[Congressional Record Volume 170, Number 88 (Tuesday, May 21, 2024)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E540-E541]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




         RESOLUTION REGARDING VIOLENCE AGAINST LAW ENFORCEMENT

                                 ______
                                 

                               speech of

                        HON. SHEILA JACKSON LEE

                                of texas

                    in the house of representatives

                          Friday, May 17, 2024

  Ms. JACKSON LEE. Mr. Speaker, I rise to speak in opposition to H. 
Res. 1213, ``A resolution regarding violence against law enforcement 
officers''.
  Sadly, H. Res. 1213 is another hypocritical, partisan attack cloaked 
behind a message honoring local law enforcement during National Police 
Week.

[[Page E541]]

  The resolution is full of misinformation, baseless and dangerous 
claims, and political rhetoric that overwhelms its intended purpose and 
has no place in what should be an opportunity to bring Congress 
together in solemn reflection.
  My Republican colleagues have consistently tried to blame the rise in 
violent crime on Democrats and locally-elected District Attorneys and 
with this resolution have attempted once again to label Democrats as 
the party of ``defund the police.''
  The resolution asserts without evidence that calls to defund the 
police are tied to an increase in violence against law enforcement 
officers and further implies that locally adopted progressive criminal 
justice reform policies have contributed to the ``negative 
environment'' in which law enforcement officers work.
  The Resolution fails to acknowledge that the number of officers 
killed in the line of duty decreased substantially each year from 586 
in 2021 to 137 in 2023.
  The resolution advances baseless political attacks against policies 
aimed at addressing decades of mass incarceration and 
overcriminalization, attempting to link policies such as decreased 
criminal penalties and no-cash bail systems with an increase in 
aggression and violence toward law enforcement.
  The Resolution claims that House members are responsible for 
exemplifying a respect for the rule of law and for law enforcement but 
overlooks hypocritical anti-police Republican actions:
  The failure of Republicans to unanimously vote to award the 
Congressional Gold Medal to all police officers who responded to the 
violent January 6th attack on the Capitol and efforts like H. Con. Res. 
106 to marginalize federal law enforcement officers.
  Republican efforts to defund law enforcement, whether by opposing 
grant funding that supports state and local agencies, or by calling to 
abolish federal agencies such as the Federal Bureau of Investigations 
(FBI), the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and the Bureau of 
Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (ATF).
   For these reasons I must oppose this fatally flawed resolution--and 
yet another missed opportunity to support and honor law enforcement 
personnel across the country and those who lost their lives in the line 
of duty, without engaging in partisanship on this solemn occasion.

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