On the recordMay 17, 2017
Mr. Gowdy, I have a feeling that Kevin knew anyway when he left that courtroom how you felt. Thank you for sharing that powerful story. I think it really clearly points to a lot of things: One, the job is tough and you have got to make those split decisions, and they are life and death decisions; Two, that the human side of the police officer is not very often recognized; that the connection to their family--as I said in my opening statement, these are people that are fathers, they are sons, they are sisters, they are mothers, in some cases they are grandparents. Sometimes we see a person just wearing a uniform, but there is a human being inside that uniform wearing that badge and carrying that gun to make sure that we can get home to our families and enjoy our families. I lost a best friend and partner in 1982. It still hurts today. If I can get past the emotional part, I might share that story a little bit later. Mr. Speaker, I yield to the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Poe).
