WASHINGTON, DC – U.S. Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell made the following remarks honoring National Police Week 2013 on the Senate floor today:
“This week we mark National Police Week 2013 as a time to pay tribute to the service and sacrifice of the many men and women in Federal, State, and local law enforcement across America. It’s an appropriate time for those of us who benefit from their efforts—and that’s all of us—to express gratitude.
“The Nation’s capital welcomes thousands of police officers who are gathering to celebrate National Police Week. They will honor their fallen fellow officers and rededicate themselves to their duties of defending the property, dignity, and lives of those who would fall prey to criminals outside the law.
“I want to especially recognize the many men and women who work to enforce the law in my home State of Kentucky. Many of them have traveled to Washington this week, and today I will have the pleasure of meeting with some of Kentucky’s finest. I want to personally thank them for bravely risking their lives in service of people across the Commonwealth.
“Earlier this month in Richmond, Kentucky, a solemn ceremony was held at the Kentucky Law Enforcement Memorial on the campus of Eastern Kentucky University. This memorial lists the names of every known fallen peace officer in Kentucky history. Along the bottom of it are the words, “Blessed Be the Peacekeepers.”
“The ceremony was held to add the names of two law-enforcement officers from Kentucky who were killed in the line of duty in 2012. Hodgenville Police Officer Mark A. Taulbee was killed in a vehicle pursuit on September 16. Marion County Sheriff’s Deputy Anthony Rakes was shot during a traffic stop on November 14.
“I want to extend my sympathies to the families of Officer Taulbee and Deputy Rakes for their tragic loss.
“Their names will be added, along with six other Kentucky peace officers whose names had not previously been on the memorial. There will be a total of 509 brave Kentuckians on that wall.
“I know my colleagues in the U.S. Senate join me in holding the deepest admiration and respect for the many brave law-enforcement officers across Kentucky and the Nation. Theirs is both an honorable profession, and a dangerous one. It is also a necessary one, as the maintenance of peace and order in a civil society that we take for granted could not exist without them.
“Kentucky is grateful to our law-enforcement officers and their families. And we are grateful for the sacrifice of Officer Mark A. Taulbee and Sheriff’s Deputy Anthony Rakes to preserve the rule of law.
“I ask unanimous consent that the names of the Commonwealth of Kentucky law-enforcement officers added to the Kentucky Law Enforcement Memorial this year be included in the Record following my remarks.
Mark A. Taulbee
Hodgenville Police Department
End of Watch: September 16, 2012
Anthony Rakes
Marion County Sheriff’s Office
End of Watch: November 14, 2012
Releigh Killion
U.S. Marshal
End of Watch: May 24, 1884
Thomas D. Martin
Stanford Police Department
End of Watch: May 16, 1931
Theo Madden
Knott County Sheriff’s Office
End of Watch: March 10, 1933
Vernon C. Snellen
Kentucky State Police
End of Watch: February 20, 1937
Bill Baker
Perry County Sheriff’s Office
End of Watch: March 11, 1950
George Puckett
Perry County Sheriff’s Office
End of Watch: April 26, 1950