On the recordMay 12, 2015
I thank both Chairman Ryan and Ranking Member Levin of the Ways and Means Committee for allowing the bill coming to the floor today, and I thank my good friends Representatives Paulsen and Reichert, my co- chair, for presenting this bill with me and for their continued support of our law enforcement. Our public safety officers make extraordinary sacrifices to protect our communities by putting their lives on the line day in and day out. Members take an oath after we are elected. The first part of the oath, our chief priority, is to protect the country from foreign, but it also says domestic, foreign and domestic. That is our priority. That is the main reason why we are in the Congress of the United States. There are a lot of other reasons, but that is our primary oath to the people of this country. And that is why the gentleman from Washington (Mr. Reichert) and myself--there isn't a day that goes by that we are not talking about how we could support police officers, not in word but in deed, those folks who put their lives on the line, be they trooper, be they sheriff officer, be they municipal police officer, be they an authority police officer, regardless. We heard the tragic numbers before in the previous bill. Officer Rafael Ramos, who died with Officer Liu, was sitting in a squad car. Officer Ramos was a 40-year-old married father who was studying to become a pastor when he was killed.…
