[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 161 (2015), Part 12]
[House]
[Pages 17329-17330]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                PEACE OFFICERS ARE A CUT ABOVE THE REST

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair recognizes the gentleman from 
Texas (Mr. Poe) for 5 minutes.
  Mr. POE of Texas. Mr. Speaker, recently a Hollywood filmmaker joined 
protesters and marched in an antipolice rally in New York City.
  He referred to peace officers as murderers. His hateful rhetoric 
called for violence against law enforcement, saying: ``I have to call a 
murderer a murderer, and I have to call a murder a murder,'' adding 
that he is on the side of the ones who confront and are confronted by 
police. His comments encourage mischief and crimes against peace 
officers.
  For the haters to justify lawlessness in response to perceived 
lawless acts by the police is idiotic. Bad cops, like bad citizens, 
should face a judge in a court of law. However, communities cannot be 
burned, looted, or destroyed by cop haters because some police officer 
allegedly committed a crime. Nor can crimes against police be 
encouraged, tolerated, or justified because some other officer is 
accused of doing something improper. Otherwise, there is mob rule.
  The filmmaker, whose occupation is dedicated to the fake, the false, 
and to fiction, made comments 1 week after New York City lost one of 
its finest. Officer Randolph Holder was gunned down--really, he was 
assassinated by a ruthless outlaw--and he was recently buried. The 
filmmaker's self-righteous indignation toward law enforcement only 
fuels the fire and the war on police. It promotes anarchy, chaos, and 
lawlessness.
  The war on police has resulted in the death of 31 police officers 
killed in the line of duty this year, 31 officers who gave their life 
and their blood to protect and serve the rest of us. Cop haters ought 
to be ashamed.
  The New York police union has called for a boycott of the Hollywood 
filmmaker's films which, interestingly enough, are riddled with extreme 
violence, racist remarks, and more hate toward police.
  It is ironic, Mr. Speaker, that society expects police officers to 
protect them, but they will be the first to criticize officers for 
doing their job.
  Officers defend the thin blue line between law and the lawless. Their 
job is dangerous. Every day peace officers run toward chaos that 
everyone else is running away from.
  Mr. Speaker, in my past life I was a criminal court judge and a 
prosecutor in Houston, Texas. For 30 years I met peace officers from 
all over the country. Some of those officers I met were

[[Page 17330]]

later killed. I know peace officers from New York City, and after we 
get through the communication barrier--as Churchill said, we are 
separated by a common language--I have found them generally to be 
remarkable people who do society's dirty work.
  Those peace officers in New York are constantly on the job, rooting 
out the evil in New York City, while protecting and serving New 
Yorkers. They go into the dark dens where crime dwells and arrest those 
who would do harm to others. They have a thankless job that most people 
in America would never do.
  Mr. Speaker, this isn't Hollywood. This is real life, where 
situations can turn violent in an instant. There is no fake blood, 
makeup, or actors. These lives are real.
  Antipolice comments, like these from Hollywood, should be looked at 
for really what they are. It is a commercial by the Hollywood film 
crowd to make money off of films that preach hate and violence by 
pandering to police haters.
  Mr. Speaker, peace officers wear the badge or shield or star over 
their heart. It is symbolic by where it is placed. As a protector from 
the evils that are committed in our society by protecting the rest of 
us, they stand between us and those who would do us harm.
  When I was a kid back in Texas, my dad and I went to a parade in a 
small town called Temple. As the parade was going by, my dad noticed 
that I was looking at a person who was standing on the corner. He 
wasn't in the parade. He was just watching what was taking place. It 
was a local Temple police officer. Back in those days they didn't 
really have uniforms. They wore a white shirt, a star, and a cowboy 
hat, and jeans.
  My dad commented at that time, he said: ``If you are ever in trouble, 
if you ever need help, go to the man or woman who wears the badge 
because they are a cut above the rest of us.''
  That statement was true then, and it is still true today. Mr. 
Speaker, peace officers are a cut above the rest of us.
  And that is just the way it is.

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