David Reichert

Mr. REICHERT

Mr. REICHERT. Mr. Speaker, yesterday, Representative Ron Kind and I reintroduced the S Corporation Modernization Act to reform and repeal unnecessary rules and limitations on S Corporations. This bill supports growth in communities across the country and builds upon last year's success. With broad bipartisan support in December, Congress passed the Protecting Americans from Tax Hikes (PATH) Act that provided permanent built-in gains tax relief for S Corporations. The legislative history of this provision makes clear that Congress intended this permanent relief for built-in gains to also apply to Real Estate Investment Trusts (REITs) and mutual funds.

Mr. REICHERT

Mr. REICHERT. Mr. Chairman, tragically, as we saw in San Bernardino and most recently in Orlando, we are living in a time with increasing threats in our local communities. This leaves our law enforcement officers and first responders with the responsibility of fighting from the front lines against the war on terror. Not only is more being asked of our first responders, but as local budgets get cut, they are asked to undertake these tasks with fewer and fewer resources. This is why the Defense Logistics Agency transfer of excess military equipment to civilian law enforcement agencies, otherwise known as the 1033 Program, has been critical for first responders throughout the country and a necessity to keep our cities and neighborhoods safe. The name 1033, by the way, comes from a section of the 1997 National Defense Authorization Act that made that program permanent. However, the law enforcement officers who might be listening to this presentation tonight know that 1033 in the 10 code means ``officer needs help.'' As a former law enforcement officer for 33 years, I have had many occasions to use a 1033 call for officer needs help. Mr. Chairman, we are in, today, a world where our first responders are saying: 1033, we need help; we need support; we need you to stand by us and support us, provide us with the tools that we need to protect this country. This is a cost-neutral program that allows civilian law enforcement offices to acquire military equipment, giving them the tools to respond to the new and dangerous threats that America faces. For example, during the tragic San Bernardino terrorist attack in December 2015, the local police used an armored vehicle acquired through the 1033 Program for officers to take cover in while the attackers were shooting hundreds of rounds at them. They were then able to move the vehicle, to maneuver and eventually take down the attackers. Firefighters have also used the 1033 Program. In fact, in my own district, the Kittitas County Search and Rescue team has acquired a light military tactical vehicle that can access the mountain terrain in my district where wildfires constantly affect remote households. The Kittitas Valley Fire and Rescue agency spent $65,000 for a $250,000 machine that will be used to save lives in our community. The President's Executive Order 13688 prohibits our law enforcement officers from acquiring some of the equipment needed to carry out their critical missions of protecting our communities. Mr. Chairman, I have already said I served in law enforcement for 33 years. I know, from my own experience and from speaking with members of the law enforcement community, that by not fully equipping our first responders, we expose the American people to dangers that they don't need to be exposed to, and we can't be there to help them.

Mr. REICHERT. I yield to the gentleman from New Jersey.

Mr. REICHERT. Mr. Chairman, I have an amendment at the desk.

Mr. REICHERT. Mr. Chairman, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. REICHERT. Mr. Chairman, well, with respect to the gentleman's comments, I think it is important for us to remember that this equipment is required to be demilitarized. You can't acquire this equipment and have it still maintain a military component. You can't mount machine guns on top of the armored vehicles. I don't know of any police chief or sheriff in the country who has asked for grenade launchers or rocket launchers or explosives, Mr. Chairman. These are reasonable requests. And there is a process in place, a very restrictive process that has been in place prior to the President's executive order. The problem is that the President's executive order has created so much restriction now that it has essentially prevented law enforcement agencies and fire departments and rescue agencies across the country from acquiring the needed equipment that they so need to protect our communities. Mr. Chairman, I think this is a commonsense amendment, again, that really spells out the need for law enforcement to have this equipment. It has been used properly in the past. I myself have used this equipment as the sheriff in King County and as a SWAT team commander. I urge my colleagues to support this amendment. I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. REICHERT

Mr. REICHERT. Mr. Speaker, I submit the following testimony: Thank you for inviting me to speak with you today. I'm honored to be here. I first met with Congressman Reichert at his District Office last year, just before I drove my 18- year-old daughter to Oklahoma to start her freshman year in college. This is the daughter who started my journey. She was the baby girl I was about to abandon on the steps of a hospital 18 years ago. But as I held her that day, my heart changed. I looked into her little brown eyes and I started to cry. I realized that's not what a father is supposed to do. A father is supposed to protect and take care of his child. But I had no idea whatsoever of how to do that. Because of her, I have the opportunity to come before you today and tell you the story of DADS (www.aboutdads.org). DADS stands for Divine Alternatives for Dads Services. We are based in Seattle but serve fathers and families in the Puget Sound region and throughout Western Washington. Our vision is ``Stronger Fathers, Healthier Communities.'' Our mission is ``To give fathers hope by walking together in supportive community, helping them navigate relational and legal barriers that separate them from their children and families.'' I believe--from personal experience--that the biggest problem facing our nation today is not crime, drugs and alcohol, or gang violence. These are just the results of a larger problem, which is fatherlessness. So many of the problems in our communities today are direct results of fatherlessness. Far too many of our young people have not had strong, responsible fathers engaged in their lives. As a result, too many go off the rails. They begin committing crimes, abusing drugs and alcohol, dropping out of school, and running away from home. Another common side effect is teenage pregnancies and out-of-wedlock births. The National Fatherhood Initiative has identified fatherlessness as the root cause of $100 billion a year in taxpayer costs. A few statistics: 90 percent of all homeless and runaway children are from fatherless homes. 85 percent of all children that exhibit behavioral disorders come from fatherless homes. 85 percent of all youths in prisons grew up in a fatherless home. 80 percent of rapists motivated by displaced anger come from fatherless homes. 75 percent of all adolescents in chemical abuse centers come from fatherless homes. 71 percent of all high school dropouts come from fatherless homes. 70 percent of juveniles in state-operated institutions come from fatherless homes. 63 percent of youth suicides are individuals from fatherless homes. I sometimes compare fatherlessness to AIDS. The AIDS virus doesn't kill you, but it breaks down your immune system, so the infection that you catch is what kills you. Fatherlessness works the same way. If you remove a father from the home, the family doesn't die, but it is opened up for infection--which comes in the form of teenage pregnancy, crime, gang violence, drugs and alcohol and other negative impacts. So what can be done about the nationwide problem of fatherlessness? DADS is a faith-based organization that addresses this problem in our Washington state. I founded this organization in the year 2000 along with my wife, Jeanett. I had spent many years of my life on the wrong side of the tracks, but when faced with the decision to leave our daughter on the steps of a hospital, I knew then that I needed to turn my life around and become a responsible father. It wasn't easy--in fact, it was the hardest thing I had ever done. But the rewards of being a real father to my children made it the best thing I have ever done. And it made me want to help other men do the same thing. Over the last 16 years, DADS has helped over 3,000 men reunite with over 6,000 children. Our client population is predominantly minority, with 66 percent African American. The rest are Hispanic, Asian and Caucasian. Of those clients, approximately 90 percent have a history of incarceration. Of the thousands of men who have received services from DADS, their main motivation is the desire to reenter the lives of their children. With the help they get through our program, many of these men are able to regain visitation rights, pay child support, share or get custody, find and keep jobs, provide stable housing, become taxpaying citizens, and even reunite with their families. As a result, their children stay in school, keep off drugs and out of gangs, avoid teenage pregnancies, graduate from high school and even go on to college. The effectiveness of our program depends on the trust that each individual develops in our staff as we help them navigate systems. For this reason, DADS does not charge for our services. We focus on building a vision for healthy fatherhood and then finding the resources that each individual needs to achieve success. Law-enforcement officers see firsthand the legacies of fatherlessness. Children from fatherless homes often become casualties, victims or offenders themselves. Then they are challenges for our school systems, social-service programs, drug and alcohol recovery services, law-enforcement agencies, legal and court systems--and ultimately our jails and prisons. With Father's Day just around the corner, it is my hope that all of us would recommit to the goal of helping create stronger fathers and healthier communities.

Mr. REICHERT

Mr. REICHERT. Mr. Speaker, tonight, my colleagues and I come to the floor of the United States House of Representatives to spotlight and highlight a very special week, a week that brings families and police officers together here in Washington, D.C. It is a week that is called National Police Week where these families and police officers from around the country come and gather to remember those police officers whose lives were tragically taken in the line of duty during the past year, and this happens every year. In that process, we not only remember those lives who were lost in the past year, but we also remember those lives who were lost in all of the years prior to that. Later on, I will talk about a couple of close friends of mine whose lives were taken early in their careers in the King County Sheriff's Office. I should say that, prior to coming to Congress, I spent 33 years in the King County Sheriff's Office in Seattle, starting in a patrol car, then as a detective, then as a SWAT commander, a hostage negotiator, a precinct commander, and, finally, as a sheriff, then coming here to Congress. To begin tonight, I honor Chehalis Police Officer Rick Silva and Washington State Trooper Brent Hanger, who both tragically died in the State of Washington in the line of duty. I begin with Washington State Trooper Brent Hanger. Trooper Hanger died on August 6, 2015, while investigating a marijuana grow in a small town called Yakima, Washington. He was 47 years old. He had a wife, Lisa, and six children: Emily, Erin, Kailey, Erik, Kyle, and Kevin. Trooper Hanger served with the State Patrol for 17 years, all of which were spent in the State Patrol's District 7, which includes Washington State's Snohomish, Skagit, and Whatcom Counties. Early in his career, in 2000, Trooper Hanger received the Award of Merit from the State Patrol for assisting and saving the life of a suicidal person. It is one of the things we forget about with regard to police officers. We are really peace officers, and we are there to protect people and keep the peace. The vast majority of us who go into law enforcement enter into law enforcement to protect people and to save lives, and that is what Trooper Hanger did in 2000 on just one occasion that he was recognized for. I also recognize Chehalis Police Officer Rick Silva. Rick was 60. He died in Chehalis on June 18, 2015, in Centralia, Washington. He had a wife named Cindy and a daughter named Shannon. From 1986 to 1988, he was a Lewis County corrections officer. From 1988 to 2002, he was an officer with the Lewis County Sheriff's Office; and he was employed, when he passed away, with the Chehalis Police Department. He was a self-taught master fabricator, race car driver, automotive restorer, and carpenter. Since the first known line of duty death in the year 1791, more than 20,000 U.S. law enforcement officers have made the ultimate sacrifice. A total of 1,439 law enforcement officers died in the line of duty during the past 10 years--an average of one death every 61 hours, or 144 per year. There were 123 law enforcement officers who were killed in the line of duty in 2015. Since the beginning of 2016, 36 law enforcement officers have died in the line of duty--36 this year. So far, the number of firearm-related fatalities is up 50 percent compared to the same time last year. In 2014 alone, there were 15,725 assaults against law enforcement, resulting in 13,824 injuries. Now, we hear sometimes in our own communities about those who lost their lives, but we don't always hear about those who were injured in the line of duty. The next speaker I will introduce here in a moment is also a career law enforcement officer. He was also a sheriff, a sheriff in Florida, and I am sure that he and I together could trade police stories all night that would illustrate for you, Mr. Speaker, and for others who are listening the danger that one experiences as a law enforcement officer across this country. I yield to the sheriff, the gentleman from Florida (Mr. Nugent).

Mr. REICHERT. Mr. Speaker, Sheriff Nugent served 35 years. I know he looks a lot younger than I do, but he served a couple of years longer than I did. Sometimes we call people heroes and we don't readily accept those titles because, as the sheriff said, we just want to help. Cops just want to help. They want to help people. They want to serve the community and want to keep people safe. I am proud to have another Member here tonight who I am going to introduce who has been a staunch supporter of law enforcement since his time in Congress. We actually came here together in 2005, and he happens to be a judge from Texas. So I yield to the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Poe).

Mr. REICHERT. Mr. Speaker, I thank Judge Poe for his service, too, and for his staunch support of law enforcement officers across the country. Mr. Speaker, I would like to introduce Mr. Wilson of South Carolina, who has a real understanding of what it means to serve. His family is a family of military service. So he understands the service that law enforcement officers provide across this country as well. I yield to the gentleman from South Carolina (Mr. Wilson).

Mr. REICHERT. Mr. Speaker, I thank Mr. Wilson for his support and for being here tonight to help us highlight law enforcement Police Week and remember those who have died in the line of duty and those continuing to serve. Mr. Speaker, I would now like to introduce Mr. Gowdy from South Carolina, who also has a career in law enforcement and has continued that effort here to do the right thing and protect the American people here in Congress. I yield to the gentleman from South Carolina (Mr. Gowdy).

Mr. REICHERT. Mr. Speaker, I thank Mr. Gowdy. I was going to try to get some courage up to tell one of my stories about my partner who was killed in 1982, but I think I am going to wait and gain my composure. I yield to the gentleman from Florida (Mr. Jolly), who has led one of these Special Orders in the past in honor of police officers and is another staunch supporter of law enforcement across this great Nation.

Mr. REICHERT. Mr. Speaker, I thank Mr. Jolly for his comments and his strong support of law enforcement over the years. I especially appreciate his comments regarding the partnership between police and community. The police cannot protect our families and our neighborhoods and our communities alone. The communities can't do it alone. There has to be a partnership there, Mr. Speaker, and that partnership has to be based on trust. So together, as a nation, in our communities across this great country, we have got to come together, police and communities, for the good of our children and the protection of our neighborhoods and the safety of our country. I think we can accomplish that with dialogue and especially going back to the good old days of community policing and actually visiting and talking with members of the community, as Mr. Gowdy pointed out, a police officer who stopped in his neighborhood, got out of his car and played basketball with the young men and women on the street. I can remember those days myself. I got hurt in a basketball game with some kids on the street, but that is another story. Mr. Speaker, I yield to the gentleman from Kentucky (Mr. Barr).

Mr. REICHERT. Mr. Speaker, I thank Mr. Barr for his comments and his support. I yield to the gentleman from Colorado (Mr. Buck).

Mr. REICHERT. I thank the gentleman for his support and taking time to honor those fallen in the State of Colorado. Mr. Speaker, may I inquire how much time is remaining?

Mr. REICHERT. I yield to the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Al Green).

Mr. REICHERT. I thank Mr. Green for his support. I think your uncle gave you great advice. Mr. Speaker, as I stood here tonight and listened to all the other presenters, I came to the realization that there were a lot of people here that might be a lot more articulate about what it means to be a police officer. Even though I have served for 33 years, I found that a lot of words here touched me tonight because it brings back memories of good friends. I want to tell a brief story related to some topics that were discussed earlier tonight about the opioid epidemic here. Yes, we are concerned about the people who are addicted. We are concerned--and rightly so--about the families who are trying to deal with that addiction and the danger that it presents to the person addicted, the danger it presents to the family, the tragedy it presents to that family and the addicted individual and the community in the entirety. But sometimes we forget to include the police officer in that group of people that is endangered by this epidemic that has ripped our Nation. They are the first people there. They are the first ones called to a scene where someone might be acting up as a result of being addicted to heroin or some other drug. I can remember a night. I just want to share this short story so that, Mr. Speaker, you can understand this is something that happens to police officers across this country every day of the year. I was with a team of officers who were assigned to serve a drug search warrant on an apartment. We were all assigned a room to go to. I kicked in the door and I went to the right to a small bathroom. When I entered that door and went into the bathroom, there was a young man in the bathroom with a rubber band around his arm and a needle injected in his arm. His eyes were glazed over. He was standing by the toilet. He saw me come in with my badge over my heart and my gun in my hand. I said: Raise your hands above your head and drop to your knees. He raised his hands, but he didn't go to his knees. He stood there and stared at me for a short time. Eventually, his right hand moved to the right behind a half wall and came out with a gun. At that moment, I had to make a decision. Every police officer across this Nation has to make a split-second decision: Do I shoot? Is my life in danger? Am I going home to my family? Am I not going home to my family? Is this the time? Those things go through your mind in a millisecond. In the snap of a finger, you have to make a decision. Something told me I could talk to this young man. And so I continued to talk, and he finally leaned back and dropped the gun in the toilet, fell to his knees, and we handcuffed him and took him to jail. I share that story to just emphasize the fact that police officers are going through these dangerous situations every day, having to make those decisions. And then, Mr. Speaker, every day after that they second-guess themselves, if they had decided to pull the trigger, and then the community will continue to second-guess. And, yes, we need to be questioned. And, yes, we need to be held accountable. And, yes, we need to be trained. All of those things are true. But it is so easy to Monday-morning-quarterback. I had a partner that was killed in 1982. We were tracking down a murder suspect. In the process of that, my partner was ambushed and shot in the chest and killed. He had five sons. They are all grown men now. They grew up without their father. In 1984, another friend and partner was stabbed and killed with a World War II sword. His name was Michael Rayburn. My partner's name was Sam Hicks. But just a few years before that, Mike Rayburn saved my life. I was directing traffic in the middle of the night, at 2 o'clock in the morning, on Pacific Highway just south of Seattle. It was a pretty major accident. I had my back turned to the ditch behind me. Deputy Rayburn drove up. Just at the moment he drove up, somebody jumped out of the ditch. He had a knife in his hand and was running across the lanes of traffic to bury that knife in my back. Mike Rayburn was there just in the nick of time and tackled that man who was about to stab me. Two years later, Mike Rayburn was dead. His kids grew up without their father. I am here tonight to honor them. I am here tonight to honor every police officer in this country. I am here tonight, Mr. Speaker, to ask people across the Nation to say thank you to the police officers that protect their community, protect their children, and protect their homes each and every day. I will be there on Sunday at the memorial in front of the Capitol and be with those families. I have held the widows in my arms, as the sheriff. I have held the children and cried. I will be doing that again on Sunday. Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. REICHERT

Mr. REICHERT. Mr. Speaker, I thank both Mr. Paulsen and Mr. Pascrell for their support and for the energy and the effort they put behind this legislation. As I was sitting here waiting for my turn to speak, I was thinking to myself that I will be 66 years old here in a few weeks. So half of my life, 33 years, was in law enforcement. It kind of stunned me for a second. I have been in Congress now 11\1/2\ years. I have found that there are some very, very good friends here in Congress who support law enforcement. This is not a partisan issue. Mr. Pascrell and I have been great partners as co-chairs of the Law Enforcement Caucus, and he is a valiant fighter for law enforcement, firefighters, all first responders. We make a great team. As you can see, there are others who have joined us here today. In my 33 years, Mr. Speaker, I have had the opportunity to work on patrol, to search for kids in that moment in time where you get a call to a shopping mall and a mother has turned her head for a minute or a father has just let go of the hand of the child for a second and turned around and the child is gone. You can just see the panic in their eyes and the fear in their face. But a few minutes later, they are found wandering around in a toy shop or hiding somewhere, playing hide-and- seek, and they have their child back within minutes. But, Mr. Speaker, there are other families that aren't so fortunate, that I have had the honor of meeting, where their child had been missing for years. Some are fortunate enough, Mr. Speaker, to get their child back. I have been at the other end of that, where you search and you find. I found a young man up in the mountains of Alaska who had been taken by his father and whisked away in an old camper and hidden in the mountains of Alaska. We found him safe and returned him to his mom. Mr. Speaker, I have also had the sad experience of finding a missing child dead. I have had to be the one who went to the home and notified the mom and dad: We found Cindy, but she is not alive. Someone killed her. These are tough cases. When I was working these cases, I would say to the family: We are going to get your child back, and we will find the person responsible for taking your child. When I was a detective, I said the same thing: We are going to be tough, and we will find them. Today, with this Federal legislation, we are even saying it in stronger words. Now the local law enforcement agencies have the power of the Federal Government. That information that we needed back in the day when I was an officer on the street or a detective on the street, I didn't have. But today we are going to give them that power and authority. The message today is: those who take children from their homes, those who take children off the streets, we will find you--we will find you-- because I don't want police officers knocking on a door and telling a parent that their child won't be coming home.

Mr. REICHERT. Mr. Speaker, when I was a detective on the Green River Task Force, we solved over 2,000 cases of missing women, young women, and girls over that period of time. We solved 51 murders, and we worked closely with the families. Those detectives who went home every night did not go home and stop thinking about these cases. I know that every one of those detectives and every one of the families involved in that investigation today appreciate the action of Mr. Paulsen, Mr. Pascrell, and all those who support this bill. I know families that actually kept their child's bedroom exactly the way it was the day they went missing, for 5 or 6 years. They didn't change a thing because they always have hope. They always have hope that their daughter or their son will be coming home, until the day that door gets a knock and the officer arrives and says: We found little Johnny, or, Little Johnny won't be coming home. Mr. Speaker, I urge everyone to support this legislation. I appreciate so much the action by everyone involved in bringing this forward.

Mr. REICHERT

Mr. REICHERT. Mr. Speaker, I thank Chairman Brady for yielding and for his leadership and, also, Ranking Member Levin for his leadership. This is truly a bipartisan effort working its way through Congress today. It is finally a pleasure to see this come to fruition. We talk about MTBs. We throw a lot of acronyms around here in Congress, and sometimes it is hard to keep track of what all those acronyms mean. But the definition of miscellaneous tariff, really, simply put, is a tax. It is a tax on businesses here in America taxed on imports from other countries on products used in building other products here in the United States. Those products that are imported, that our companies are being taxed on, are not made here in the United States. So it is an additional cost on our manufacturers, who then have to raise their prices and that, of course, is passed on to our consumers and they pay a higher cost for those goods. Even sometimes, Mr. Speaker, these miscellaneous tariffs can result in jobs being moved overseas. So the process is simple. Step one is businesses present their requests to an independent board, nonpartisan, called the ITC, International Trade Commission. Step two is that it is an open and transparent process. They asked for input from all across the country, from the public, from businesses, from Congress, from the administration, an open, transparent process. Step three is Congress takes action. And step four is America wins. They become more competitive. What are the benefits of MTB? It is clear and simple. The benefits are: Cuts costs for manufacturers importing products not made in the U.S.; reduces prices for consumers; strengthens transparency; and it grows the economy, creating the opportunity to make more products, make more products, hire more people, obviously, more people back to work creating jobs. So today I rise in strong support of this solution to the problem that we have been facing here for the last few years, as Mr. Levin described. It fully complies with our House rules, has strong bipartisan support in both the House and the Senate. I urge my colleagues to join me in supporting this legislation.

Mr. REICHERT

Mr. REICHERT. Mr. Speaker, due to an illness I was unable to vote on the following: Rollcall No. 130. Rollcall No. 131. Rollcall No. 132. Rollcall No. 133. Rollcall No. 134. Rollcall No. 135. Rollcall No. 137. Rollcall No. 138. Had I been present, I would have voted ``yes.'' On rollcall No. 136, had I been present, I would have voted ``no.'' personal explanation

Mr. REICHERT

Mr. REICHERT. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman for yielding and thank him for his hard work on this legislation, along with Mr. Keating. After listening to both of you speak on this legislation, I am really happy that you get it, that you understand it. This is a great piece of legislation that we are about to enact. I can speak from some experience, Mr. Speaker. I appreciate that Mr. Loudermilk has asked me to speak this evening on this bill. I was in law enforcement for 33 years. I started out in a patrol car and went through various stages of assignments and finally became the sheriff in King County, which is Seattle, Washington. Some of the scenarios that you heard two gentlemen speaking about tonight, I have actually been there, done that, and have experienced some of the frustration that they just described tonight. I know there are going to be some sheriff's deputies and police officers across the country tonight rejoicing in this bill. It will relieve much frustration and also provide some much-needed relief in creating that partnership between Federal and local law enforcement agencies. I am in strong support of the ALERT Act. Today terrorism is not something that is in foreign countries. It is not somewhere outside of the United States. It is not outside our borders. It is right here. It is right here in Washington, D.C. It is right here in Seattle, Washington, as I said, where I come from. Our sheriff's deputies and police officers have worked with the Federal agencies over these past few years, especially since 2001, in following up on hundreds and thousands of leads every day--of which the public, of course, is not aware--of possible threats and terrorism threats to our local communities. I have had the opportunity to work with almost every Federal law enforcement agency that you can think of since 1972, when I joined the sheriff's office--leaving it in 2005 to come here. I had some great experiences and some not so great experiences. It especially relates back to the sharing of information, and it relates back to the inadequacy of our training and of our ability to connect to the Federal agencies in order to really form a true partnership and a true bond and a true trust. If we can't, as Federal and local agencies, trust each other to share that information--and I know part of the effort here in the ALERT Act is to build that trust and to have the same training and the same information so we can protect the citizens of this country. That is our job, and that is what this law is designed to do. We also need the partnership, the trust, of our communities because as we go out and investigate these leads and investigate these tips of possible terrorist attacks, we are interviewing people who live in our communities. They need to trust us. They need to respect, I should say, not only us here in Congress, but they need to respect our law enforcement agencies and officers across the country. Most of all, our law enforcement agencies need to respect them. That is when we will have that trust by which we can share information and truly come together. The cops cannot protect this country alone. The community cannot protect this country alone. They cannot protect their neighborhoods alone, let alone our country; but we have given more and more responsibility to our local officers, and they are being spread thin. I think that is why, ladies and gentlemen and Mr. Speaker, we are divided today. Cops and community are divided. We don't have that interaction any longer, and that trust that we have built over many, many years is now beginning to erode. I think that this bill goes a long way in building that trust and relationship between the Federal agencies and the local agencies and in providing that training. Most of all, what I appreciate about this legislation is that you have called attention to the fact that local law enforcement is key and is absolutely vital, absolutely critical, to protecting this country and that we are asking them to participate in the defense of our homeland. Not only that, but at the same time, we are asking them to answer those emergency calls--and I am going to mention, if you will allow me a moment--as Officer Ashley Guindon did on her first day as a sheriff's deputy, and she died. That is what we are talking about here: life and death, service to our community, protecting this country. I thank the gentlemen for the hard work.

Mr. REICHERT

Mr. REICHERT. Mr. Speaker, today I rise to honor the life of Lt. Col. Michael Mierau, who passed away just last week on January 29, 2016. Lt. Col. Mierau served in the U.S. Army for 26 years. In 1956, he received a nomination to attend the United States Military Academy, where he later graduated in June of 1960, finishing ninth in rank of order of merit. Following his graduation, he was commissioned as an infantry officer and was deployed overseas several times, including tours in West Germany, Vietnam, and what is now South Korea. Lt. Col. Mierau had a decorated military career, earning the Parachute Badge, the Ranger Tab, the Combat Infantry Badge, the Silver Star, the Legion of Merit, the Bronze Star and the Army Commendation Medal with V Device. After Lt. Col. Mierau retired from the U.S. Army, he founded a consulting company and continued to use his experience in the military by serving as a volunteer member of the Washington State Army Advisory Board, working as a U.S. Military Academy Field Force member in the 17th Congressional District of Ohio, and joining the Board of Governors of the West Point Society of Washington and Puget Sound. Lt. Col. Mierau is survived by his wife Julie Mierau and five children and stepchildren, several of whom have followed in his footsteps and joined the military. Mr. Speaker, I thank Lt. Col. Mierau for his service to our community and country and for his friendship. My thoughts and prayers are with his family during this difficult time.

Mr. REICHERT

Mr. REICHERT. Mr. Speaker, It is my distinct honor to recognize Ms. Rose Strong on her 70th birthday. Born in Minden, Louisiana, the 12th of 13 children, Ms. Strong grew up to defy the odds of her time and distinguish herself as an effective leader. Known as a pioneer among women in the 1970s and 1980s, Ms. Strong was elected as a City Councilwoman of Columbus, Georgia in 1984, making her the first African American woman elected in Muscogee County. She went on to be appointed by President George H.W. Bush as Deputy Director, Intergovernmental Affairs of the U.S. Department of Transportation in 1989. At the age of 70, Ms. Strong continues her impressive career, currently holding the position of Vice-President and Spokesperson of T.E.C.H. for the World, Inc. Aside from the contributions Ms. Strong has made in her professional life, she has recently been honored at her local place of worship, The City Church in Seattle, as one of its ``Pillars.'' She is also the proud mother of two children who have followed in their mother's footsteps of serving their community. Rozalyn Strong is a Doctoral Candidate and an educator in the Lake Washington School District. Mack Strong, Jr. is a retired Seattle Seahawk fullback and currently works as the Western States Director of the NFL's Legends Community. I admire and thank Ms. Strong for her lifetime of leadership and dedication to country and community. I am extremely proud to call her a friend. May she have a happy 70th birthday and enjoy many more to come.

Mr. REICHERT

Mr. REICHERT. Mr. Speaker, tomorrow is National Law Enforcement Appreciation Day. I would like to take this time to thank all of the men and women who put their lives on the line each and every day to keep our communities safe. As a former cop of 33 years, I know firsthand what it means to leave your home and not know if you are coming back. My family knows that feeling of: Is Deputy Dave going to come home tonight to his family? Well, early in my career, that was a big question mark. I found myself in a fight for my life at 23 years old, being attacked by a man with a butcher knife. I came home that night with 45 stitches in my neck. Years later, I lost a good friend and a partner who was ambushed, shot, and killed in 1982. Two years later, I lost a good friend--an academy colleague--who was stabbed to death in 1984. Sadly, deaths of police officers are occurring across this country each and every day. I want to take this time to especially mention the last two in Washington State who have sacrificed their lives for the protection of our community: Officer Rick Silva of Chehalis Police Department and Detective Brent Hanger of the Washington State Patrol. Mr. Speaker, we should take this time, especially tomorrow and in the coming weeks, to stop and say thank you to our law enforcement officials across this country for putting their lives on the line each and every day to keep our families safe.