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Medal of Sacrifice Act of 2025

Floor Speech

Date: Feb. 2, 2026
Location: Washington, DC

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Mr. MAST. Mr. Speaker, I sincerely thank my colleagues on both sides of the aisle for their work on this piece of legislation.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of my bill, H.R. 3497, the Medal of Sacrifice Act. Its purpose is singular. It is of the highest importance to honor fallen law enforcement officers and first responders.

This bill, this medal, came to be in this way on November 21, 2024, because my community lost three Palm Beach County Sheriff's deputies in one moment: Deputy Ralph ``Butch'' Waller, Deputy Ignacio ``Dan'' Diaz, and Deputy Luis Paez. They were three motorcycle officers, all killed.

At their memorial service to honor them, President Trump, myself, and a few of our friends, Eric and Dan, we were having a conversation that there is no medal which is awarded posthumously to law enforcement officers and first responders killed in the line of duty directly from the Office of President and on behalf of a grateful nation. Out of this horrific tragedy, the medal of sacrifice was born.

Six months later, I had the profound honor of standing alongside President Trump in the Oval Office as he presented the first medals of sacrifice to the families of those three fallen Palm Beach County Sheriff's Deputies that were lost on that day, three lions of our community.

These men gave their lives in service each and every day. In the end, they gave the last breath in their lungs and the last beat of their heart as so many of our law enforcement and first responders across our country do each year.

There is not a recognition that can ever bring them back. There is not an award that could ever repay their sacrifice. What we can do is ensure that their courage and their service and their legacies are recognized by the highest office of our land, the Office of President.

The medal of sacrifice will ensure that when a family member, a spouse, a son, a daughter, or a department, that when they reflect on the end of watch for their friend or their hero or their loved one, they will know that it is the whole of America that remembers with them.

Mr. Speaker, I ask my colleagues to send a clear message to the families who have given so much, suspend the rules, and pass the Medal of Sacrifice Act.

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