Political Quotes

“Mr. Speaker, collectively, these organizations represent over half a million sworn law enforcement officers. On this last day of National Police Week, let's join them in supporting this bill. In this body, Members tend to frequently use the term ``common sense'' to describe a piece of legislation. I don't think many more pieces of legislation are as common sense as this bill. It really boils down to this question: Should a law enforcement officer be able to arrest the individual who forcibly assaulted, resisted, opposed, impeded, intimidated, or interfered with that officer? That is it. That is all we are talking about today. Common sense tells us that the answer is a resounding ``yes.'' It has been insinuated that probation officers aren't real law enforcement and lack the training to make arrests. I think the brave men and women who serve as Federal probation officers, who have received extensive training, and have ongoing training requirements as part of their jobs, might disagree with that insinuation. Further, the Administrative Office of the United States Courts and its Federal Probation and Pretrial Academy offer nationally standardized training programs and advanced training programs targeting specialized areas of supervision. Common sense tells us that these officers are qualified to make arrests. Opponents of this bill would prefer to have these law enforcement officers retreat when confronted by third parties.…”