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Floor Speech

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Mrs. MOODY. Madam President, today, I have the honor of rising in recognition of a true Florida hero.

I know we hear a lot these days about entire political parties adopting platforms that want to defund and abolish the police, but in Florida, we do it a different way--an entirely different way. In fact, we watch what other crazy places are doing, and we just do the opposite, and it has worked out quite well.

One of my favorite parts of my job as a U.S. Senator now, after having been the Florida attorney general and having worked with law enforcement for many, many years, is to spotlight Florida's brave law enforcement heroes when they do something uniquely heroic. It shows why a free society operating under the rule of law has to have brave men and women to answer a call and stand on a line to bravely serve us. Today, it is an honor to recognize Lee County Sheriff's Office Deputy Raymond Tellez Ferriol with the Florida's Finest Award.

Earlier this year, Deputy Tellez Ferriol saved the lives of three young girls.

Many people know Florida is a peninsula. We are surrounded by the ocean. On this particular day, there was a rip current that was very close to shore. If you have lived in Florida for any time or even if you have traveled to Florida, you know that rip currents can be incredibly deadly, pulling even expert swimmers out to sea very quickly.

On this day, it was supposed to be a time of fun in the Sun, but it almost turned deadly when three young girls got caught in a very strong rip current and were struggling to stay above water and get back to shore.

Deputy Tellez Ferriol was on patrol in full uniform, just going about his day protecting Floridians. He heard bystanders screaming for help. He immediately ran over, and without hesitation, he went into the water to rescue these three young girls. He grabbed flotation devices and started swimming. Thankfully, he was able to get them back to shore safely, as in this area, the strong rip current was really pushing all of them out. It was because of his bravery and his quick thinking that these girls are still alive.

While this instance had a happy ending, it is worth reminding Floridians and everyone heading to Florida--and we know there are many moving to Florida. It doesn't matter where I go in the Nation; someone I talked to just had a family member move to my home State and is one of my new constituents. But it is always important to remind everyone who lives in Florida or who visits our State's beaches of the hidden dangers of rip currents. There have already been eight confirmed deaths due to rip currents since the start of this year in Florida. So we always advise folks to swim with a partner, to consider swimming when there is a lifeguard on duty, and to identify and know what each beach warning flag means.

But today is about recognizing Deputy Tellez Ferriol. He was there that day because he was serving his community as a guardian, as someone who signed up to put his safety behind the safety of others.

I, for one, am incredibly honored and incredibly thankful that there are people like Deputy Tellez Ferriol and others who answer the call so bravely to serve others as their profession. Law enforcement officers do so much every day to keep us safe, and it is always such a joy to highlight those who show exceptional bravery and save lives.

Today, I recognize one of Florida's finest, Lee County Sheriff's Office Deputy Raymond Tellez Ferriol.

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