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Floor Speech

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Mrs. CAPITO. Madam President, this week is National Police Week--a time to honor the sacrifices and the service of our Federal, State, and local law enforcement officers.

I want to take this opportunity as a Senator from West Virginia to thank the officers who keep our communities across our country safe.

I especially want to thank the State troopers, the sheriffs, the deputy sheriffs of all 55 of our counties, and our city police officers across West Virginia who serve and protect the Mountain State.

Tomorrow, the 38th Annual National Peace Officers Memorial Service--a somber service--will honor 158 law enforcement heroes from across this Nation who were killed in the line of duty in the year 2018. We all mourn the loss of these brave men and women.

Last night, I joined thousands, I believe, of officers on the National Mall for their candlelight vigil in preparation for the Peace Officers Memorial Service. What I saw there was really astounding. I struck up conversations with a lot of different people. I saw sheriffs from Florida. I saw the motorcycle police officers from Texas. We saw the mounted officers from all over the country on beautiful equestrian horses. We saw city police officers from big cities and small cities, men and women, young and old, serving our country as our law enforcement officers.

As we did yesterday evening during the candlelight vigil, we continue to stand with not just the fallen heroes' families but those who are serving us now. Our country will never forget the sacrifices our fallen law enforcement officers and their families have made.

In the coming days, I hope that we will further honor our police officers by passing several pieces of bipartisan legislation.

One of these bills is the Supporting and Treating Officers in Crisis Act. It was introduced by Senator Hawley. The bill will reauthorize and improve family support grants for law enforcement officers to better address mental health and suicide prevention.

Our law enforcement officers have to deal with difficult and often tragic situations. They are the first to respond to a difficult accident or the first to view up close and personal the devastation of child abuse and other terrible incidents. Responding to tragedy and helping individuals through the worst days of their lives would take a toll on anybody. We need to be there for the officers who are there for us by providing mental health services when they are needed.

I also support passage of the Debbie Smith Act, which was introduced by Senator Cornyn. This will extend funding for DNA testing to reduce the rape kit backlog, which has been historically quite large.

The West Virginia State Police and Marshall University have partnered to utilize some of this funding in my State. It is important that we continue providing resources to help our law enforcement officers bring justice to the victims of rape and other violent crimes.

Senator Leahy's bill to continue the Bulletproof Vest Partnership Program, which we participate in, again, in West Virginia, is also critical to protecting the lives of our police officers.

All of these bills enjoy broad support and should be passed soon.

The work of our police officers do influence so many aspects of our lives. In West Virginia, where the opioid epidemic continues to devastate families and communities across the State, our police play a vital role. They help others to stop bringing the drugs into our towns to begin with. They assist with those who are caught in the cycle of addiction. By going to schools and being school resource officers, they prevent that next generation from going down that path.

This week is also National Drug Prevention Week, and the Martinsburg Initiative in West Virginia is a great example of how our police can play such a positive role in our children's lives.

This initiative is spearheaded by the Martinsburg Police Department, the Berkeley County Schools, and Shepard University, as well as a wide array of local partners, most especially the Boys & Girls Club of the Eastern Panhandle. Its goal is to stem the opioid addiction problem by identifying and trying to determine the basic causes of drug abuse in at-risk families. The effort is actually based on a CDC study that shows when children have adverse childhood experiences like exposure to drugs and alcohol, it can have a major impact on their physical and mental developmental health.

The work these officers are doing, led by Martinsburg chief of police Maury Richards, is incredible. I have seen it firsthand. Whether they are playing basketball with the kids at the Boys & Girls Club of the Eastern Panhandle or spending times in West Virginia in Berkeley County Schools playing interactive learning games and helping students with their work, or simply lending a hand and a smile whenever one is needed, they are making such a difference and letting kids know that their police department is part of the solution, and they are there and available to help.

I saw other prevention efforts underway last year when I visited John Adams Middle School in Charleston. I went with Chad Napier, who is from the Appalachian High Intensity Drug Trafficking Task Force to meet with students. He was explaining to them just the proliferation of drugs, the damage drugs can do, and doing it in a way that could relate to the middle schoolers.

So during National Drug Prevention Week, I want to recognize those who use their time and talent to help prevent addiction in our communities. During National Police Week, I want to thank our police officers again and their loved ones for their service and their sacrifice on behalf of our communities.

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