[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 163 (2017), Part 6]
[Senate]
[Pages 8158-8159]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                          NATIONAL POLICE WEEK

  Mr. MENENDEZ. Mr. President, as we end Police Week, I wish to pay 
tribute to the police officers across the country who serve their 
communities with steadfast dedication. In particular, I rise to honor 
three brave New Jersey law enforcement officers who lost their lives in 
the line of duty last year.
  In 1962, President Kennedy first proclaimed May 15 as National Peace 
Officers Memorial Day, and he proclaimed the calendar week in which May 
15 falls as National Police Week. These designations pay special 
recognition to those law enforcement officers who have lost their lives 
in the line of duty and includes a number of events that brings 
together thousands of law enforcement professionals and families to our 
nations' capital.

[[Page 8159]]

  On this Police Week, I reflected on the nearly 400 new names 
inscribed on the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial in 
Washington, DC. Of these names, at least 139 were killed last year, and 
roughly 250 were earlier deaths that had slipped through the cracks of 
history. The total number of names on the National Law Enforcement 
Officers Memorial will increase to more than 21,000, dating back to the 
first known officer fatality in 1791.
  It is a deeply upsetting fact that, on average, one law enforcement 
officer is killed in the line of duty somewhere in the United States 
every 58 hours. We can and should do better than this, and we owe it to 
these brave men and women to give them the necessary tools and training 
to protect themselves. Those who protect us deserve to be protected as 
well.
  In honor of National Police Week and in recognition of the supreme 
sacrifice made by these officers, I will now read the names of the 
three law enforcement officers from New Jersey who were killed in the 
line of duty in 2016: Sean Cullen, trooper, New Jersey State police; 
Nikeelan Semmon, senior corrections officer, New Jersey Department of 
Corrections; and Frankie Williams, trooper, New Jersey State police.
  Today my thoughts and prayers go out to the families of these brave 
officers. I sincerely hope that we rededicate ourselves to doing 
everything we can to support all law enforcement officers across the 
country. We owe them, along with all those who serve our country, the 
deepest debt of gratitude.

                          ____________________