Expressing Support for Local Law Enforcement Officers
Floor Speech
BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT
Mr. JORDAN. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and agree to the concurrent resolution (H. Con. Res. 30) expressing support for local law enforcement officers.
The Clerk read the title of the concurrent resolution.
The text of the concurrent resolution is as follows: H. Con. Res. 30
Whereas the brave men and women in local law enforcement work tirelessly to protect the communities they serve;
Whereas local law enforcement officers are tasked with upholding the rule of law and ensuring public safety;
Whereas local law enforcement officers selflessly put themselves in harm's way to fight crime, get drugs off the streets, and protect the innocent;
Whereas local law enforcement officers take an oath to never betray the public trust;
Whereas the local law enforcement community protects our streets, acknowledges the rights of all Americans, and keeps citizens safe from harm;
Whereas local law enforcement officers are recognized for their public service to all, knowing they face extremely dangerous situations while carrying out their duties;
Whereas a healthy and collaborative relationship between local law enforcement officers and the communities they serve is essential to creating mutually respectful dialogue; and
Whereas local law enforcement officers and their families deserve respect, appreciation, and support for their sacrifices and commitment to public service: Now, therefore, be it
Resolved by the House of Representatives (the Senate concurring), That Congress--
(1) recognizes and appreciates the dedication and devotion demonstrated by the men and women of local law enforcement who keep the Nation's communities safe;
(2) extends its gratitude to all local law enforcement officers and their families for their sacrifice and service;
(3) honors the memory of those local law enforcement officers who have fallen in the line of duty; and
(4) encourages continued collaboration between local law enforcement agencies and the communities they serve to strengthen public safety and trust.
BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT
Mr. JORDAN. Con. Res. 30.
Mr. Speaker, this week, we celebrate National Police Week. In so doing, we honor those officers who have been killed in the line of duty, as well as those who bravely serve their communities every single day.
More than 60 years ago, President John F. Kennedy signed a proclamation that designated May 15 as Peace Officers Memorial Day and the week in which that day falls as Police Week.
Thousands of law enforcement officers are visiting Washington, D.C., this week to honor their colleagues who have made the ultimate sacrifice. I extend my sincere gratitude to all local law enforcement officers and their families for their sacrifice and their service.
These police officers risk their lives every day to protect our communities, and they do this despite the obstacles and dangers that we all know that they face. Police officers rush into harm's way out of duty and devotion to their sacred oath: ``To Protect and Serve.''
The families of law enforcement officers also bear the burden of service through missed birthdays, school events, and sports games. This resolution is a small way in which we can show our thanks. I encourage all Members to take time to pray, show their support for, and say thank you to our local law enforcement heroes.
Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to support this resolution. I thank the gentleman from Mississippi (Mr. Ezell), who served in law enforcement as a sheriff, for his work in putting this together and sponsoring the resolution.
BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT
Mr. JORDAN. Mr. Speaker, let's be clear: Republicans honor local law enforcement, Democrats defund them. Five years ago this summer, they spent the whole summer doing that. That is all you would hear from Democrats, got to defund the local police. We have been consistent. We have condemned violence every single time it happened whether it was January 6 or the summer of 2020. They haven't.
The summer of 2020, I still remember the guy standing in front of the burning building on CNN saying, this is a mostly peaceful protest. They spent the whole summer trying to defund the police, so don't give us the lecture.
Mr. Speaker, you can try to rewrite history, but it just doesn't work. Let me just read off the Democratic-run cities that did defund the police.
Here is the game the Democrats want. All during the summer of 2020, they were saying: Defund the police. Democratic-run cities all over the country were doing so.
Now they say: Oh, but because crime went up when we defunded the police, we want Federal taxpayers to send us money to make up for the cuts we did there and spent the money elsewhere. That was the game.
If you don't believe me, here is the list:
Austin, Texas, $150 million cut;
Boston, Massachusetts, $12 million cut;
Burlington, Vermont, $1.1 million;
Denver, Colorado, $55 million;
Eureka, California, $1.2 million;
Hartford, Connecticut, $2 million;
Kansas City, Kansas, $42 million;
Los Angeles, $150 million;
Madison, Wisconsin, $2 million cut;
Minneapolis, $8 million;
New York City, $1 billion cut that summer;
Norman, Oklahoma, $865,000;
Oklahoma City, $5.5 million;
Philadelphia, $33 million;
Portland, Oregon, $16 million;
Salt Lake City, $5.3 million;
San Francisco, $120 million;
Seattle, Washington, $69 million;
Washington, D.C., $15 million--we know about the crime that has happened in this city; and of course, in the ranking member's home State of Maryland, Baltimore cut their police department $22 million. Now they are saying: Oh, make sure the Federal money keeps coming.
Look, I am not against some of these grant programs. We will look at all those. However, don't say you didn't defund the police. You did. Everyone knows you did, and you all talked about it, and you cheered it on. For the bad guys who harmed the police that summer when you were encouraging cities to cut the police, you were raising money to bail them out. Your Presidential candidate was raising money to bail them out. You can have all the revisionist history you want. The facts are the facts.
Mr. Speaker,
BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT
Mr. JORDAN. Will the gentleman yield?
BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT
Mr. JORDAN. I was referring to that party that you belong to, not you personally.
Mr. Speaker, I have not said I was for defunding the ATF or the FBI. What I have said, what the American people have said clearly is they don't want these agencies weaponized against the very people they are supposed to serve. We all know about that. Think about this, though, when you think about the FBI's budget, it is like $12 billion. More than half of that budget, more than half of the personnel at the FBI are focused on intelligence and counterintelligence.
I think most Americans probably think the FBI should spend most of its resources on going after traditional crime, organized crime, bad guys, gang activity. I think that is probably where they think it should be, but, no, they are spending half their budget, half their personnel on surveillance of Americans. I think that is a little different.
How about the ATF? We all know the example of the ATF raiding Bryan Malinowski's home. Bryan Malinowski was the highest paid official in the Little Rock, Arkansas, municipal government. He ran the Bill and Hillary Clinton airport. He was a gun hobbyist. The ATF thinks he has done something wrong. Instead of just going and visiting him, coming to see him, picking him up at his work, taking him back to his house to execute the warrant, the search warrant, no, they had to kick in his door, predawn raid, 10 cars pull up. The first thing you see on the doorbell cam is them putting tape on the camera. Mr. Speaker, 53 seconds later, Bryan Malinowski has been shot in the head and subsequently dies.
I am for these agencies actually serving the taxpayers, not being engaged in things like that. We respect the police and want it done right. At the local level, God bless them. I have not been for defunding them. We are for honoring local police, like this good sheriff, this Member of Congress, and what they do day in and day out. That is what this resolution was about.
The other side, they want to come here and start talking about all kinds of things I didn't intend to. You heard my opening statement. You heard the gentleman's opening statement. However, the other side wants to go start attacking things.
Okay, fine. We are just setting the record straight. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
Mr. Speaker, again, I would emphasize what a fine resolution we have here sponsored by the gentleman from Mississippi, and we do. We all do appreciate the work of our law enforcement men and women who put that uniform on every day, risk their lives to protect our families, our communities, all the things that we care about.
We hope this resolution is a unanimous vote. We hope both sides support it.
BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT
Source