Watch Senator Rosen’s full remarks HERE.
WASHINGTON, DC – During National Police Week, U.S. Senator Jacky Rosen (D-NV) took to the Senate floor to thank the law enforcement officers who serve with honor and integrity to protect communities across Nevada and pledged to continue standing with law enforcement. Senator Rosen honored fallen Officer Jason Roscow, who served for seventeen years with the North Las Vegas Police Department and was tragically killed in the line of duty last year. She also called on her colleagues to invest more resources to ensure police officers have what they need to do their jobs safely and effectively.
Below is a transcript of Senator Rosen’s remarks:
This week marks National Police Week, a time for our nation to honor the bravery, sacrifice, and service of the men and women in law enforcement who work every single day to keep our communities safe.
These heroes put their lives on the line to protect our communities, and I want to give a special thanks to the law enforcement officers across Nevada who serve every day with honor and integrity.
Every day they put on the uniform, they kiss their loved ones goodbye, and head into situations that most of us hope we never have to face.
Whether it’s a major emergency, a domestic dispute, or a routine traffic stop, they face danger every single day.
They do it because they believe in service. Because they believe in protecting others.
National Police Week is also about honoring the fallen. Those heroes who left behind families, friends, colleagues, and the communities they served and helped to protect.
Heroes like Officer Jason Roscow, who served for seventeen years proudly with the North Las Vegas Police Department, and was tragically killed in the line of duty last year.
Officer Roscow devoted his life to serving his fellow Americans – first in uniform for the United States Air Force, and then for nearly two decades in law enforcement in Southern Nevada.
Today, I am thinking about his family, the two sons he left behind, his fellow officers, and the entire North Las Vegas community that continues to mourn this tremendous loss.
And unfortunately, Officer Roscow is not alone.
In Nevada and across this country, far too many officers have made the ultimate sacrifice to their communities.
This week, every week, and every day, we honor their memory.
We also honor the work that our officers do, and I want to let Nevada law enforcement know one thing: I have your back.
That means making sure law enforcement agencies have funding, staffing, training, equipment, and mental health resources they need to do their jobs safely and effectively.
I’ve worked across party lines to deliver exactly that for Nevada.
Earlier this year, I helped secure millions of dollars in funding to strengthen public safety and support local law enforcement.
That funding included $1 million for the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department to procure equipment supporting search and rescue operations, to support patrols, and to support large-scale event security.
It included three million dollars for Washoe County to acquire a Mobile Command Intelligence Vehicle to improve emergency response capabilities.
And the bill included more than one million dollars for the City of Henderson to implement a domestic violence and sexual assault response program, to better support victims and to improve public safety.
These funds are absolutely critical, and one of the best uses of our taxpayer dollars.
Any time we invest in fighting crime and keeping people safe, we’re investing in ourselves and we’re investing in our communities.
These are so meaningful, and so much more meaningful than, say, a ballroom.
Right now, Donald Trump has proposed spending $1 billion of your taxpayer dollars, taxpayer money on a new White House ballroom.
Imagine that, $1 billion for one room that no one will go to except the president and his friends. One billion dollars.
At a time when police departments across America are struggling with staffing shortages, recruitment challenges, retention issues, and the growing demands every day on officers, let me tell you this, $1 billion could do a whole lot to support our local law enforcement.
One billion dollars could fund nearly two years of full funding for the COPS Hiring Program – to help communities hire, train, and retain more officers. Not only that, it could fund two years of the COPS Hiring Program and fully fund two years of the Public Safety Officer Benefits Program.
Do you know what the benefits program is? It’s to help support the families of fallen officers and officers permanently disabled in the line of duty. It could fund two full years for the Safety Officer Benefits Program. And, like I said, two years of the COPS Hiring Program.
Few other things that the one billion dollars could do that’s a lot better than a ballroom for our public safety. One billion dollars could also fund an entire year of the Byrne Memorial Justice Assistance Grants, which help our local law enforcement agencies combat violent crime, invest in crime prevention, support drug treatment programs, and strengthen public safety initiatives.
And these are actually investments that are keeping all of our communities safe, everywhere, all of you safe, keeping our officers safe.
That’s why I’m gonna be doing a few things. I’m gonna be filing two amendments to the Republican reconciliation package that would redirect the $1 billion boondoggle of a ballroom, take that funding away from the White House ballroom and put it toward the programs that support law enforcement and public safety in our communities.
Remember that, two years here, two years here, another year here for funding for law enforcement and safety for survivors and benefits. It matters.
If my Republican colleagues truly support law enforcement the way they claim to, then they too should support my amendments.
I’m doing this because I believe we must do everything we can to give our police the resources that they need to stay safe. They’re the ones who put their lives on the line to protect us, and their safety should be a priority for all of us.
And so I’m gonna continue to work with my colleagues here in the Senate on both sides of the aisle on solutions that support our police departments, the officers who serve, and their families.
Because our first responders, our law enforcement, they run in when everyone is running out. They take that risk every day. They will never go to the ballroom. They need the help in our communities.
It’s the least we can do.
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