Miller-Meeks Honors National Police Week
WASHINGTON, D.C.—Today, May 13th, 2021, Rep. Mariannette Miller-Meeks (IA-02) spoke on the floor of the House of Representatives in honor of National Police Week.
To watch Miller-Meeks’ speech, click HERE, and read her remarks, as prepared for delivery, below:
Thank you, Mr. Speaker, and thank you to my good friend from Florida, Rep. Cammack, the spouse of an incredible first responder, for yielding me time to speak this evening.
This week is National Police Week, and it is an excellent time to say thank you to the heroic men and women who put their lives at risk every day to keep the rest of us safe. These officers and their families have sacrificed so much to serve others, we must be doing more to keep them safe, well-funded, and supported. The past year has been challenging for all of us, but our police officers have been hit especially hard.
Many of my colleagues have called to reform, defund, and even abolish police departments. While I do believe that our policing system is in need of serious bipartisan and commonsense reforms, I will never support defunding or abolishing the police. Those calling for the defunding or abolishment of the police as a serious policy are flat-out wrong. Our communities need police to stay safe, they must be fully funded, and they deserve our respect and gratitude.
Defunding or abolishing the police would make our communities less secure and more vulnerable to criminal activity, putting all of our families at risk. We must produce constructive ways to reform and improve our policing system, not strip departments of critical funding for training, equipment, community engagement programs, and body cameras. To reform our police system, we should focus on real solutions like empowering police chiefs to fire bad cops and improving police training and accountability in line with best practices, similar to reforms I proudly supported as a State Senator in Iowa.
Earlier today, I signed on as a co-sponsor to the bipartisan Defund Cities that Defund the Police Act.
Introduced by Representatives Fitzpatrick, Golden, Stauber, and Lamb, this piece of legislation would prevent jurisdictions that defund the police from receiving certain federal grants, stopping specific federal taxpayer dollars from bankrolling jurisdictions that intentionally make their communities less safe. Under this legislation, any jurisdiction that chooses to defund the police is choosing to defund themselves of federal assistance.
Municipalities around the country that wish to defund or abolish the police will only harm their communities. America does not need to defund or abolish the police. We need to fund and support law enforcement.
We especially need to honor our fallen officers, including Iowa State Patrol Officer Jim Smith, and U.S. Capitol Police Officers Brian Sicknick and Billy Evans.
Police officers are true public servants and protectors of our communities who deserve our respect and appreciation. I am proud to ‘back the blue’ this week and every week.
Thank you, Congresswoman Cammack, for your fierce advocacy for our police officers and for organizing tonight’s special order.
I yield back the balance of my time.
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