Val Demings: “One of my greatest honors was serving as a police officer in Orlando for 27 years. My husband is a sheriff in Orange…”

“One of my greatest honors was serving as a police officer in Orlando for 27 years. My husband is a sheriff in Orange County, and he has been serving for 35 years in law enforcement. But today I am here to talk about how we can better take care of our law enforcement officers as they continue to take care of us. Our law enforcement officers are called to some of the most horrific situations and run into harm's way to protect us and our families every day. Almost a year ago, officers responded to the Pulse nightclub shooting, known now as the site of the deadliest mass shooting in our Nation's history: 49 persons lost their lives that night and more were severely injured. Imagine the scene as the officers responded. One officer said one thing he will never forget is hearing the sound of the cellphones ringing as loved ones called the victims, but, of course, the victims could not answer. During the most dangerous and most tragic of circumstances, our law enforcement officers may appear superhuman, but they are only human, and responding to scenes like this--or any other horrific scene--no one can really prepare for that. It is just one example of what our officers face. I believe we have a responsibility to our first responders. That is why I am very proud to cosponsor H.R. 2228, the Law Enforcement Mental Health and Wellness Act of 2017, with my good friend Susan Brooks from Indiana.…”