Expressing Support for Law Enforcement Officers

Floor Speech

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Mr. NUNN of Iowa. Madam Speaker, I thank Chairman Biggs for helping us bring this resolution forward.

Today, I rise for National Police Week where thousands of officers and their families are in Washington, D.C., right now for memorial services, honoring the men and women who have given everything in the line of duty.

I will start by honoring one of those Iowans, our own, who lost his life while serving in my community. Officer Phoukham Tran was with the Des Moines Police Department, and he lost his life when he was hit while serving in the line of duty by a drunk driver outside of the Iowa State Fair. He served for more than three decades with the Des Moines Police Department. And while he succumbed to his injuries, his legacy of service for our community made us all recognize how much safer we are based on what he did for all of us.

He is only 1 of 198 officers honored at the Iowa Peace Officers Memorial in downtown Des Moines, sacrificing their lives for a safer community, and this week we honor all of those losses, and we remember each of those families, and our communities are better because of what they did for us.

These are the heroes that we recognize this week. This is their resolution, and that is what this is about. The officers who sacrificed their lives in the line of duty are the loved ones who have served, as well as the loved ones who are left behind, and the officers who continue serving our communities every day despite the loss of a friend, a comrade, and a wingman.

Unfortunately, there is a reality, as Mr. Biggs has stated, that some elected officials, including some here in Congress and across this country, have refused to honor or even recognize their sacrifice and service by standing with our law enforcement.

Whether it is the radical idea of defunding the police or the self- described sanctuary cities, these policies are a choice, a choice that undermines the very communities they are serving, a choice that puts officer safety at risk every single day.

I am proud to say that my State of Iowa has resoundingly rejected these policies. In Iowa, we led the Back the Blue Act that increased penalties for violent crimes, particularly those against officers, and increased law enforcement pay. That is truly how you stand with law enforcement.

We also banned sanctuary policies back in 2018.

Just last year, Iowa increased penalties for assaulting a law enforcement officer, including a mandatory minimum for a violent offense.

These policies in Iowa have led to a historic decline in crime. As noted, we now have the lowest homicide rate in over 125 years. Fewer murders are good for every American.

Iowa has made its position clear, and now Congress has the opportunity to do the same. The good work being done on the Judiciary Committee is executing on exactly that.

Last year alone, sanctuary city jurisdictions declined almost 18,000 ICE detainer requests, many against violent offenders and habitual offenders who were turned back onto the streets. Nearly 18,000 times, local officials chose not to allow the police to cooperate with Federal law enforcement and released these individuals back into the communities, making not only local officers' jobs harder but those at the Federal level, as well.

I know this much is true: When we support local law enforcement, it works, and we have proven it. Homicide rates are the lowest in over a century. Drug overdose deaths are at their lowest in over a decade. Federal law enforcement is working alongside departments in States like Iowa and so many others to remove real public safety threats.

That happens when we stand with law enforcement. That is what this week is about: honoring those who have fallen, those who continue to serve, and the communities that stand with our men and women on that thin blue line.

Madam Speaker, I urge my colleagues to support this resolution.

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