Date: 2015-05-12
Speaker: JACKSON LEE (democrat)
Chamber: H

Mr. Speaker. I will close with a prayer that those who are already lost will know that we pray for their eternal rest. and for those who live. that we pray for their continued service to this Nation. Mr. Speaker. as a senior Member of the House Judiciary Committee. as the Ranking Member of the Subcommittee on Crime. Terrorism. Homeland Security. and Investigations. as the representative from Houston. which has one of the Nations most effective police departments. and as a cosponsor of the House companion measure. I rise in strong support of S. 665. the "Rafael Ramos and Wenjian Liu National Blue Alert Act of 2015." Every day. more than 900.000 officers protect and serve the people of the United States. On average. one law enforcement officer is killed in the line of duty every 58 hours. And. each year. there is an average of 58.930 assaults on our law enforcement officers. resulting in 15.404 injuries. Just yesterday. in Hattiesburg. Mississippi. a community held a memorial for two dedicated public servants fatally shot during a traffic stop on Saturday night. Married and the father of two. Benjamin Deen. a 34yearold K9 officer. was recognized in 2012 as the Hattiesburg "Officer of the Year." Liquori Tate. just 25 years old. fulfilled a childhood dream when he graduated the police academy and joined the police force less than one year ago. For the community of Hattiesburg. these senseless deaths of on duty officers are the first in three decades. Hattiesburg is not alone in these tragic developments. Law enforcement fatalities in the U.S. rose 24 percent in 2014. reversing two years of significant decline. The number of law enforcement officers killed in the line of duty rose from 102 in 2013 to 126 in 2014. Preliminary statistics released yesterday by the FBI show that 51 law enforcement officers were feloniously killed in the line of duty in 2014. This is an increase of almost 89 percent when compared to the 27 killed in 2013. And. of those 51 felonious deaths. offenders used firearms in 46. Just one day before this tragedy in Mississippi. Officer Brian Moore was laid to rest thousands of miles away in Long Island. New York. Around 6 p.m. on a Saturday. Moore and his partner came upon the gunman. After identifying himself as a police officer. and asking the gunman about the object in his waistband. the gunman fatally shot Moore in the face. Moore was just 20 years old when he joined the New York Police Department and. over five years of service. he earned two medals for meritorious police duty and two for excellent police duty. The killing of Officer Moore in New York City comes on the heels of the December killings of NYPD Officers Rafael Ramos and Wenjian Liu. for whom the legislation before us memorializes. These officers were killed on a Saturday afternoon. while sitting in their parked patrol car. by a man who had shared his intent to kill police officers on social media. This man traveled from Maryland to New York to execute his plan. Unfortunately. at the same time Maryland authorities were warning the NYPD of this threat. Officers Ramos and Liu were being assassinated. Benjamin Dean. Liquori Tate. Brian Moore. Rafael Ramos. and Wenjian Liuthese fallen heroes join the more than 20.000 U.S. law enforcement officers who have made the ultimate sacrifice since the first known lineofduty death in 1791. nearly 1.700 of whom hail from my home state of Texas and 121 from the Houston Police Department. The brave men and women who risk their lives to keep the peace and keep us safe are too often taken by the violence they are working to prevent. So when a law enforcement officer is seriously injured or killed. rapid dissemination of information about the suspected criminal is critical to ensuring justice for that officer and keeping the public safe. These officers deserve more than just a response after violence. they deserve an effective. nationwide system that can widely disseminate advance warnings when an imminent and credible threat is made against them. Having in place such a system could be the difference between life and death. And. for Officers Ramos and Liu. having such a system in place may have given them a fighting chance. The measure before us seeks to meet these safety challenges by putting in place such a system. The Blue Alert system is modeled after the Amber Alert and the Silver Alert programs. which have been very successful in finding abducted children and missing seniors. Currently 22 states. including my home state of Texas. have local Blue Alert programs in operation. There is no national system. however. to coordinate alerts across multiple state lines. This legislation addresses this gap by directing the Attorney General to establish a national communications network within the Department of Justice to disseminate information when an officer is seriously injured or killed in the line of duty. or the target of an imminent. credible threat to do the same. and assign a Department of Justice officer to act as the national coordinator of the Blue Alert Network. The National Blue Alert Coordinator will(1) provide assistance to states and local governments using Blue Alert plans. (2) establish voluntary guidelines for states and local governments for developing these plans. develop protocols for efforts to apprehend suspects. (3) work with states to ensure regional coordination of various elements of the network. and (4) establish advisory groups. to assist states. local governments. law enforcement agencies and other entities in initiating. facilitating. and promoting Blue Alerts through the network. The Coordinator will also determine what procedures and practices to use in notifying law enforcement and the public when a law enforcement officer is killed or seriously injured in the line of duty. or is the target of an imminent. credible threat to do the same. and which procedures and practices are the most cost effective to implement. Mr. Speaker. it is time to expand this excellent program nationwide. Passage of S. 665 will not prevent the loss of all brave law enforcement officials in the future. but it can help. Even if it saves one life. and enables one officer to return safely home to his or her loved ones. this legislation will have proven its value. It is particularly timely that we consider this measure during National Police Week. This week is a special occasion during which we recognize our law enforcement officers and honor those who lost their lives in the line of duty. But it would be careless not to also reflect on the events that are unfolding across the Nation in response to tragic incidents involving the use of lethal force against unarmed citizens. The measure before us will enhance officer safety. which should always be one of our major concerns. but the issuance of alerts alone is not enough. The safety of law enforcement officers and community members are undeniably intertwined. but recent events have made it clear that the mutual trust and respect necessary for this relationship needs to be strengthened. If we are to succeed in the vital mission of building trust and mutual respect between law enforcement and the communities they serve. we must work to really see each other. We must also work to understand each others reality. Citizens need to see the risks and dangers the men and women of law enforcement experience when they put on their badge. Law enforcement needs to see the same risks and dangers men and women in their communities experience when they walk down the street or drive their cars. We must see that we are not enemies and we must commit to addressing these problems in a productive and nonviolent manner. In order to fully see each other. we need to gain a clear picture of what is happening in our communities. The lack of comprehensive and reliable data feeds into this distrust and is an obstacle to moving us forward. As stated by FBI Director Comey. we cannot effectively address concerns about "use of force" policies and officerinvolved shootings if we do not have a firm grasp on the demographics and circumstances of such incidents. That is why I have introduced H.R. 1810. the CADET Act. which would mandate the data collection and analysis necessary to properly educate and train law enforcement. We simply cannot have an informed discussion about sound policy if we do not improve the way we collect and analyze data. But it does not stop there. If we are to truly succeed in this mission. we in Congress must have a frank conversation about the policies we have enacted that have caused and exacerbated this distrust. We must recognize the role that our actions have played in constructing a criminal justice system that creates more criminals and victims than justice. And. we must do our part by taking up the task of reforming our criminal justice system so that it is fairer and delivers equal justice to all persons. Mr. Speaker. I support this bipartisan legislation because it increases safety for us all and it is an important step towards repairing the relationship between law enforcement and the communities that they serve. Accordingly. I urge my colleagues to join me. the Fraternal Order of Police. the National Association of Police Organizations. and the National Sheriffs Association in supporting S. I yield back the balance of my time.