Department of Defense Appropriations Act, 2017--Motion to Proceed--
Floor Speech
BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT
Ms. MURKOWSKI. Mr. President, I wanted to speak for just a few moments this afternoon about how the tragedy in Dallas touched many in Alaska, particularly the bedroom community of Eagle River, AK, just outside of Anchorage. Among the five law enforcement heroes who were murdered last Thursday was Senior Corporal Lorne Ahrens of the Dallas Police Department. His father, William, and his stepmother, Sue, live in Eagle River. Last Friday morning Bill and Sue became members of a very exclusive fraternity that no law enforcement family ever wishes to join, and that is the fraternity of families who have lost an officer in the line of duty.
Lorne never lived in Alaska. He did visit on several occasions. He grew up in Southern California. He served with the L.A. County Sheriff's Department and then with the Dallas Police Department. But if you read the accounts of the articles in the Alaska papers--not only in the Alaska Dispatch News over the weekend but in the Juneau Empire yesterday--the accounts of Lorne and his story and his connection with Alaska, one would have assumed that he was one of ours, that he was an Alaskan. I think it just spoke to the loss, and the tragedy we all saw last Thursday reminded us that we are truly one community in so many ways.
Bill and Sue Ahrens attend the Anchorage Baptist Temple. When they heard the news that Bill's son had been killed in Dallas, this church community truly opened their arms and they opened their hearts to support the family not only over that difficult weekend but really to provide them what any church community would do, what any broader community would do--to provide them that support. One can certainly understand that the grief is almost inconsolable.
Lorne Ahrens was a huge guy, if you follow the descriptions in the paper, a big guy, a former semi-pro football player. He was a smart cop with a big heart, is what they said. His stature made people feel that he was almost invincible. But as much as we might not want to believe it, our law enforcement heroes are not invincible. They put on the badge in the morning, they kiss their wives and their kids, and then they enter a world that is entirely unpredictable and, unfortunately, increasingly dangerous.
Lorne's wife Katrina is a detective with the Dallas Police Department. She understands this problem more than most, but, really, how do you explain it to your children--in this case, their children, Sorcha, who is just 10 years old, and their son Magnus, age 8.
Fortunately, Katrina, Magnus, Sorcha, Bill, and Sue will not be alone. The law enforcement community closes ranks to support survivors and their children at the local and the national levels. There is a wonderful organization known as Concerns of Police Survivors that comes in and enters the family's lives. It doesn't make everything all right, but hopefully it will help.
The National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial Fund will work with the Dallas Police Department and the family to honor Lorne's memory in perpetuity just a few blocks away from here on Judiciary Square.
Since coming to the Senate, I have actually grown pretty close to the folks who maintain the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial. I have gone to the candlelight vigils during National Police Week, and I have read the names of fallen officers from the State of Alaska. My staff has decorated the memorial with commemorative items that were sent by departments and family members who could not make it to Washington for the candlelight vigil. We have sent pencil etchings back to the Alaskan families and to the departments. I have driven down to Alexandria to meet with the families of the fallen at the annual Concerns of Police Survivors Conference. Their cause is my cause. This has become quite personal to me.
Next May, the name of Lorne Ahrens will be inscribed on the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial, and I am pretty certain that Bill and Sue will be invited to travel to Washington to participate in the observance, and I hope to welcome them here on Capitol Hill, along with Katrina, Sorcha, and Magnus. Communities throughout the Nation are grieving the loss of Lorne Ahrens as well as his four colleagues from the Dallas Police Department this week. It becomes even more personal to the communities with which they are connected, where they lived, where they called home--in Lorne's case, his home community of Burleson, TX, the city of Dallas, Los Angeles County, CA, and, yes, in faraway smaller places like Eagle River in Alaska.
As we recognize Senior Corporal Lorne Ahrens, know that the people of Alaska stand with the Ahrens family at this very difficult time and throughout their lives because he truly was one of ours. Bree's Law
Mr. President, I would like to bring up a matter that oftentimes people would just assume not have a discussion about; that is, abusive relationships that unfortunately we see with young people and teenagers. All across this country, teenagers and young adults are victims of abuse in their relationships. There is no part of the country where we don't see this. According to some research, more than 1 million high school boys and girls admit to being physically abused by their boyfriend or girlfriend. One in three teens will be in an abusive or unhealthy relationship that includes sexual, physical, verbal, or emotional abuse. One in three teens reports knowing friends who were abused, but most don't know how to intervene. Only one-third of the teens reported their experiences to anyone, not even their parents.
We are not just talking about those who are 18 years old. Nearly two- thirds of young people between the ages of 11 and 14 who have been in a relationship have been verbally abused by people who are supposed to care for them. One in three teenagers has been hit, punched, slapped, kicked, or choked by someone who is supposed to care about them.
Research also tells us that teens who are abused in dating relationships are more likely to succumb to post-traumatic stress disorder, alcoholism, eating disorders, suicidal thoughts, and even violent behavior. Yet, over 80 percent of parents don't know that teen dating violence is an issue that affects young people from all backgrounds, all parts of the country, and children who are not even old enough yet to be called a teenager. It is often much harder for teens to leave an abusive relationship than for adults because they often don't know how they can access resources or that resources exist at all.
As a parent, this is hard for me. I think it is hard for all parents. We try to do everything we possibly can to keep our children safe as they are growing up. We make sure we buckle the seatbelt when they are little kids. We put them in the infant seat. We teach them how to safely cross the street. We make them wear bike helmets, and we teach them about stranger danger. But, again, one in two teens somehow or another ends up in an abusive relationship.
Statistics are one thing, but the experiences of real Americans inform our work in the Senate every day, far more than just the mere numbers of statistics. Today I would like to tell you about a beautiful young woman who has inspired a bill I have introduced. This is a young woman by the name of Breanna Richelle Moore. Breanna went by the name of Bree.
Bree was a strong, engaging, happy, accomplished young woman. She excelled in all kinds of sports--in swimming, track and field, volleyball, and many other sports. Her school offered a Japanese immersion program, so at the age of 5, she started to learn to read and write and speak Japanese. She was an accomplished flute player. She sang beautifully at many public events across the city of Anchorage. She was really the quintessential Alaskan woman.
In addition to her athletics and her artistic talents, the girl could hunt, she could fish, ride a dirt bike and snow machine better than most boys, and when they broke down, she could even fix them. She did well in school. She volunteered to nurse sick, abandoned, and dying pets. She worked her way up from being a dental hygienist assistant to the dentist's assistant, and she was about to change her major in college to pre-med. She was motivated, funny, and she was happy. Everywhere she went, her friends would say Bree ``saw the good in everyone, spreading happiness wherever she went, and had the gift to make everyone else a better person.''
But Bree was also in an abusive relationship. On June 26, 2014, her boyfriend shot and killed her. She was 20 years old. That same year, Alaska was ranked No. 1 in the Nation for the rate of women murdered by men--over twice the national average. This is not a statistic in Alaska we are proud of.
After her death, three of Bree's coworkers said they knew she was being abused. She came to work a couple times with a black eye. They also said: We didn't know what to do or whom to call--if there was just something we could have done. They and Bree's parents will be forever haunted by the knowledge that they did not understand or act on the signs of dating abuse and violence that took this marvelous young woman's life.
In the 2 years since Bree's death, her parents have learned Bree's relationship with her boyfriend was an absolute textbook case of dating violence, but those closest to her didn't know what was happening or, if they did know, if they had the sneaking suspicion, they just didn't know what to do about it.
Bree Moore was a young woman who was destined to make a difference, and while her life was tragically cut short, she continues to make a difference. Bree continues to make a difference. Last year, the Alaska Legislature passed a provision in law entitled ``Bree's Law.'' It mandates that every school across Alaska teach dating violence and abuse awareness and prevention in grades 7 through 12. The bill was controversial. I recognize that. Many wondered how school districts would pay for adopting the curriculum and providing the courses, but they made it through the controversy and that bill passed and is now signed into law.
In December of last year in Washington, DC, the Every Student Succeeds Act was enacted. A provision within that law allows schools to use their Safe and Healthy Students funding to ``improve instructional practices for developing relationship-building skills, such as effective communication, and improve safety through the recognition and prevention of coercion, violence, or abuse, including teen and dating violence, stalking, domestic abuse, and sexual violence and harassment.''
I have come to the floor to honor a young woman from Alaska. I come to the floor to speak about the legislation I have introduced that would rename that provision within the Every Student Succeeds Law after Bree Moore. My bill would allow, not require, schools, parents, teens, everyone to call this provision of Federal law Bree's Law, and the programs and activities funded by it Bree's Law programs and Bree's Law activities.
Bree Moore was a young woman who every father and mother, every sister and brother, every friend, and every employer could be proud of. She was bright, funny, and she was motivated to help the less fortunate. She was accomplished. She was devoted.
It is fitting that those who loved and respected Bree should see her life honored in this way. It is right that the U.S. Congress honor her in this way, and by doing so, make a further commitment to protecting young women and men from dating abuse and violence in the years to come.
It is fitting to know that as the young people of Alaska learn how to recognize, prevent, avoid, and act on dating violence, that they remember and honor Bree Moore and that they learn from her, that all the good Bree represents goes on to inspire and help future generations.
Like Amber Hagerman, who was the 9-year-old abducted and murdered in 1996, for whom the Amber Alert System is named, it is fitting that young people across the country have the opportunity to know that the U.S. Congress believes so strongly in their future that they would take this opportunity to name a provision of Federal law after Bree Moore.
BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT
Ms. MURKOWSKI. It looks as though we are here at the end of the day. The State of Alaska is well represented. I appreciate that. Unanimous Consent Request--S. 1915
Mr. President, I understand that there is a bill that Senators Ayotte, Booker, and others have worked on to ensure that first responders are equipped to deal with anthrax threats. It is my understanding that this bill was cleared early on both sides of the aisle because of the hard work of Senators Ayotte and Booker.
458, S. 1915. I further ask that the committee-reported substitute amendment be withdrawn, the Ayotte substitute amendment be agreed to, the bill, as amended, be read a third time and passed, the title amendment be agreed to, and the motions to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table.
BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT
Source