Scalise: Republicans Will Always Stand with Law Enforcement and their Families

WASHINGTON, D.C.-Today, House Majority Leader Steve Scalise (R-La.) joined Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.), House Majority Whip Tom Emmer (R-Minn.), Conference Chairwoman Lisa McClain (R-Mich.), and Congressman Mike Ezell (R-Miss.) during Police Week to honor the brave men and women of law enforcement who risk their lives every day to keep Americans safe. Leader Scalise highlighted House Republicans' efforts to support law enforcement officers and their families, while contrasting Democrats' repeated pushes to defund the police.

Click here or the image above to view Leader Scalise's full remarks.

On honoring fallen officers and their families:

"Every week, we pay tribute to our men and women in uniform, our law enforcement officers who keep our community safe. But this week is a special week where we all come together as Police Week to pay tribute to especially those law enforcement officers who paid the ultimate price. Over 100 last year that were killed in the line of duty protecting our communities.

"Sheriff [Mike] Ezell said it so eloquently - last night, we had a wonderful tribute on the Capitol steps that the Speaker led, where we had not only a large number of members of Congress, but we had some family members - families whose loved ones were lost as law enforcement officers. And it was tear-jerking to hear those stories. A young girl who lost her father and he'll never be there for her again. And she recalled the memories she had of her father. And then, of course, that morning when she heard her mom answering that phone call to find out that her husband had been killed in the line of duty, killed by a repeat offender, as the Whip talked about, happens way too often because the criminal justice system fails all of us in so many ways. But it puts our law enforcement officers at risk too, which is why we need to make sure we get the policy right."

On the courage law enforcement officers show every day:

"I think a lot of you were in the room just a few weeks ago at the White House Correspondents' Dinner, and we hear about it a lot. I've seen it personally. I would not be alive today if not for the bravery of law enforcement officers. But think about it for everybody who was in the room at the Washington Hilton. We all heard the chaos, and nobody really knew what was going on. You knew there was a shooter. You heard the calls, you didn't know if he got in, but he didn't get into the room. And why did he not get into the room? He got through armed, and his intention was to come in and kill the President of the United States and, frankly, kill everybody else he could that was in that room. But he never got there because law enforcement went to the danger. You saw them doing it right in real time. They ran to the danger, when everybody else was running for cover to protect themselves, it was the law enforcement officers who risked their lives.

"It takes a special kind of person to answer that call. And thank God they do. And so that's why we celebrate them every day, but especially this week, we really pause to remember those who gave their life protecting our communities."

On House Republicans' legislation supporting law enforcement:

"We're bringing a number of bills to the floor this week in remembrance of Law Enforcement Week to try to help give more tools to our police officers across the country. We're also bringing a really important resolution by Zach Nunn to pay tribute to law enforcement, thank them for what they do, and also to stand up against these crazy ideas like defund the police. It's still going on today. You know, you saw a major shutdown finally ended two weeks ago, the Department of Homeland Security, all over the idea that Democrats still want to defund police. You know, whether it's federal law enforcement, local law enforcement, state law enforcement, the titles of the law enforcement officers can change, but the Democrat mantra is the same. They want to defund them at every level, and we will not let it happen. We won't.

"We're going to always back the blue. It's a shame everybody doesn't, but we will. And then you're going to see that continue to play out this week on the House floor in actual votes, and we'll be watching those votes closely. Really, really appreciate what our men and women in law enforcement do every day to keep our communities safe. God bless them. God bless their families."