[Congressional Record Volume 170, Number 85 (Thursday, May 16, 2024)]
[Senate]
[Pages S3748-S3749]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]



                          National Police Week

  Mr. BROWN. Madam President, each year during Police Week, we honor 
the law enforcement officers who made the ultimate sacrifice in service 
to their communities.
  This year, we will add the names of four Ohioans to the National Law 
Enforcement Officers Memorial who laid down their lives this year and 
last year: Officer Timothy James Unwin, III, of the Springfield 
Township Police Department; Deputy Sheriff Marcus Zeigler of the 
Hamilton County Sheriff's Office; Deputy Sheriff Joshua Hamilton of the 
Preble County Sheriff's Office.
  Sadly, we know already of two names that will be added to the 
memorial next year: Jacob Derbin of the Euclid Police Department, who 
was senselessly ambushed and killed in the line of duty last weekend. 
He leaves behind a father who was part of the department, the same 
Euclid Department.
  I spoke at length to the chief of police in Euclid last week. The 
young man was engaged to be married. His grandfather had also been a 
policeman at a suburban police department in Cleveland.
  We also add the name next year of Lieutenant Rodney Osborne of the 
Southern Ohio Correctional Facility, who tragically died in an accident 
during a training exercise.
  Each of these losses is a tragedy for a family, for a community, and 
surely 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 the community, people like 
these brave men.
  These Ohioans gave so much.
  Officer Timothy James Unwin, III, was a Cincinnati native who 
dedicated more than 8 years to serving Ohio communities in both the 
Hamilton County Sheriff's Office and the Springfield Township Police 
Department.
  In his free time, he enjoyed staying active and working on cars. His 
colleagues, friends, and family members remember his smile and remember 
his always positive energy. He was always helping others. He wanted to 
make the world a better place.
  He lost his life in a tragic car crash while responding to a call for 
help from fellow officers.
  Deputy Sheriff Marcus Zeigler began his career in the private sector 
working in security and defense before joining the Hamilton County 
Sheriff's Department. That is the Cincinnati area in Southwest Ohio.
  He was proud to serve as a deputy. While he was only with the 
department for 9 months, he made an impression on his colleagues and 
his community. He always had a smile on his face. He was always happy 
to lend a hand. He was eager to grow in his career.
  His family was the most important thing to him. Our thoughts are with 
his wife and his five children.
  Deputy Sheriff John Hamilton was a former U.S. Navy Reservist and 
Army National Guard member who served in the Preble County Sheriff's 
team. He was known for his unwavering commitment to our country and to 
the Preble County community.
  Deputy Hamilton is survived by his parents and his daughter.
  We extend our condolences to them and all the loved ones these public 
servants leave behind--children who will now grow up without fathers, 
parents grieving children.
  This year, we added the names of six officers to the memorial who 
died from COVID-19: Terrance Bateman, Anthony Cloyd, Mark Heinl, Billy 
Ihrig, Gerald Lynch, and Matthew Mitchell. We can't begin to repay the 
debt we owe these officers and their families, but we can work to 
protect more officers and the communities they swear an oath to serve.
  That is why I work with colleagues of both parties on legislation to 
support law enforcement as they do their jobs. If we can help them do 
their jobs more safely, we all win.
  Two years ago, I worked with my colleague Senator Grassley and 
Congressman   David Joyce, my friend from Ohio, to pass legislation 
that provides Customs and Border Patrol staff with fentanyl containment 
devices. This keeps officers safe. We know how potent even a little bit 
of fentanyl is, even to the touch of the skin. This keeps officers safe 
and keeps evidence preserved for trial.
  Now we are working to get cops and sheriff's deputies access to the 
same protection locally. That is why we introduced the Protecting First 
Responders from Secondary Exposure Act. It is also why Senator Cotton 
and I introduced the Providing Officers Electronic Resources Act, or 
POWER Act, to help State and local law enforcement organizations secure 
high-tech, portable screening devices to detect fentanyl.
  I will keep fighting to make sure that 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.
  One of the best ways we can keep law enforcement and our communities 
safe is by keeping fentanyl out of the country in the first place, 
something I have heard from law enforcement personnel at virtually 
every place in Ohio.
  Four hundred Ohioans every single month die from fentanyl poisoning. 
That is not just a number. It means that 400 individuals with 400 
individual families and 400 different neighborhoods have died.
  That is why we fought to pass my bipartisan FEND Off Fentanyl Act. 
The President just signed it into law. It is going to help us target 
the entire fentanyl supply chain, from the chemical suppliers in China 
to the cartels that manufacture and transport the drugs in Mexico.
  By going after the billions of dollars these traffickers make in 
illicit profits, we target them where it hurts the most: their bank 
accounts. It is why we worked with Ohio and national law enforcement to 
write this bill and to build a broad bipartisan coalition to get it 
passed.

[[Page S3749]]

  This Police Week, let's offer more than empty words. Let's provide 
the support and resources that our men and women need to keep 
themselves and their communities safe. Although nothing can ever be 
done to truly appreciate the sacrifice so many have made by laying down 
their lives, we honor them by supporting their fellow officers.
  We must get our officers the tools and the training they need to do 
their jobs and to build trust with the communities where we all live, 
the communities that they are sworn to protect.