May 15, 2019 - Issue: Vol. 165, No. 81 — Daily Edition116th Congress (2019 - 2020) - 1st Session

[Page S2847]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]



                          National Police Week

  Mr. SCHUMER. Mr. President, I thank my colleague from Iowa for always 
staying on top of things like this.
  Mr. President, first, I would like to talk about Police Week. Today 
we observe Peace Officers Memorial Day, the heart of National Police 
Week. We all remember the men and women in law enforcement who have 
made the ultimate sacrifice, and we pause to say thank you to all of 
our police officers who work day and night to keep our communities 
safe.
  I want to share a special thanks to all of our law enforcement 
members visiting from New York, who, in my view, are the gold standard 
in police work.
  I grew up in a neighborhood where police officers lived. I played 
with their children at their houses. You would always know sort of 
instinctively, even as a kid, when that phone rang and the spouse--
almost always, in those days, the wife of a police officer--heard the 
phone ring, what went through her head a little bit is this: I hope 
that is not the call I dreaded. This is the job of police officers and 
their families--that is, to risk their safety for our safety--and they 
do a great job.
  As we recognize their contributions, we should acknowledge what we 
could do in Congress to make their jobs safer and easier. We can make 
our streets safer by passing comprehensive background check 
legislation. We can help law enforcement combat foreign opioid 
trafficking by passing the bipartisan Fentanyl Sanctions Act and the 
POWER Act, which provides handheld scanning devices. When a police 
officer is on a drug bust, they can tell if fentanyl is part of a crime 
scene there, and they can take precautions to protect themselves, 
because we know how deadly fentanyl is, even if it gets on your skin or 
in your nostrils. We can also do more to care for the families of 
fallen officers.
  That is why I have been so proud to fight alongside my colleague 
Senator Gillibrand and so many others to make sure that the September 
11th Victim Compensation Fund has the necessary funding.
  Last Friday, the New York Police Department, or the NYPD, added the 
names of nearly 50 police officers to the 9/11 memorial wall, all of 
whom died in 9/11-related illnesses. It is our duty to take care of 
these families, and the first step is making sure that the Victims 
Compensation Fund has enough funds to compensate them.
  I say to our law enforcement officers two words: Thank you. Thank you 
for your service. It is an honor to represent you in the Senate, and we 
are all grateful for the sacrifices you make every day.