National Police Week

Floor Speech

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Mr. CLINE. Mr. Speaker, America's law enforcement officers are the best among us.

As we celebrate National Police Week this week, I am proud to join my colleagues and millions of Americans in saying thank you to the brave men and women who wear the badge.

Every day, law enforcement officers courageously save innocent lives, stop criminals, and help our communities. Yet tragically, since 1776, more than 26,000 police officers and sheriff's deputies have made the ultimate sacrifice, and in just the last 3 years alone, we have lost 1,397 officers in the line of duty. That is 26,000 too many.

Despite the countless sacrifices that our police officers and sheriff's deputies across the Nation make every day, the far left has pushed to defund the police for far too long, and our police and sheriff's officers have been under relentless attack.

With crime running rampant in communities across the country, defunding and demoralizing our law enforcement has only made communities less safe. Unfortunately, instead of taking action to give law enforcement more resources and support, liberal politicians have doubled down on soft-on-crime policies that have gotten us into this mess.

Despite this, local law enforcement officers in communities across Virginia's Sixth District and across our Nation go to work every day to protect each and every one of us, and we cannot convey our gratitude enough.

This week, House Republicans will be voting on a resolution that expresses our continued support for law enforcement officers and condemns the far left's efforts to defund the police.

We will also be voting on H.R. 2494, the POLICE Act, which will make assault on a law enforcement officer by an alien a deportable offense and important legislation that establishes a program for Federal law enforcement officers to purchase retired handguns at fair market value.

Mr. Speaker, House Republicans will continue to proudly back the brave men and women who wear the brown and the blue across America. As we honor National Police Week, I urge all of my colleagues to join us in support by passing these bills. John Handley High School 100th Anniversary

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Mr. CLINE. Mr. Speaker, I rise to recognize the 100th anniversary of Winchester, Virginia's, own John Handley High School, an endowed public school located in the heart of Shenandoah Valley.

The school's funding was launched by an 1895 grant from Judge John Handley--hence the school mascot, the ``Judges,'' because of Handley's love of the town and its people that grew through his friends and acquaintances--and construction followed beginning in 1922.

Despite never having lived in Winchester, Judge Handley's generosity made it possible for generations of students to enhance their knowledge.

More importantly, it created an environment, a culture of support, and appreciation for public education.

With state-of-the-art facilities, cutting-edge academics, a dedicated athletic program, and an award-winning fine arts program, the John Handley High School truly sets itself apart. The school was even recently named the most beautiful high school in the Commonwealth of Virginia.

Today, under the leadership of principal Susan Braithwaite, John Handley High School's thriving active student body and dedicated staff truly embody the meaning of Handley Pride.

Congratulations to John Handley High School and all the students, alumni, teachers, and staff, past and present, on this incredible milestone, and I wish the school another 100 years of success. Debt Ceiling

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Mr. CLINE. Mr. Speaker, the greatest threat to America's economy is our debt crisis. Even according to former Chairman of the Joint Chiefs, Admiral Mike Mullen, the most significant threat to America's security is our national debt.

Our financial instability today has spiraled out of control because of President Biden and the Democrats' reckless spending to fund their radical agenda.

Now our Nation faces an unsustainable $31.7 trillion in debt.

Earlier last week, President Biden met with Speaker McCarthy and congressional leadership to discuss legislation to raise the debt ceiling, and to no one's surprise, Biden and Senate Democrats continued to avoid their responsibilities to negotiate.

House Republicans have already worked toward a deal by passing a sensible debt ceiling bill that will limit government spending, grow the economy, save taxpayer dollars, and protect vital benefits.

We have also done our job to stop the chaos at our southern border by passing H.R. 2, the Secure the Border Act. The security of our border is inextricably linked to the fiscal security of our Nation.

A recent cost estimate of the Secure the Border Act by the Congressional Budget Office has confirmed that Federal taxpayers are spending tens of billions of dollars on benefits for illegal immigrants like health care, nutrition, and refundable child tax credits due to Biden's current border policies.

Taking into account costs at the State and local level, American taxpayers pay $182 billion annually for services and benefits to illegal immigrants.

At the end of the day, blank government checks got us into this debt crisis, and a no-strings-attached debt ceiling increase will only serve to push our already fragile economy off the fiscal cliff.

Mr. Speaker, it is time to act, and I urge the President to join us at the table.

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