REMEMBERING OUR FALLEN OFFICERS

On 2026-05-14, Representative Thomas R. Suozzi (D-NY-3) delivered a floor speech titled "REMEMBERING OUR FALLEN OFFICERS" in the House.

REMEMBERING OUR FALLEN OFFICERS

Congressional Record, Volume 172 Issue 82 (Thursday, May 14, 2026) [Congressional Record Volume 172, Number 82 (Thursday, May 14, 2026)] [House] [Pages H3517-H3521] From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [ www.gpo.gov ] REMEMBERING OUR FALLEN OFFICERS (Under the Speaker's announced policy of January 3, 2025, Mr. Rutherford of Florida was recognized for 60 minutes as the designee of the majority leader.) Mr. RUTHERFORD. Mr. Speaker, I am here tonight to celebrate Police Week, the National Police Week celebration for the police officers who have given their lives in service to their communities. This is a very bipartisan hour that we are going to have, and I am glad and proud to have with us here on the same side Josh Gottheimer from New Jersey who is, without a doubt, I think, one of the most supportive of our law enforcement officers in the Chamber. I have always enjoyed working with Josh. {time} 1840 Mr. Speaker, I will begin with this quote: ``As a law enforcement officer, my fundamental duty is to serve mankind; to safeguard lives and property; to protect the innocent against deception, the weak against oppression or intimidation, and the peaceful against violence and disorder; and to respect the constitutional rights of all men to liberty, equality, and justice.'' That is the first line of the Law Enforcement Officer's Code of Ethics, a code every officer whose name is etched into the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial lived and died by. Today, I rise to honor the 363 fallen officers whose names were added to the wall this year, including 10 officers from Florida. Sadly, these officers are joining over 24,000 of their brothers and sisters whose names are already etched into that wall. Each fallen officer said goodbye to their loved ones as they put on their gun and badge to protect and serve their community, not knowing if they would ever return home. They stood as a shield between the vulnerable citizens that they vowed to protect and those intent on doing them harm. Of the 363 officers added this year, 111 were killed in the line of duty in 2025, which is 111 too many. Ambushes and unprovoked attacks on our Nation's law enforcement officers are happening at an alarming rate, making the job of a law enforcement officer even more dangerous. Almost daily in 2025, an officer was shot in the line of duty, totaling 347 shot, and 45 of those officers died. Specifically, there were 67 separate ambush-style attacks on law enforcement officers which left 90 officers shot and 22 of them fatally. There was also over 90,000 officer assaults last year, indicating a rate of 13.8 assaults per 100 officers, the highest officer assault rate in 10 years. This violence upon our officers is unacceptable, and ambushes on our officers must stop. That is why I want to make it clear to the criminal element who are intent on attacking our officers, if you target law enforcement, Congress will target you. This Congress, Josh Gottheimer and I introduced the Protect and Serve Act, a bipartisan bill to increase penalties on those who target, ambush, and harm our officers. I urge all of my colleagues to support passage of this very important legislation. It is our responsibility to protect those who protect us. Of the 111 officers killed in the line of duty this past year, I would like to take just a minute to honor a few of them. On July 23, Ohio's Lorain Police Department Officers Phillip C. Wagner and Peter Gale were taking their lunch break in their police vehicle when a 28-year-old man with a high-powered rifle opened fire on them and later a responding officer, Brent Payne. The officers were able to return fire, killing the heavily armed assailant who had ambushed the two patrol cars parked at the end of a dead-end street. Officers Gale and Payne were critically injured but made recoveries. Sadly, Officer and United States Marine Corps veteran Phillip C. Wagner's end of watch was July 24, 2025. My thoughts and prayers are with his family, including his wife and three children, his friends, and the men and women of the Lorain Police Department. I also rise today to honor the life and service of four Northern York County Regional Police Department detectives in southern Pennsylvania whose lives were taken in a senseless ambush on September 17, 2025. Detective Sergeant Cody Becker, along with Detectives Mark Baker and Isaiah Emenheiser, were attempting to serve a warrant for a stalking suspect when they were met by gunfire that took the lives of three detectives and wounded two others. Together, Detective Sergeant Becker, Detective Baker, and Detective Emenheiser served the Northern York County Regional Police Department for a combined 57 years. I will close with this, Mr. Speaker: Ralph Emerson once said that the purpose of life is not to be happy; it is to be useful; it is to be honorable, to be compassionate, to have it make some difference that you lived and lived well. [[Page H3518]] These officers did just that. They lived well. We are forever grateful for their service and the heroic legacy of these fallen officers. I ask, Mr. Speaker, that all of us and all of those watching, that we would all live the rest of our lives worthy of these officers' sacrifice. Mr. Speaker, I yield to the gentleman from New Jersey (Mr. Gottheimer). Mr. GOTTHEIMER. Mr. Speaker, let me begin by thanking and recognizing my very dear friend and a phenomenal leader in our country, Sheriff John Rutherford. Sheriff Rutherford served in law enforcement and continues to serve our great country today in Congress. He serves with distinction and a deep recognition that standing by our men and women who wear a uniform is not a partisan issue. It is an American issue. It is what we should do for our communities and our country, and I am grateful for him. I thank him so much. It is an honor to serve as the co-chair of the bipartisan House Law Enforcement Caucus, especially this week during National Police Week when we honor the brave men and women in law enforcement and all of the first responders who put their lives on the line every single day to protect our communities and keep our families safe. Of course, as the sheriff said, this is a particularly tough week because we recognize the fallen and honor the fallen, and, of course, spend time with their families. But every day, officers and families from across our Nation watch as their loved ones go off to protect us. So while we gather here in Washington to honor those who put on the badge and remember those who made the ultimate sacrifice, we also honor those who go out every single day. Earlier this month, Congressman Rutherford and I attended the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial Ceremony here in our Nation's Capital, surrounded by thousands of names etched into that stone wall, names that represent heroes, families forever changed, and a debt we can never fully repay. You heard Congressman Rutherford share some of the names that will be etched onto that wall. This year 363 brave officers will be added to the memorial, including 11 officers from my home State of New Jersey. Tonight, we honor their memory, their courage, and their sacrifice, and we recommit ourselves to them, because the names on the walls, those are moms and dads and brothers and sisters and loved ones. So we commit ourselves to them, to getting the backs of men and women who continue to serve. {time} 1850 Every single day when they wake up, our officers put on that bulletproof vest, kiss their spouses and children good-bye, and head into unknown danger. They run toward that danger when many run away. They are the first to respond, often the last to leave, and, far too often, the ones we only recognize when tragedy strikes. That is why it is so important this week that we recognize them. Frankly, we should be doing this every day to honor their service, because to me the badge represents that service and sacrifice, unwavering commitment, courage in the face of danger, and a true bond with the communities that officers serve every day. Mr. Speaker, supporting law enforcement should never be a partisan issue. I will say this time and again. It is why we are standing together on one side of the aisle, symbolically, because there should be no Democrat or Republican way to protect a community or stand by an officer. That is why we are so proud to work together every day on legislation with a group of us. Support can't stop with words, it has to require action. That is why we continue fighting for commonsense investments in public safety and in the officers who protect our communities. Together, we worked to secure more than $1 billion in Byrne Justice Assistance Grants and Community Oriented Policing Services resources to help local departments hire officers, improve training, and access critical support. We helped secure resources for bulletproof vests, hate crime prevention initiatives, and support for smaller departments and rural departments. We secured full lifetime resources for the World Trade Center Health Program so our 9/11 responders and survivors continue to receive the care they earned and deserve. The sheriff talked about our push on the bipartisan Invest to Protect Act because we know that smaller and midsize departments need more support, not less. We need more, not less. They need help with retaining and recruitment and mental health resources, especially for our smaller departments who carry the burdens of the jobs home every day. We have to help them. We talked about the Protect and Serve Act to ensure stronger penalties for those who deliberately target law enforcement officers in the line of duty. I also support, and have in the past, the Thin Blue Line Act because, Mr. Speaker, if you deliberately hurt a cop, you are going to jail; and if you kill a cop, you should get the death penalty. This week, during National Police Week, I announced the bipartisan Stop the Do