Our bill, in my view, would help fight violent crime, assist our law enforcement officials by relieving many of the frustrations of the current system.

The killers must be brought to justice.

We want stiffer penalties for violent criminals, greater certainty in sentencing.

Well, you've got to stop them by having a coordinated effort along the border, all the law enforcement people working as a team.

Drugs and crime are bad, and you've got to keep on understanding that.

We will enforce civil rights laws.

HOMER F. BROOME, JR., of California, to be Administrator of the Law Enforcement Assistance Administration (new position).

Improved law enforcement is reducing illicit narcotics supplies.

Arrests of drug traffickers and pushers are rising, while drug-related crimes in our major cities have begun to decline.

The national rate of serious crime is now heading down for the first time in 17 years, and they want that downward spiral to continue.

The punishment for this crime must be strict, and it must be certain.

I JOIN with millions of other grateful Americans in paying tribute to the men and women of the law enforcement profession during Police Week, May 14 to May 20, and in honoring on Peace Officers Memorial Day, May 15, the sacrifices of peace officers killed or disabled in the line of duty.

It is a trend which all Americans must work to sustain by making sure that the enforcement process and the laws themselves are worthy of respect, and then by rendering them the full respect they deserve.

The increase in physical attacks on police officers, and the rise in police killings (up 26 percent last year to 126), must be reversed.

Finally, this Peace Officers Memorial Day, let us deepen our resolve to do a better job of protecting those who risk so much in protecting us.

This Administration has extended FBI assistance to local authorities in bringing police killers to justice; we have sought the establishment of Federal survivors benefits for the brave wives and families bereaved by these tragedies; and we shall continue seeking measures not only to deal with the aftermath of police killings but, most importantly of all, to deter and prevent their occurrence.

I wish it were possible for me to meet with representatives of the police forces in every American community and extend my personal thanks to them, as I was able to do recently with a group of officers from the District of Columbia Metropolitan Police Department, which has spearheaded a 50 percent reduction in major crime in the Capital over the last 3 years.

I appeal once again for determined efforts by citizens and public officials everywhere to counter this vicious threat, which by menacing the safety of our peace officers menaces the safety of us all.