[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 162 (2016), Part 4]
[Senate]
[Pages 5863-5864]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




 HONORING THE MEMORY AND SERVICE OF OMAHA POLICE OFFICER KERRIE OROZCO

  Mr. SASSE. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate 
proceed to the consideration of S. Res. 463, submitted earlier today.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will report the resolution by title.
  The legislative clerk read as follows:

       A resolution (S. Res. 463) honoring the memory and service 
     of Omaha Police Officer Kerrie Orozco.

  There being no objection, the Senate proceeded to consider the 
resolution.

[[Page 5864]]


  Mrs. FISCHER. Mr. President, I rise today to honor the life of 
Officer Kerrie Orozco of the Omaha Police Department. This month will 
mark the 1-year anniversary of the officer's death. I would like to 
take a few minutes to remember her life and celebrate the legacy of 
this brave young woman who died in the line of duty.
  Officer Kerrie Orozco was born on September 19, 1985, in Walnut, IA. 
Walnut is a small town about an hour east of Omaha and the place where 
Kerrie's devotion to community and public service began at an early 
age. Her mother, Ellen Holtz, remembers Kerrie as a leader from the 
start, recalling that ``she was my oldest, but had the best sense of 
humor and kind of took care of her brothers and sisters.'' She was also 
active in sports, music, and volunteer groups. Her high school alumni 
volleyball team called themselves the Wolf Pack.
  Leadership and service were in her blood. Kerrie's aunt, Laurie 
McNeil, said Kerrie always wanted to be a cop. ``She was just a doer,'' 
Laurie remembered in an interview with Omaha's WOWT last year. 
``Whether it was church, 4-H, everything she was involved in, she gave 
100 percent.''
  Faith was also deeply ingrained in Kerrie, whom Aunt Laurie called a 
``very strong Catholic girl'' who was always smiling. Putting it 
simply, Kerrie ``was a saint,'' her aunt said.
  Kerrie's natural instinct for leadership and service led her to join 
the police force in 2007. This decision had a special place in Kerrie's 
heart because of a promise she made to her father. Earlier that year 
her father fell gravely ill, and by the fall it became clear that he 
would not recover. Kerrie made a promise to him in those final moments 
of his life that she would make him proud. Two months later, in 
December of 2007, she joined the academy.
  During the next 7 years, as an officer with the Omaha Police 
Department, Kerrie became active in the community she protected. She 
volunteered with the Special Olympics and helped raise funds as 
president of the Police Officers Ball. She led a Girl Scout troop and 
took part in area events like Shop With a Cop. For years, Officer 
Orozco was also known as ``Coach K'' to the baseball team she led 
through the North Omaha Boys and Girls Club. This devotion to so many 
people in the Omaha community earned Kerrie the police department's 
Outstanding Volunteer Service Award last year.
  Her love of these children was outmatched by the love of her own 
family, particularly her husband Hector and his two children. In 
February of 2015, they welcomed the birth of their first child 
together, a daughter named Olivia. Their daughter was born premature, 
and Kerrie postponed her maternity leave while Olivia remained in the 
prenatal care unit.
  Three months later, on May 20, 2015, Officer Orozco was preparing to 
serve an arrest warrant as a member of the department's Metro Area 
Fugitive Task Force. When her team arrived, the suspect opened fire and 
Kerrie was hit. She was rushed to Creighton University Medical Center, 
where she died shortly thereafter. Officer Kerrie Orozco was 29 years 
old and was 1 day away from going on maternity leave to care for her 
new daughter, who had just been released from the hospital after 3 
months of prenatal care.
  She was the first female officer of the Omaha Police Department to 
die in the line of duty. Thousands of people from Nebraska, Iowa, and 
beyond braved the rain to line the streets for her funeral procession 
and honor the officer who gave her life for her fellow citizens.
  This month marks the first anniversary of her death, but her memory 
and service to Omaha live on in all our hearts. Her mother Ellen said 
she often comes home to find gifts in honor of Kerrie, sometimes 
without any idea of whom they are from.
  The Omaha Police Department considers itself a united family, and in 
the year since Kerrie's death, the common refrain of ``Kerrie On'' has 
been referenced time and time again to honor her spirit, legacy, and 
memory.
  Several of her family members, as well as her colleagues and members 
of the Omaha First Responders Foundation, are here this week to honor 
Officer Orozco in our Nation's Capital. I join them and all Nebraskans 
to celebrate the life and legacy of a truly great person, a proud 
police officer, and a beloved wife and mother. Officer Kerrie Orozco 
represents the best of Nebraska and our Nation, and she will ever 
inspire us to ``Kerrie On.''
  Mr. SASSE. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the resolution 
be agreed to, the preamble be agreed to, and the motions to reconsider 
be considered made and laid upon the table with no intervening action 
or debate.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
  The resolution (S. Res. 463) was agreed to.
  The preamble was agreed to.
  (The resolution, with its preamble, is printed in today's Record 
under ``Submitted Resolutions.'')

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