Confidentiality Opportunities for Peer Support Counseling Act

Floor Speech

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Mr. RUTHERFORD. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman for yielding, and I thank the gentlewoman from Texas for bringing this bill forward. It is very much needed.

I rise, Mr. Speaker, to support the COPS Counseling Act, which is now one step away from reaching the President's desk, I hope.

I spent almost 40 years in law enforcement, including 12 as the sheriff of Duval County, Florida. So I can tell you, I have seen, firsthand, the challenges that some officers face in dealing with not just acute stress for many years but the chronic stress over every day that they go to work.

Mr. Speaker, it is no secret that law enforcement is a dangerous profession. But these officers face potential life-threatening situations every day they go to work, and that is the chronic stress that really has a significant mental health impact upon these officers. Every day, they put their lives in that breach in defense of our communities.

In recent years, we have seen a rise in ambush killings of officers and just overall assaults on officers, attacking them simply for the uniform that they wear. In fact, by just the middle of this year, we experienced as many shootings and killings of police officers as we did for the entire year of 2020.

We also witness now the demoralization, the delegitimization, and the defunding of police currently taking place around the U.S.

We have also watched law enforcement work through a deadly pandemic, losing so many officers to COVID-19 over these last 2 years.

To make things more difficult, many officers struggle to ask for help, even when they need it. Some officers feel traditional forms of counseling cannot truly understand what they are going through. They also might be concerned that seeking counseling could negatively impact on their careers. It could be seen as a weakness.

That is why the COPS Counseling Act is so very important.

Again, I thank the gentlewoman from Texas. This provides the opportunity for law enforcement officers to receive confidential and peer-led support services.

Mr. Speaker, this legislation is going to save lives. It is going to save officers' lives, and I urge all of my colleagues to vote ``yes'' on the COPS Counseling Act to get this bill signed into law.

Ms. JACKSON LEE.

I am very glad that we are able to come together, recognizing that our law enforcement officers face dangers every day. When I look to the support for that community, I really look to the family of citizens, the family of the community, no matter where you are, and I think that should be the statement and the litmus test.

When you speak to community persons who generally go about their daily business, and local governments, you can be assured that there is an embodiment of support.

There is the sense of horror when we see circumstances that tragically hit this very Congress, this very House, on January 6, when that was not how brave law enforcement officers were treated. But we are well aware of the everyday work that is done.

Before I left to come to Washington, I had the tragic duty of going to the funeral of a fallen. What an amazing individual that Deputy Atkins was, and the outpouring of love and affection by the community reflected that.

To show the humanity of officers--they have moms and dads and wives and children--they read a letter from his mother. I just simply want to put this letter in from his mother.

``When I last saw you, before you said good-bye, I said the prayer I taught you, `As I lay me down to sleep.' Nadia heard me and told me you always said that prayer.'' Nadia was his wife.

``And that made me really feel good, Kareem. I love you so much and I will never stop loving you,'' the letter said.

A mother, a father, a fallen son. These are the true human aspects of service.

So this help to officers who have seen, or been engaged, or seen fellow officers lose their lives, or been wounded, or, again, come upon that scene that they will be interviewed, saying that they have never seen it before, never seen something so devastating like it before, this is an important step forward, as was the real justice bill for veterans, some of whom turn out to be police officers.

I think we are moving so much in the right direction to be effectively concerned about the whole person, and that is what this legislation, I believe, will move forward on.

Mr. Speaker, I include in the Record an article from the Houston Chronicle. [From the Houston Chronicle, Oct. 25, 2021] Deputies Line Up by the Dozen To Honor Slain Pct. 4 Deputy Kareem Atkins

Hundreds gathered at a north Houston church Monday afternoon to pay their respects to Kareem Atkins, the Precinct 4 deputy constable who was fatally shot while trying to stop a robbery.

The day began with a private service for Atkins' family. Officers lined up hours before the memorial service at Champion Forest Baptist Church to take a last look at their friend, removing their hats and saying a few words over the flag-draped casket at the front of the massive church hall.

A slideshow played on screens next to the altar, with images of Atkins cuddling with his wife, Nadia Aweineh, and their young children, Adalynn, a toddler, and Aiden, a newborn. In other photos, Atkins was pictured in uniform with fellow deputies and posing for group shots while out on the town with friends, a broad smile on his face.

While some attendees silently wiped away tears after viewing Atkins' casket, others laughed and shared stories, remembering Atkins as the ``loving, protective, funny, great dancing (or at least so he thought), outgoing and flashy guy'' described in the funeral's program.

``It seemed to me Kareem had many, many, best friends, and, on a daily basis, I saw his co-workers routinely look to him for guidance,'' Precinct 4 Constable Mark Herman said at the memorial. ``Despite his young age, he was someone you could count on to be calm, cool and collected. He had a unique strength about him. He was the rock we all leaned on.''

``If I had 100 more Kareem Atkinses (in my department), this boss would sleep much better at night,'' Herman said.

Atkins' godsister and former babysitter also spoke, sharing a letter Atkins' mother, Celine Pemberton-Atkins, wrote to her son after his death. In the letter, Pemberton-Atkins reminisced about the times her son would surprise her with visits home to New York City, where he was born, and about the inside jokes they shared that would not make sense to anyone else.

His mother noted in her letter that she'd just learned he was planning to travel home and surprise her for Thanksgiving.

``When I last saw you, before you said goodbye, I said the prayer I taught you, `As I lay me down to sleep.' Nadia heard me and told me you always said that prayer . . . and that made me feel really good, Kareem. I love you so much and I will never stop loving you,'' the letter said. end of watch

After the service, attendees filed out of the church for a color guard ceremony. The rows of friends, family and officers sat in silence amid a few isolated sobs as pallbearers wheeled Atkins' casket to the family. The color guard folded the American flag that was covering the casket and handed it to the constable, who gave it to Atkins' wife.

Police dispatchers declared the ``end of watch'' over the air. A three-volley salute followed. Then Atkins' coffin was placed in a hearse to be taken to Klein Memorial Park Cemetery in Tomball.

The funeral came more than a week after Atkins was shot and killed--and two other Precinct 4 deputies were wounded--while attempting to arrest a robbery suspect at 45 Norte Sports Bar, where they worked side jobs as security guards.

The shooter, who opened fire with a semi-automatic rifle, wounded Deputies Darryl Garrett and Juqaim Barthen, according to police. Garrett remained in the intensive care unit Monday, while Barthen, who attended the service, is still recovering.

On HoustonChronicle.com: `They were the 3 amigos,' fiancee of wounded Precinct 4 deputy says after ambush in north Houston.

Police have not identified or apprehended any suspects in the shooting. A reward for information leading to the assailant's arrest and conviction was increased Wednesday to $75,000. making time fly on the shift

In comments during the funeral, Harris County Judge Lina Hidalgo declared Oct. 25 ``Deputy Kareem Atkins Day'' in Harris County from this year forward.

``When somebody ambushed Deputy Barthen, Deputy Garrett and Deputy Atkins, that attack on our protectors, that attack on you all, was an attack on our entire community,'' Hidalgo said.

``They tried to tear down what makes our community great, to tear down that spirit of service, to break that trust that binds us, to bring fear, but we won't tolerate that. The way we fight back against that, and honor Deputy Atkins' life, is by living by the values he embodied,'' Hidalgo said.

Others attending the funeral remarked about Atkins' good humor and generous spirit.

Indrani Boodram and her co-workers came to support Atkins' father, who worked with them at a medical center in north Cypress.

She remembered how the younger Atkins helped her move about five years ago, despite never having met Boodram. ``He had just moved here from New York and he knew no one. He even bought pizza when he came and told me he would stay with me until I was completely done.''

Canray Warren, who worked other security jobs with Atkins at bars and clubs around the area, remembered the 30-year-old as someone who made the time fly on nights when the staff were tired and wanted to check out for the night. When it was nearing time to start closing shop, the pair would simply exchange looks and start cracking up.

``He kept us laughing and kept a smile on our face,'' he said. ``We'd joke about telling the DJ to play boring songs so everybody could move out of the club faster,'' Warren said.

Warren explained he wouldn't want to take a shift if he learned that Atkins wasn't working with him. And now, looking forward, work won't be the same without him.

Ms. JACKSON LEE.

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