Executive Calendar

Floor Speech

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Mr. KING. Mr. President, every morning, across America millions of people get up, get dressed, and go to work. They all have similar experiences. They are getting ready for a new day. They are getting ready for a new set of challenges. They are getting ready to serve their company and the place where they work to the best of their ability.

There is one group of Americans who get up every morning to go to work, and it is a slightly different experience because when those people report for work, they are knowingly and willingly putting their lives on the line. I am referring to our police officers and law enforcement personnel across the country.

I think it is an important distinction. All of us go to work. We all think about it. But stop and think for a moment that when someone puts on that blue uniform or green uniform, or whatever it is, to serve the public, they are taking a risk with their life. They are literally laying their lives on the line for the rest of us.

Fifty-six years ago today, President John F. Kennedy designated May 15 as a law enforcement memorial day, or Peace Officers Memorial Day, and the week in which May 15 falls is designed and set aside by our country ever since to recognize peace officers. I love that term--peace officers. They are here to protect us.

The Constitution in its preamble lays out the basic outlines for our government, and this is one of them: to ``insure domestic Tranquility.'' What a lovely phrase that is--to ``insure domestic Tranquility.'' That means, in many cases, law enforcement.

I rise today to recognize law enforcement officials across the country but, also, particularly in my State of Maine. As Governor, I spent 24 hours a day with the State Police. I learned in that job the quality of the people we have serving us, the quality of the people, who often could make more money and have more promotions in another line of work but who had chosen to serve the public and put their lives on the line.

In Washington, there is a memorial to our law enforcement personnel, to our peace officers. On that memorial there are engraved the names of those who have lost their lives in the service of their fellow citizens. Two of those names that will be added this year are from the State of Maine.

One was Chris Gardner. He was only 47 years old. He had worked with the University of Maine Police, and then he worked with the Maine Drug Enforcement Agency. He died November 15, 2016, from complications from a training exercise. He was involved in the Maine Law Enforcement Torch Run. Many law enforcement people across the country are involved with the Torch Run, which raises money and visibility for the Special Olympics. He is survived by his parents, his brother, his sisters, his stepmother, and by many aunts and uncles. He is also survived by other loved ones. Chris Gardner served his public, served his people, and served his State and community, and he lost his life in that service.

Another loss last year that will be going onto the monument this year is Nathan Desjardins. Nathan was a member of the Fryeburg Police Department. He was only 20 years old. He had just begun his career in law enforcement as a peace officer. He died on his first day of water training, responding to an incident of a capsized canoe. The boat he was on hit an object in the river. He was thrown out. Desjardins and another emergency responder were thrown from the boat. He sustained a head injury and died on June 6, 2017.

Again, he is survived by his parents, his brother, his grandmother, and a large extended family. Both Nathan and Christopher will have their names added to the memorial this week.

They got up, they went to work, they served their public, and they served their citizens and their community. They put their lives on the line, and, in this case, they made the ultimate sacrifice.

A name that will not be added to the memorial this year--the additions are from the prior calendar year, but we had an unbelievably tragic event in Maine barely 3 weeks ago--is that of Eugene P. Cole. He was shot and killed in the line of duty on April 25, 2018. He was born in a little town called Skowhegan, ME. He was raised in that area and was the oldest of five. He graduated from high school and went into the Army. He came back to Maine, worked in a repair shop, and then, in the year 2000, he decided to pursue what was really his calling as a law enforcement officer.

In 2006, at the age of 50, he went to the Maine Criminal Justice Academy, and he became a rural patrol deputy for the Somerset County Sheriff's Office. I used to live right across the street from the Somerset County Sheriff's Office. I remember the sheriff when I was there almost 50 years ago--Francis Henderson. Francis Henderson epitomized law enforcement in Maine and then Somerset County, and his followers as sheriffs have done the same.

Gene Cole was in that mold. He was admired in his community. He was well-known in his community. He was respected. He embodied the values of law enforcement, and he was an inspiration to the officers who served with him.

He is survived by his wife Sheryl of 41 years, four children, several grandchildren, his siblings Tom and Sheryl, his mother, and a large extended family.

His funeral was in Bangor, ME, just a week and a half ago, and 3,600 people were there. Law enforcement officers from across the Northeast and from across the country were there to pay their respects to one of their fallen comrades.

Eugene Cole was a hero. He wouldn't call himself that. He would be embarrassed to be called that. From my understanding, he was a modest and unassuming man, but he was a hero because every morning he got up to go to work. He put on his uniform, and he put his life on the line for the people of Somerset County, Skowhegan, and Norridgewock and for the people of the State of Maine.

I rise today to pay tribute to Gene Cole, to Chris Gardner, to Nathan Desjardins, and to all of the peace officers, the law enforcement officers--those across our country in our communities--who every day are willing to put their lives on the line for us. Peace Officers Memorial Day--and the week--is a fitting tribute to those brave people across the country who serve us every day and every night around the clock to ``insure domestic Tranquility,'' in the wonderful phrase of our Founders.

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