Remarks for PBA Endorsement

Statement

To the New Jersey PBA and your 33,000 members, including all of you here this morning, I am honored and humbled to have you in my corner and to wear this pin.

Thanks for having my back -- and, rest assured, I will always have yours.

Many of you know this, but James Zadroga was born only a few miles from here, down Route 21 in North Arlington, where his father was police chief.

After 9/11, Detective Zadroga spent more than 450 hours at Ground Zero, sifting through the smoldering ashes to recover those who had perished after the attacks. James Zadroga was just 34 years old when he died of a degenerative lung disease that left him on an oxygen tank the last year of his life. Scores have died from 9/11 illnesses since then and thousands more are still sick.

When James passed away, all of the Senators from New York and New Jersey -- including my old boss Senator Frank Lautenberg -- came together with Republican New York Governor Pataki to pass the Zadroga Act.

I stand here today because, at my core, I believe our community -- and your elected officials, regardless of party -- have an obligation to do everything in their power to look after law enforcement, and all first responders, who put their lives on the line every day to keep our families safe.

Here in North Jersey, we are very lucky to live in beautiful, safe communities. I'm under no illusion that a key part of that is because of what you do on a daily basis. You don't just keep us safe, you're an integral part of the community. You know our names, and we know yours. Whether it's a burglary, a drug overdose, a heart attack, or a fire, you're often the first ones on the scene.

I know it's not easy to be in law enforcement right now. It's harder to recruit and keep cops on the beat. I also know that the vast majority of you wake up every single day, put your lives on the line, and do the right thing.

You give up birthday parties for your kids and sporting events to do your job. You work hard and train hard. And you're always on call, whether or not you're officially on the clock.

So, we need to stand by you. Always. And if we want to continue to attract the best and brightest, you need to know how much we appreciate what you do. We also need to invest in law enforcement and make sure you always have the equipment and training that you need.

Last week's horrific tragedy in Orlando reminded us that as idyllic of a place we live, there are always looming threats.

Remarkably, in the fifteen years since 9/11, despite al Qaeda, ISIS, and the surge of terror at home and abroad, we actually have fewer police officers to protect us. In Bergen County -- we have seventy fewer officers than we did just ten years ago. I think it's pretty clear that we need to fight for more resources and for more COPS grants for community officers, a program that I was very proud to be part of when I worked for President Bill Clinton.

Like many of you, I am deeply concerned about the explosion of homegrown terrorists -- including ISIS-inspired lone wolf terrorists, like the ones we saw this month in Orlando, where Omar Mateen tragically, and shamelessly, killed forty-nine people … in San Bernardino, where fourteen innocent Americans were killed … and in Philadelphia, last January, where an Islamic fundamentalist walked up to a police car and murdered 33-year old officer Jesse Harnett.

In November, the Washington Post reported that over the last decade, more than 2,000 suspected terrorists have been able to buy guns in the United States without consequence.

And, individuals on the FBI watch list have successfully bought guns 91 percent of the time.

Homegrown terrorism is a growing and grave threat. Just like we must fight ISIS abroad, with everything we've got in our arsenal, we must fight ISIS and every Islamic fundamentalist here at home, with equal resolve. In many ways, the threat here is much more elusive and harder to ferret out. We have American citizens watching anti-American, radical propaganda videos from their homes on YouTube and using Google to search for how to build weapons and execute a terrorist attack.

Their training camps are in America's living rooms, not in Iraq or Syria, which is why, more than ever, we need law enforcement, at all levels, to fight terror and protect our families here at home.

I believe we should take the following five steps to help stem, and ultimately destroy homegrown, ISIS-inspired lone wolf terror.

First, when I'm elected to Congress, I will fight for all of the resources at our disposal -- for any existing grant that can help law enforcement in Bergen, Sussex, Warren and Passaic counties search for and destroy lone wolf terrorists. I'm talking about COPS grants to recruit and train new officers, funding for regional counterterrorism task forces to coordinate and respond to an attack, and DHS-backed programs for analyzing and coordinating intelligence gathering.

Time and again, as homegrown terror has exploded, my opponent, Scott Garrett, has sat on the sidelines. Garrett voted against COPS grants, not once, but twelve times. Last year, Garrett voted to strip the Department of Homeland Security, which included essential resources to fight homegrown terrorists right here in our district.

And, year after year, Garrett has simply refused to write letters and make calls to take advantage of public safety grants -- for new officers, for training, and for new life-saving equipment. A few years ago, here in Paramus, our neighboring Congressman, Bill Pascrell, had to write a letter requesting COPS grants the town qualified for because Scott Garrett refused to. If Congressman Pascrell hadn't, Paramus would have had to pay for the new and necessary officers itself, local and property taxes would have gone up, and the federal dollars, which are already allocated in the budget, would have been shipped to places like Biloxi, Mississippi or Plains, Georgia -- not Bergen County.

I'm sick and tired of the Garrett Tax -- all of our hard-eared federal taxpayer dollars helping towns and cities in other states, instead of staying here in our District, because Garrett refuses to make a call or write a letter. Law enforcement needs the best tools at its disposal to investigate, prevent, and stop potential terrorist attacks.

Second, let's ensure that no Islamic fundamentalist or lone wolf terrorist is able to purchase a weapon, including the AR-15, similar to the ones used in Orlando.

This seems like a no-brainer to me: If you're a terrorist, and your name is on the FBI watch list, including the no-fly list, you should not be able to purchase a rapid-fire AR-type rifle and kill forty-nine innocent civilians.

In case there is any confusion, I'm not interested in taking guns away from the millions of responsible gun owners and sportsmen out there. I hunt -- but in no situation, should law enforcement be out-gunned by a terrorist or violent criminal. We should be ferreting out terrorists -- like my wife did as a federal prosecutor after 9/11 -- not handing over the keys to an arsenal.

Let me tell you about Scott Garrett's record on guns and terror: Last week, on the heels of Orlando, Garrett voted yet again, twelve times in the last year, to allow terrorists on the FBI watch list, and no-fly list, to buy guns and threaten the safety of our communities. It's simply dumbfounding. How can my opponent say that he's trying to fight ISIS-inspired terrorists if he won't even stop them from buying guns to kill innocent Americans?

But there's plenty I don't understand about our Tea Party Congressman.

Earlier this year, at an event where America's airline pilots officially endorsed our campaign, the lead United Captain unabashedly called Scott Garrett "weak on terror." Why? Because when America's pilots asked Scott Garrett to install secondary barriers on our airplanes to stop terrorists from being able to barge into cockpits -- and help prevent the next 9/11-styled attack -- the Congressman responded: sorry, flying is a dangerous activity. When you fly, you assume the risk.

In a district just miles from where a United jet flew into the World Trade Center, Scott Garrett told a United pilot, sorry, you assume the risk, and I'm not going to do everything in my power to prevent the next terrorist attack. It's almost unbelievable.

Third, we must redouble our efforts to shut down sites on the Internet that have become centers of terrorist recruitment and training. Social media has become a breeding ground for anti-American activity and training. We must cut off it off at the source.

I used to work for Microsoft, and before that, I was deeply involved with cyber security at the Federal Communications Commission. I've seen how this is spreading. The government must expand its work with companies like Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube to stomp out propaganda channels and monitor terrorist chatter and sites, so we can get one step ahead of the next lone wolf attack.

Fourth, I believe if given the resources for training and coordination, local law enforcement can play an even greater role in helping prevent lone wolf terrorist attacks.

In Congress, I will introduce legislation to create joint counterterrorism task forces at the municipal and county levels, utilizing local law enforcement, particularly in suburban and rural areas. Nobody knows the people and their communities better than our local officers.

Finally, as always, we must stand with our service members not just when they go fight terror overseas, but also -- and especially -- when they return home.

It simply burns me up that Scott Garrett allows our men and women in the armed forces to suit up, but then balks at the idea of helping when our veterans return home --voting against support for prosthetics, job training, and PTSD programs for America's heroes.

It's the same outrage I feel about Scott Garrett's two votes against the Zadroga Act to support our 9/11 first responders, first in 2010 and again in 2015. It's simply un-American.

When Scott Garrett was asked by a first responder to support the Zadroga Act last May, this was his answer: I'm sorry, but the bill gives me "heartburn." Heartburn?

Let me say this to Scott Garrett: You can't hide anymore. The word is out on where you stand on law enforcement. For nearly twenty-five years now, you have put your extreme Tea Party ideology ahead of what's best for law enforcement, for first responders, and for our veterans. Congressman, that heartburn is about to get a lot worse.

When you allow terrorists to barge into our cockpits, vote against veterans and health care for our 9/11 first responders, allow ISIS-inspired terrorists to buy guns, vote against resources to stop lone wolf terrorists in our communities -- you are the walking definition of soft on terror.

Protecting our community and standing with law enforcement is nonnegotiable.

Putting aside partisanship to protect the lives of those who stand by us is nonnegotiable.

Standing strong against terror is nonnegotiable.

In the months ahead, Scott Garrett and I will discuss, and likely disagree, on many issues. But some things aren't up for debate. I believe that if you fail to protect our families and communities, if you're soft on terror, you should be disqualified from representing us. Plain and simple, it's time for new leadership.

I will work, as a problem solver, to make you as proud of me as I am to be standing here in front of New Jersey's finest. I will never let you down.

Thank you and God bless you.

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