rule of law.
  At a recent hearing I chaired of the Education and the Workforce 
Subcommittee on Workforce Protections, a former administrator of the 
Department of Labor's Wage and Hour Division, Tammy McCutchen, 
testified that the Department of Labor, which is currently led by 
Acting Secretary Su, is ignoring current law when it comes to 
classifying independent contractors. Even though the courts have 
determined that the Trump administration's legal standard, which 
protects independent contracting, is still the law, this standard, she 
testified, is nowhere to be found on DOL's website, which instead 
contains a different set of factors that isn't the law, but that Acting 
Secretary Su would prefer to enforce because they are designed to 
deprive freelancers of their livelihoods. Ms. McCutchen testified, 
``The DOL's website is providing erroneous information and misleading 
the public,'' and she further testified that enforcement activity 
appears to ignore current law as well.
  This disregard for the law was a hallmark of Julie Su's tenure in 
California, where she served as Governor Gavin Newsom's secretary of 
labor. For instance, a memo recently released by the agency she headed 
in California shows that Su directed her staff to obstruct U.S. 
Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials who visited state labor 
offices. This memo was only obtained, by the way, directly from the 
California agency after Su repeatedly ignored and refused requests to 
provide it as part of the confirmation process.
  In the memo, Ms. Su provided instructions to her staff for 
obstructing Federal immigration authorities, writing, ``Labor 
commissioner staff should not voluntarily permit a Federal immigration 
agent to enter any part of our office. Staff should ask the agent to 
leave our office, including the waiting room, and inform the agent that 
the labor commissioner does not consent to entry or search of any part 
of our office. Doors that lead to the inner office suite, and office 
doors that are generally locked or shut, should not be voluntarily 
opened for the agent.''
  In addition to obstructing immigration enforcement in her role as 
California labor secretary, Ms. Su also defied the will of Congress. At 
our recent hearing of the Workforce Protections Subcommittee, witness 
Karen Anderson, a leader of independent contractors in California, 
testified how during the COVID shutdowns, Secretary Su withheld 
benefits from independent contractors that Congress had provided under 
the CARES Act.
  Ms. Anderson testified that Ms. Su tried to entrap independent 
contractors into applying for regular State unemployment benefits even 
though they weren't qualified for them. This was a ploy designed to get 
independent contractors to characterize their clients as employers, 
thereby triggering an audit of their businesses under the State's 
notorious AB 5 law, which Ms. Su was an architect of. This not only 
placed an additional burden on these small businesses, which were 
already in many cases on their last legs because of the lockdowns, but 
it delayed independent workers from receiving the benefits that 
Congress had authorized and that they were entitled to by law. Even 
California Congressman Adam Schiff wrote a letter to Su at the time, 
instructing her to release the benefits as Congress had intended.
  Madam Speaker, it is beyond doubt that if confirmed Julie Su would 
not be a partner of this Congress. She would readily defy the will of 
Congress and defy the law when it suited her or the administration's 
purposes. She is manifestly unqualified to lead the United States 
Department of Labor, and I urge the President to withdraw her 
nomination.
  Mr. JOHNSON of Louisiana. Madam Speaker, I yield next to another 
gentleman from California (Mr. LaMalfa).
  Mr. LaMALFA. Madam Speaker, I thank the gentleman from Louisiana (Mr. 
Johnson) for leading us once again as we get out the good word of our 
optimism for Congress and for the people of the United States.

  This being National Police Week, I start off my portion by extending 
my gratitude to all those officers who bravely wear the badge and 
uphold our laws.
  As my colleagues before me have emphasized, crime rates, indeed, are 
rising exponentially due to soft-on-crime attitudes, early-release 
policies, district attorneys that will not prosecute crimes that people 
really care about, and even calls to defund police departments, though 
some of the cities that have done that are now seeing the fruits of 
that labor and are backtracking on that, embarrassingly for them.
  In 2021, a record number of officers were killed in the line of duty. 
Many more have been injured by dangerous criminals while on the job. We 
pray for the safety of our law enforcement personnel as they continue 
carrying out their mission to uphold the law for us. My heart goes out 
to all the families who have lost a loved one in the line of duty. 
Indeed, the price has been too high as there have been too many lost.
  This week, we are honoring all who lost their lives while in the line 
of duty. I highlight one from Arbuckle, California, a native of 
northern California. Natalie Corona was a rising star of the Davis 
Police Department. One of her colleagues recalled the time when she 
went out of her way to aid a victim of the Camp fire in Paradise, 
California, in response to a call.

                              {time}  1945

  Her father, a 26-year veteran of the Colusa County Sheriff's 
Department said there was no question that Natalie Corona would one day 
work in law enforcement.
  In 2019, though, when Natalie was only 22 years old, she was ambushed 
while responding to a minor three-vehicle collision. Natalie was 
randomly shot and killed without warning for doing her job and helping 
others.
  Ultimately, I don't think it is fair that our law enforcement 
personnel are expected to put their lives on the line to protect law 
and order, meanwhile, Democrat lawmakers here in D.C. and Sacramento 
and our State capital continuously fuel crime and put officers like 
this needlessly in danger for what they do and lack of prosecution and 
lack of making them see through their terms in our prisons. These 
policies and hateful rhetoric really make their job that much harder.
  There are plenty of those lawmakers in our California State capital 
and this Capitol right here right now trying to still make it harder 
for the police while simultaneously spending hundreds of thousands of 
dollars on their own private security for themselves. That is amazing.
  The names of 54 fallen law enforcement officers in California's First 
District are inscribed at the National Law Enforcement Officers 
Memorial. Indeed, once again, that is far too many.
  Lawmakers in D.C. and in blue States such as my own, California, need 
to get serious about locking up criminals and leaving them there for 
their full term. Do not let them out for sorry excuses such as, oh, 
COVID releases or, oh, we don't want the death penalty in California 
for heinous crimes that they commit.
  We need to give our law enforcement personnel the encouragement that 
their work will not be made trivial by these release programs, these 
lack of prosecutions and that we are going to have the resources for 
them to stop crime and to help hold up the law that we ask them to do 
as Americans.
  Indeed, it is a somber occasion when we memorialize those that we 
have lost, but we are very grateful that they are willing to serve in 
what is a really tough business at a time when they seem more and more 
persecuted than ever. We want them to know that still the very vast 
majority of Americans appreciate them, that they answer the call, that 
they are willing to line up and do this work for us in order to help 
keep our streets in a way that we can be normal and do normal things 
and not have to worry about endless break-ins or thuggery taking 
advantage of innocent people just going along trying

[[Page H2416]]

to do normal things in their day-to-day lives.
  We are eternally grateful for our law enforcement officers as we 
recognize them this week. To my colleague, Mr. Johnson, I thank him 
once again for hosting this Special Order.
  Mr. JOHNSON of Louisiana. Madam Speaker, I thank my good friend for 
his comments and the really sad state of things in California with so 
much that is going on there. You are right, it is a blue State that 
really needs to get its act together. I am glad that we can come here 
and have this opportunity to honor men and women in law enforcement as 
you have, so I thank you for that.
  Madam Speaker, as my friend was speaking here about officers lost in 
the line of duty, I was just looking over some statistics. On the web 
page that is titled: ``Officer Down Memorial Page'' they honor officers 
who are killed in the line of duty. They have a listing of the total 
line of duty deaths. So far this year we are sadly at number 42.
  I did not realize this until I was just sitting here doing the 
research, but my State of Louisiana is in the lead by total deaths by 
State as they are all listed.
  I would just close this Special Order hour by saying that there 
really aren't words. We can come to the floor of the people's House 
here, and we can share our thoughts and share our hearts. We can pray 
for the families of those who are lost in the line of duty and all 
those who serve so bravely each day, but words really do not do justice 
to the level of risk that is taken by those who put on the badge every 
day and go out and do that hard job. We need more of them. They 
represent the best of America, and we know that.
  All of my House Republican colleagues honor those who have served. We 
honor their families for their sacrifices and certainly those who have 
been lost in the line of duty.
  Madam Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.

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