National Police Week: Blue Lives Matter

Floor Speech

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Mr. AL GREEN of Texas. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentlemen and sheriff, and I would also like to thank President John F. Kennedy for his proclamation recognizing our peace officers.

I want to say that I am grateful that the gentleman has chosen to come to the floor and have this Special Order honoring those who are willing to make the ultimate sacrifice.

I have heard persons talk about the virtues of peace officers. I don't have to have it explained to me because I have a personal experience that I can relate to.

My uncle was a deputy sheriff. My uncle was a peace officer. He was well respected in his community. I adored him. My uncle and I were together in his patrol car, and I was asking a lot of questions.

His comment to another person with us was: This boy is asking a lot of questions. He is going to be a lawyer because he is asking so many questions.

I did not know what a lawyer was, but I knew that, if my uncle, who was a deputy sheriff, said I was going to be a lawyer, then a lawyer I would be.

From that day forward, I had one mission in life when it came to my education and my career. That was to be a lawyer because my uncle, the deputy sheriff, the peace officer, proclaimed it as such.

So I am honored tonight to pay tribute to him. His name was Dallas Yates. He served in Florida in a small town called Gifford, near Vero Beach.

He lived into his nineties, became a minister, and passed away just recently. It was not in the line of duty, but it meant something to me to know that he lived and made a difference in the lives of others.

With reference to the phrase itself, this terminology, ``in the line of duty,'' it takes on new meaning if you go to the home-going ceremony of a peace officer. It will take on a new meaning.

When you see that riderless horse with the boots in the stirrups, it takes on a new meaning. When you see the family grieving, it takes on a new meaning. When you understand this is a person who was willing to sacrifice so that others might have life, it takes on a new meaning.

So I am honored to be here tonight, and I want people to know that there are many of us who believe that we have to support our law enforcement officers and stand with them and recognize that ``in the line of duty'' means more than going to work. It sometimes means not coming home.

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