Drew Ferguson: “I again want to commend my colleagues for joining us here on the floor of the House to offer our praise and recognition…”

“I again want to commend my colleagues for joining us here on the floor of the House to offer our praise and recognition for these men and women who work so hard to protect us and protect our families. Our districts, Mr. Speaker, in New Jersey are not far from New York City. So many of our constituents and families, people that we represent, were affected very directly by the events of September 11. In my district alone we lost 81 people. That is 81 families and communities who are grieving over the loss of loved ones. To see, in the hours and days and weeks following these tragedies, to see the incredible service, the dedication, the sacrifice of those who wear a law enforcement uniform has been truly extraordinary. Some statistics, just to highlight the incredible service of our men and women in uniform: There are approximately 740,000 sworn law enforcement officers serving in the United States today, the highest figure ever, and about 12 percent of that number are women. There are a total of 1,555 law enforcement officers that died in the line of duty in the last 10 years.”