[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 163 (2017), Part 6]
[House]
[Page 8044]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                 GROWING UP IN A LAW ENFORCEMENT FAMILY

  The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mr. Thompson of Pennsylvania). The Chair 
recognizes the gentleman from Kansas (Mr. Marshall) for 5 minutes.
  Mr. MARSHALL. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to give a very personal 
thanks to our men and women in uniform during this National Police 
Week.
  I was raised the son of the chief of police and the head of the fire 
department of El Dorado, Kansas, for some 25 years. In that time, he 
taught me discipline and values. He taught me there was right and there 
was wrong, that some things are black and white in the world, and my 
father represented what the law was in my community.
  Today, I celebrate this week with him and the men and women who 
served with him who gave me a deep respect for the rule of law and 
those who serve daily to uphold it. Certainly, I am the person I am 
today because of what my parents taught me, my family, and the 
community, and they still do to this day.
  I can remember growing up and the first day my dad brought home Rene, 
our trained police dog, and how that dog became part of our family, a 
very gentle dog until one morning, we were playing football in the 
backyard, and one of my friends tackled me. We watched that police dog 
climb a 6-foot-high fence to come to my rescue.
  I remember my dad pulling people from fires. I remember riding in the 
back of an old Jeep that was overhauled from an Army Reserve to fight 
prairie fires and grass fires, something I am sure that kids wouldn't 
be allowed to do today. My dad took me to the firing range time and 
time again, and I would watch my dad shoot 25 rounds into a small 
circle the size of a quarter week after week, training to do his job 
right. I remember him getting called out to domestic disturbances and 
crime scenes. I remember him disarming people with weapons time and 
time again, putting his life on the line.
  But it is just not my family, Mr. Speaker. Families across the 
country have loved ones who serve our communities, States, and country.
  Earlier this week, President Trump gave a great message: ``No one 
asked these selfless men and women to enlist in this righteous cause or 
to enroll as foot soldiers in the eternal struggle against crime and 
violence. They joined the cause because their hearts were big and full 
of amazing courage.''
  Mr. Speaker, I salute the men and women in uniform and thank them for 
their service.

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