[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 161 (2015), Part 1]
[House]
[Pages 1261-1267]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                RECOGNIZING OUR LAW ENFORCEMENT AGENCIES

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under the Speaker's announced policy of 
January 6, 2015, the gentleman from Washington (Mr. Reichert) is 
recognized for 60 minutes as the designee of the majority leader.
  Mr. REICHERT. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to take some time on the 
floor of the United States Congress--the House of Representatives, to 
be specific--to honor and recognize the service of our law enforcement 
agencies across this great country.
  You know, we have been dealing with the reactions from the tragic 
death of Michael Brown last August. Almost continually, every week, we 
hear of some tragic death, a shooting incident across this country. And 
we all understand and realize that all loss of life is a tragedy, but 
there has been an outbreak of violence across this great country that 
is equally disturbing, resulting in the brutal assassination of two law 
enforcement officers just before Christmas.
  Mr. Speaker, I was a law enforcement officer for 33 years in King 
County, which is a county in Seattle, Washington. I started when I was 
21 years old in 1972. I worked in a police car, and I was a detective. 
I worked the street undercover for a short time. I never knew when I 
left home if I would see my family, when would be the next time that I 
would see my wife, my children. When I told them good-bye for a day at 
the office, I didn't know if I was coming back home and neither did 
they. But every law enforcement officer across this great country lives 
with that knowledge, and every family member lives with that fear.
  I have missed holidays, birthdays, anniversaries. I would be called 
out in the middle of the day or the middle of the night or on the 
weekend. I remember one day missing my daughter's birthday. On 
Christmas Eve, I remember driving around in the middle of the night 
patrolling, while others had their relatives parked in their driveways; 
and they were in, sharing Christmas dinner and presents with their 
family and friends.
  But once a cop, always a cop, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. I have 
been in Congress for 10 years, but I was a cop for 33 years.
  A lot of people think ``cop'' is a derogatory remark, but it is 
actually a badge of honor. I was the sheriff for the last 8 years of my 
career. One thing I said when I left, if the members of the King County 
Sheriff's Office, which are nearly 1,100--it is the 12th largest 
sheriff's office in the country--said that Dave Reichert was a great 
cop, that is what meant the world to me.

                              {time}  1745

  If they said I was a good sheriff, that was icing on the cake, but I 
just wanted to be known as a good cop working my district and my beat 
and doing the job that I was trained to do and serving the public.
  Police officers do what they do because they care. They go to work 
every day because they want to save lives, not to take lives. They put 
up with ridicule and harassment, assaults, and even the ultimate 
sacrifice--death--always facing dangerous situations, putting their 
lives between their communities--the public--and danger.
  Sometimes, as I said, the ultimate sacrifice is made. During my 
career, I lost a partner and a good friend who was shot and killed in 
1982. In 1984, I lost another partner and a good friend who was stabbed 
to death with a sword.
  These men died serving and protecting their community, but they left 
behind family. They left behind sons, daughters, spouses, orphaned 
children, and widowed. The men and women who keep us safe find 
themselves in life-and-death situations far too often. In many 
instances, Mr. Speaker, taking down a bad guy means losing a good guy 
too.
  Life-and-death situations are never easy. I remember one instance 
that I was working plainclothes and went in with a group of my team of 
officers on a drug search warrant. I was the sergeant leading that 
team.
  My assignment was to go in the front door, turn to the right, and 
make sure that the bathroom in that small apartment was secure. We went 
in the front door. I kicked in the bathroom door, and I found a person 
sitting on the toilet.
  As he stood, he revealed that he had a rubber band around his bicep 
and a heroin needle stuck in his arm. I could

[[Page 1262]]

see that his eyes were glazed over. I told him to raise his hands; 
instead of doing that, he grabbed a gun.
  Now, Mr. Speaker, I could have shot that man. In a split second, he 
grabbed a gun, and my life was in danger, but I had a feeling I could 
talk him out of that gun. I just had a feeling I could reason with this 
man, even though he was high on heroin.
  I didn't shoot, and I was able to talk him out of his gun. In fact, 
he dropped it in the toilet. What would you do, Mr. Speaker, if you 
were standing there with that decision? In an instant, you had to make 
a decision: shoot or don't shoot.
  Our men and women who wear uniforms every day have to make that 
split-second decision. Now, they don't always make the right decision, 
but more often than not, they do. The men and women in uniform across 
this country are human beings, and they make mistakes, as we all do; we 
need to understand that.
  When the mistakes are made, police officers expect to have scrutiny 
applied. They expect oversight, they expect to have the action they 
took reviewed, reviewed, and reviewed, and they respect the rule of 
law, the process of the review, the investigation, and the judicial 
process that needs to take place.
  As all Americans across this country, we need to recognize that 
process too. Reacting to bad situations by disregarding the rule of law 
only makes things worse in this Nation. It creates harm in our 
communities, rather than harmony. Everyone must come together.
  Communities and law enforcement should be partners, protecting our 
families. Communities and law enforcement should be partners. Just as I 
was a partner with my partners that I spoke about earlier, communities 
should be our partner, law enforcement's partner.
  What do good partners do? They trust each other. Communities must 
trust their police department. The police department and the sheriff's 
office must trust the community, work with one another, and depend on 
one another.
  I think, Mr. Speaker, if we do that, if we can stop for a moment, 
listen to the facts, and respect the law that exists here in the United 
States of America--the greatest country in the world--yeah, we are not 
perfect, but we have the best system.
  If we all come together and recognize we have the best system--and 
where it needs to be changed, let's change it--but as the process goes 
through, let's respect it. If we do that together, Mr. Speaker, we can 
continue to live in the greatest country in this world.
  I want to conclude my opening statements just by saying that I really 
think it is important for us across this Nation to pause and remember 
to thank our law enforcement officers.
  Every time we see a cop, let's say thank you. It is just one of ways 
that we can support them and show that support, but I think, even more 
importantly, let's pray for them and pray for their families, but let's 
also pray for the communities that they serve, that the communities see 
the tough job they have to do and the sacrifices they make.
  Pray for peace, understanding, cooperation, trust, and let's pray, 
Mr. Speaker, that we have a partner in each other, a partner that we 
can trust that will back us up. Law enforcement backing up the 
community and the community backing up the police officers, that is 
where I would like to see this go, Mr. Speaker.
  We have some other Members here tonight who want to share their 
comments about their community and their relationship with law 
enforcement.
  I yield to the gentleman from Alabama (Mr. Byrne).
  Mr. BYRNE. I thank my colleague, the gentleman, and I thank you for 
the time, but I thank you most of all for your service to the people of 
your community and what you have done for them and your proxy for 
hundreds of thousands of law enforcement officers that do that day in 
and day out, and we take them for granted.
  I am glad you brought up the subject of families because we sometimes 
forget that these law enforcement officers have families. They have 
husbands, wives, mothers, fathers, sons, daughters, and friends.
  Literally, when they go out every day, those people and their family 
and their friends are not certain they will come back. How many of us, 
when we go off to work, our family and friends think, ``Well, he may 
not come back''? What a terrible thing that must be, how difficult that 
is for the family.
  My grandfather was a sheriff in Mobile County in Alabama in the 
twenties and thirties. I wasn't alive during that point in time, but I 
remember my father telling stories about that.
  When his father would go out at night and they had to do things on 
patrol or to go out and apprehend somebody who committed a crime and 
how upset it would leave him as a child thinking: Where is my dad 
going? Is he going to be okay? We take that for granted, but the 
families don't take that for granted because they have to live with it 
day in and day out.
  We so often think of law enforcement officers in terms of how they 
relate to a criminal. Well, oftentimes, the most important person or 
persons they are relating with are victims.
  They are the protectors--in some cases, the saviors--of victims, 
people who are getting ready to be hurt by a criminal, and--but for a 
law enforcement officer--they would be hurt and maybe even killed.
  Those law enforcement officers rush into an inherently dangerous 
situation to keep those people from harm and maybe even save them from 
death. It may be a phone call that goes to 911 in the dead of night, a 
woman screaming into the phone: My husband has a gun, and he is going 
to use it against me.
  A law enforcement officer is dispensed to that environment, not 
knowing in that highly emotionally charged moment whether that gun is 
going to be used on him or the person he has come to save.
  Mr. Speaker, time and time again, law enforcement officers find a way 
to defuse that situation. No one is hurt, the person that is about to 
commit a crime is apprehended and charged with a crime less than 
actually hurting somebody, but a person has been saved; a person has 
been saved from harm or perhaps death.
  If you have ever been in that moment and been someone who has been a 
victim, when a law enforcement officer comes up and saves you in that 
moment, you realize that but for those law enforcement officers who do 
that day in and day out, we could all be victims of a horrible crime, 
and we take that for granted.
  My wife, Rebecca, and I were victims of a violent crime. We were 
stopped one night by three young men who tried to rob us. They had a 
knife and said they had a gun. My wife was pregnant. They took our 
jewelry and then threw her to the ground which could have not only hurt 
her, but hurt the baby.
  Fortunately, some of the people involved with the main perpetrator 
realized it was time to run, and as they did, we could scream out. As 
we screamed out, neighbors called the police. They came very quickly.
  I can tell you when you are in that moment and you feel that sense of 
fear because people have weapons that they want to use against you and 
they have already used physical violence against you, when that squad 
car comes up and the man or men or women in uniform step out, you feel 
safe.
  When they step out of that squad car, they are not safe because they 
have to go out. Their official duty is to try to apprehend that person 
and do whatever it takes to protect the rest of us. We take that for 
granted, and we should never, ever take that for granted.
  Mr. Speaker, last year, over 100 law enforcement officers in the 
United States lost their lives in the line of duty. So far in this 
young year in the United States already, nine law enforcement officers 
have lost their lives in the line of duty.
  One of them was lost last night in my home county, Baldwin County, 
Alabama, a police officer--a fine police officer--with the city of 
Loxley, and we take that for granted. He got in his car at the 
beginning of the day, kissed his wife, went to work, and didn't come 
home.

[[Page 1263]]

  Mr. Speaker, I hope we in America can use times like this to remember 
what we gain from people who put on the uniform of law enforcement to 
serve us and to protect us. ``Serve and protect,'' that is the motto.
  All of us tonight, millions of us as Americans tonight will go to 
bed, will put our heads on that pillow, and will go to sleep safe, 
knowing that these men and women are patrolling the streets of our 
country to keep danger away from us.
  Before we go to sleep every night, perhaps we should do one more 
thing: let's say a little prayer for those men and women who patrol the 
streets of our country to protect all of us and maintain the quality of 
life that we all too often take for granted.
  Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman for this time tonight, your 
service to your community and to our country, and hope you will 
continue to remind us in the days to come of what we owe to the men and 
women that wear law enforcement uniforms throughout America.
  Mr. REICHERT. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman for his kind 
comments and for being here tonight to share his support of our law 
enforcement officers across this great Nation.
  Mr. Speaker, at this time, I yield to Mr. Goodlatte.
  Mr. GOODLATTE. I want to thank Congressman Reichert not only for 
yielding me the time, but also for his service as a law enforcement 
officer because when he speaks on the floor of the House on behalf of 
our Nation's law enforcement officers--the men and women who put their 
lives on the line every day--he speaks from personal experience. I have 
heard those experiences a number of times, and I thank you for that.
  There are others here in the Congress, Mr. Speaker, who have served 
in law enforcement, and we thank them as well. I am particularly 
pleased that Dave is hosting this Special Order tonight to show our 
respect and deep gratitude for the thousands of law enforcement 
officers across the country who serve our communities and the American 
people daily.
  Mr. Speaker, our Nation was founded on the rule of law, and every 
day, law enforcement officers carry out this legacy. They protect our 
neighborhoods from criminals, fight crime, ensure justice, and keep the 
peace. They patrol neighborhoods late at night and early in the morning 
while we sleep in the comforts of our homes.
  Since 9/11, our Nation's law enforcement officers are now the first 
to respond to terrorist attacks. On that tragic day nearly 14 years 
ago, NYPD officers and other first responders were running into the 
crumbling towers to save people as everyone else was running out.
  In 2010, an NYPD officer was the first one on the scene when a 
terrorist attempted to ignite a car bomb in Times Square.

                              {time}  1800

  The same was true during the Boston Marathon bombings in April 2013. 
The Boston police responded immediately to aid the wounded and 
implement emergency plans.
  Sadly, many law enforcement have made the ultimate sacrifice on our 
behalf. Last year alone, 120 law enforcement officers died in the line 
of duty, including three from the Commonwealth of Virginia. These are 
sober reminders that our Nation's law enforcement professionals face 
danger every day as they carry out their duty to protect the American 
people.
  As chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, I have the privilege to 
work with Federal law enforcement agencies. All too often, we fail to 
recognize how the dedicated men and women of law enforcement make 
sacrifices--some sacrificing their lives--to preserve law and order and 
keep our communities, our States, and our Nation safe. These brave men 
and women are heroes and deserve to be recognized and honored for their 
service to our country.
  Again, I thank our law enforcement officer, Congressman Reichert, for 
taking this time to have this law enforcement Special Order.
  Mr. REICHERT. I thank you, Mr. Goodlatte, for your comments and for 
your hard work as the chairman of the Judiciary Committee, and I thank 
you for coming tonight and sharing your comments.
  Next, Mr. Speaker, I yield to the gentlewoman from Washington (Mrs. 
McMorris Rodgers). I am sure she wants to talk about her great sheriff 
in Spokane.
  Cathy, it is good to see you.
  Mrs. McMORRIS RODGERS. That is right, and the former great sheriff 
from King County, whom I have the privilege of serving with now in the 
United States House of Representatives. Thank you, Congressman 
Reichert, for your leadership and your service both as sheriff and 
local law enforcement officer, and also for bringing us together 
tonight.
  I see another former sheriff from Florida, Rich Nugent. We are 
grateful for those who have served and those who currently serve.
  In our darkest hours, we turn to law enforcement to keep us from 
harm's way. It is easy to take those who serve for granted. Tonight, I 
am privileged to stand here and to say thank you. Thank you for your 
service, thank you for your commitment, thank you for the sacrifices 
and all of the acts of heroism.
  When we drop our kids off at school, buckle up our seat belts and hit 
the roads or kiss our children good night, we know that our first 
responders will be there if we ever need them, and they will do 
everything they can to keep us safe. Sometimes it is nice to know they 
are out there on the roads in case something happens. Our police 
officers and firefighters get up every morning not knowing what their 
day will look like, not knowing with certainty if they will be home for 
dinner.
  At a time when there are growing threats facing America, growing 
unrest around the world, these men and women are ready to answer the 
call of duty at any moment. They do it out of a great sense of service 
and commitment, to serve and to protect. Men and women in uniform 
across eastern Washington and throughout this country put their lives 
on the line every day.
  In Spokane, yes, Sheriff Ozzie Knezovich and Police Chief Frank 
Straub, we are so grateful for their leadership, effective leadership, 
bringing down overall crime rates. It is really a testament to them. I 
actually have the privilege of working with 10 sheriffs in eastern 
Washington who are having a tremendous impact on keeping our 
communities safe.
  Their families, too, take on tremendous sacrifices for it is their 
loved ones who go out into the streets to keep us safe. These are 
husbands, wives, moms, and dads whose sense of honor and whose 
commitment to our country is worthy of our profound gratitude. For in 
America, we are blessed to live in a nation whose law enforcement 
officers will do everything they can to keep us safe.
  So I thank those who serve in eastern Washington and all across the 
country for serving. These men and women deserve our respect, our 
thanks, and they deserve a lifetime of appreciation.
  Mr. REICHERT. Mr. Speaker, I thank Cathy McMorris Rodgers for her 
comments and her support of law enforcement officers and sheriffs that 
she works with.
  Ten years ago--well, a little longer ago than that--I was the 
president of the Washington State Sheriffs Association, and so I had 
the opportunity to work with all of the sheriffs and police chiefs in 
Washington State.
  Mr. Speaker, I now yield to the gentleman from Pennsylvania (Mr. 
Dent).
  Mr. DENT. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman from Washington State 
for yielding to me, and I thank him for his very distinguished career 
in law enforcement for all of those 30-plus years. He had a great 
reputation, served honorably, and was involved in some very high-
profile cases that are, I think, worthy of a lot of discussion.
  I wanted to take time today to express my strong support for the 
brave men and women who serve on our Nation's Federal, State, and local 
law enforcement agencies. Particularly, I would like to honor two New 
York City police officers, Officers Ramos and Liu,

[[Page 1264]]

who were brutally slain in an ambush on December 20, targeted simply 
because they wore the New York Police Department uniform.
  Officer Ramos was a devoted husband and the father of two young 
children. He had just celebrated his 40th birthday. Officer Liu, who 
married just 3 months ago, leaves behind his devastated young wife and 
parents. All across the Nation, the thoughts and prayers of grateful 
citizens go out to their families, friends, and officers who served 
with them.
  I live in Allentown, Pennsylvania, not terribly far from New York 
City. I have to tell you, I believe the New York City Police Department 
is among the finest big city police departments anywhere in the world. 
I remember September 11, 2001, we saw firefighters and police officers 
and others rush down to the Twin Towers.
  We recognized and celebrated their heroism because many of them gave 
that last full measure of devotion on that day. There was no profession 
more noble than being a police officer at that time, and particularly a 
New York City police officer. How times have changed in a fairly short 
period of time.
  This extraordinary police department has come under fire because they 
have implemented very effective police practices which have been a 
model for the rest of the Nation, have kept crime rates low, and is 
something we should be celebrating, that department and the men and 
women who work there. It is a very diverse police department, among the 
most diverse anywhere.
  I would also like to point out one other sad tragedy that we dealt 
with this year in my own State. It was the beautiful fall foliage of 
Pennsylvania's Pocono Mountains that was the backdrop of a horror that 
many northeastern Pennsylvanians had to deal with for several weeks.
  We Pennsylvanians recently mourned our own loss on September 12, 
2014, when State Police Corporal Bryon Dickson was murdered under what 
appear to be similar circumstances to those in New York. He was shot to 
death because of the badge that he wore.
  Trooper Alex Douglass was seriously wounded in that same incident. We 
are pleased to hear that Trooper Douglass is recovering steadily, and 
we wish him the best in his long road to a full recovery. But what 
followed that horrific attack and assassination was a truly impressive 
7-week manhunt for Eric Frein, the shooter and self-trained, self-
described survivalist.
  Over 1,000 officers from State and local law enforcement agencies 
from Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and New York teamed with the FBI, U.S. 
Marshals Service, and ATF, and it was amazing. What we witnessed was an 
amazing testament to police work, which ended successfully with the 
surrender of Frein, and there were no shots fired. Frein, I should 
note, is currently standing trial.
  Police work is certainly, as Congressman Reichert knows better than 
anyone in this room, and Congressman Nugent, too, they know that police 
work is inherently dangerous. Officers must enforce the law in any 
number of difficult situations under pressures few outside the military 
could possibly understand, from routine traffic stops to domestic 
violence situations to hostage cases to murder scenes. America's finest 
must deal with it all. They deserve our support, and they most 
assuredly have mine.
  While we have recently seen a handful of high profile cases of 
citizens clashing with police, anyone who has ever attended a local 
crime watch meeting knows that police officers care deeply about the 
communities they serve. I have attended so many of these meetings over 
the years, both as a State legislator and even as a Congressman, 
numerous crime watch meetings in some pretty tough areas, and I was 
always so impressed with the way the officers immersed themselves in 
the daily life of the neighborhoods for which they were responsible. No 
problem was too small. They would deal with it.
  Now is the time for all of us to roll up our sleeves and work to 
address the underlying issues that have animated enormous emotions in 
communities across our country.
  I should point out, too, as a new member of the bipartisan House Law 
Enforcement Caucus, I look forward to working with my colleagues on 
both sides of the aisle to advance Federal policy that supports all of 
the brave men and women who have sworn to protect and serve.
  I thank the gentleman from Washington State for putting on this hour 
tonight. We need to spend more time celebrating the fine men and women 
who serve us.
  Mr. REICHERT. I appreciate your comments, Mr. Dent. For so many of 
the words that you shared, I could make a lot of follow-up statements, 
but our time is limited. But I do want to focus on one of the points 
that you made, just briefly.
  One of the hardest things that I ever did in my career was in 1982 
when my partner, as I mentioned earlier, was shot and killed. It was a 
3-day manhunt for the person responsible in the Cascade foothills. 
Finally, he was captured, and I was the only homicide detective at the 
scene, and they put me in the backseat with the killer of my good 
friend and partner. He was handcuffed.
  When I got into the backseat, I read him his rights. He had three 
things to say to me. Number one, of course, he wasn't sorry; number 
two, I'm thirsty; and number three, I'm hungry. I think he wanted his 
handcuffs loosened, too; they were too tight. So I loosened his 
handcuffs. We stopped at a Burger King and bought him food and got him 
something to drink, and then, of course, he went to jail.
  But to sit in that backseat with the man who just took my partner's 
life--my good friend, my best friend--3 days before was tough. And 
those are the kinds of things that cops deal with every day. And thank 
you for recognizing the emotional difficulty, not only for the 
officers, but for the community. It was a heavy day, a heavy week, a 
heavy month for the entire community. And, of course, the family still 
lives on with the loss of their father and husband.
  I now yield to the gentleman from North Carolina (Mr. Meadows).
  Mr. MEADOWS. Thank you so much for your leadership on this critical 
evening to express the will of so many Members of Congress that 
hopefully is the will of the American people. I thank you for your 
service not only here in Congress, but also for serving the people of 
King County as sheriff.
  Mr. Speaker, when we get to call out some of our dear friends who are 
sheriffs or police chiefs, many times we don't even refer to them by 
name. It is ``sheriff'' or ``chief.'' But tonight, I want to talk a 
little bit about what I call most of my law enforcement colleagues in 
western North Carolina. I call them friends. I want to tell a few 
personal stories.
  Before I do that, I want to share a little bit about the gentleman 
from Washington who is leading this tonight, because it is real easy to 
see the professional side of a Member who serves with distinction here 
in this body, but sometimes the people back home miss the personal 
side.
  Today, we were discussing a number of bills on human trafficking and 
the unbelievable blight that is on our Nation and on our world where we 
have more people today in modern-day slavery than at the height of the 
slave trade. But it is personal for this gentleman to my left because 
time and time again, in meetings, he has brought up the plight of those 
young girls, their being trafficked at the hands of so many that are 
out there. It is that personal side that we can applaud tonight, not 
only for my colleague, but for many of the sheriffs and chiefs that I 
have the honor of knowing because of being in this position.
  Mr. Speaker, I can tell story after story, but there is one police 
chief in my area who shared a story about one of his officers who was 
working for him who puts his life on the line every single day, and he 
does it for a little over $12 an hour. When I heard that, I could 
hardly believe it, because as we start to see the dedication with which 
our law enforcement officers truly put

[[Page 1265]]

themselves out each and every day, not only them, but their families--
and we expect them to come home.

                              {time}  1815

  Mr. Speaker, as has been shared previously, sometimes, they don't 
come home; so we must do a better job of standing by our law 
enforcement officers each and every day to thank them, to go out of our 
way, to make sure that we thank them for their service, thank their 
families for their sacrifice.
  There are birthday parties that are missed, anniversaries that are 
missed, dinner engagements that are missed because when the phone rings 
or when the call goes off or when the beeper is alert, they are always 
there. Not answering that call is not an option for them. They are 
always available.
  Yet in my district back in North Carolina, we have sheriffs who are 
getting involved to make sure that the homeless have a place, a warm 
bed, and a hot meal; a sheriff that has actually gone out in his 
community in one of my counties that makes sure that those that are in 
need have a place on Halloween night to come and celebrate in a safe 
environment; dedicated volunteers over and over; a sheriff back home 
who really works tirelessly to make sure that the needs of those that 
are most needy in his community are taken care of--story upon story, 
Mr. Speaker, of people who put politics aside and put the interests of 
their community first.
  Whether it is a Democrat or Republican, they all work together to 
make sure that what happens is that their community is safe.
  Mr. Speaker, they have my back, and I think it is time that the 
American people stand up and have their back. We need to make sure that 
we stand with them.
  I thank the gentleman for his time, for his leadership on this issue, 
and for his service.
  Mr. REICHERT. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman for his comments and 
also appreciate in the meetings and the hearings that we have been in 
your commitment to end--not just sort of have an impact on human 
trafficking, but ending, eliminating human trafficking in this country 
and across the globe. Thank you for your hard work.
  Mr. Speaker, I yield to the gentleman from Florida (Mr. Jolly).
  Mr. JOLLY. Mr. Speaker, I would like to thank my colleague from 
Washington.
  I rise today to join my colleagues in paying tribute to law 
enforcement, recognizing their service each and every day.
  I had an opportunity a few weeks ago on this floor to thank and to 
recognize my local law enforcement community, law enforcement officers, 
law enforcement leadership from Pinellas County, Florida--the cities of 
St. Petersburg, Clearwater, Tarpon Springs, and others--and, with 
Tarpon Springs, remember an officer who our community lost just 4 days 
before Christmas, Officer Charles Kondek, whose end of watch was 
December 21, leaving behind a family and children.
  We can pay tribute--which we should and which the vast majority of 
Americans do every day--but we also are a Congress who must offer 
solutions and who must act. One of the ways in which we can act is to 
ensure, just as we do for our men and women of the military, that our 
law enforcement have the tools and technology necessary to do their 
job.
  While much of local law enforcement is, indeed, funded locally, there 
is a program--the 1033 program that has been debated so much during 
this past year--that provides equipment, protective equipment, tools, 
and technology for our law enforcement officers to do their job. That 
is a Federal program that should not be controversial.
  I have introduced legislation--because we are a solutions-oriented 
Congress--to continue the 1033 program, but to simply require one thing 
to address the concerns of so many, and that requirement is that local 
law enforcement leadership certify before receiving equipment that they 
have officers trained and capable of using the equipment.
  It is very simple. This is equipment that our local law enforcement 
officers need, and, frankly, if it is not available to them through the 
1033 program, they will purchase it as required by their local force, 
and it will cost local taxpayers the money to do so.
  Here is the importance of this legislation. It says two things. 
First, it says that this Congress, your Representatives, want to do our 
part to provide for the safety of our law enforcement officers, but, 
secondly, subscribe to this radical notion that should not be 
controversial: we trust our local law enforcement leadership to set the 
right policing tone and to provide for the safety of their communities 
while they also provide for the safety of law enforcement officers that 
risk their lives every day, officers like Charles Kondek.
  I would encourage this Congress, as we continue to look for ways not 
just to pay tribute to law enforcement officers, but to support the 
work they do every day, to consider this legislation that ensures this 
program will continue to provide tools and technology to law 
enforcement officers and says: You know what, we, as a Congress, trust 
our law enforcement leadership back home because they know best how to 
provide for the safety of our communities, how to set the tone of 
policing in our communities, and how to protect our law enforcement 
officers.
  Mr. Speaker, I appreciate my colleague from Washington having this 
Special Order and allowing me time this evening.
  Mr. REICHERT. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman for his comments and 
his staunch support of law enforcement and his support of 1033. We will 
work together on that, and I am sure other Members of Congress have an 
interest in working to make sure that that legislation gets passed.
  Mr. Speaker, I now yield to Mr. LaMalfa from California.
  Mr. LaMALFA. Mr. Speaker, thank you to my colleague from Washington, 
Mr. Reichert, for this opportunity and, really, privilege to be able to 
speak about those in law enforcement that are really on duty for us 
every day and being able to support and show my gratitude for them 
across our country because we know that they are there daily to keep us 
safe and secure in our communities.
  They have an incredibly important role and a vital responsibility to 
uphold our rule of law, which is the core of our Constitution and 
ensures everyone is accountable under the law. Everyone needs to be 
accountable under the law. That is a huge responsibility.
  It is up to us, whether it is in Congress or at the State legislative 
level or local government, to make sure that they have the tools that 
they need to do their job. In the time of budget cuts and other 
constraints put on them, their job gets that much harder; indeed, 
sometimes, they feel handcuffed in their ability to do their work.
  When you speak to the officers sometimes--they always have an air of 
professionalism about them, but when you really get down to it, 
sometimes, they don't feel very appreciated and that they don't have 
the tools to do what they need because of things sometimes the 
government does or frivolous lawsuits, for example.
  We even sometimes see our elected officials participating in 
vilifying our people in law enforcement. That is really, really 
irresponsible because we are all in this together, us as lawmakers and 
those in the executive branch down to our beat officer that has that 
responsibility. We are supposed to work together in upholding the law 
and making sure they have the tools, as well as providing oversight.
  We want to make sure everybody is behaving the way they should, but 
as we see so hyped lately with a tiny, tiny minority of incidents out 
there compared to the contacts--I heard a statistic the other day, much 
less than 1 percent of contacts that officers have with the public 
results in any kind of physical action needed, much less than 1 
percent; yet you would think, from all the hype, from all the media, it 
was a much higher number than that.
  The vast majority of it is an officer helping you out. You have 
brushes with the law here and there, but they are very professional in 
what they do.

[[Page 1266]]

What you really need to do is step into their shoes for a minute, think 
about where they have come from to get where they are.
  They had to have a very clean record to get through background to be 
accepted into academy and be accepted into whatever force that they are 
working in. It is a high bar. You can't have a bad record in your 
background. They have chosen to come forward and put themselves at 
risk.
  Look what they go through each day in their jobs if they have made it 
through academy and were brought on to a force. If they are called into 
a situation, they don't really have the option of saying: No, I am not 
going to go.
  If someone has called from a home, they have a domestic problem, what 
have you, they have got to get to a solution because someone's lives 
may be at stake inside that home, even though there might be something 
outside that would make you or I uncomfortable, a mean dog in the yard 
or some characters hanging around outside that you wouldn't normally 
want to deal with. They have to get to a solution on that because 
somebody called them, somebody dialed 911, and we expect that they are 
going to get to a solution.
  Officers have to go into every situation prepared for the worst 
because it could mean their life, maybe their partner's life, or 
someone else in a vulnerable situation that has called upon them.
  If you think about being in their shoes, we all have a responsibility 
to make their jobs simpler. It could even help us in not being in a 
mistaken situation because they have to plan for the worst and hope for 
the best.
  I can certainly feel for them in that they might be a little stressed 
on every call, every car they might pull over for speeding or a broken 
taillight or having to answer to someone's household or even a bigger 
deal like a bank robbery.
  They have to be prepared every moment because it is their life or the 
other lives around them. They have to have the protocol and the 
training to know how to handle that situation just right.
  When you look at that high bar, you look at the amount of stress that 
they are going through to do that, they do an amazing, remarkable job 
of getting it right; so we need to give them a little grace, a little 
room to do their job as best they can.
  Then we have a responsibility as regular citizens to make their job 
easier. If they ask for your driver's license and ID, just give it to 
them. If they ask you to stay in the car so that they can see where 
your hands are and stuff--they don't know who else is in that car--make 
it where they can do their job, and you are going to have a heck of a 
lot better interaction with them.
  Use basic common sense. There are instructions out there how to get 
along with that. I have even seen comedians out there saying how not to 
get in trouble with the police.
  Pay attention to the common sense on that because we need them more 
so than ever in a country that is becoming less and less safe, it 
seems, from outside threats, as well as people within that don't seem 
to understand the rule of law and sometimes governing officials that 
don't seem to care about upholding it. We all have the responsibility 
as citizens.
  Those costs have been high because, in the previous year, well over 
100 officers have been lost in the line of duty--and that is tragic--
trying to defend us.
  I am glad to be able to stand here today with my colleague from 
Washington to recognize their bravery, their devotion, and for all of 
us to remember how to make their job a little bit easier.
  Mr. REICHERT. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman for his comments in 
support.
  There are a couple of things that he mentioned. One, some of those 
acts that police officers do each and every day to help families--
people don't hear about those officers that buy groceries for families 
that are less fortunate.
  I know when I worked on the Green River task force and working with 
families that had missing daughters or had lost their daughter to--I am 
not even going to mention his name--the monster serial killer from 
Seattle, delivering Christmas presents to those families, money out of 
their own pocket or time out of their own time in building a new 
bicycle for some young brother of one of the victims.
  Those are things that the community in a neighborhood might hear 
about, but you never see on the news, you never see publicized, and you 
never really hear about it, so I appreciate that.
  The second thing the gentleman mentioned was training, and I really 
believe that that is one of the things that we can do to help law 
enforcement officers across this country.
  The National Blue Alert Act is another piece of legislation that we, 
I think, can work together to pass. It should be a bipartisan effort. 
The COPS Improvement and Reauthorization Act is another tool that we 
can provide and another bill to try to expedite the claims process for 
public safety officer benefits program.
  In some cases, the Department of Justice has taken 3 to 4 years to 
decide whether or not a family should receive that benefit, that death 
benefit, when their spouse has been killed in the line of duty.
  Mr. Speaker, let me thank the gentleman for his comments.
  Now, Mr. Speaker, it is with great honor that I introduce the next 
Member of Congress and yield time to him, my good friend and partner 
who is also a career law enforcement officer for a couple of different 
departments, his last tour of duty was as a sheriff in Florida.
  There are two career law enforcement officers in Congress, as far as 
the two of us know, and we are standing right here.
  I look at Mr. Nugent, Rich Nugent, as my backup here in Congress, and 
I know he considers me his backup and partners here in supporting our 
law enforcement officers across this great country, and I thank Mr. 
Nugent for his service in law enforcement and to his communities.
  I know he has faced some dangerous situations throughout his career. 
Sometimes, we sit on the floor and share those stories with each other. 
The only really two that can understand some of these stories are 
really cops.
  Mr. Speaker, I yield to the gentleman from Florida, Mr. Nugent.

                              {time}  1830

  Mr. NUGENT. Mr. Speaker, I want to thank the gentleman from 
Washington, Sheriff Reichert. That is a term of endearment. It is won, 
a title that you earn. It is an opportunity to lead a great body of men 
and women. So when Sheriff Reichert wanted to do this hour, it was, 
like he said, we have each other's back. We have been through issues 
that we can relate to.
  When I first became a law enforcement officer, my mom said: You know, 
I could picture one of your brothers doing this, but not you. You just 
don't have that temperament to be that bold, I guess is what she was 
saying, compared to my brothers.
  But at the end of the day, after 39 years, and the last 10 as sheriff 
before I got elected to this office, those were 39 of the best years, 
and I guarantee it that Dave Reichert feels the same way with his 
tenure in law enforcement. I started out as a cop outside the city of 
Chicago and saw issues that I would rather not even mention.
  Coming down to Florida was quite a break, it was different. But at 
the same time, that changed over time too. From a small, sleepy 
sheriff's office of about 40 individuals to, when I left, we had over 
500 folks that served this great Nation in that community.
  You hear a lot on the news about law enforcement in that they want to 
make it sound like we are not human. In reality, I have been to those 
scenes where a law enforcement officer has been involved in a shooting 
where he has had to take somebody's life. And that officer was so 
emotionally distraught, because that is not why they got into the 
business. It is not why I ever got into the business. You got into the 
business because you wanted to help people, you wanted to be there to 
protect people. That is what law enforcement is about.
  And, unfortunately, sometimes bad things happen to good people. 
Sheriff

[[Page 1267]]

Reichert mentioned the fact that sometimes police officers and deputies 
can make a mistake. We are only human. But when things are moving fast 
as the speed of light, you have got to think back as to what and why 
that officer did or didn't do what he did at the time.
  And I worry about when elected officials see it as a political 
expedience to condemn police officers for something that occurred 
before they ever get the facts. Dave Reichert and I sit on the floor 
and we talk about that, about maybe, just maybe people should wait 
until the investigation is complete before you condemn somebody, until 
you walk in their shoes. The sheriff talked about the fact that I can 
remember back as a rookie having to work, and I took the shifts of guys 
that had families because I wasn't married when it came down to 
holidays. I didn't have a family, so I would take the shifts so they 
could be with their families. But it didn't always work out that way. 
There was many a time that I missed Christmas, missed birthdays, missed 
wedding anniversaries because of service, and that is just not me. That 
is all the men and women that serve this country in local law 
enforcement and other law enforcement agencies throughout the United 
States.
  Most of the men and women that I served with, I guarantee you could 
go out and make more money doing something else. They were bright, 
bright people. But their calling was to be a law enforcement officer. 
To go out there in the dead of night, climb up in an attic--remember 
that--you climb up in an attic and you don't know what is up there, 
except you know there is a bad guy who is up there, and somebody has to 
go there and do it. At the end of the day, these men and women do it 
because they love the community they serve.
  Congressman Reichert talked about what police officers do with their 
own money in regards to buying turkeys for Thanksgiving for families, 
buying Christmas presents for children that would not have a Christmas, 
doing summer camps for free for children because these children don't 
have or didn't have the ability to go to one of those paid summer 
camps--that is pretty neat. And we would, in our sheriff's office, 
without using taxpayer money, with donations from clubs like Kiwanis 
and Rotary and others, pay for that so that these young men and these 
girls and boys could have the opportunity to interact with law 
enforcement, to actually see that, do you know what? We are human. That 
when we do these little games out there in the field and we have the 
things, water balloons or whatever it may be, that we are real people, 
because a lot of times, the only time they see a law enforcement 
officer is possibly during a domestic situation where they are 
arresting their mom or their dad. And that can jade anybody.
  But it can also jade law enforcement, because the things that they 
see no one here would want to see. There were times when I went home, 
getting off the midnight shift, and walked in my house at 6 o'clock in 
the morning. And what I had just seen the night before, you would have 
a hard time going to sleep, where you would grab your child--I can 
remember my youngest child at the time, my only child at the time--
grabbing him and hugging him because of what I just saw some other 
parent do to their child that was unspeakable.
  Our three sons, they all serve in the military. Our middle son is a 
Black Hawk pilot in the Florida Army National Guard. He is also a 
deputy sheriff in one of the major counties in Florida. He wasn't sure 
if that was the right job because, when they went through the class on 
child abuse, it struck a chord as a new dad: How could anyone do that 
to them? But do you know what? He has turned out to be a pretty good 
cop. And we say that with reverence; it is not a derogatory term.
  But the men and women that put on the uniform and that badge do it 
because they love people, not because they hate them. They do it 
because they really want to make a difference in their community. Their 
families are the ones that suffer the most.
  When I have had to go to scenes where I have had an officer killed in 
the line of duty, it breaks your heart. When I was a rookie officer 
outside of Chicago, right out of the academy, one of my academy mates 
was killed, shot and killed by a 12-year-old in our first year on the 
job. You never know when it is going to hit.
  When Officer Kondek down in Tarpon Springs went to work on the 21st 
of December, he kissed his wife and his kids good-bye, expecting to be 
there for Christmas. Little did he know that that was the last day of 
his life. The person who killed him shot him and then ran him over with 
a car. This is not what we want.
  Where we want to see the America that I love is, the same respect 
that we give our soldiers returning from war, that we give that to our 
police officers. That when you see them in a restaurant or you see them 
on the street or you see them on a call, thank them for what they do. 
They will be absolutely surprised and amazed, but grateful.
  When my sons are in uniform and people come up to them in the 
military and thank them for their service, there is no reason we can't 
do the same for our law enforcement officers.
  Congressman Reichert is probably the most humble guy I know in the 
stories, and he would never brag about himself, but he is a consummate 
professional. His bravery is unmatched, and his leadership, I am sure, 
at that sheriff's office in Washington State is better for him being 
sheriff than not.
  Mr. REICHERT. I thank the sheriff. There might be some people back in 
Washington State that might disagree with you.
  Mr. NUGENT. Well, I guarantee there are some.
  Mr. REICHERT. Absolutely.
  But I think that what you and I, and everyone who has spoken here 
tonight, have tried to do is to bring the personality, the humanness in 
the human heart, of a police officer to America tonight. And I think 
with two sheriffs here, it is a powerful way from the floor of the 
House of Representatives to share with people across this Nation 
through this media our thanks and gratitude to each and every man and 
woman who wears the uniform, who puts their life on the line, who knows 
that some day when they leave they know there is a possibility that 
they may not come home, and the families live with that too.
  One quick story. I was stabbed in 1973 or '74. I had my throat slit 
with a butcher knife at a domestic violence call that we talked about a 
little earlier. My wife actually found out that I had my throat slit. 
She was sitting home watching the news, and they showed me being 
wheeled into the hospital out of the ambulance. She finally got a phone 
call, but she didn't know if I was going to live or die.
  That happens every day in this country, ladies and gentlemen. Mr. 
Speaker, that happens every day here. An officer is injured, hurt, or 
killed somewhere across this Nation. And we need to be there, Mr. 
Speaker, to support them, we need to be there to pray for them and 
their families, and we need to be there to pray for our communities 
that they come together and be true partners in protecting our children 
and our families.
  I yield back the balance of my time.

                          ____________________