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Floor Speech

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Mr. BRAUN. Madam President, Indiana has lost several officers in the line of duty in the last 2 years, like Terre Haute Officer Greg Ferency and Richmond Officer Seara Burton.

I would like to say a few words about Elwood Police Officer Noah Shahnavaz, who was killed in the line of duty last year in a little town in Indiana. He was only 24 years old. He was shot during a routine traffic stop by a violent career criminal who should have been behind bars. His parents, Laurie and Matt, remembered their son to my office with these words:

All that Noah ever wanted to do is help others. Society has been robbed of the many positive impacts he would have had on our world.

When a police officer is killed in the line of duty, it sends a shock wave through the community, and it is happening in far too many places.

I decided after his death that I wanted to take the lead in reintroducing the Thin Blue Line Act. This bill would make targeting police officers an aggravating factor in favor of the maximum sentence. It has already passed through the House of Representatives once before. We need to do it again in this Congress and get it through the Senate as well.

Supporting our police shouldn't be a partisan issue. This law wouldn't apply in every case, but it would make criminals think twice before targeting our police. We have to do everything we can to protect those who protect us. The one thing we could do to fight back against crime is to support those on the frontline. We need to give them the resources they need and send a clear message to those who wish to do them harm: If you target a police officer, you are going to pay the highest price possible.

We need to get that done.

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