Ben Cline Rails Against Police Defunding, Claims It Has Had 'Detrimental Impact' On Crime

4 months ago

During remarks on the House floor last week, Rep. Ben Cline (R-VA) spoke about police defunding movements.

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00:00 unanimous consent that all members may have five legislative days in which to

00:05 revise and extend their remarks without objection I yield myself such time as I

00:09 may consume recognize Thank You mr. speaker mr. speaker it's my pleasure to

00:15 welcome so many fine men and women in blue here in our nation's capital for

00:20 police week however as always I'm concerned every day for the safety and

00:25 well-being of these brave men and women in the communities across this great

00:29 nation where they live and work radical policies in states and cities across the

00:34 country continue to promote a disastrous rise in crime and a dangerous environment

00:42 for police officers now more than ever we must show our support for our law

00:47 enforcement officers as a former local prosecutor I know just how important a

00:52 robust police force is to keeping our community safe for effective crime

00:57 deterrence you need prosecutors willing to pursue convictions and judges willing

01:02 to sentence and incarcerate but first and foremost you need police willing to

01:08 arrest and charge offenders for crimes committed and you need local and state

01:12 governments willing to fund and support our police forces let me be clear this

01:19 effort to defund the police has had a detrimental impact on efforts to combat

01:24 crime but also on recruitment retention and morale among our law enforcement

01:30 officers in Democrat run cities across the country areas where they defunded

01:36 the police saw a spike in crime and continue to struggle today with keeping

01:41 their city safe despite Democrats calls to defund the police and the emotional

01:46 toll that that takes we know that law enforcement officers answer every call

01:51 for help regardless of who the person is what they believe and regardless of the

01:56 threat to their own lives so many of those brave men and women who answer the

02:01 call of duty put on the uniform go to work in the morning never return home in

02:06 the evening today there are 23,000 785 names of law enforcement officers who

02:13 have been killed in the line of duty that are inscribed on the law national

02:17 law enforcement officers memorial here in Washington DC words can never express

02:24 our gratitude to each and every individual whose name is on that wall

02:29 unfortunately we still see warning signs that the environment does not show any

02:34 promise of becoming safer according to the Fraternal Order of Police 378

02:40 officers were shot in the line of duty in 2023 the highest number recorded

02:45 since FOP began collecting the data so far in 2024 136 officers have been shot

02:52 that must end that is completely unacceptable we must take a stand

02:58 against these attacks and honor our fallen law enforcement officers this

03:03 resolution does just that this resolution condemns calls to defund the

03:07 police it also recognizes that law enforcement officers must have the

03:11 training and the resources necessary to protect the health and safety of the

03:15 public as well as their fellow law enforcement officers on the job we must

03:20 never forget those who have made the ultimate sacrifice in the line of duty

03:24 it is up to us in Congress to honor their memories and to stand up and

03:29 protect those who do so much to protect us I urge my colleagues to support this

03:34 resolution and I reserve the balance of my time the gentleman reserve

Ben Cline Rails Against Police Defunding, Claims It Has Had 'Detrimental Impact' On Crime

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