Mike Collins: “This is a special time as a trooper's kid. When I think about that and I think about this wall and I think about the…”

“This is a special time as a trooper's kid. When I think about that and I think about this wall and I think about the heroes that I am looking at standing here, I am thinking about my own father who I just talked to a few moments ago--31 years as a Georgia State patrol. My mom is with him right now. They have been the example of what law enforcement goes through so many times. I will share, in just a few more minutes, about that, but I did want to remind you why we are here, and thinking about this memorial, Georgia officers who have fallen in 2017 already: Deputy Sheriff Michael Butler, Lowndes County Sheriff's Office; and Sergeant Gregory Michael Meagher, Richmond County Sheriff's Office. In 2016, we saw Jody Carl Smith, Georgia Southwestern State University Department of Public Safety; Officer Nicholas Ryan Smarr, Americus Police Department; Deputy Sheriff Justin Scott White, Newton County Sheriff's Office; Deputy Sheriff Daryl Wayne Smallwood, Peach County Sheriff's Office; Sergeant Patrick Michael Sondron, Peach County Sheriff's Office; Officer Timothy Kevin Smith, Eastman Police Department; Investigator Anthony Joseph Freeman, Bibb County Sheriff's Office; and Major Gregory Eugene Barney, Riverdale Police Department. And then one, Mr. Speaker, that came at a time in which the Sheriff and I were on the Police Working Group. We were in Atlanta.…”