[Congressional Record Volume 169, Number 121 (Friday, July 14, 2023)]
[House]
[Page H3603]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




               REMEMBERING DETECTIVE DELBERTH PHIPPS, JR.

  (Ms. PLASKETT asked and was given permission to address the House for 
1 minute and to revise and extend her remarks.)
  Ms. PLASKETT. Mr. Speaker, I stand here today on behalf of slain 
Virgin Islands Detective Delberth Phipps, Jr.
  Detective Phipps was killed in the line of duty on July 4, 2023. He 
and his fellow officers rushed to the scene of an active shooting where 
a gunman, armed with an AR-15 rifle and bulletproof vest, opened fire. 
He gave his life in service to his community.
  My prayers and deepest condolences go to his family, his son, Demel 
Phipps, along with his loved ones and fellow Virgin Islands Police 
Department officers.
  According to the Giffords Law Center to Prevent Gun Violence, arms 
trafficking is a major factor as to why the U.S. Virgin Islands, my 
home, has had a homicide rate nine times higher than on the mainland. 
The Virgin Islands does not manufacture guns, yet we have one of the 
highest per capita murder rates in the world.
  It is no secret that with open land, there is drug trafficking 
through our corridor. The weapons that continue to flood our shores are 
a byproduct of the lax, if not nonexistent, gun laws throughout the 
continental U.S., particularly Florida,

  The daughter of multiple generations of law enforcement officers, I 
understand the commitment of not just officers but their families to 
protect and serve.
  I stand with Officer Phipps and all of the Virgin Islands Police 
Department. You have my commitment to fight for you all.

                          ____________________