[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 159 (2013), Part 5]
[Senate]
[Pages 6820-6821]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                       NATIONAL POLICE WEEK 2013

  Mr. McCONNELL. Mr. President, this week we mark National Police Week 
2013 as a time to pay tribute to the service and sacrifice of the many 
men and women in Federal, State, and local law enforcement across 
America. It is an appropriate time for those of us who benefit from 
their efforts--and that is all of us--to express our gratitude.
  The Nation's Capital welcomes thousands of police officers who are 
gathering to celebrate National Police Week. They will honor their 
fallen fellow officers and rededicate themselves to their duties of 
defending the property, dignity, and lives of those who would fall prey 
to criminals outside the law.
  I want to especially recognize the many men and women who work to 
enforce the law in my home State of Kentucky. Many of them have 
traveled to Washington this week, and today I will have the pleasure of 
meeting with some of Kentucky's finest. I want to personally thank them 
for bravely risking their lives in service of people across the 
Commonwealth.
  Earlier this month in Richmond, Kentucky, a solemn ceremony was held 
at the Kentucky Law Enforcement Memorial on the campus of Eastern 
Kentucky University. This memorial lists the names of every known 
fallen peace officer in Kentucky history. Along the bottom of it are 
the words, ``Blessed Be the Peacekeepers.''
  The ceremony was held to add the names of two law-enforcement 
officers from Kentucky who were killed in the line of duty in 2012. 
Hodgenville Police Officer Mark A. Taulbee was killed in a

[[Page 6821]]

vehicle pursuit on September 16. Marion County Sheriff's Deputy Anthony 
Rakes was shot during a traffic stop on November 14.
  I extend my sympathies to the families of Officer Taulbee and Deputy 
Rakes for their tragic loss.
  Their names will be added, along with 6 other Kentucky peace officers 
whose names had not previously been on the memorial. There will be a 
total of 509 brave Kentuckians on that wall.
  I know my colleagues in the U.S. Senate join me in holding the 
deepest admiration and respect for the many brave law-enforcement 
officers across Kentucky and the Nation. Theirs is both an honorable 
profession, and a dangerous one. It is also a necessary one, as the 
maintenance of peace and order in a civil society that we take for 
granted could not exist without them.
  Kentucky is grateful to our law-enforcement officers and their 
families. And we are grateful for the sacrifice of Officer Mark A. 
Taulbee and Sheriff's Deputy Anthony Rakes to preserve the rule of law.
  I ask unanimous consent that the names of the Commonwealth of 
Kentucky law-enforcement officers added to the Kentucky Law Enforcement 
Memorial this year be printed in the Record following my remarks.
  There being no objection, the material was ordered to be printed in 
the Record, as follows:

       Mark A. Taulbee; Hodgenville Police Department; End of 
     Watch: September 16, 2012.
       Anthony Rakes; Marion County Sheriff's Office; End of 
     Watch: November 14, 2012.
       Releigh Killion; U.S. Marshal; End of Watch: May 24, 1884.
       Thomas D. Martin; Stanford Police Department; End of Watch: 
     May 16, 1931.
       Theo Madden; Knott County Sheriff's Office; End of Watch: 
     March 10, 1933.
       Vernon C. Snellen; Kentucky State Police; End of Watch: 
     February 20, 1937.
       Bill Baker; Perry County Sheriff's Office; End of Watch: 
     March 11, 1950.
       George Puckett; Perry County Sheriff's Office; End of 
     Watch: April 26, 1950.

                          ____________________