Recognizing Our Law Enforcement Agencies

Floor Speech

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Mr. MEADOWS. Thank you so much for your leadership on this critical evening to express the will of so many Members of Congress that hopefully is the will of the American people. I thank you for your service not only here in Congress, but also for serving the people of King County as sheriff.

Mr. Speaker, when we get to call out some of our dear friends who are sheriffs or police chiefs, many times we don't even refer to them by name. It is ``sheriff'' or ``chief.'' But tonight, I want to talk a little bit about what I call most of my law enforcement colleagues in western North Carolina. I call them friends. I want to tell a few personal stories.
Before I do that, I want to share a little bit about the gentleman from Washington who is leading this tonight, because it is real easy to see the professional side of a Member who serves with distinction here in this body, but sometimes the people back home miss the personal side.

Today, we were discussing a number of bills on human trafficking and the unbelievable blight that is on our Nation and on our world where we have more people today in modern-day slavery than at the height of the slave trade. But it is personal for this gentleman to my left because time and time again, in meetings, he has brought up the plight of those young girls, their being trafficked at the hands of so many that are out there. It is that personal side that we can applaud tonight, not only for my colleague, but for many of the sheriffs and chiefs that I have the honor of knowing because of being in this position.

Mr. Speaker, I can tell story after story, but there is one police chief in my area who shared a story about one of his officers who was working for him who puts his life on the line every single day, and he does it for a little over $12 an hour. When I heard that, I could hardly believe it, because as we start to see the dedication with which our law enforcement officers truly put themselves out each and every day, not only them, but their families--and we expect them to come home.

Mr. Speaker, as has been shared previously, sometimes, they don't come home; so we must do a better job of standing by our law enforcement officers each and every day to thank them, to go out of our way, to make sure that we thank them for their service, thank their families for their sacrifice.

There are birthday parties that are missed, anniversaries that are missed, dinner engagements that are missed because when the phone rings or when the call goes off or when the beeper is alert, they are always there. Not answering that call is not an option for them. They are always available.

Yet in my district back in North Carolina, we have sheriffs who are getting involved to make sure that the homeless have a place, a warm bed, and a hot meal; a sheriff that has actually gone out in his community in one of my counties that makes sure that those that are in need have a place on Halloween night to come and celebrate in a safe environment; dedicated volunteers over and over; a sheriff back home who really works tirelessly to make sure that the needs of those that are most needy in his community are taken care of--story upon story, Mr. Speaker, of people who put politics aside and put the interests of their community first.

Whether it is a Democrat or Republican, they all work together to make sure that what happens is that their community is safe.

Mr. Speaker, they have my back, and I think it is time that the American people stand up and have their back. We need to make sure that we stand with them.

I thank the gentleman for his time, for his leadership on this issue, and for his service.

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