Improving Law Enforcement Officer Safety and Wellness Through Data Act of 2024

Floor Speech

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Mr. HIGGINS of Louisiana. Madam Speaker, do you know why our Democratic colleagues oppose this report? Do you know why, Madam Speaker? They don't want clear, fresh, precise data provided to the American people on how many attacks uniformed law officers suffer every year.

They don't want America to know, Madam Speaker, because America would be shocked. It is vastly underreported by rank-and-file officers like me and my brothers and sisters from sea to shining sea, men who know what it is not just to wear a little pin like here and walk around D.C. with your head held high, but to wear a shield, to wear a badge, to earn that certification every year. We know what it is to be constantly under threat of attack and physical attack, but we carry on.

We rarely report what we don't absolutely have to because of the agenda-driven persecution that officers are currently facing. Where? In Republican-run cities with Republican district attorneys that actually prosecute criminals? No, Madam Speaker. In liberal cities.

Look at the maps. It is in cities run by Democratic policies and the agendas of the Democratic mayors and Democratic DAs. Those are the cities that are eaten alive by crime in America. This is why you cannot fill the ranks of law enforcement officers across the country.

When I was a cop, we had about 800,000 uniformed officers. We were on our way to a million. We are down to about 600,000 now. Your officers are leaving service not because of the threats that we have historically faced but because of the threats that we continue to face for physical danger on the streets and the very significant possibility, even probability in some municipalities, that the actions of that law enforcement officer are going to be treated more harshly than the criminal and violent attacks that the officer both faces and protects his community from.

To think that my colleagues across the aisle would oppose a bill that mandates the Department of Justice provide accurate data to the American people about how many violent attacks uniformed officers face across the country, my God, you can barely get your head wrapped around that.

Of course, this body that is supposed to represent we the people should endeavor to provide the American people with accurate, contemporary data regarding such things.

Madam Speaker, I am honored to support my colleague's bill, and I encourage Representatives on both sides of the aisle to join us in support of this legislation.

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