Los Angeles Officers Ambushed

Floor Speech

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Mr. JOYCE of Pennsylvania. Mr. Speaker, just last weekend, a 31-year- old mother and a 24-year-old man in Los Angeles were ambushed. They were shot at pointblank range by a coward who targeted them for no reason except for the uniform that they wear.

These two police officers were attacked in the very community where they serve, the community that they have sworn to protect.

It is hard to believe, but this story gets worse. As these two police officers were in the hospital fighting for their lives, protestors stood outside, blocking ambulance entrances and chanting: ``We hope they die.''

What has become of American cities? When did this behavior become acceptable or even fathomable?

This ambush demonstrates total disregard for human life. It is an affront to American values.

Thankfully, by the grace of God and the skill of first responders and trauma medical teams, these brave police officers are expected to recover from their injuries. We are fortunate that they are on the mend, and my prayers are with them on their road to recovery.

Frankly, this time, we truly were fortunate. This time, we expect that a mother will return home to her family. We expect that a young police officer will return to his normal life.

Indeed, this time, we are fortunate. But what about the next time? Will we let this happen again?

Mr. Speaker, as a Nation, we cannot allow this malicious and wicked behavior to continue. We cannot stand by as police officers are shot at pointblank range. We cannot stand by while protestors scream ``We hope they die'' at critically injured public servants. We must restore law and order to all American cities.

In this Chamber, we should dispense with the Democrats' political games and enact commonsense, bipartisan solutions such as the JUSTICE Act, which was introduced by Senator Tim Scott and Congressman Pete Stauber, to increase police transparency and accountability while supporting our law enforcement community and equipping them with the resources that they need to safely protect our communities.

We cannot stand on the sidelines and leave our law enforcement officers vulnerable to attacks. This is not the time to turn our backs on the police; this is not the time to dismantle the police; and this is definitely not the time to defund the police. We must protect the American people; we must restore law and order; and we must back the blue.

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