North Shore Louisiana News

WASHINGTON, D.C. —On May 15, House Majority Leader Steve Scalise (R-La.), joined House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-CA), Republican Whip Tom Emmer (R-Minn.), Republican Conference Chair Elise Stefanik (R-N.Y.), Congressman Clay Higgins (R-La.), Congressman Pete Stauber (R-Minn.), Congressman Anthony D'Esposito (R-N.Y.), Congressman Mike Ezell (R-Miss.), and House Republicans to honor the men and women of law enforcement at the beginning of National Police Week. Leader Scalise thanked police officers and law enforcement who put themselves in harm’s way every day to keep our communities safe. Leader Scalise also highlighted his personal experience to reinforce the important role of law enforcement officers and slammed the Left for trying to defund police as Americans face a punishing rise in violent crime across the nation. 

Leader Scalise's remarks:
“Thank you, Mr. Speaker and, every single day, I pray for our men and women in law enforcement. It is never lost on me that I wouldn't be here today if it wasn't for the bravery and heroism of those brave men and women in uniform. Of course, David Bailey and Crystal Griner with Capitol Police were with me that day of the shooting back in 2017. 

“It wasn't just me. It was about a dozen other Members of Congress that wouldn't be here either if they didn't step up and do what men and women in uniform do every single day. They take an oath to keep our communit[ies] safe. They don’t know when they walk out the door [if] they might encounter danger. They might be apprehending someone who committed violence against someone else. They don't know. Might be a slow day. But it also might be a day where their life is in danger, and yet they show up every single day and they do that job. 

“They have our backs every single day and it's important that we have their backs every single day. That's what a week like this is about: to pay tribute to law enforcement. To take an extra moment to thank them. If you see a cop, thank them for their job, because I know I pray for them – that not only they're able to do their job safely, but they're able to return home to their families because they are fathers and mothers. They’re sons and daughters, and their families want to see them come home safe as well. That's why, this week, we're bringing a number of bills to the Floor during this special week to pay tribute to law enforcement [and] to show them that we have their back[s] in a number of different ways. 

“Hopefully these are all very bipartisan votes – votes that stand up for law enforcement, but also stand up against the attacks on law enforcement. You've seen the Defund The Police movement – it's still out there. But you also see de facto defunding of the police. You see attempts by some of these prosecutors who run on a platform of not enforcing laws to hold people accountable who are caught by police. There's nothing more demoralizing to a police officer if they chase down a suspect – sometimes you’re getting into fist fights, you’re actually having to run them down – and then you catch somebody, who did something bad to somebody else, only to watch them walk out the door the next day. 

“We saw that happening here in D.C. and we took action in our first weeks in the majority to say, ‘At least we have a constitutional ability to do something about it in D.C.’ And we said, 'If somebody commits a violent crime, they're not going to walk out of jail the next day,' like D.C. was trying to do – and we passed that bill and it got signed into law.

“And this is something telling. The D.C. police chief, as this debate was playing out, said something that should remind everybody why the Defund The Police movement is dangerous. Why cashless bail is dangerous. Why this attitude – that if you catch somebody, you can just let them out the next day – is dangerous. Because the police chief in D.C., during that debate just a few months ago, says [that] for every person they catch who committed murder, that person committed 11 other crimes before they committed murder.

“We shouldn't stop and put somebody in jail only when they commit a murder. If you can put them in jail the first time they harm somebody, they won’t commit that murder. That's what we're standing up for when we're standing up for our men and women in uniform. Because unfortunately, sometimes those murders are the police officers themselves. Last year, we lost over 200 men and women in uniform in the United States of America who were just doing their jobs and were killed in the line of duty. 

“It's a dangerous job on a good day. And on a bad day, there's some that don't make it home, and we never forget those families. We never stop praying for our men and women in uniform who keep our community safe. God bless each and every one of them. We should all be there to back them as they do their job to back us.” 

Original source can be found here.