House Republicans gathered Thursday morning at the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial in Washington, D.C. to pay tribute to America's first responders who've given their lives in the line of duty.
Joining Republican Leader Kevin McCarthy for the event coinciding with National Police Week, Florida Congresswoman Kat Cammack challenged Democrats to get the facts before they call for police departments to be defunded.
"I'd like to talk to you today, not as a member of congress, but as the wife of a first responder," said Cammack, whose husband is a SWAT medic. "Right now, my husband's on his way to work—he's headed to a SWAT callout—and this is just a normal every day for us. But the feeling in the pit of my stomach never changes."
Rep. Cammack thanked "the families of the first responders, of our LEOs, that are having very uncomfortable, scary, conversations at the dinner table," adding "I know that those conversations are not getting any easier. I know, because I've had them."
"For every man and woman who has given their life in the line of duty, please rest easy and know that we've got the watch."
— Congresswoman Kat Cammack (@RepKatCammack) May 13, 2021
More from my remarks at this morning's #BackTheBlue Bike Tour below: pic.twitter.com/QXkSwzRWRC
On the heels of one of the deadliest years for law enforcement officers and amid calls from Democrat mayors and members of Congress to defund police departments, Cammack issued a challenge: "To my colleagues on the other side of the aisle who have been calling for the defunding of our men and women in uniform, please consider joining us for an educational ride along—I think it would be very illuminating."
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This isn't the first time Rep. Cammack challenged her Democrat counterparts to see what it's like to be a first-responder. Earlier this spring, the freshman representative offered to accompany her colleagues for ride alongs in their districts.
I am challenging my Democratic colleagues to a ride-along. I have made the commitment that I will fly to their home districts and I will spend time with them, their police, and their sheriff's offices, and we will do a ride-along together. https://t.co/tn8hOYxigT
— Kat Cammack (@Kat_Cammack) March 10, 2021
Cammack also expressed gratitude for communities that "have stood strong against the push for taking the critical life-saving equipment off the backs of our men and women despite tremendous pressure in the media, from local and national leaders."
In other remarks, Cammack addressed her House colleagues from the floor, slamming the Democrat police reform bill being pushed by the Biden administration.
"The real threat here is not the dangerous situations my husband has seen in protecting his community," Cammack said in March. "it is the fact this bill would take this vest off my husband's back."
Speaking "to the families of all of those who have a name on the wall behind us" at the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial, Cammack offered solace: "Please know that there is an army, a thin blue line army, behind you who thinks of you every single day. And for every man and woman who has given their life in the line of duty, please rest easy and know that we've got the watch."
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