Issues of the Day

Floor Speech

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

Mr. BAIRD. Madam Speaker, this National Police Week, we pause to recognize the brave men and women in blue who are committed to keeping our communities safe, and we remember those who lost their lives in the line of duty.

Our Nation is blessed to have the bravest and most professional police officers in the world. This week gives us the ability not only to recognize their commitment to preserving peace and saving lives, but it gives us the chance to assess what we can do in Congress to help support them and to make their lives a bit easier as they protect our communities.

I may be biased, but I believe west central Indiana has some of the finest law enforcement officers in the country, and I am fortunate to have an open line of communication with them to identify issues that require Federal solutions.

Sheriff Myers in Morgan County has been instrumental in helping craft my bill, the PART Act, which gives law enforcement officials the tools they need to hold thieves accountable for catalytic converter theft. This may seem like a relatively small problem, but you ask any law enforcement official in your district, and they will tell you that skyrocketing catalytic converter thefts are taking up a lot of their time and resources that could be used for a better purpose.

This is an easy and bipartisan way for us to support our law enforcement officials, and I would encourage my colleagues to consider helping me get this bill across the finish line so we can unburden some of our law enforcement.

To close, I just want to say this to the men and women in blue who have dedicated their lives to protecting others: Thank you for your service and thank you for keeping us safe.

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

Source