Political Quotes

“It is Police Week, the week when law enforcement officers who keep us safe all over the country come to Washington to remind us how important they are and when Members of Congress introduce resolutions and bills and give speeches in this Chamber letting them know how grateful we are for their service. I rise today partly to share in that gratitude. It is my privilege to represent the 19th Ward in Chicago where neighborhoods like Mount Greenwood and Beverly have long been home to huge chunks of the Chicago police force from rank-and-file beat cops to the Cook County Sheriff himself. I am also proud last March that I was able to bring home $372,000 in Federal funding for police equipment in the village of Alsip. I am grateful for all of the service from our law enforcement officers but for a bigger reason. We are a nation of laws, and we only survive as a nation of laws if those laws are consistently and predictably enforced, and it is our brothers and sisters in law enforcement who make sure that they are. I do find myself wondering how all these floor speeches this week look to them. How do all these pretty speeches sound to the local police chiefs who were pleading with us in 2020 to provide them with funding to shore up lost State and property tax revenue during the COVID downturn, who knew that they couldn't stay open without it, and they also know every single Republican voted against the American Rescue Plan that kept their officers paid?…”