Unanimous Consent Request--S. 1135

Floor Speech

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Mr. SULLIVAN. Madam President, I am going to be talking about a bill of mine that is, I think, very appropriate and very timely, the Protect Our Heroes Act, which will federalize certain violent crimes against public safety officers across the country, like the police and first responders, in order to deter these kinds of crimes and show the men and women in our law enforcement community that we have their backs.

Before I get into the details of my bill, I want to talk a little bit about a very moving event.

I was back home last week in Alaska. I was at the American Legion Post No. 15 in Palmer, AK, and it was on the commemoration of September 11. It was a wonderful remembrance dinner. There were tons of veterans, patriots. My State is blessed with more vets per capita than any State in the country.

But it was focused on law enforcement. We had the Palmer police chief there. We had members of the police department from Anchorage there because we were focused on so many things that came out of that day--9/ 11.

But honoring our first responders is something that I think America learned--that we need to respect the men and women epitomized by the police and firemen who went up the Tower. Many of them knew they were going to die, and they did that. They did that to protect us, and there was this newfound respect for our first responders that came out of the tragedy of 9/11.

Now, in my remarks to my fellow veterans in Palmer at the American Legion post last Friday, I did mention that one of the elements of what is happening in our country, unfortunately, is that these memories are fading. They are fading, and in some ways the respect for the police is not just fading. It is being reversed.

You see these movements, these national movements of defunding our police--a horrible idea, in my view. My State needs more law enforcement, not less. We have seen on our TV screens and our social media channels that there are people--criminals--who are focused on harming the police, killing the police, attacking the police, and even taking glee in the killing and the violence against law enforcement.

So we have all seen in the past few years a dramatic increase in killings, in ambushes. In Iowa, New York, Massachusetts, Texas, California, Colorado, Pennsylvania, and Georgia this has been happening. It certainly hit home in my State.

In Anchorage, in 2016, we had a brave police officer, Arn Salao, who was the victim of a cowardly ambush in 2016. Thankfully, he survived, barely. What was the result of the arrest of the individual who tried to kill him? He ended up being a serial killer, killing five others in Anchorage. But this brave police officer found him, stopped him, and almost lost his life.

Unfortunately, another officer in a shooting in Alaska the same year, 2016, in Fairbanks, wasn't so fortunate. On October 16, 2016, Sergeant Allen Brandt, an 11-year veteran of the Fairbanks Police Department, pulled over a suspect to question him, and he was shot five times. He eventually succumbed to the complications related to his injuries.

I went to the memorial service. There were hundreds of Alaskans. He had a young family, a young wife. It was brutal to watch this.

These are selfless men and women in my State, who are every day getting up to risk their lives and to wear the uniform in the line of duty.

All of this inspired me to put together my Protect Our Heroes Act, which will enhance Federal penalties for the killing or assaulting of public safety officers and first responders, especially increasing penalties for criminals who ambush or lure law enforcement officers for the purpose of committing crimes against them--dramatically enhancing penalties.

This is something that I think the vast majority of us in the Senate agree with.

Now, I take the opportunity to go running most days, whether I am here or back home. And when I go running on Capitol Hill, what I see every morning--and I saw it this morning--are police officers. No matter the time of day, Capitol Police are sitting in their vehicles or on patrol. Their sole purpose is to protect this institution and the Members.

This morning, as I usually do when I run past them sitting in their car, I just gave them a thumbs-up. Thank you. Thank you. We respect you, and we certainly have your back.

So that is why I am offering this legislation today. I hope my Senate colleagues can come together to support this. I think it would be inconceivable to vote against this bill, especially now when we are seeing these kinds of heinous activities like we saw in Compton, CA. But we also want to send a message to our first responders and law enforcement: We are watching. We are going to pass laws to disincentivize this kind of heinous action against you, and we have your back and the back of your family members, who are probably worried when you go out on your duty every day.

1135 and the Senate proceed to its immediate consideration; further, that the Sullivan substitute amendment at the desk be considered and agreed to; that the bill, as amended, be considered read a third time and passed; and that the motion to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table with no intervening action or debate.

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Mr. SULLIVAN. Mr. President, I want to thank my colleague from Pennsylvania. I know he and I both share a passion on this issue. I think the vast majority of the Senators share a passion on this issue-- that we should be standing here in the U.S. Senate to make sure our law enforcement knows that we have their backs.

As Senator Toomey just mentioned, this is happening all across the country. The men and women who put on the uniform to protect us are being targeted simply because they wear the uniform to protect us. If this is not an issue that cries out for some kind of action, some kind of discussion to prevent this and tell these brave men and women, whether in Alaska or Pennsylvania or New Mexico, that we have their backs, I don't know what that topic is--I don't know what that issue is.

Unfortunately, Senator Toomey tried to move his legislation the last couple of days, and it was thwarted. Now my legislation to send the message that we are not going to let criminals get away with these kinds of heinous crimes, that the Senate is watching, and that we have the backs of law enforcement and their families--that is a really important message to send right now.

I am disappointed in my colleague for objecting. We will continue to work on this issue and, as Senator Toomey mentioned, the violence issue, which is a hugely important issue in my State for my constituents. But right now, I think we should be acting on the issue we are seeing, and that issue is, there is a movement across the country that is really focused on perpetrating violence against the men and women who are sworn to protect us. I can't believe anyone here thinks that is a good movement, but it is happening in America right now. We need to send a message that it is unacceptable and that we are going to do everything in our power to stop it.

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