[Congressional Record Volume 170, Number 83 (Tuesday, May 14, 2024)]
[House]
[Pages H3048-H3050]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




 EXPRESSING SUPPORT FOR LOCAL LAW ENFORCEMENT OFFICERS AND CONDEMNING 
            EFFORTS TO DEFUND LOCAL LAW ENFORCEMENT AGENCIES

  Mr. JORDAN. Madam Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and agree to 
the concurrent resolution (H. Con. Res. 106) expressing support for 
local law enforcement officers and condemning efforts to defund local 
law enforcement agencies.
  The Clerk read the title of the concurrent resolution.
  The text of the concurrent resolution is as follows:

                            H. Con. Res. 106

       Whereas the brave men and women in local law enforcement 
     work tirelessly to protect the communities they serve;
       Whereas local law enforcement officers are tasked with 
     upholding the rule of law and ensuring public safety;
       Whereas local law enforcement officers selflessly put 
     themselves in harm's way to fight crime, get drugs off the 
     streets, and protect the innocent;
       Whereas defunding police narratives vilify and demonize 
     local law enforcement officers and put them at greater risk 
     of danger;
       Whereas local law enforcement officers take an oath to 
     never betray the public trust;
       Whereas the local law enforcement community protects our 
     streets, acknowledges the rights of all Americans, and keeps 
     citizens safe from harm;
       Whereas local law enforcement officers are recognized for 
     their public service to all, knowing they face extremely 
     dangerous situations while carrying out their duties;
       Whereas a healthy and collaborative relationship between 
     local law enforcement officers and the communities they serve 
     is essential to creating mutually respectful dialogue; and
       Whereas local law enforcement officers deserve respect and 
     profound gratitude: Now, therefore, be it
       Resolved by the House of Representatives (the Senate 
     concurring), That Congress--
       (1) recognizes and appreciates the dedication and devotion 
     demonstrated by the men and women of local law enforcement 
     who keep the Nation's communities safe;
       (2) extends its gratitude to all local law enforcement 
     officers and their families for their sacrifice and service; 
     and
       (3) condemns calls to defund, disband, dismantle, or 
     abolish the police.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from 
Ohio (Mr. Jordan) and the gentleman from Maryland (Mr. Ivey) each will 
control 20 minutes.
  The Chair recognizes the gentleman from Ohio.


                             General Leave

  Mr. JORDAN. Madam Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members 
have 5 legislative days in which to revise and extent their remarks and 
include extraneous material on H. Con. Res. 106.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the 
gentleman from Ohio?
  There was no objection.
  Mr. JORDAN. Madam Speaker, I yield such time as he might consume to 
the gentleman from the great State of Mississippi (Mr. Ezell), who is a 
sponsor of the legislation).
  Mr. EZELL. Madam Speaker, my resolution expresses our support for the 
men and women who serve our communities in local law enforcement. These 
brave officers work tirelessly to protect and serve, putting their 
lives on the line regularly to uphold the rule of law.
  As a former sheriff and a 42-year career law enforcement officer, I 
have seen what these men and women go through. I know the toll taken by 
the long hours, the sleepless nights, and the time spent away from 
family. I know what it is like to console the grieving families of 
victims after horrendous crimes and tragic accidents. I have seen 
things most Americans will, thankfully, never have to experience.
  When others run away, our law enforcement officers are trained to run 
toward danger, to fight crime, and to protect the innocent. Far too 
often they don't make it back. Mississippi has not been spared from 
these tragedies.
  In December of 2022, Bay St. Louis Police Sergeant Steven Robin and 
Officer Branden Estorffe were shot and killed while conducting a 
welfare check on a woman and a child sitting in a parked vehicle. Last 
June, Madison Police Officer Randy Tyler was shot and killed while 
responding to a hostage situation.
  Moreover, this January, George County Sheriff's Deputy Jeremy Malone 
was shot and killed during a traffic stop on a rural highway.
  These men and women who made the ultimate sacrifice represent the 
best of our State and our Nation. Fallen heroes like these officers are 
being honored this week during National Police Week.
  Madam Speaker, there is no better time for us to pass this resolution 
and make it clear we stand with law enforcement than this week, while 
thousands of local law enforcement officers and their families are 
gathering here in our Nation's Capital.
  My resolution does just that. It expresses our gratitude for the 
selfless service of local law enforcement and the importance of a 
healthy relationship between law enforcement and the communities they 
protect.
  It also condemns attempts to undermine that relationship through 
rhetoric about defunding and abolishing the police. These narratives 
demonize local law enforcement officers and encourage hostility toward 
law enforcement. Ultimately, they put both officers and the general 
public at greater risk.
  We have seen targeted, ambush-style attacks on law enforcement 
officers, including one as recently as this Sunday. Agencies across the 
country are struggling to hire and keep talented officers as they are 
vilified for deciding to serve their communities.
  At the same time, we have seen disturbing increases in crime, 
especially in cities like Washington, D.C., and Americans' fear of 
crime is at its highest level in 30 years.

[[Page H3049]]

  Madam Speaker, it is time for this body to lead. It is time for us to 
make it abundantly clear that we stand with our law enforcement against 
lawlessness. It is time for a strong, bipartisan majority to say, once 
again, that we will not defund, disband, dismantle, or abolish the 
police.
  Madam Speaker, I urge my colleagues to join me in voting for this 
resolution.
  Mr. IVEY. Madam Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
  As a former prosecutor who handled cases in both Federal and State 
courts, I worked closely with many law enforcement officers on a day-
to-day basis over many years, developing strong relationships with 
officers who put their lives on the line on a daily basis.
  In fact, my record and relationships with officers are part of the 
reasons I have been endorsed by the Fraternal Order of Police every 
time I have run for office. That is why, in part, I regret having to 
rise in opposition to H. Con. Res. 106.
  Traditionally, National Police Week has been recognized as a solemn, 
unifying occasion. It is a time when Members can come together in a 
bipartisan fashion to recognize and honor the men and women of law 
enforcement who put their lives on the line every day to protect our 
communities. However, instead of respecting the dignity of this week, 
some of my colleagues have decided to move forward with, frankly, 
political rhetoric in this resolution to satisfy partisan purposes.
  This resolution amounts to a slap in the face of many Federal law 
enforcement officers who serve and protect us, as well. Among this 
resolution's flaws is it completely ignores Federal law enforcement 
officers who fight crime working infrequently with the local law 
enforcement officers whom we are discussing here today.
  Many of them enforce our laws against human trafficking and drug 
trafficking, including the rapid rise of fentanyl, the massive flow of 
firearms, including ghost guns, that illegally enter our country and 
communities and endanger all of us.
  To offer a resolution that fails to honor Federal law enforcement 
officers as well is just plain wrong.
  I made this objection in the committee when we were having a hearing 
on a related bill a few weeks ago, so this shouldn't come as a surprise 
to my colleagues. However, in recent years, Republicans have 
consistently blamed the rise in violent crime on Democrats and 
attempted to pin the ``defend the police'' rhetoric on Democrats 
labeling Democrats as the party to defund the police.

                              {time}  1630

  Yet, a Republican colleague of ours introduced H.R. 374, the Abolish 
the ATF Act, a one-line bill that would do away with the Bureau of 
Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. He also threatened to 
``defund,'' ``get rid of,'' or ``abolish'' other Federal agencies, 
including the FBI, CDC, and DOJ, ``if they do not come to heel.''
  Another one of my Republican colleagues called for defunding the FBI, 
as well, and we have multiple Republican colleagues who have made 
similar kinds of calls to defund Federal law enforcement, even though I 
think all of us recognize how critical they are to protecting the 
United States and handling matters in conjunction with local law 
enforcement authorities or, in some instances, where local law 
enforcement authorities don't have the jurisdiction or the authority to 
handle a matter.
  H. Con. Res. 106 endeavors to continue those efforts, unfortunately, 
repeating the verbatim attacks, as we heard just a moment ago, on 
Federal law enforcement and the Democrats, sentiments that were 
asserted in a different context in H. Con. Res. 40 last year, when the 
Democrats offered legislation for National Police Week.
  This resolution claims that the defund the police movement vilifies 
and demonizes local law enforcement, putting them at greater risk of 
danger, while ignoring the Republicans' own efforts to defund law 
enforcement, whether by opposing grant funding that sometimes supports 
State and local agencies or by calling to abolish Federal agencies, as 
I just mentioned a moment ago.
  We should be reminded that, through the American Rescue Plan, 
Democrats have provided the largest Federal investment in public safety 
in the Nation's history. $350 billion has allowed cities across the 
country to keep law enforcement officers on the beat and communities 
safer from violence. Police departments have used this funding to 
establish training facilities, hire more officers, and raise salaries.
  Rather than playing at partisanship, like we are today, in the 117th 
Congress, House Democrats passed priority policing bills that extended 
death benefits to law enforcement officers with PTSD, provided funding 
to law enforcement and other first responders to improve interactions 
with civilians, authorized $300 million in grants for law enforcement 
agencies with fewer than 125 officers, made significant investments in 
deescalation training, and provided $100 million per year in grants to 
solve cold-case violent crimes, all over Republican objections.
  More disappointingly, this resolution before us today continues the 
Republican record of devaluing the lives and contributions of the 
137,000 Federal agents and officers serving in the 50 States and the 
District of Columbia, including the Capitol Police, who we all should 
recall protect us here on a daily basis.
  Although H. Con. Res. 106 does not demonize specific Democratic 
Members or so-called leftist activists who support efforts to defund or 
reallocate funding for local law enforcement agencies, as H. Con. Res. 
40 did last year, this resolution is similarly a missed opportunity to 
truly support law enforcement officers across the country and is 
designed, once again, to falsely paint Democrats as opponents of law 
enforcement.
  Madam Speaker, it is for these reasons that I oppose H. Con. Res. 
106, and I urge my colleagues to do the same. Let's restore the dignity 
of Police Week by advancing truly bipartisan acclamations and support 
for law enforcement efforts.
  Madam Speaker, in 2002, President George W. Bush proclaimed that 
Police Officers Memorial Day and Police Week pay tribute to the local, 
State, and Federal law enforcement officers who serve and protect us 
with courage and dedication. Since its inception, National Police Week 
has been meant to bring Members of Congress together, no matter their 
political affiliation, to acknowledge the contributions of all law 
enforcement professionals and honor those who have made the ultimate 
sacrifice while in the line of duty.
  Whether State, local, Tribal, or Federal, we are grateful for the 
service of all officers, agents, and support staff who work tirelessly 
to protect us and keep us safe. We should be able to make that clear 
today.
  Madam Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.
  Mr. JORDAN. Madam Speaker, I yield myself the balance of my time to 
close.
  Madam Speaker, a little over a year ago, Governor Sarah Huckabee 
Sanders gave the response to President Biden's State of the Union 
Address. I thought she did a wonderful job, but the line that stuck out 
to me was, in the course of her remarks, she said that the divide in 
America today is normal versus crazy.
  My colleagues can start thinking about some of the crazy policies 
that are advocated by the radical left. I mean, it is crazy not to have 
a border. It is crazy to think noncitizens should be able to vote in 
our Federal elections. It is crazy to think boys should compete against 
girls in sports.
  How about this one: It is crazy, in my mind, to let a Chinese spy 
balloon fly clear across the country and then shoot it down. I don't 
know, but I think most people I represent would probably have shot it 
down before it went across the country.
  Additionally, it is crazy to defund the police. Americans understand 
that instinctively, yet that is something that the left has advocated 
now for--what?--5 years. We should thank the numerous law enforcement 
officers who have come to Washington, D.C., for Police Week and all 
those across our great country. Every day, police officers put their 
lives on the line to safeguard our families and communities.
  The left's defund the police movement continues to cause detrimental 
effects across our Nation, with attacks against police officers 
increasing and

[[Page H3050]]

becoming more brazen. We have all seen it. We saw it on the streets of 
New York City. We have all seen it happen, the harmful rhetoric that 
has demoralized our police officers and directly impacted their ability 
to maintain public safety.
  Law enforcement agencies across the country are facing challenges in 
recruiting and retaining qualified law enforcement officers. It is why 
I supported the bill that we just passed. The gentleman from Maryland 
(Mr. Ivey) was right on that one.

  This resolution is exactly what is needed. Congress must declare that 
we oppose the defund the police rhetoric. H. Con. Res. 106 seeks to 
correct these false and harmful narratives by explicitly condemning 
efforts to undermine law enforcement agencies.
  This resolution acknowledges and expresses the gratitude of Congress 
for the dedication and commitment shown by the men and women of law 
enforcement. Law enforcement officers and their families serve and make 
sacrifices every single day for the good of our communities.
  This resolution is rooted in commonsense, normal policy. I believe we 
can all agree that the defund the police movement was a disgrace, and 
our police officers deserve better.
  Let's all work together, taking a stand against cutting our police 
department funding and calling for not abolishing the police but 
actually funding our law enforcement officers, again, in our 
municipalities, in our counties, and all over our country.
  Madam Speaker, I urge my colleagues to support the resolution, and I 
yield back the balance of my time.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The question is on the motion offered by the 
gentleman from Ohio (Mr. Jordan) that the House suspend the rules and 
agree to the concurrent resolution, H. Con. Res. 106.
  The question was taken; and (two-thirds being in the affirmative) the 
rules were suspended and the concurrent resolution was agreed to.
  A motion to reconsider was laid on the table.

                          ____________________