for u.s. ambassador to japan. on thursday, two oversight hearings at 10:00 a.m. eastern live on c-span 3, attorney general merrick garland will make his first appearance before the house judiciary committee on issues facing the justice department. and live at 10:00 a.m. on c-span.org and on the new c-span now app, alexander mayorkas will appear before the judiciary committee. watch on our c-span networks or on our new c-span now app. watch live or on-demand anytime. c-span, your unfiltered view of government. now, president biden gives remarks not -- remarks at the 40th annual national police

officers memorial service. his remarks are just over half an hour. our. [applause] >> good afternoon. my name is james smallwood, a sergeant and national fraternal order of police treasurer. i would think you all for taking the time to be here with us on this 40th anniversary of the national police officer memorial service. as we come together on this national police officer memorial date we must reflect on the past two years and recognized the grief and fear that has accompanied the challenging and ever-changing times we have faced as a nation during the covid-19 pandemic. our communities have struggled to make sense of it all and find

peace and acceptance of our new reality, but threw it out there is one thing that has remained constant and steadfast. the unwavering dedication of selfless law enforcement officers who swore an oath to protect and serve their communities. these challenging times have tested our character, yet we have not back down. they have tested our perseverance, yet we are still standing tall. and they have without a doubt tested our noble profession, yet we still stand strong on the line between order and chaos and communities across this great nation. for the last two years due to the pandemic and for the first time since the national fraternal order of police started the p service 40 years ago we were unable to get them in person to memorialize and honor our fallen. to our surviving families, both blood and blue we have come together today to draw strength

from one another as we honor our fallen law enforcement heroes from 2019 and 2020, each of them ordinary men and women who chose a life with an extraordinary purpose. for some of you it has been a year, and for others much longer. there simply is no way to set allow -- milestone or limit on one is grief, for we can measure time, but a loss is simply immeasurable. however, for the 491 women and men we honor here today and their families we know all too well that the sense of order americans enjoy in their daily lives comes with a high price, a price paid by brave men and women who give the last full measure of devotion in the service of others. as we reflect on the loss of our loved ones and colleagues our minds inevitably into question

the cost of the sacrifice made. we search for reason, and undoubtedly, our faith in the value of the price paid is lost with the inability to understand what happened. it is overwhelming and difficult if not impossible to experience alone, and that is why the national police officers memorial service is so very important. though nothing can compensate for your great loss, we hope that coming together today and expressing our honor and respect for your loved one will bring you some level of comfort. just as we cannot pull on the grass to make it grow, we cannot manipulate the time it will take each of us to heal, but know this, the fraternal order of police and your entire blue family are here for you. as the treasurer of the national fraternal order of police is an honor for me to stand before you today representing 364,000

members across this great nation to say we stand with you, we mourn with each of you and to be express our heartfelt gratitude and respect for your loved one is courage, dedication, and sacrifice. it has been said that a person only dies when their name is no liver spoken. as each of these names are read today, let us take comfort in knowing that their sacrifice will be forever remembered as they take the place of honor from those who have come before us. later today might take a moment to remember the life they lived in the passion that they lived it with, and as the final salute is rendered, reflect not on their absence but the love and laughter you shared with one another. our fallen heroes would not want to be remembered any other way. and as you live here today -- leave your today take the time to share stories about your

mother, father, son, daughter, brother, sister, and coworkers. take the time to laugh, laugh out loud and cry if you must. strive to remember them not as they are now but as they were, brave heroes whose mission it was only to make the world a better place each in their own way. find joy in their memories, say their names, say them often, so that their memories may live on forever. [applause] mr. president, we are grateful to have you here on this solemn day of remembrance. on this day our brother and sister officers, their families and loved ones come together to share our grief and draw strength from one another certain in the knowledge that their sacrifices and the lives they lead live on in all of us.

president biden has been here on many occasions during his time in the united states and it and also deliver the keynote address at this event while he was vice president of the united states. i also want to salute his leadership on helping us with criminal justice reform. we were in regular contact with the administration were working on this important issue. mr. president, i want to let you know we appreciated all of your efforts. brother and sisters, our survivor families, and distinguished guests, please help me welcome the president of the united states, mr. joseph r biden. [applause] pres. biden: thank you, sergeant. my name is joe biden, i am joe biden's husband -- jill biden's

husband. auxiliary present penny and a guy i've known for long time, jimmy pascoe, executive director gave me this invitation to be with you today. the secretary of homeland security, thank you for being here and for the great job you are doing for us. thank you very much, and it is a tough job. most importantly, the families here today, this is all about you. about you. you know, i have been coming to this memorial for 40 years. i missed a couple, and i have spoken it many, too many police memorials around the country. and it always amazes me how the

public does not fully understand what we expect of our law enforcement officers. we expect you to be people to be ready to stand in the way and take a bullet for us. we expect you to be able to track down the bad guys. we expect you to be the psychologist who talks the couple that are having a violent confrontation together to step back. we expect you to be everything. we expect everything of you, and it is beyond the capacity of anyone to meet the total expectations. being a cop today is one hell of a lot harder than it has ever been, and to the families of the fallen, you have suffered an enormous loss, but understand your loss is also america's loss

. america's loss, and your pain is america's pain, but waking up to the notion and unless we change the environment in which the job can be done, we are going to have trouble having enough women and amend come forward to when to do the job. i hope all of the families, sons, daughters, husbands, wives, moms, dads, i hope you're able to take a measure of comfort and strength from the extended family you have here and all around you. it'd remember it's at respect of this memorial this day, i ordered our flag to be flown at half staff create we have met here in front of this united states capitol before to

memorialize our heroes. it is particularly appropriate today, because your nine months ago your brothers and sisters thwarted and unconstitutional and fundamentally un-american attack on our nation's values and votes, and because of you democracy survived, but only because of the women and men the u.s. capitol police force, the washington metropolitan police department and other law enforcement agencies who once again literally put their bodies on the line to protect our democracy. that is why i have no hesitation , i have none at all in signing the law awarding a congressional gold medal of congress, the highest expression of our nation's appreciation to the u.s. capitol police and the u.s. -- d.c. metropolitan police and

other responding law enforcement agencies. [applause] because of these men and women we have thwarted a catastrophe, but their heroism came at a cost to you and your families. 150 officers injured, five lost in the attack's aftermath. the toll on this profession these past years has been having, too heavy. 2020 was the deadliest year for law enforcement on record, and today we are here to remember nearly 500 brothers and sisters, husbands and wives, sons and daughters. 2019 and 2020, we lost so much. i attended this memorial service many times, as i said, to pay my respects.

sometimes i have been the speaker, other times i have sat on the stage and thought about all of you sitting on the lawn. although this year, i do not know any of them personally who have fallen, i have gone through all of the names, i feel i know without having ever met them. you see, i grew up in a neighborhood in scranton, pennsylvania and claymont, delaware, where i grew up with the guys and women that we are honoring today. one of my best friends in grade school became a of the state police. a great friend and competitor and the other major ice will we played ball together, he came chief of the wilmington police

force, and so many more. although i did not know them personally, i know you. i know you. i always joked that i grew up in places where you either became a cop, a firefighter, or priest. i was not qualified for any of them so i had to settle for this. all kidding aside, over the years the chairman of the judiciary committee, i have gotten to know you. even his kids, we could see in the women and men around us who the ones who had the heart. they are the ones who ran in two of you when everyone else was running away. they ran toward even when they were in grade school.

knowing that they would help a little bit even if they were outnumbered. and i am not making this up, think about it. think about your son, daughter, husband, wife, they were, what was inside them. it was about service to protect, defend, this is nest just -- not just what law enforcement does, it is who you are. it is what makes you who you are. when you put on that shield in the morning and walk out the door instead, every family member dreads the possibility of receiving that phone call. i was talking about this, just as our son beau was in kosovo for six months and iraq for a

year she was a chief law enforcement officer for the attorney general. i would watch every morning because she left for school before i got on the train. jill standing there mouthing a prayer as she drank a cup of coffee over the sink praying for beau. you do it every day. you did it every day. there was a line from an english poet, john milton, he said they also serve what we stand and wait. how long have you had to stand and wait and wonder? you heard something on the news or you saw it on television, thousands and thousands of american families stand and wait so their husbands, wives, fathers, mothers, sons, daughters can serve the rest of

us. we not only owe them, we owe you. it is not hyperbole. i mean this from the bottom of my heart, we owe you. too many of you sitting out there ever see that terrible call that your loved one would not be coming home at the end of his or her shift. to the mothers and fathers here today, my heart aches for you. believe it or not jill and i understand. we got one of those calls in a different circumstance. no parent should have to bury their child. i lost a baby daughter in an accident. i lost a rave son to cancer after coming home for a year -- brave son to cancer after coming on for a year in iraq.

but do you know what? when you have gone through is hard -- what you have gone to his heart. the fact that he was a chief law enforcement officer in delaware, he was not out there literally, he would go on patrol but he was not out there walking up the stairs to make an arrest or try to stop that fight. the result is always about family. it is like losing a piece of your soul. some of you still have that feeling like you have been sucked into a black hole in her chest, wondering, my god, will it ever change? sergeant mclean from detroit, decorated for exemplary service during his career, he turned down promotion so we could continue to work as a mentor of

other officers in his district, but every two weeks he sent his wife flowers at work like clockwork to brighten her day in her office. he was skilled responding -- chilled respondent -- killed responding to a domestic violence call. an officer from hullabaloo -- honolulu, the first female officer to die in the light of duty from the honolulu police department. her boyfriend called her the most hard-working, amazing, fiercest officer i've ever known. our heart is shattered, and she was my love, my rock, my strength. so many. officer charles birzilda passed

away in 2016 but he was recognized for his line of duty this year. he was part of an elite unit of the port authority of new york and new jersey trained to perform operations. after the terrorist attack on september 11 he was assigned a search and recover, recovery efforts at the world trade center. she like so many others contracted to cancer. she died of cancer following that assignment. he made friends wherever he went . they love the outdoors. he was his neighborhood go to guy, organizing most anything, including hunting expeditions. as you call the role today -- roll today, we are keenly aware that behind each name our families -- are families that say we know every time there is

a ceremony or memorial honoring your last husband or wife, son or daughter, the bride but also that terrible feeling as if you were just hearing the news for the first time, so i want you to know, i know although you look forward to honoring your family member, it is hard. it is hard. i mean this sincerely, jill and i admire your courage were just being here or hoping to take some comfort in the knowledge that the men and women here assembled today, there will always be here with you. not a joke, there will always be with you. wherever you are, a city, place, town you have never been before, as much as we hope not, there are going to be more names added to this roll call of bravery and

sorrow. there already has been. as i was preparing these remarks earlier this morning in houston, one deputy killed and two wounded. the chief from houston is here today i am told. seven houston police officers and his department were killed in the line of duty since 2019. chief, i am here for you, pal. so is everybody else. we mourn the fallen, we pray for the recovery of the wounded. as i have spoken too many times, too many funerals for police officers, too many funerals for brief service members who get the safe -- kept us safe. the mournful sound of the bagpipes, we must also hear

something else, a tall -- a call to do better, a call to keep you safe, to keep our communities safe, to step up. to trust edge of the bridge we see in so many communities, to demand a promise of impartial and equal justice, to demand a promise not always a reality for you and others, particularly in low income communities. too many communities black and brown, so many families are grieving unnecessary losses. i want to acknowledge the fob for sincerely trying to reach agreement on meaningful reforms, congressional reforms and negotiations over the george floyd policing act. a lot of the help has to come to police department's -- departments.

they need help to do better. i want to thank you for being a constructive player in this process. we have not gotten it yet, but there is too much loss, too much at stake for the safety of those who serve. it is a hard time to be a police officer in america, so i want to make sure you have visuals to be the partners and protectors you are communities need, and when you look at your communities need and you are being asked to do there is not going to be more resources, not fewer resources to help you do your job. that is why i propose we invest in community policing. the one thing that protects a cop is another cop in the training you in the community have requested, community-based programs and interventions that can stop violence before it starts, provide specific guidance explaining that communities can and should use funds from the american rescue plan to cities, states,

counties, tribes to hire and retain officers. from albuquerque to st. paul they are doing just that. and i proposed money in my budget to support policing across the country. it is hard when you do not know the community. and the most important way to get to know them is to have more police. we are also investing in community violence intervention programs which have a proven track record to reduce violence up to 60% in cities across the nation. at the same time we have to stop asking law enforcement officers to do every single job under the sun. i am committed to investing in mental health services, mental health professionals who can respond to mental health crises alongside you. you should not be the one having to talk somewhat off the edge of a roof. you should have professional help with you.

support our law enforcement officers requires we invest in assistance that provides adequate health care, counseling, drug treatment prevention, housing, education, and other social services in the community so there is not the discord. we need to work together to confront the epidemic of gun violence. your brothers and sisters have told me over the years sometimes you feel like you are outgunned. right now the justice department is working with state and local law enforcement across the country to keep guns out of the hands of dangerous individuals. they now have zero tolerance for gun dealers who willfully violate the law, putting firearms in the hands of people who are in danger to the community and you. i also went to make it easier for states to adopt red flag laws, laws and left them in members or law enforcement to petition a court order to

temporally remove firearms from people in crisis representing a danger to themselves and others. by the way, or people died of gunshot wounds in america as a consequence of suicide than any other reason. i have called on congress to reauthorize and act and close domestic violence loophole to keep guns out of the hands of abusers. 40% of all calls the result of an officer's death were domestic violence related. these steps will protect you, protect the people you serve, and finally ended tragically in the past two years covid-19 as cause more deaths in the line of duty than all of the other causes combined. many of those lost their lives keeping our society safe, serving on the front lines in those dark early days of the

pandemic, but now let us prevent the preventable tragedies. the last time i stood here was to take the oath of office as were president. i said that date we have much to repair, much to restore, much to heal, it was to build, but she game. it remains true i believe with all my heart, there is nothing you are unable to do if we equip you, and we can unite this nation and fight our common photos, anger, resentment, acreage, extremism, racism, lawlessness, violence, disease, joblessness, hopelessness. we have never, ever feel that america when we acted together. so let's act together, support you in the service of the nation

we love. in closing, let me say that i know there are no words, no memorials that can fill that void, that black hole in your chest that you feel, but i promise you the day will come when the memory of your loved one will bring a smile to your lips before he brings a tear to your eye. that is when you know you are going to make it. that is when you know. that will happen. my prayer for you is that that day will come sooner than later. there is a headstone in a cemetery in ireland that reads death leaves arctic no one can heal -- heart ache that no one can heal. love leaves a memory that no one can steal. there are with you. they are in your heart, a part

of you. may the souls of those you love and those of whom you serve rest in peace at a rise in glory -- and rise in glory. in the meantime they are in our prayers. may god bless you, and may god protect all of those who serve us in uniform. thank you. [applause]

>> i would like to introduce an officer from the chicago, illinois police department.

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