[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 161 (2015), Part 10]
[House]
[Pages 13769-13770]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                            ALL LIVES MATTER

  (Mr. WILLIAMS asked and was given permission to address the House for 
1 minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. WILLIAMS. Mr. Speaker, in the past year, our Nation has witnessed 
an unspeakable tragedy--a rivalry of law enforcement officers and the 
communities they work so hard to protect.
  From riots in Ferguson and Baltimore to, most recently, the 
individual targeting and murdering of police officers, our Nation is at 
a crossroads.
  We find ourselves asking:
  When will the rule of law and those who enforce that law, once again, 
be respected?
  How many more violent protests and threatening chants will those who 
bravely wear the badge have to put up with?

[[Page 13770]]

  How much more taunting under the guise of a misleading slogan be 
tolerated before community organizers, prominent African American 
leaders, and Democrats at the city, State, and national levels say 
enough is enough?
  When will we hear in unison: ``It is not okay to kill police 
officers''?
  Mr. Speaker, my colleagues and I are here this evening to honor those 
in uniform who have fallen, but we are also here to call for an end to 
this violence. We are here to call for the restoration of law and 
order. We are here to call for the protection of the men and women who 
put their lives on the line every single day--the ones who chose a 
profession to help make their neighborhoods safer.
  These are not just police officers. They are mothers; they are 
fathers; they are husbands and wives; they are sons and daughters. Mr. 
Speaker, their lives matter, too, and all lives matter.
  In God we trust.

                          ____________________