The Congressional Record is a unique source of public documentation. It started in 1873, documenting nearly all the major and minor policies being discussed and debated.
“HONORING FALLEN KANSAS POLICE OFFICERS” mentioning the U.S. Dept. of Justice was published in the Senate section on pages S3161-S3162 on May 15, 2012.
The publication is reproduced in full below:
HONORING FALLEN KANSAS POLICE OFFICERS
Mr. MORAN. Mr. President, earlier today I attended a memorial service to honor our Nation's law enforcement officers who laid down their lives to protect their fellow citizens. Since 1962, May 15 has stood as a day of remembrance for the many fallen police officers who faithfully served our communities and our Nation. They must never be forgotten.
This year 362 names were added to the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial, and among those names were three brave officers from Kansas. Two of these men died in the line of duty many years ago, but we paused today to remember their sacrifice.
In 1892 Andrew Balfour of Kiowa County was filling his duties as a local sheriff and pursuing a man who was wanted for theft when he was mortally wounded. Andrew passed away at the young age of 41, leaving behind a wife and six children.
In 1992, William Bloomfield, a deputy sheriff, was serving in Bourbon County and arresting a well-known killer when he was killed during a fierce gun battle.
These two men were killed while carrying out their duties. Rather than shirk from danger, police officers face danger with courage, and that is exactly what these two men did.
Just 5 months ago, Kansans were grieved by the loss of another officer, SGT David Enzbrenner of Atchison, KS. On December 9, 2001, David joined a fellow officer on a routine call to see a local resident. As they were turning to leave the front steps of the home, a person suddenly appeared and opened fire on David without warning. This act of violence was unprovoked and forever robbed the Enzbrenner family of their father, husband, and the Atchison community of a loyal public servant.
When we lose someone in a community in Kansas, it is not just a name to us. It is somebody we go to church with, it is somebody we see at our kids' activities at school, it is somebody we know and care for. That is how Atchison felt about David.
In remembering David, Atchison Mayor Allen Reavis said:
He was No. 1 father, No. 1 husband, No. 1 partner to his fellow officers, No. 1 son.
Inscribed on the National Law Enforcement Memorial in Washington are these words:
It is not how these officers died that made them heroes, it is how they lived.
Police Chief Mike Wilson served alongside David for 24 years and referred to the words inscribed on the National Law Enforcement Memorial when he said this about his former colleague and friend:
Those words speak directly to David. How true about our brother.
David was dedicated to his family, his fellow law enforcement officers, and his community. He was well known in Atchison and well loved. David attended high school there and served in the Atchison Police Department for 24 years. David was also on the board of trustees at his local church and found great joy in teaching and coaching his daughters on their softball teams.
Last December I witnessed the impact that David had on the local community when I attended his memorial service and more than 2,000 people gathered to pay their respects to him. During the service, many moving tributes were read about David and how he lived his life. One that stood out from among the others was a statement from David's wife Kerri. She said this about her husband:
David was a man of few words. He always tried to keep a simple life. And when I questioned things, he would remind me that it's okay sometimes not to understand.
We don't fully understand. We don't understand at all why David's life was taken or why the lives of more than 19,000 officers we remembered today ended so soon. But we express our gratitude for their service and dedication to their communities and to our country.
During National Police Week, we also remember their families and the loved ones they left behind. May God comfort them in their time of grief and be a source of strength for them. May he also protect all those who continue to serve today.
I want to especially mention David Enzbrenner's wife Kerri and his three teenage daughters Avery, Abbi, and Celia. I want them to know we honor the way David lived his life and tell them we love and care for them today and always.
I yield the floor.
I suggest the absence of a quorum.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will call the roll.
The assistant legislative clerk proceeded to call the roll.
Mrs. SHAHEEN. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order for the quorum call be rescinded.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN ACT
Mrs. SHAHEEN. Mr. President, I come to the floor today to join my colleague, Senator Menendez, and I think some of our other colleagues who will be here soon, to reaffirm our commitment to the reauthorization of the Violence Against Women Act. That act recently passed out of the Senate with a strong bipartisan vote that recognizes our bipartisan commitment to end domestic and sexual abuse, stalking, and dating violence. The House of Representatives will soon be taking a vote on their proposed counterpart to the Violence Against Women Act, and I want to address some of the concerns I have with the bill that is on the floor in the House.
What we have seen in this country is that domestic violence has a significant impact on families, on victims. It comprises the very stability of our towns and communities. The Violence Against Women Act provides essential resources for victims and for law enforcement. I was pleased to see so many of us in the Senate put politics aside and support this important reauthorization.
Unfortunately, the House version of the reauthorization of the Violence Against Women Act does not provide the same level of protection for victims, and it does not include some resources that have specifically been requested by law enforcement.
In the House bill protections are diminished for college students, for lesbian, gay, and transgender victims, for immigrants, and for Native Americans.
The Senate bill strengthens the Violence Against Women Act to provide more protections to more women and their families. The House bill weakens the law by failing to state that same-sex couples will have equal access to services, by decreasing protections for immigrant victims, and by declining to expand the jurisdiction of tribal courts.
One example of some of the changes in the House bill, where I think it fails, is around protections the Senate bill provides to women students on college campuses.
The Senate bill provides strong protections that have been omitted in the House bill. The Senate bill includes a provision requiring a university to implement prevention programs, teaching all students, male and female, how to help prevent sexual violence and dating violence, including bystander education.
The Senate bill also requires a university to make reasonable accommodations for students who need to change their living, working, or academic situation as a result of being victimized. For example, if a young woman is the victim of an assault and her attacker lives in her dorm, what the Senate bill would do is require the university to help that young woman find another place to live. Unfortunately, these kinds of protections are not included in the House bill.
The Department of Justice recently estimated that 25 percent of college women will be victims of rape or attempted rape before they graduate within a 4-year college period, and women between the ages of 16 to 24 will experience rape at a rate that is four times higher than the assault rate for all women.
There is no doubt this is a serious problem. The safeguards we implemented in the Senate bill must be preserved if we are to provide the protections that young women and men in college deserve.
When we were working on our reauthorization in the Senate, I had a chance to meet with case workers at crisis centers and with some of the victims of domestic violence in New Hampshire.
I heard from one woman who said if it had not been for that 24-hour hotline and her caseworker at the Bridges Crisis Center in Nashua, she would never have been able to leave her abuser. She was finally able to stand up for herself and end the terrible cycle of abuse because of the Violence Against Women Act.
All victims should have equal access to these important resources, and it is imperative this bill provide that.
So I urge my colleagues in the House to insist on these essential components so we can move forward on this reauthorization and we can protect all of the victims of domestic violence.
Mr. President, I yield the floor.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Indiana.
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