[Congressional Record Volume 170, Number 88 (Tuesday, May 21, 2024)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E536-E537]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                         HONORING FALLEN HEROES

                                 ______
                                 

                               speech of

                        HON. SHEILA JACKSON LEE

                                of texas

                    in the house of representatives

                         Tuesday, May 14, 2024

  Ms. JACKSON LEE. Mr. Speaker, as a member of the Law Enforcement 
Caucus and a senior member of the Committees on Judiciary and Homeland 
Security, and the Ranking Member of the Subcommittee on Crime and 
Federal Government Surveillance, I rise to commemorate National Police 
Week.
  May 15 is designated as Peace Officers Memorial Day, which falls 
within National Police Week since 1962 by President John F. Kennedy.
  National Police Week pays homage to those who lost their lives in the 
line of duty, with a Memorial Service that began in 1982 to list in 
remembrance and commemoration all the names of those we have lost.
  Sadly in 2023, Texas lost 11 law enforcement individuals in the line 
of duty, and in 2024 there have been 5 deaths.
  To date, a total of 2,247 Texas law enforcement individuals and 30 
K9s overall have been killed in the line of duty in the State of Texas.


                     Fallen Officers in Texas--2023

  Sergeant Stephen Gibson, Somervell County Sheriff's Office, TX, EOW: 
Wednesday, December 13, 2023, Cause of Death: Automobile crash.
  Correctional Officer III Jovian Motley, Texas Department of Criminal 
Justice--Correctional Institutions Division, TX, EOW: Monday, November 
13, 2023, Cause of Death: Unidentified.
  Senior Police Officer Jorge Pastore, Austin Police Department, TX, 
EOW: Saturday, November 11, 2023, Cause of Death: Gunfire.
  Sergeant Jon Arden Jenson, Fort Worth Police Department, TX, EOW: 
Saturday, October 28, 2023, Cause of Death: COVID-19.
  Lieutenant Milton Resendez, San Benito Police Department, TX, EOW: 
Tuesday, October 17, 2023, Cause of Death: Gunfire.
  Police Officer Darrin McMichael, Arlington Police Department, TX, 
EOW: Thursday, September 21, 2023, Cause of Death: Struck by vehicle.
  Deputy Sheriff Matthew Pierson, Shelby County Sheriff's Office, TX, 
EOW: Tuesday, August 29, 2023, Cause of Death: Automobile crash.
  Officer Bryan Holley, Hudson Independent School District Police 
Department, TX, EOW: Friday, August 18, 2023, Cause of Death: Duty 
related illness.
  Deputy Sheriff David Bosecker, Eastland County Sheriff's Office, TX, 
EOW: Friday, July 21, 2023, Cause of Death: Gunfire.
  Sergeant Joshua Lee Clouse, Cameron Police Department, TX, EOW: 
Thursday, May 11, 2023, Cause of Death: Gunfire.
  Deputy Sheriff Jason Stuart Jones, Tarrant County Sheriff's Office, 
TX, EOW: Tuesday, April 11, 2023, Cause of Death: COVID-19.


                     Fallen Officers in Texas--2024

  Police Officer Kyle Hicks, Corpus Christi Police Department, TX, EOW: 
Wednesday, April 24, 2024, Cause of Death: Gunfire.
  Investigator John Hampton Coddou, III, Harris County Sheriff's 
Office, TX, EOW: Tuesday, April 23, 2024, Cause of Death: Struck by 
vehicle.
  Border Patrol Agent Christopher Luna, United States Department of 
Homeland Security--Customs and Border Protection--United States Border 
Patrol, U.S., EOW: Friday, March 8, 2024, Cause of Death: Aircraft 
accident, Location: Texas.
  Deputy Sheriff Charles Rivette, Montgomery County Sheriff's Office, 
TX, EOW: Wednesday, February 21, 2024, Cause of Death: Automobile 
crash.
  Deputy Sheriff Rondald Bates, Harris County Sheriff's Office, TX, 
EOW: Saturday, February 10, 2024, Cause of Death: Automobile crash.
  It is important that we take this opportunity to honor America's law 
enforcement community and recognize the sacrifices that these brave 
officers have made in our communities.
  This should be a time of unity and a rededication of our commitment 
to law enforcement officers--to make every effort to make their work 
safer and promote the importance of law enforcement as public servants.
  Unfortunately, Republicans talk about supporting law enforcement but 
have sought to defund law enforcement and undermine public trust in 
police.
  Law enforcement is on the front line of fighting crime in communities 
across the Nation.
  All too often law enforcement officers are taken by the violence we 
expect them to prevent. And increasingly, officers and agents are 
losing their lives to gun-related violence--oftentimes with handguns.
  These brave men and women risk their lives to keep the peace and keep 
us safe, but they are too often taken by the violence they are working 
to prevent.
  Between 2012 and 2021, 504 police officers in the United States were 
killed in the line of duty. Of those, 90 percent--or 456 officers--were 
killed by a firearm.
  A study by the Center for American Progress found that between 2017 
and 2021, the rate of police officers fatally shot in states with the 
weakest gun laws was 152% higher than in state with stronger gun laws.
  Weak gun laws make everyone less safe. From 2000 to 2022, the average 
murder rate in States that reliably vote Republican in presidential 
elections (``Red States'') was 24 percent higher than the average 
murder rate in States that reliably vote Democratic.
  In fact, so-called Red States' murder rates are ``significantly 
higher'' than reliably Democratic-voting States, ``even when 
[researchers] removed the county with the largest city in Trump-voting 
states (and kept them in for Biden-voting states).''
  Weakening requirements to carry a concealed firearm increases gun 
violence and violent crime.
  Every state allows individuals to carry concealed weapons in public, 
but fewer than half of them require a permit.
  Specifically, by the start of 2023, 26 states allowed individuals to 
carry loaded, concealed handguns in public without first undergoing a 
background check, obtaining a license, or receiving any firearm 
training.
  It is important to note that gun-involved homicide rates are higher 
in states with more permissive concealed carry laws.
  Permitless carry laws, like those in Texas, pushed by Republican 
state legislatures put law enforcement officers at risk.
  When Indiana was considering a permitless carry bill in 2022, Patrick 
Flannelly, Vice President of the Indiana Association of Chiefs of 
Police warned, ``What we have done now is we've taken away the one tool 
that police officers had out on the street to be able to act quickly 
and efficiently for not only their personal safety but for the safety 
of our communities.''
  Law enforcement across the country similarly have warned that 
permitless concealed carry laws put officers at risk.
  In fact, in 2021, almost 61 of 84 law enforcement officers who died 
from felonious assaults were killed by firearms.
  Reliably Republican-voting states that have permissive gun laws, 
specifically permitless carry laws, are putting law enforcement 
officers' lives on the line by sending them into communities that are 
increasingly flush with firearms.
  Although Republicans claim they support law enforcement, Democrats 
have implemented policies and reforms that will keep law enforcement 
and the communities they serve safer and more secure--often over 
Republican objections.
  In June 2021, the Biden Administration unveiled its Comprehensive 
Strategy to Prevent and Respond to Gun Crime and Ensure Public Safety. 
Overall, the strategy sought to:
  stem the flow of firearms used to commit violence, including by 
holding rogue firearms dealers accountable for violating federal laws;
  support local law enforcement with federal tools and resources to 
help address summer violent crime;
  invest in evidence-based community violence interventions;
  expand summer programming, employment opportunities, and other 
services and supports for teenagers and young adults; and
  help formerly incarcerated individuals successfully reenter their 
communities.
  On June 25, 2022, President Biden signed into law the Bipartisan 
Safer Communities Act (BSCA).
  The BSCA was passed in the wake of the shooting in Uvalde, Texas, the 
state's deadliest school shooting, where 19 children and two teachers 
were killed.
  Key provisions of the BSCA include: Enhanced background checks 
requiring the National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS) 
to conduct an enhanced review of purchasers under the age of 21 to 
determine whether juvenile records disqualify that individual from 
purchasing a firearm.
  NICS is given 10 days to complete the investigation, and it unsets 
after 10 years.
  State incentives for ``red flag'' laws: Provides $750 million over 
five years that will go to states for ``crisis intervention programs'' 
including red flag laws, mental health courts, drug courts, veterans' 
courts, and extreme risk protection orders.
  $250 million in funding for community-based violence prevention 
initiatives
  $300 million in school safety funding through the STOP School 
Violence Act to institute safety measures in and around schools, 
support school violence prevention efforts and

[[Page E537]]

provide training to school personnel and students.
  Codification of the SchoolSafety.gov clearinghouse, which provides 
evidence-based resources to improve school safety and prohibits use of 
funds under the Elementary and Secondary Education Act to train or 
equip any person with dangerous weapons in schools.
  I also think we must do more to address the mental health challenges 
that officers inevitably face, due to the harrowing nature of their 
work.
  We cannot expect qualified officers to remain in such a dangerous 
profession if we do not give them the resources, they need to address 
the toll that police work takes on them.
  It is time we come together and truly support law enforcement through 
legislative efforts that will provide resources and tools to address 
the myriad of issues facing law enforcement, rather than politicizing 
what has traditionally been a bipartisan effort.
  And so, during this special week and every day in the work I do here 
in Congress, I am proud to support and recognize law enforcement 
officers for the tremendous work they do each day, and to uplift in 
special reverence the names of all those men and women who made the 
ultimate sacrifice for us and the Nation.
  It is equally just as important to acknowledge those officers we have 
lost--our fallen heroes who have given their last full measure of 
devotion to the communities they swore to protect and serve--some who 
gave their lives as far back as 1857.
  How excellent it is that the stories of these courageous individuals 
have been brought to light and were not left untold.

                          ____________________