Prepared Senate Floor Statement by Senator Chuck Grassley of Iowa
Chairman, Senate Judiciary Committee
Resolution Commemorating National Police Week
May 16, 2016

Mr. President, today, I introduced a bipartisan resolution to commemorate National Police Week, which this year began on Sunday, May 15th, and ends on Saturday, May 21st.  Senator Leahy and 52 others have joined me as original cosponsors of the measure.  The theme of this year’s Police Week is “Honoring Our Heroes.” 

National Police Week is dedicated to the brave men and women in blue who selflessly protect and serve our communities every hour of every day of every week and in every community across the United States.  The week affords an opportunity to honor those who have made the ultimate sacrifice while striving to make our neighborhoods safer and more secure.

Multiple events have taken place in Washington, DC over the past week to not only remember those officers who tragically lost their lives in the line of duty but also to honor outstanding acts of valor and service by many others.  Tens of thousands of police officers as well as their friends and family members have gathered in our nation’s capital for these events, which included the Annual Blue Mass, a Candlelight Vigil and a Police Unity Tour Arrival Ceremony, among others.

Yesterday was National Peace Officers Memorial Day and thousands gathered on the West Front of the Capitol for the 35th Annual National Peace Officers Memorial Service.  This solemn service offered an opportunity for all of us to pay our respects to fallen officers and the families, communities, and law enforcement agencies that have been permanently altered because they paid the ultimate sacrifice.  

We owe these brave men and women our utmost respect and gratitude as we honor their noble profession this week.  Each of the officers killed in the line of duty this year started their shift with the same goals: do some good, backup my fellow officers, and return home safely.  Some of these officers had dedicated decades of their lives to protecting their communities.  One of these officers was murdered mere hours after being sworn to her oath of service.

At the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial, the names of some 200 Iowans are inscribed amongst their law enforcement family.  Carved into the Memorial’s walls are the names of more than 20,000 men and women who have been killed in the line of duty throughout U.S. history.  Each are unique in their own personal stories but they are uniform in their fidelity to truth and justice.  The individuals are heroes, not because of the manner in which they died but because time and again they answered a call to do right, impervious to the constant lurking of danger.  Regrettably, 123 new names of officers killed in the line of duty in 2015 will be added to the rolls this week and we know that they will not be the last.  

Mr. President, the men and women of law enforcement make sacrifices both big and small, frequently missing family celebrations and holidays because they believe in serving something greater than themselves.  

The work of law enforcement is not a job, it is a calling.  That calling and those officers’ devotion to duty merits our admiration and we are deeply indebted to them.

I call on all Americans this week to pause and contemplate the safety and security they enjoy.  
We all must recognize that such peace is the result of sacrifices made by the brave men and women of law enforcement.  I also want to take this opportunity to urge my colleagues to support this year’s resolution designating National Police Week.

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